That question stemmed from New York State’s new law mandating that online retailers collect sales tax on Internet purchases to state residents, even when the retailers have no tax nexus in New York.
This was the brainchild of disgraced former Governor Eliot Spitzer, and his successor David Patterson carried the torch of this desperate, unreasonable ploy to compensate for excessive state debt.
But since this new tax kicks in on June 1, online retailers can’t hold out for the resolution of the Amazon complaint.
Today the Small Business Blog reports that Overstock.com has issued a notice to all New York state affiliates that they are being dropped from the Overstock Affiliate Program, effective May 20, 2008.
Here is the email sent today by Overstock:
The email references a letter from Geoff Atkinson, Vice President of Overstock, with additional details of the situation.
That is an unfortunate, yet understandable move. I expect to see other large online retailers do the same.
Nice work, Governor Patterson. You’ve effectively put innumerable small business people in New York out of work, and more are likely to follow.
Maybe, just maybe, you shouldn’t rubber stamp everything in your inbox from the Spitzer days. I’m just saying.
Magnify.net has launched Magnify Publisher, a revolutionary blog application that enables bloggers to search for video, text, and images, using key words and tags.
Bloggers can also use Magnify Publisher to embed content directly into a post without leaving their WordPress or Movable Type dashboard.
Magnify Publisher also features the ability to record and publish video blog posts using a Webcam.
I’m very excited about this launch, since I am an avid user of both Magnify.net and WordPress, and I think this will be a great service for any bloggers looking for easier integration of video.
“We think that bloggers are hugely important and trusted sources in helping people cut through the increasingly noisy Web in order to find valuable and personal content,” said Magnify.net CEO Steve Rosenbaum.
“Building applications for WordPress and Movable Type provides bloggers with powerful features that help them further find, sort and share contextualized and pertinent multimedia content within a trusted platform,” continued Rosenbaum.
Magnify Publisher’s video discovery features allow for fast search embed from YouTube, AOL, Yahoo, BlipTV, Metacafe, DailyMotion, Clipsyndicate, Google Video, Veoh, Red Lasso, and more.
Image search is included for Flickr and Google Image support will be forthcoming.
I got an email from the Dell affiliate program last night with the subject, “Dell Home New Affiliate Newsletter Tax Rebate Offers” and it got me thinking - can affiliates expect a surge in transactions as these checks start dropping?
Direct deposits of the economic stimulus cash started on May 2. Checks started going out last week and will continue through July.
There isn’t really any way to measure whether this has an impact on your affiliate commissions, but I think it’s worth a shot to capitalize on it, and help the economy at the same time.
Given the convergence of checks coming in and Father’s Day, it could be a good time to roll out creative for big ticket items like the Dell computers, smart phones, TVs, and other electronics.
The actual amount depends on the information contained on your tax return. Eligible individuals will receive between $300 and $600. Those who are eligible and file a joint return will receive a total of between $600 and $1,200. Those with children will get an additional $300 for each qualifying child. To qualify, a child must be eligible under the Child Tax Credit and have a valid Social Security number. We have various examples for you check out.
Looking to stimulate the economy yourself? Check for your Stimulus Payment Status from the IRS.
The stimulus payment –– both the basic component and the additional funds for qualifying children –– begins to phase out for individuals with adjusted gross incomes (AGI) over $75,000 and married couples who file a joint return with AGI over $150,000.
Tonight, he goes on Mad Money with Jim Cramer on CNBC, he’s go a book tour kicking off, and he’s doing all his usual Twitter and other social media stuff.
I got my copy of “Gary Vaynerchuk’s 101 Wines” in the mail today and I loo forward to paging through it.
As the name suggests, the book is a ranked list of wines from Gary (sorry, I’m not going to reveal the #1 wine). In addition to that stuff, which makes up the bulk of the book, there is a back section, which is going to be most useful for me.
This part, “For Every Occasion,” provides lists of suggested wines that are “Best for Gift-Giving”, “Best with Steak”, “Most Likely to Knock You Out”, and many more.
There is a new podcast called Can’t Get Rich that I read about on the Wicked Fire forum.
The site for the show sets the stage, “I can’t get rich online and neither can you. Topics include why you won’t get rich with your blog, ideas you wish you had thought of, and other Internet phenomena.”
It’s an interesting look into the mindset of some of the teens and twenty-somethings that are into affiliate marketing. Guests on the first few shows include guys that talk about using black hat tactics without shame.
Geoff, a 22 year old college student who hosts the podcast, typically has a couple interviews during the show.
There is going to be a round-trip “party bus” going from New York City to Boston for Affiliate Summit on Saturday, August 9 and then back to NYC on Wednesday, August 13.
This networking bus is being organized by Stephanie Agresta (aka Internet Geek Girl) at a rate of $150 for the round-trip ride.
Affiliate Summit is all about networking, so why not network on your way to and from the event? Join some of the leading experts in Affiliate Marketing as they make their way from NYC to Boston (and back). Participants will receive special gifts, provided by sponsors, and have the ability to win prizes. Refreshments will be provided on the bus. The bus is a typical charter bus. Unfortunately - no Wi-Fi, but bring your aircards and phones as we will be twittering away.
It looks like an interesting concept, and SocialSpark has a code of ethics for the community, which I presume will blunt the sort of criticism that was heaped on Pay Per Post in the past.
Video community site Magnify.net has announced some new “Pro” services and the option to resize their video player.
The “Pro” option with Magnify.net enables users to replace the current ads with their own ads.
There are some other options that can be adjusted for a fee, such as the “create a channel” option and Magnify.net branding.
Magnify.net also now enables users to pick from various sizes for the embeddable player, including 300 x 225, 400 x 300, and 600 x 450.
Lastly, they have added a new search partner in RedLasso, which enables community owners at Magnify.net to pick from more content to include in their sites.
Jim Kukral has launched a free series on how to create video on the Internet.
The videos shot with a Flip video camera and they are displayed in the new video player from SmugMug. It’s impressive how sharp the quality is with such an affordable camera and video host.
But as Jim shares, it comes down to more than the camera and video host - he goes into the equipment, lighting, editing, etc.
“I get about 10 emails a day asking me about how I make my web videos. They ask about lighting, sound, cameras, editing and just about anything else you can think of. So I thought to myself, why not just create a free guide that answers those questions? So that’s what I did”, commented Jim Kukral.
“The Onlinvideotoolkit is really a starting guide to help encourage people into starting to shoot web videos for business or personal brand reasons,” continued Kukral.
I’d recommend this series for anybody that is interested in getting into video. It’s not as hard as you might think.
That question stemmed from New York State’s new law mandating that online retailers collect sales tax on Internet purchases to state residents, even when the retailers have no tax nexus in New York.
