Even Prime shipping times have increased.  I typically wait 5 - 7 days for orders to be packed and shipped.  Then transit time begins.  Rarely does anything even ship via UPS anymore.  Most of my order have been banished to Parcel Pool.

If you frequently meet the minimum order amount and do not see value in the other products bundled with Prime it's not worth adding the subscription.

regular free shipping takes 2-4 days longer than prime

From what I've seen on the internet, there is no requirement for online retailers (without a state presence) to charge customers tax.  However many state's threaten online retailers with a requirement to provide listings of customers and purchases.  The online retailers would rather collect the tax and give it to the state instead of the list of names and purchases.

Could also be related to Amazon's future efforts to take over their own deliveries.

Some states did that about online cigarette purchases a few years back. Customers got large tax bills out of nowhere.

I am sure local retailers are happy to hear this though, it closes the price gap.

I had made my last order before this news came out from Amazon for 2 32oz. Nalgene bottles from a vendor who gave free shipping.   Searched around in HNL for Nalgene bottles and couldn't find any.   If local shops want to compete they need to stock the popular brands.
Still have a gift card so might make one last buy from Amazon before 4/1.  After that, see ya later.  Hope the taxes HI gets are miniscule.   

About the 3rd party Amazon marketplace sellers, I'm not sure but it seems that most of them probably do not yet have to charge sales tax. We only need to look at what other states (in which Amazon has already been taxing) were doing. However it seems that lawmakers are currently trying to force Amazon and all other retailers, whether original sellers or marketplace providers like Ebay, to start collecting sales tax.

http://www.taxrates.com/blog/2017/01/23/new-york-wants-amazon-to-collect-tax-for-marketplace-sellers/

Basically, this is like the doomsday of online tax collection. The lawmakers in all of America are trying to force the established law to change. They want all online and out-of-state purchases to be taxed, no matter what. Furthermore, it seems that there have already been lawsuits about this in several states and Appeals courts, and the courts have been accepting the new law. SCOTUS is likewise leaning toward accepting the new law (they have declined to take any case).

Considering that the current established law regarding out-of-state purchases originated from SCOTUS long ago, we are about to be screwed by the current SCOTUS who is going to (if they have not already) overturn the old law.

My wife worked for William & Sonoma and she said that state sales tax were a big pain because the tax codes for each state is not the same, especially when figuring out sales and returns. The retailers want to avoid sales tax but apparently Amazon has enough tax lawyers to figure it out.

shipping address?

Ah, but see, if they tax based on shipping(delivery address) that doesn't work. What if grandma in Iowa buy a gift for grand-kid in Montana (uses Iowa as the billing address for the credit card but fills out delivery address as the Montana destination). Does the transaction tax Iowa state tax or Montana tax?
See, they can't use destination as the tax determinant because the destination is not always the transaction generating the taxable event.

Ah, but see, if they tax based on shipping(delivery address) that doesn't work. What if grandma in Iowa buy a gift for grand-kid in Montana (uses Iowa as the billing address for the credit card but fills out delivery address as the Montana destination). Does the transaction tax Iowa state tax or Montana tax?
See, they can't use destination as the tax determinant because the destination is not always the transaction generating the taxable event.

I order stuff from Amazon for my grand kids in Kali and get charged Kali tax. Question is now that Amazon charges Hawaii GET will it be Hawaii, Kali or both? I sense a "grab my ankles" moment......

I was going to order a Tekoshona P3 brake controller from Amazon yesterday for $125 and when I wanted to check out, it said unable to ship to Hawaii.  I went on EBay and found one with free shipping for $120.  I think I will start looking on EBay more.  They often have lower prices and faster free shipping than Amazon.

I'm guessing that sales tax is charged according to delivery address and not the credit card address. For digital purchases on videogame consoles I have been setting my billing address to a tax-free state and even though my credit card has a Hawaii address on it, I do not get charged any tax. We might be able to do the same on Amazon for intangible purchases.

Otherwise, perhaps someone could set up some sort of package-forwarding service to reduce or eliminate the Amazon tax, but it would probably cost more than it saves.

I'm guessing that sales tax is charged according to delivery address and not the credit card address. For digital purchases on videogame consoles I have been setting my billing address to a tax-free state and even though my credit card has a Hawaii address on it, I do not get charged any tax. We might be able to do the same on Amazon for intangible purchases.

Otherwise, perhaps someone could set up some sort of package-forwarding service to reduce or eliminate the Amazon tax, but it would probably cost more than it saves.

We have to be careful about assumptions.

There are Hawaii residents who have tried to buy larger capacity magazines than Hawaii allows and ship them to a mainland address where they are legal.  Whether it's for use while visiting, a gift, or whatever is of no consequence.  Due to the Hawaii billing address for the credit card, the orders were cancelled.

It's not a stretch to think an order delivered to a state from which Amazon doesn't yet collect sales tax would charge HI GE,T based on the buyer's residence or credit card billing info.

I am not surprised you are lying to avoid paying taxes.  Not all companies will allow you to use a billing address that doesn't match credit card records.  That particular company isn't practicing very good security.  Allowing a potentially stolen credit card number to be used without checking the billing address is negligent nowadays.

Were those magazine purchases through Amazon or some other retailer? You are right, I forgot that some retailers can and do require shipping and credit card addresses to match, though that inconveniences some buyers.

To clarify, for my digital purchases, there is no physical address associated with the account. And the address I enter for my credit card is my real Hawaii address, which must match to be secure. But that company (Microsoft) charges tax according to a separate billing address that you fill out. However, as you are purely a digital entity on that service with no physical address nor any name, you can put anything you want into there, such as living in Fufu Land although you have to put a real state, so I put one of many tax-free states (for intangible purchases).

Were those magazine purchases through Amazon or some other retailer? You are right, I forgot that some retailers can and do require shipping and credit card addresses to match, though that inconveniences some buyers.

To clarify, for my digital purchases, there is no physical address associated with the account. And the address I enter for my credit card is my real Hawaii address, which must match to be secure. But that company (Microsoft) charges tax according to a separate billing address that you fill out. However, as you are purely a digital entity on that service with no physical address nor any name, you can put anything you want into there, such as living in Fufu Land although you have to put a real state, so I put one of many tax-free states (for intangible purchases).

Please define "intangible purchase".

If you pay to stream a movie, download music or buy a Kindle book from Amazon, are those purchases not going to be taxed by Hawaii?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intangible_good

Every state probably has its own legal definition though. In numerous states, there is law that intangible goods are exempt from sales tax. I presume that one of the reasons is that as an intangible consumer you may in principle not live anywhere. Ebay and PayPal used to state that intangible goods are not allowed to be sold using their services.

I don't know about Amazon, I only know that my experiences with Microsoft have been that way.

Amazon is charging tax in all states starting April 1st, so Hawaii isn't the only one.

https://www.engadget.com/2017/03/24/amazon-will-collect-state-sales-taxes-nationwide-april-1st/

I spoke to a retailer yesterday who was bummed out that Amazon was starting to charge sales tax. I pointed out that this made his store more competitive. I had just finished asking if he price matched as I was buying a saw blade they priced at $180 but was $130 on Amazon. I think he saw the benefit then but still didn't give me a price match or discount

I spoke to a retailer yesterday who was bummed out that Amazon was starting to charge sales tax. I pointed out that this made his store more competitive. I had just finished asking if he price matched as I was buying a saw blade they priced at $180 but was $130 on Amazon. I think he saw the benefit then but still didn't give me a price match or discount

The state is the only group benefiting from the collection of GE Tax at Amazon.  They tell us it's to pay for "critical services", but until the rail is halted or starts paying for itself (no chance of that), all new revenue is already spent on rail.

Retailers aren't going to suddenly be crazy-cheap due to a 4.712% increase in Amazon prices.

$50 + 4.712%   
= $50 + $2.36   
= $52.36

It that's the difference between a decision to buy from Amazon and buying local, then consumers have been screwing local businesses all along for online convenience.

Your example is to my point exactly.   $130 + GET = $136.13.    $180 is not going to be competitive .... period.

Amazon is charging tax in all states starting April 1st, so Hawaii isn't the only one.

https://www.engadget.com/2017/03/24/amazon-will-collect-state-sales-taxes-nationwide-april-1st/

Whlie the other 49 are also getting  the shaft, other than AK, the rest enjoy FREE 2 day prime shipping where we have to pay for each item.   The free shipping is a crap shoot between USPS priority, parcel pool or sometimes 2 day UPS after they sit on your order for a week.   I would have been happy to pay prime and get free USPS priority 3 day like most ebay sellers or other online stores. In fact I would be happy if they give HI/AK free 2 day shipping and charge the state tax.
I plan on not using Amazon services or buying from them for a while.   Might get one month prime later in November for Christmas, who knows.

Depends who you buy from I guess, for me most domestic sellers charge HI shipping, or it is a task to meet the purchase threshold to get free shipping. I've never paid for Amazon prime so I use the regular free shipping. The purchase threshold prevents most of my potential Amazon purchases but at least it was lowered last month. I've bought little from Amazon for years, their prices stopped being competitive for me. Pricing consistency is another annoyance. I always use a site to check Amazon's wildly fluctuating price history.

The real battle is incoming. The states are trying to force all online retailers to charge the same tax. Amazon didn't fully fight for themselves, but Ebay and other online sellers will hopefully fight in every court they can.

They are going to have a hard time forcing international sellers (including those on Amazon and Ebay marketplaces) to pay OUR sales tax, though. They could perhaps just increase customs duty tax to compensate. I lie on my customs forms when I can but not all sellers do that for you. (Some sellers lie, declaring everything they ship worthless, simply because they don't want to deal with consumer complaints).

The state is the only group benefiting from the collection of GE Tax at Amazon.  They tell us it's to pay for "critical services", but until the rail is halted or starts paying for itself (no chance of that), all new revenue is already spent on rail.

Retailers aren't going to suddenly be crazy-cheap due to a 4.712% increase in Amazon prices.

$50 + 4.712%   
= $50 + $2.36   
= $52.36

It that's the difference between a decision to buy from Amazon and buying local, then consumers have been screwing local businesses all along for online convenience.

Your example is to my point exactly.   $130 + GET = $136.13.    $180 is not going to be competitive .... period.

Granted it isn't a huge difference but $6 is still $6. Take something like a computer for $1,000 and the GET adds almost $50. It just makes it a little easier to justify buying local.

5% makes a difference. It's not a huge difference but it is significant, especially considering it applies to all purchases and not just temporary bargain discounts.

I always thought tax free online purchases were fair, since online retailers have to pay shipping (whether they offer it for "free" or not, they still pay and it is factored into the price). Besides, USPS is owned by the government and they can collect "tax" hidden in the shipping fee.