I've purchased items from MacConnection for over 20 years--computers, software, cables, routers, and more. I don't have experience with their customer service because I've never had a problem. In the pre-Web days, I ordered by phone and they were great to deal with, but since Internet ordering came along I use that exclusively.
These days I tend to buy more from Amazon because of Prime, the easy return policy, and the 3% credit card rebate, but I still buy from MacConnection on occasion, in fact as recently as August. Again, no problems, received what I ordered in a timely manner.
Hope this helps.
It does help but sales tax is a big issue I'm trying to avoid.
Thanks for the information. I just did a preliminary calculation with MacConnection and they want to hit me for $139 in sales tax. As far as Amazon is concerned, right now if you use Amazon Prime you get free 2-day shipping and 1-day costs only $3.99. That's a way better in the long run because of shipping cost with other vendors.
It can't hurt to give them a call Friday about the sales tax. What the website says and what they tell you on the phone may be two different things.
As to xcomme's point - some states have reciprocal sales tax collection agreements that apply to online and phone sales, even if though the business is a mail order house with no physical store locations where you take receipt of the merchandise. Other states don't have reciprocal agreements, so you don't see the seller in that state collecting tax from you. If you buy online or by phone from a seller that has retail stores in your state (i.e. Macy's or Best Buy), they have to charge you sales tax or run the risk of your state's revenue department penalizing them.
Where are you located? Why does MacConnection want to charge you the sales tax even it is an on-line order?
Cypress, Texas is where I live. As to why MacConnection wants to charge sales tax, I can't answer. The Apple Store online also charges sales tax and so does iTunes, but I figured that was because there is a physical Apple store close to where I live.
Cypress, Texas is where I live. As to why MacConnection wants to charge sales tax, I can't answer. The Apple Store online also charges sales tax and so does iTunes, but I figured that was because there is a physical Apple store close to where I live.
Hmm. Their website says, "We collect sales and use taxes for sales shipped to the State(s) of Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Additional states may be added without notice."
On another page it says they have "eight locations in addition to [the] Wilmington, OH configuration lab and distribution center: Keene, Portsmouth, and Merrimack, NH; Marlborough, MA; Addison, TX; Rockville, MD; Boca Raton, FL and; Dakota Dunes, SD."
That doesn't cover all of the states for which they collect taxes, however. I don't know why the others are on the list. It would appear though, unfortunately, that Texas has to be one of them.
$2094, but shipping is $42, AppleCare is $169, and they charge $195 sales tax to me in CA, for a total of $2612, which is really expensive looking...
If anyone finds any good deals on a Core i7 iMac, please post them!
AppleInsider, would be great if you tracked shipping and tax on your price guide!
P.S. I seem to recall seeing some sales on AppleCare (perhaps from Small Dog?). Is it OK to purchase the AppleCare separately from the computer?
EDIT: Just checked Small Dog:
Core i7 iMac, AppleCare, an extra 1TB HD (external, I'm guessing?), Free Shipping, and NO SALES TAX (except Vermont, sorry!): $2389 - http://www.smalldog.com/wag19664/
Gunna wait until the afternoon to see if anything better shows up, but this looks like what I'll be getting, along with everyone else that wants a Core i7 iMac.
EDIT 2: Apple's updating their site now, might end up cheaper from them, but doubt it, due to sales tax.
EDIT 3: Yeah, Apple's got a better discount (ignoring the free HD, anyway), but the sales tax makes it total up to more.
Hmm. Their website says, "We collect sales and use taxes for sales shipped to the State(s) of Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Additional states may be added without notice."
On another page it says they have "eight locations in addition to [the] Wilmington, OH configuration lab and distribution center: Keene, Portsmouth, and Merrimack, NH; Marlborough, MA; Addison, TX; Rockville, MD; Boca Raton, FL and; Dakota Dunes, SD."
That doesn't cover all of the states for which they collect taxes, however. I don't know why the others are on the list. It would appear though, unfortunately, that Texas has to be one of them.
Well, you got me. I should have read the small print. Thank goodness MacConnection isn't the only online retailer put there.
In NYS we have to pay tax on just about all online purchases. See in the early days of on-line shopping we bought from Amazon etc like mad and barely reported any of it on our tax returns. So Our Governor back then and state legislators realized how much Ny was losing and passed a law demanding that Amazon and other charge us directly for sales tax, This happened must be like 8 years ago. They bleed us up here.
Delaware has no tax whatsoever - except I believe a hotel lodging and property tax if you live there. So I have a friend who lives there and any big ticket item I will go there and but it which is what I will do when I get my iMac (by the way I will wait for its first update and see if it gets either matte and/or blu-ray then buy it). I'm getting a little tired of my white Intel 20 incher- it will be 4 years old this summer.
Happy Thanksgiving.
And you are correct if they have a "Physical store" they can charge the tax. So buy it from Amazon if you can- unless you're getting a custom build.
BTW Amazon has a black Friday deal on the 21inch iMac today!
sucks to be us sometimes
my material life is %8 more than the whole fraking world
i only special order with an education discount from apple online <<they barely check >>
you get a special build just for you with the latest upgraded components
and the the best workers do special high end orders
As opposed to the drone droid factory line of 3200 mbp's a minute shipped too some mega mega nameless TEXAS warehouse to sit for months and then shipped again to a store .
most apple referbs are from older generations or even unsold older generations models posing as refurbs << they open the box upgrade the OS and close the box >>
IF YOUR buying a refurb you must make mulitple calls and have cust service dudes email you with EXACT SPEC.S
Sometimes older gen are more money w/ less power than a newer model for less money
anyway the cust service people with give you great refub buying advice .
JEFF the moderator here helped me andI called 20 x and went online for days
and in the end penny for penny A new mbp3.02GHz 15in7200rpm500g snowy cost 18 cents a day more than a similular refurb over a11.3 yr time frame yrs peridot
Not only physical store, if an on-line company also has service center, warehouse in that particular state, sales tax will be charged.
So it means MacConnection has some operation in Texas?
Does it charge sales tax for Californian?
Personally, I?d like to see the laws on this change. I?d like to a state sales tax end in favour of a nationwide tax on online orders in general with tax breaks for retail shops and shoppers to encourage more local purchases. The online tax revenue can then be distributed to states based on the percentage of sales. This would encouraging local sales by giving evening out the playing field for retailers slightly while also increasing state sales tax revenue.
Comments
I've purchased items from MacConnection for over 20 years--computers, software, cables, routers, and more. I don't have experience with their customer service because I've never had a problem. In the pre-Web days, I ordered by phone and they were great to deal with, but since Internet ordering came along I use that exclusively.
These days I tend to buy more from Amazon because of Prime, the easy return policy, and the 3% credit card rebate, but I still buy from MacConnection on occasion, in fact as recently as August. Again, no problems, received what I ordered in a timely manner.
Hope this helps.
It does help but sales tax is a big issue I'm trying to avoid.
Where are you located? Why does MacConnection want to charge you the sales tax even it is an on-line order?
Thanks for the information. I just did a preliminary calculation with MacConnection and they want to hit me for $139 in sales tax. As far as Amazon is concerned, right now if you use Amazon Prime you get free 2-day shipping and 1-day costs only $3.99. That's a way better in the long run because of shipping cost with other vendors.
It can't hurt to give them a call Friday about the sales tax. What the website says and what they tell you on the phone may be two different things.
As to xcomme's point - some states have reciprocal sales tax collection agreements that apply to online and phone sales, even if though the business is a mail order house with no physical store locations where you take receipt of the merchandise. Other states don't have reciprocal agreements, so you don't see the seller in that state collecting tax from you. If you buy online or by phone from a seller that has retail stores in your state (i.e. Macy's or Best Buy), they have to charge you sales tax or run the risk of your state's revenue department penalizing them.
Cranky,
Where are you located? Why does MacConnection want to charge you the sales tax even it is an on-line order?
Cypress, Texas is where I live. As to why MacConnection wants to charge sales tax, I can't answer. The Apple Store online also charges sales tax and so does iTunes, but I figured that was because there is a physical Apple store close to where I live.
It can't hurt to give them a call Friday about the sales tax. What the website says and what they tell you on the phone may be two different things.
That's a good idea! I will certainly keep that in mind. Thanks for the suggestion.
So it means MacConnection has some operation in Texas?
Does it charge sales tax for Californian?
Cypress, Texas is where I live. As to why MacConnection wants to charge sales tax, I can't answer. The Apple Store online also charges sales tax and so does iTunes, but I figured that was because there is a physical Apple store close to where I live.
Hmm. Their website says, "We collect sales and use taxes for sales shipped to the State(s) of Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Additional states may be added without notice."
On another page it says they have "eight locations in addition to [the] Wilmington, OH configuration lab and distribution center: Keene, Portsmouth, and Merrimack, NH; Marlborough, MA; Addison, TX; Rockville, MD; Boca Raton, FL and; Dakota Dunes, SD."
That doesn't cover all of the states for which they collect taxes, however. I don't know why the others are on the list. It would appear though, unfortunately, that Texas has to be one of them.
http://www.macmall.com/n/macNavLinks-macNavLinks.224 (EDIT: See below for much better price)
$2094, but shipping is $42, AppleCare is $169, and they charge $195 sales tax to me in CA, for a total of $2612, which is really expensive looking...
If anyone finds any good deals on a Core i7 iMac, please post them!
AppleInsider, would be great if you tracked shipping and tax on your price guide!
P.S. I seem to recall seeing some sales on AppleCare (perhaps from Small Dog?). Is it OK to purchase the AppleCare separately from the computer?
EDIT: Just checked Small Dog:
Core i7 iMac, AppleCare, an extra 1TB HD (external, I'm guessing?), Free Shipping, and NO SALES TAX (except Vermont, sorry!): $2389 - http://www.smalldog.com/wag19664/
Gunna wait until the afternoon to see if anything better shows up, but this looks like what I'll be getting, along with everyone else that wants a Core i7 iMac.
EDIT 2: Apple's updating their site now, might end up cheaper from them, but doubt it, due to sales tax.
EDIT 3: Yeah, Apple's got a better discount (ignoring the free HD, anyway), but the sales tax makes it total up to more.
Hmm. Their website says, "We collect sales and use taxes for sales shipped to the State(s) of Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Additional states may be added without notice."
On another page it says they have "eight locations in addition to [the] Wilmington, OH configuration lab and distribution center: Keene, Portsmouth, and Merrimack, NH; Marlborough, MA; Addison, TX; Rockville, MD; Boca Raton, FL and; Dakota Dunes, SD."
That doesn't cover all of the states for which they collect taxes, however. I don't know why the others are on the list. It would appear though, unfortunately, that Texas has to be one of them.
Well, you got me. I should have read the small print. Thank goodness MacConnection isn't the only online retailer put there.
In NYS we have to pay tax on just about all online purchases. See in the early days of on-line shopping we bought from Amazon etc like mad and barely reported any of it on our tax returns. So Our Governor back then and state legislators realized how much Ny was losing and passed a law demanding that Amazon and other charge us directly for sales tax, This happened must be like 8 years ago. They bleed us up here.
Delaware has no tax whatsoever - except I believe a hotel lodging and property tax if you live there. So I have a friend who lives there and any big ticket item I will go there and but it which is what I will do when I get my iMac (by the way I will wait for its first update and see if it gets either matte and/or blu-ray then buy it). I'm getting a little tired of my white Intel 20 incher- it will be 4 years old this summer.
Happy Thanksgiving.
And you are correct if they have a "Physical store" they can charge the tax. So buy it from Amazon if you can- unless you're getting a custom build.
BTW Amazon has a black Friday deal on the 21inch iMac today!
sucks to be us sometimes
my material life is %8 more than the whole fraking world
i only special order with an education discount from apple online <<they barely check >>
you get a special build just for you with the latest upgraded components
and the the best workers do special high end orders
As opposed to the drone droid factory line of 3200 mbp's a minute shipped too some mega mega nameless TEXAS warehouse to sit for months and then shipped again to a store .
most apple referbs are from older generations or even unsold older generations models posing as refurbs << they open the box upgrade the OS and close the box >>
IF YOUR buying a refurb you must make mulitple calls and have cust service dudes email you with EXACT SPEC.S
Sometimes older gen are more money w/ less power than a newer model for less money
anyway the cust service people with give you great refub buying advice .
JEFF the moderator here helped me andI called 20 x and went online for days
and in the end penny for penny A new mbp3.02GHz 15in7200rpm500g snowy cost 18 cents a day more than a similular refurb over a11.3 yr time frame yrs peridot
duh
It does help but sales tax is a big issue I'm trying to avoid.
well some one has to pay for all those childrens hospitals ?? just pay the yax take a ed discount and move on
Not only physical store, if an on-line company also has service center, warehouse in that particular state, sales tax will be charged.
So it means MacConnection has some operation in Texas?
Does it charge sales tax for Californian?
Personally, I?d like to see the laws on this change. I?d like to a state sales tax end in favour of a nationwide tax on online orders in general with tax breaks for retail shops and shoppers to encourage more local purchases. The online tax revenue can then be distributed to states based on the percentage of sales. This would encouraging local sales by giving evening out the playing field for retailers slightly while also increasing state sales tax revenue.