Internet sales tax and high street business

[Flintstone]

As I've been off this week I watched a lengthy meeting with Mike Ashley, a controversial figure I know but he's certainly a powerful man especially where the high street is concerned. Anyway amongst other things the core of his proposal is to introduce an additional 20% tax to be paid by companies who do more than 20% of there sales online, to encourage more counter sales and stop the rapid decline of shopping as we once knew it and to get shops opening up again. This would be for all online sales.

Opinions ?

 

[J Sid]

I'm for more internet shopping, who has time to hit the high streets? It's a day wasted, time you get into your local town, parked, walk or ride in.
the high street is dead, let's more on....

 

[Boggs]

I think it is a good idea.
I feel it’s important for towns to have a thriving high street.
It brings tourism, trade and most importantly jobs to the local area.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Mike Ashley - I wouldn’t listen/believe a word he says.
Anyway it means more charity shops for my kind of pensioner shopping!

 

[Dumbo]

Internet sales means local people out of work so not good for your economy . Also to run its full course all shops will shut which means you will not be able to nip into town just to get something quick ..
The only real exception to this would be good based shops .

 

[Italy]

Internet shopping, I could write a book ..
with what I saw and did.
I tell the most striking one, buying 2 tools for an amount of 500 € on the Internet.
I asked four authorized local dealers for a price, the best one
he wanted 700 €, I told him if he was willing to make € 600 for
the purchase, he said no.
I bought on the internet for 500 € from an authorized dealer.
returning to the opening post, even here they are thinking of a fee of 3% for internet sales, but only for those who bill over € 750,000.
in any case, local stores should only focus
on assistance, or open an internet shop.

 

[Flintstone]

It's a massive problem and I'm all for the high street and supporting local shops

 

[Boggs]

I ordered 4 lintels for an extension from one of these web based building suppliers once.

He was around £100 cheaper than my building suppliers so took the chance which turned out to be a mistake.

After many phone calls and emails and with a bricklayer waiting they turned up 5 days late.
2 of which were not the correct size.

Guess what, that was the last I heard of him, wouldn’t answer calls or emails.

Set up a dispute with PayPal (the only payment he would accept) and after 30 days they decided in his favour and transferred the money to him!

Never again.

 

[Spare Tool]

Usually spread my money around a bit, some online some in the high street, just been into town and was mental, nowhere to park, and falling over folk in the shops..
My daughter gave me her Christmas list other week, A4 sheet of paper full including prices, codes and online shops...rude not to when she's made it easy

 

[GoneGuy]

Same as @Andystiletiling i spend between shops and online.

 

[Dumbo]

It's a massive problem and I'm all for the high street and supporting local shops

I agree with you fully . As long as they aren't taking the wee wee . For instance when I got my 3e3m I could of got it £50 cheaper but instead I got it from one of my local tile stores .

 

[Waluigi]

I get more enjoyment buying online. Researching the products, procrastinating, comparing, pricing up etc.

Actually visiting a shop isn’t my idea of fun. I think this stems from years of being dragged round clothes shops as a child. Scarred for life.

Death of the high street? Good. It’s crap anyway. Revert back to independents. B0llocks to globalisation.

 

[Spare Tool]

Just checked a gift box of perfume ive bought for the misses this afternoon...picked it up in the shop gave it to the assistant "thats a display box, I'll get you one out of the back" she comes out puts it in the bag, I pay for it, come home and its the bloody wrong One ffs the 'STUPID WOMAN' ...knew I should have ordered online!!!

 

[WetSaw]

Just checked a gift box of perfume ive bought for the misses this afternoon...picked it up in the shop gave it to the assistant "thats a display box, I'll get you one out of the back" she comes out puts it in the bag, I pay for it, come home and its the bloody wrong One ffs the 'STUPID WOMAN' ...knew I should have ordered online!!!

I'm sure she'll like the Brut 33 gift box just as much.

 

[Spare Tool]

I'm sure she'll like the Brut 33 gift box just as much.

She wanted old spice

 

[Flintstone]

Marks and Spencers

I get more enjoyment buying online. Researching the products, procrastinating, comparing, pricing up etc.

Actually visiting a shop isn’t my idea of fun. I think this stems from years of being dragged round clothes shops as a child. Scarred for life.

Death of the high street? Good. It’s crap anyway. Revert back to independents. B0llocks to globalisation.

Well that's a contradictory post isnt it!

 

[Time's Ran Out]

@Andystiletiling - ‘Stupid woman’ did you say it or just mouth it!

 

[Flintstone]

I think your opinion depends on what your into and what your spend your money on, if your into fashion and luxury items I'm sure you love to go shopping and see what's about and try stuff on etc. If your into tools, then there isn't really anywhere to go that sells exactly what you want - usually. If there was a tool warehouse that was priced inline with online then I'd be there, twice a day

 

[Waluigi]

I agree with that. I was talking about general shopping as per the ‘high street’ term in the first post.

Axminster is my local tool place but it’s not that great and mainly caters for woodwork type tooling

 

[Spare Tool]

@Andystiletiling - ‘Stupid woman’ did you say it or just mouth it!

I mouthed 'stupid woman' but obviously and without incriminating myself said 'stupid people'

 

[Andy Allen]

Went to town last week, after contacting the bank for a loan to pay for the parking..!

The end of the day why go through all the hassle, when I can push a few buttons on my phone and get it...

 

[John Benton]

I like to do both, never buy clothes off the internet, more stuff has to go back, cos it’s too tight, too big, wrong shade etc.

I like the interaction with another human being as well, rather than ticking a box to acknowledge I am not a ‘bot’

You can’t play one shop off against the other like you can on the high street

 

[Marvo]

I really don't understand it. Business models become outdated because technology moves on because peoples preferences change....it's just a fact. Milk's not delivered to your door anymore, you don't send your camera film in to be developed anymore and you don't just use your mobile phone to call and speak to people anymore.

The only reason people will be out of work is because the older legacy businesses didn't adapt to change in time and because the governments did too little to be proactive by preparing the labour force for the changing landscape before the changes happen.

And their answer to the mess they're sitting with.......tax their way out of it. Genius idea, it's not going to help the situation one iota but some extra folding stuff in the governments back pocket is always nice. It's easily marketable to the average consumer that's going to end up paying it by invoking some nostalgia about the good ol' highstreet and as being good for unemployment plus they can trot out an endless stream of short sighted legacy business owners that helped cause the problem in the first place and they'll do the cheerleading about how that's the best answer.

 

[Spare Tool]

I really don't understand it. Business models become outdated because technology moves on because peoples preferences change....it's just a fact. Milk's not delivered to your door anymore, you don't send your camera film in to be developed anymore and you don't just use your mobile phone to call and speak to people anymore.

The only reason people will be out of work is because the older legacy businesses didn't adapt to change in time and because the governments did too little to be proactive by preparing the labour force for the changing landscape before the changes happen.

And their answer to the mess they're sitting with.......tax their way out of it. Genius idea, it's not going to help the situation one iota but some extra folding stuff in the governments back pocket is always nice. It's easily marketable to the average consumer that's going to end up paying it by invoking some nostalgia about the good ol' highstreet and as being good for unemployment plus they can trot out an endless stream of short sighted legacy business owners that helped cause the problem in the first place and they'll do the cheerleading about how that's the best answer.

Sad but true

 

[John Benton]

I really don't understand it. Business models become outdated because technology moves on because peoples preferences change....it's just a fact. Milk's not delivered to your door anymore, you don't send your camera film in to be developed anymore and you don't just use your mobile phone to call and speak to people anymore.

The only reason people will be out of work is because the older legacy businesses didn't adapt to change in time and because the governments did too little to be proactive by preparing the labour force for the changing landscape before the changes happen.

And their answer to the mess they're sitting with.......tax their way out of it. Genius idea, it's not going to help the situation one iota but some extra folding stuff in the governments back pocket is always nice. It's easily marketable to the average consumer that's going to end up paying it by invoking some nostalgia about the good ol' highstreet and as being good for unemployment plus they can trot out an endless stream of short sighted legacy business owners that helped cause the problem in the first place and they'll do the cheerleading about how that's the best answer.

Comet being a case in point, didn't do internet sales so they went under

 

[Marvo]

Maplins also so I heard... used to beone of my favourite shops when I was at Uni in the UK.

 

[Concrete guy]

Mike Ashley - I wouldn’t listen/believe a word he says.
Anyway it means more charity shops for my kind of pensioner shopping!

Funnily enough I had this opinion of Mike Ashley until I watched his "audience" in front of the Gov committee.

Now I have skin in this game obviously but what I saw was a businessman that had a real understanding of why we find ourselves in this position and his suggestion is not a daft one.

The high street is dead due to an outdated business model.

It needs to adapt or die. Well it's already on life support but it's not the fault of the businesses themselves.

ATS Diamond Tools is run from an office in my garden. I legitimately don't pay business rates or rent or staffing costs to make sales, I am an internet business. If I moved my business to a shop less than a mile from where I currently run, the profit from the first £250,000 a year of turnover would be sucked up in rent, business rates and other fixed overheads.

That's just not sustainable. The entire High Street business model is outdated and no longer viable but it simply hasn't been adapted.

The government and landlords (for large properties of which many of whom are investment/pension/hedge funds) don't see this as their problem, they see it as the business owners problem.

The business owners are quite rightly walking away as they are getting no support. I get this, Mike Ashley gets this. Amazon and eBay gets this.

This is then compound even further by global business made possible by the internet.

eBay and Amazon strongly subsidise direct sales from Chinese sellers. But not only do the platforms subsidise this.

China is still classed as an "emerging market" internationally, therefore qualifies for special concessions when it comes to certain service. Delivery for example. Royal Mail are obliged to handle and deliver Chinese originating parcels and packages at a rate that equates to less the £0.01 per item. Yup that's postage costs from China to the UK of less than a penny.

Items under £30 are also exempt from VAT.

We all pay for this in our taxes and increased subsidised postage costs ourselves.

Do I like Mike Ashley as a person? I've never met him.

Do I think he understands business and his ideas make sense? Undoubtedly, the Government would do with listening to him instead of berating him.

 

[John Benton]

I know he's negotiated some new rents on the House of Fraser stores he's taken over, some of them he's even got away with agreeing to pay no rent.

 

[Dumbo]

Went to town last week, after contacting the bank for a loan to pay for the parking..!

The end of the day why go through all the hassle, when I can push a few buttons on my phone and get it...

Mate you need a novichock attack we had free parking for ages

 

[Spare Tool]

Funnily enough I had this opinion of Mike Ashley until I watched his "audience" in front of the Gov committee.

Now I have skin in this game obviously but what I saw was a businessman that had a real understanding of why we find ourselves in this position and his suggestion is not a daft one.

The high street is dead due to an outdated business model.

It needs to adapt or die. Well it's already on life support but it's not the fault of the businesses themselves.

ATS Diamond Tools is run from an office in my garden. I legitimately don't pay business rates or rent or staffing costs to make sales, I am an internet business. If I moved my business to a shop less than a mile from where I currently run, the profit from the first £250,000 a year of turnover would be sucked up in rent, business rates and other fixed overheads.

That's just not sustainable. The entire High Street business model is outdated and no longer viable but it simply hasn't been adapted.

The government and landlords (for large properties of which many of whom are investment/pension/hedge funds) don't see this as their problem, they see it as the business owners problem.

The business owners are quite rightly walking away as they are getting no support. I get this, Mike Ashley gets this. Amazon and eBay gets this.

This is then compound even further by global business made possible by the internet.

eBay and Amazon strongly subsidise direct sales from Chinese sellers. But not only do the platforms subsidise this.

China is still classed as an "emerging market" internationally, therefore qualifies for special concessions when it comes to certain service. Delivery for example. Royal Mail are obliged to handle and deliver Chinese originating parcels and packages at a rate that equates to less the £0.01 per item. Yup that's postage costs from China to the UK of less than a penny.

Items under £30 are also exempt from VAT.

We all pay for this in our taxes and increased subsidised postage costs ourselves.

Do I like Mike Ashley as a person? I've never met him.

Do I think he understands business and his ideas make sense? Undoubtedly, the Government would do with listening to him instead of berating him.

Well thats popped a bubble...I'd never have imagined you run ATS from your shed Alan..fair bloody play mate, fair play!!