Ordering Lee equipment from Lee...

[phaessler]

Trying to order Lee products from Lee... but they wont ship to my state due to sales tax restrictions.

" Due to your state’s economic nexus laws that require remote sellers to collect and remit sales tax, the transaction limit for your state has been met. We will not be able to accept your order due to these limits imposed on us by your state legislature. Please contact one of your favorite online distributors for products. For service parts you may contact Titan Reloading, FS Reloading, Graf & Sons, Precision Reloading, or MidwayUSA."

Anyone have any advice? Tried 2 other states, same message...

Thank you

[mdi]

Business "politics" and I fully understand. I spent several decades in CA and when I left there were many on line vendors refused to ship to CA. But now I order from Titan and FS reloading. Nothing wrong with me buying directly from Lee, but sometimes I get a better price from Titan and shipping is quick and easy...

[Burnt Fingers]

It sounds like Lee builds their website like they build their equipment. On the cheap.

Sure it costs money to update a website with a state tax package. But most everyone else has done so.

[phaessler]

Sure it costs money to update a website with a state tax package. But most everyone else has done so.

YUp... I have no trouble securing anything , but this is my first and looks like its just a tax issue... missing out on some custom overrun stuff.

[ulav8r]

Have it shipped to me if you want to pay twice the postage. I would not mind re-shipping if Lee will ship to Arkansas.

[Conditor22]

What are you trying to order?

Generally buying directly from Lee costs a lot more than buying Lee products from Amazon or another big supplier.

[Shawlerbrook]

Yes, I buy from Titan or FS.

[mdi]

I don't think it's about money, a one time "updating" their site. There are other vendors that are Pro 2nd Amendment that don't deal with the more restrictive, anti-gun states. Many won't ship anything to CA...

[Shawlerbrook]

mdi I agree that some vendors such as William’s , Bud’s ,etc. won’t sell certain products to certain states, but in the case of Lee and Virginia it’s all about tax collections

[shaune509]

If Virgina's tax code are like Washington;s they [the seller] must charge the tax rate of the zip code. IE state rate, +county rate, +city rate, +any extra like transit, etc. That is easy for Azons system but smaller company's as those of us who are in an area with 7.8% do not want to be paying the highest rate of 10.2% if they use a default rate. When I still ran my business I had to do the same for were shipped in state were it used to be I charged my local rate as point of sale but that changed a few years back.
Shaune509

[phaessler]

What are you trying to order?

Generally buying directly from Lee costs a lot more than buying Lee products from Amazon or another big supplier.

https://leeprecision.com/bullet-szr-punch-.432.html .....

[phaessler]

I don't think it's about money, a one time "updating" their site. There are other vendors that are Pro 2nd Amendment that don't deal with the more restrictive, anti-gun states. Many won't ship anything to CA...

EXACTLY...... not a legal to sell issue or a lack of want to do business... everything else I get from F&S or Titan. Using amazo I am sure to space multiple items out so many boxes arrive and I get the most out of my kids prime shipping account, Bezos love cardboard and bubble envelopes...

[Lloyd Smale]

Trying to order Lee products from Lee... but they wont ship to my state due to sales tax restrictions.

" Due to your state’s economic nexus laws that require remote sellers to collect and remit sales tax, the transaction limit for your state has been met. We will not be able to accept your order due to these limits imposed on us by your state legislature. Please contact one of your favorite online distributors for products. For service parts you may contact Titan Reloading, FS Reloading, Graf & Sons, Precision Reloading, or MidwayUSA."

Anyone have any advice? Tried 2 other states, same message...

Thank you

found out the same about michigan. They told me if they sell to us and collect taxes they open there books up to anyone in the government that wants to look at them. Said there owner told them that is socialism and he wont do it. cant blame them.

[rondog]

I tried buying something direct from a manufacturer here in Denver, and he told me I'd be better off ordering it from a vendor. A vendor gets them at wholesale then decides his price. The factory would have to charge full MSRP, because he can't compete against the vendors selling his products. Made sense.

[35isit]

My wife works in a city government. She told me this was coming some ten years ago or more. If you buy something online from anyone besides a private seller, you will pay your local and state sales taxes.

[Geezer in NH]

Sales tax? Blame your own state government and voters.

[jban]

If Virgina's tax code are like Washington;s they [the seller] must charge the tax rate of the zip code. IE state rate, +county rate, +city rate, +any extra like transit, etc. That is easy for Azons system but smaller company's as those of us who are in an area with 7.8% do not want to be paying the highest rate of 10.2% if they use a default rate. When I still ran my business I had to do the same for were shipped in state were it used to be I charged my local rate as point of sale but that changed a few years back.
Shaune509

Then you have to figure the added costs of accounting, to make sure the right money, goes to the right places. I don't think I would do it either, if I were a business. Unless there would be enough in it to pay well, for the extra headaches.

[kill456]

I know this post is 8 months old but I also here in Washington state am in the same boat . What is happening is that when a company gets to the 100,000 dollar mark in sales on the internet per year they are required to update there files and to acquire some software that allows them to be able to do business in most states . Its all about paying taxes and collecting taxes . The reason why you dont hear abut it in your other day to day business dealings is that all other companies just look at it as a part of doing business(buying the software from the IRS to keep track of the taxes collected ) I called them and they said they are to small and will not be bullied into buying the software. I like there stance but I dont agree with it. I have been in business all my life from 1987 till I retired in 2012 and this sort of thing is all part of doing business. lets face it if you have made it to the 100,000 dollar threshold by the 3rd month of the year and then times that times 50 states (roughly) then you make enough money to justify buying the software so you can make more money and lets face it were not talking millions of dollars here they just dont like being told what to do well like they say "death and taxes" like me and every other business owner they should decide weather there actually in business or not and just do what they need to do for the convenience of there customers as those are the ones being inconvenienced. Yes you can go to another company to get your LEE parts but those other companies will not and are not required to warranty broken parts and that is the biggest problem here . People are trying to send in old parts and then pay the shipping as Lees warranty that they brag about says and they dont allow you to do it as your state has reached the 100,000 dollar max tax nexus . If its this much trouble to get parts warrantied then you might as well go to any of the other companies who do in fact pay for the software and are not throwing a tantrum about reaching there 100,000 dollar limit. Since when is making a boat load of money a reason to not do business with an entire state ? seems silly to me.

[Winger Ed.]

I tried buying something direct from a manufacturer here in Denver, and he told me I'd be better off ordering it from a vendor. A vendor gets them at wholesale then decides his price. The factory would have to charge full MSRP,

They have to do that, or go broke.
If they sell their stuff on the cheap to individuals, the big distributors quit buying from them.

In the old days, at the paint store, we sold wall paper and would spend a lot of time with customers, then never see them
again when they were ready to order. They'd take the company's pattern numbers and buy direct, of from 800 number pirates.

If we found out a supplier was doing that--- when their new pattern books came in, they went straight into the trash.
With no store front dealers showing their samples- they went broke very shortly there after.

[Sam Sackett]

Yep. This happened to me last week. I went online to get some parts for my powder measure. Placed stuff in the cart and went to checkout. Bingo! Can’t sell to your state. I called Lee, spoke with a nice lady. Sorry, but we can’t take your order. They will allow me to send them my old measure, pay half the price of a new one plus shipping. I asked how they can charge me for a warranty replacement plus shipping, but they can’t just charge me shipping on the parts themselves. Doesn’t make sense. She said that’s all she can do and recommended I just order a new powder measure from Titan. I checked and the cost wasn’t much more.

I think Winger Ed is correct. They changed their policy and stopped cutting out the retailers. Time will tell

Sam Sackett

[Winger Ed.]

They changed their policy and stopped cutting out the retailers.

If one of the manufacturers sold direct cheaper than their distributors----
Natchez, Midway, and others wouldn't bother stocking their stuff.

They'd be left with spending just as much time selling one order for a few things as they did when a distributor
called up and said, "We need 300 of this, 250 of those, 25 each of these".

Some manufacturers won't sell direct at all.
(Try to buy a car direct from any automaker without being referred to a dealer)
Others do at a full retail price for those that can't or won't find it anywhere else.
Then, the retail public can be served without making companies that buy hundreds of thousands dollars from them a year mad.

[Big Tom]

While I don't mind buying somewhere else, it is just utterly pathetic that they hide behind this for replacements of parts under warranty. The parts I needed for my Loadmaster press are not being offered by their resellers, so I could not get the parts I needed anywhere.

I personally am done with LEE because of this. It has nothing to do with laws, but solely with a 100% incompetent IT and finance department.

[1hole]

Don't get between Democrats and tax money; they'll hurt you!

[Sixgun Symphony]

Do you have friends and relatives in neighboring states?

If yes, ship to their address and pick it up on a visit. That or have them box it up as "machine parts" and ship it to you.

[JohnH]

Sales tax? Blame your own state government and voters.


"The only certainty in life is death and taxes" Benjamin Franklin. Blame Ben.

[downzero]

found out the same about michigan. They told me if they sell to us and collect taxes they open there books up to anyone in the government that wants to look at them. Said there owner told them that is socialism and he wont do it. cant blame them.

Socialism has nothing to do with tax rates or tax audits.

[1hole]

Socialism has nothing to do with tax rates or tax audits.

Welll ... socialism requires a gobbermint that totally controls everything. Total control requires a total knowledge of what everyone does, no business or personal information can be hid from the state.

But, you are correct that socialist/communist governments usually don't allow people or businesses to collect state money. A socialist state feels it owns everything, including 100% of a workers pay if they want it, so they don't need "tax audits".

A proper socialist state is expected to know and control how much money individuals may have personal access to. You know, the way the vast majority of our "progressive" Democrats want it to be done to small time worker drones here.

(Understand that I have no automatic malice toward every individual Democrat; in fact, I thank God for Sen. Manchin every night! He's the ONE Democrat in the Senate with the brains and gonads to stop Sleepy Joe's B.B.B. plan, it being the Dem's single largest effort ever to take our money and limit more of our individual freedom.)

[rbstern]

I don't know the particulars, but I am sympathetic to Lee.

I implement e-commerce solutions for a lot of my clients, and the sales tax issue got much harder the last few years, as interstate commerce became taxable (sorry, U.S. Constitution). For example, in the city of Atlanta, there are houses on the same street, same zip, same county, with different tax rates; the only way to know the correct tax rate is to ask the county tax office or download the data. The "easy" way to correctly collect the legally required sales tax is to subscribe to 3rd party tax rate services (expensive), or hire accounting/software resources to build automated systems to continuously update tax rates from local taxing authorities (more expensive).

My wife is an artist who sells her wares online via Etsy. Etsy charges her thousands of dollars a year in seller fees, part of which covers sales tax collection and remission. I consider it a bargain.

Companies like Lee and other small, independent manufacturers, with their own online stores, it's a very big challenge. It's even worse when you take into account legacy business systems that were never set up with that kind of tax rate flexibility in mind.

[243winxb]

Lee at Midwayuse has free shipping & discounts. But you will pay tax.

[Isaac]

I don't know the particulars, but I am sympathetic to Lee.

I implement e-commerce solutions for a lot of my clients, and the sales tax issue got much harder the last few years, as interstate commerce became taxable (sorry, U.S. Constitution). For example, in the city of Atlanta, there are houses on the same street, same zip, same county, with different tax rates; the only way to know the correct tax rate is to ask the county tax office or download the data. The "easy" way to correctly collect the legally required sales tax is to subscribe to 3rd party tax rate services (expensive), or hire accounting/software resources to build automated systems to continuously update tax rates from local taxing authorities (more expensive).

My wife is an artist who sells her wares online via Etsy. Etsy charges her thousands of dollars a year in seller fees, part of which covers sales tax collection and remission. I consider it a bargain.

Companies like Lee and other small, independent manufacturers, with their own online stores, it's a very big challenge. It's even worse when you take into account legacy business systems that were never set up with that kind of tax rate flexibility in mind.

Very informative and understandable.

Thanks,

Isaac

[kill456]

If this is the case then Lee should do the correct thing and make sure that in there warranty paperwork and or statements it says something to the effect that they have this bullet proof warranty blah blah blah that is unless you live in one of the 18 states that they currently DONT do business with because they dont want to buy the tax nexxus tax software ..That would be the stand up thing for a stand up company that brags on there warranty to do. This has ZERO to do with the factory selling to individuals as stated repeatedly above and everything to do with Lee items breaking and that are under there warranty and they wont stand behind them . I dare any single solitary one of you to call Titan or FS or any other Lee retailer and tell them you need your Lee item replaced under warranty. They will tell you to call Lee !! OOPS !! that is unless you happen to live in one of the 18 states they now will NOT DEAL WITH !!! THAT IS THE PROBLEM not buying from Lee as opposed to one of there distributors. It's a warranty issue and all dealers will tell you to go to the company for warranty issues but alas Lee wont deal with 1/3 of the states in America right now because of a tax issue. Not my problem unless they elect to state this in there warranty information then its the buyers fault . Its not right to sell cheap plastic products knowingly then because of this they fall on there steller warranty but then OOPS they dont have a warranty if you live in one of the 1/3 of the states they wont deal with. They will let there dealers sell to those states but when it comes to warranty, you're out of luck !!! Ill move on to other companies that respect my business and will tell everyone at my gun range and at my gun shop what they do .
P.S. Go buy a Ford Chevy Dodge Honda etc etc and have a warranty issue and see what you will think if they say "sorry you bought it in ______ state we dont do business in that state" but you sold it to me on a lot in my state . Sorry we no longer warranty our cars in your state but thanks for buying our product and sorry. Oh by the way you can still get Ford parts from NAPA or Or'iley. But its a warranty issue and they told me to contact Ford. Sorry we dont deal with warrant issues in your your state anymore even though we sell cars there. Bye !! Uh no thanks will move on to every other company that will and does deal with those states . At least tell people before they invest in 9 calibers and all the equipment that implores as well as 2 presses as well as all the little parts that you will not warranty your little plastic parts before people invest thousands in your company of parts that break often.

[leadhead]

Article 1
Section 9 of the Constitution of the United States.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported
from any state.

leadhead

[Sam Sackett]

I’m not sure how sales tax relates to Article 9, but my understanding is that the exporting state cannot charge a fee (such as an export tax or duty) when exporting goods. The confusion here seems to be that many states were “losing money” (sales tax) from online sales shipping from other states. Sales tax does not qualify as a tax under Article 9. Those states passed laws requiring the sellers collect sales tax from the purchaser and remit the same to the purchaser’s state. Add to the confusion that many localities in a state have different sales tax rates. This creates a major headache for vendors to track and properly remit. If, in the case of Lee Precision, total online sales are low, then the cost of tracking, remitting, etc., outweigh the benefit. In this case, I think Lee is trying to push the burden down to retailers who are better equipped to handle it, since they already have to do it for all of their sales.

Just my Pennie’s worth. I may see things all wrong…….

Sam Sackett

[poppy42]

I realize I’m a little late to this post but I don’t understand what the problem is I’ve had stuff shipped from Lee to my house last June (6-21)! Going by the date of the OP’s original post that’s after he posted. And I live in Virginia also. I would suggest to use a phone and call Lee as opposed to trying to order on line. That’s what I did

[trails4u]

If this is the case then Lee should do the correct thing and make sure that in there warranty paperwork and or statements it says something to the effect that they have this bullet proof warranty blah blah blah that is unless you live in one of the 18 states that they currently DONT do business with because they dont want to buy the tax nexxus tax software ..That would be the stand up thing for a stand up company that brags on there warranty to do. This has ZERO to do with the factory selling to individuals as stated repeatedly above and everything to do with Lee items breaking and that are under there warranty and they wont stand behind them . I dare any single solitary one of you to call Titan or FS or any other Lee retailer and tell them you need your Lee item replaced under warranty. They will tell you to call Lee !! OOPS !! that is unless you happen to live in one of the 18 states they now will NOT DEAL WITH !!! THAT IS THE PROBLEM not buying from Lee as opposed to one of there distributors. It's a warranty issue and all dealers will tell you to go to the company for warranty issues but alas Lee wont deal with 1/3 of the states in America right now because of a tax issue. Not my problem unless they elect to state this in there warranty information then its the buyers fault . Its not right to sell cheap plastic products knowingly then because of this they fall on there steller warranty but then OOPS they dont have a warranty if you live in one of the 1/3 of the states they wont deal with. They will let there dealers sell to those states but when it comes to warranty, you're out of luck !!! Ill move on to other companies that respect my business and will tell everyone at my gun range and at my gun shop what they do .
P.S. Go buy a Ford Chevy Dodge Honda etc etc and have a warranty issue and see what you will think if they say "sorry you bought it in ______ state we dont do business in that state" but you sold it to me on a lot in my state . Sorry we no longer warranty our cars in your state but thanks for buying our product and sorry. Oh by the way you can still get Ford parts from NAPA or Or'iley. But its a warranty issue and they told me to contact Ford. Sorry we dont deal with warrant issues in your your state anymore even though we sell cars there. Bye !! Uh no thanks will move on to every other company that will and does deal with those states . At least tell people before they invest in 9 calibers and all the equipment that implores as well as 2 presses as well as all the little parts that you will not warranty your little plastic parts before people invest thousands in your company of parts that break often.

You have 2 Lee presses on which you load for 9 calibers...you're not 'thousands' invested in Lee equipment. If you're looking for the 'bulletproof' warranty, buy RCBS or Dillon. Don't get me wrong...I have, use and love Lee equipment, but I also know what I paid for it and adjust my expectations accordingly. FWIW, I've always found their customer service to be top notch and in many years only received one faulty part from them.

[rbuck351]

How does one state force a business in another state to collect taxes for them? What would happen if Lee just sent the goods and didn't collect state taxes for a state Lee is not located in?

[Geezer in NH]

They cannot why Lee won't ship Good for Lee IMHO

Voting has consequence's so pay attention how and who you vote for.

[kill456]

You must be joking . That or you dont load as much as we do as I have broken MANY MANY of there plastic Lee parts . There little plastic indexing rod advance parts they break/wear out enough that I had to buy 10 of them just to have extras on hand . I have a entire wall of 13 of there molds for casting bullets and at least 6 of them have had to be sent back after wearing them out as the aluminum mold gets stripped by the steel spru plate screw when you bang on them with there lee wooden mallet . I guess you dont cast with Lees moulds or you would be aware of this also . There plastic parts on there pro powder dump .....ya they break/wear out. I got tired of always having Lee give me the free part at 50 cents while you pay 9.00 shipping so like the plastic index advance you just warranty it (when you could in this state) and get 10 of them so dont tell me about how much I have invested that is unless all you do is load a couple calibers and DONT CAST and dont have multiple calibers you load for . I have the 4 hole turret press times 13 you just pop on the good old lee site and you take actually its 13 not 9 I just didn't think anyone was going to be silly enough to actually care to count it so you just pop on and buy an 4 hole turret for all 13 calibers plus the pro powder drop for each caliber plus the six bullet Mould at 65.00 for each caliber as well as the 3 lead furnaces that are routinely dripping and having to have little parts replaced on them and by the way why would I have to go to another so called "bullet proof" company like you say like Dillon or Rcbs ?? Lee says there warranty is the best in the business . No questions asked. I took them at there word and for 8 years they stood behind it . Now they wont because there to cheap to do what the rest of the world does who decides to be in business and just man up and pay for the tax cd/disk equipment . Lee doesnt want to do that fine its a free world they can say they will only sell to people who live in Texas for all I care just dont sell me on there parts and there company then deal with me for 8 or 9 years then give me some excuse for not standing behind there warranty and lets face it since you seem to want to "get real " here about things there stuff is crap but thats ok as I was willing to buy there crap as long as they had a warranty and they always did. Now there crap really does seem more like crap because every time something breaks and the only people who dont break Lee stuff are either liars or they dont load much. I load a lot for a lot of calibers and because I have Lees 4 hole semi progressive press not the little itty bitty tiny little one press jobby were you have to do everything at once then move on to the next stage etc etc those are cheap ass presses that dont cost people anything but if you buy there progressive presses with ALL THOSE PLASTIC MOVING PARTS you will break things and at best you will wear them out quick as there plastic . Anyone who says different is either 1 doesn't load much 2 doesn't load much or 3 is a liar because I have had both Lee progressive presses for 8 to 9 years and they have broken MANY MANY parts by either wearing out or flat breaking and like I said thats fine as long as the first part is free and then I pay shipping (which by the way is insane) 2 little parts and 9.00 plus shipping . Lick a stamp and its 55 cents for there little plastic easy to break parts but no they send there little parts 5 day mail and its 9.00 and up depending on the price not the size or weight.
So yes you are right about one thing. I will not be buying one single solitary part from Lee in the future and since I am the President at our Gun Club here locally with 1300 members I will also not be telling people who want to start to reload to buy Lee's cheap stuff that will break and they wont stand behind there products if you live in a total of 1/4 of the states in this country who are now requiring that on line sellers collect sales tax .I am asked at least every other day and at least 2 to 10 times every week or 2 what company I would use to reload and if Lee wont stand behind there product just because they are one of the 12,000,000 people who live in the entire state who wants to start to reload ya there not getting my good word . I used to tell everyone "buy Lee its cheaply made and it will break but they will replace the parts free you just pay shipping . Ya no more .
Oh and by the way for all you people who think Lee is just the most fine upstanding company for not dealing with an entire 1/4 of the states in this country you better hope to hell you dont have a boat load of money devoted to one company for any hobbie and then find out that the main piece of equipment that makes it all work has to be bought again and again if it breaks or wears out THEN we will be reading a different story. I hope all your Leupold scopes and you Case hunting knives and your Swarovsky binos dont go the way of Lee Precision then we will see a different answer from ya'll ;-) LOLOL
Just slip and fall on your 500.00 scope and call them and have them tell ya "Ya we dont deal with your state " or your car or Truck part thats only 2 months old etc etc etc

[Travisbishop]

I keep it simple and just buy from Titan and Amazon. Lee charges 11 bucks and change for shipping.No matter what it is. Needed a replacement sprue handle, nut, bolt, washer. The parts were free from Lee. But the shipping...

[Travisbishop]

I simply love how the gummint is able to change the definition of something to fit their agenda. Child support is a perfect example. It states that for the purpose of the law, child support is NOT a debt, even though it's treated, and collected, like one. In fact, it's even called a debt in the statutes. Simply amazing.

[poorman]

Here is Lees warranty
Lee reloading products are unconditionally guaranteed not to wear out or break from normal use for two full years or they will be repaired or replaced at no charge if returned to the factory along with a copy of the receipt.

Our Lifetime Conditional Guarantee states that any Lee product of current manufacture, regardless of age or condition, will be reconditioned to new, including a new guarantee, if returned to the factory with payment equal to half the current retail price plus any applicable taxes and Shipping. If we no longer manufacture a product, we would offer you the direct replacement of the product at half the current retail price plus any applicable taxes and Shipping.

Another option is to send the product of any age back to the factory for repair. Labor and repair parts are free. If we are not able to repair an item, we will offer you a new one at half the current retail price plus any applicable taxes and Shipping, as per our Lifetime Guarantee.

[ascast]

humph! LEE ? I ordered a couple rams for the little hand presses. I got them in a box of junk a auction. The gal was very helpful and I got them in a couple days. One was free and the other like $10. I was very happy.

[Horn Ridge]

I’ve ordered parts for my APP several times. Usually no charge for small individual parts, just pay shipping.