Majority of buyers over the years have migrated to stockx and goat as their primary source of buying
— Sole Supremacy (@solesupremacy) October 23, 2019
Now that they charge sales tax in most states does that make you go back to sneaker shops to avoid paying the tax if applicable.
When StockX and GOAT entered the sneaker market, they changed the industry forever. You no longer had to worry about ending up with expensive, fakes from Ebay sellers, but the other major value they brought to the industry was price transparency. Without these marketplaces, it was nearly impossible to tell whether you were under or over-paying for your sneakers. Although the prices on sneakers today can still fluctuate drastically from month to month, at least you can follow what's happening just by opening an app.
Between resellers and buyers, there are both lovers and haters of StockX and GOAT. The added price transparency ultimately brought products to fair market value, and in StockX's and GOAT's cases, usually lower prices. However earlier this year, that may have changed.
Due to the 2018 US Supreme Court decision, marketplaces began charging sales tax earlier this year in a growing list of states. People tend to not factor in sales taxes when checking StockX or GOAT prices, but the difference in price can be significant. If you were to buy a $1,500 shoe and had to pay 8% sales tax, your total would be $1,620, an additional $120! On top of that, some states even require that tax is applied to shipping costs.
The good news is that there's an alternative. If you buy directly from a consignment store, you typically do not have to pay sales tax in states that those stores do not have any presence in. For example, Sole Supremacy, based out of Newark, CA, is only required to charge sales tax in the state of California. If you live in any other state, you're in the clear. Unfortunately, not all consignment stores work this way, as both Flight Club and Stadium Goods charge taxes in states they have no presence in. The tax calculations get complicated quickly, so we added a tax indicator on Plugd showing whether you'll need to pay taxes or not ahead of time. Here is an example of what you'd see if you lived in Arizona:
Although we don't automatically include the estimated amount of taxes yet, we think at least knowing whether you'll be charged tax or not will help buyers make better and faster purchasing decisions in the meantime. We do plan on calculating the tax amount in the near future and will update this post at that time.
Plugd is on a mission to help people find sneakers at the best prices and in the most convenient fashion. If you have any more feature requests or feedback on the platform make sure to send them to [email protected].