Hasta La Gadget!

One major advantage that Amazon has over physical retail stores is that customers usually don’t have to pay sales tax. The company has fought hard to retain that edge, but as it has continued to grow its warehouse network, it has had to budge in a few states. Prior to today, Amazon collected sales tax on online purchases from residents of 16 states in the U.S. Starting today, residents of Indiana, Nevada and Tennessee will also have to pay sales tax on products purchased online through Amazon.

State officials believe that the levies from these three additions are going to generate over $50 million a year, collectively. The number of states where paying sales tax on Amazon purchases is compulsory is now up to 19, the list isn’t going to grow until 2016, when South Carolina will get onboard as well making it an even 20. Amazon may have voiced concerns against taxes being levied at state level, but the company has been vocal in support of Congressional efforts that seek to impose nationwide online sales tax rules. It believes that such a law would level the playing field, though it can’t be said for sure just how long will that take to happen considering the bill is currently pending in Congress.

Three New States Join List That Pays Sales Tax On Amazon Purchases original content from Ubergizmo.

Stop starving your camera with that old 1 GB off-brand SD card that you’ve had since the aughts. There’s a memory sale on Amazon and it’s calling your name. Today only, go there now.

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We know that the holiday season has been a pretty busy one for Amazon. After all, seeing 426 items being sold per second is a lot of orders that needs to be processed, as well as a lot of orders that need to go out, which is why it cannot be helped that sometimes along the way, something screws up. Well for those who shopped on Amazon for some last minute gifts but were disappointed due to the products not showing up in time for Christmas, well fret not because Amazon is hoping to compensate you for your frustration. Granted this probably won’t make up for the fact that you missed out on a gift during the Christmas season, but we reckon this is better than nothing.

According to reports, Amazon has started to provide its affected customers with $20 gift cards, as well as refunding any shipping charges that customers might have paid. Like we said this probably won’t make up for screwing up Christmas as far as gifts are concerned, but it is still a nice gesture by Amazon nonetheless to make up for any errors caused by their delivery partners, such as UPS and FedEx, so if you’re one of those affected by the delayed shipping, be sure to check your account and credit card for the $20 gift cards as well as any possible refunds that you might have paid for on shipping.

Amazon Offering $20 Gift Cards And Shipping Refunds For Missed Christmas Deliveries original content from Ubergizmo.

Didn’t get your last last last minute gifts from Amazon delivered on time? Neither did a lot of other folks. Between weather and high demand, UPS choked. But there’s good news: $20 Amazon gift cards are on the way to the afflicted.

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Amazon is the largest online retailer of its kind in the world, and the numbers it has released today are certainly in line with that. The company saw record breaking sales during the 2013 holiday shopping season, with over 36.8 million items being sold on Cyber Monday alone. That’s up from 26.5 million items on Cyber Monday 2012 and amounts to a staggering 426 items sold every single second. This holiday season, Amazon shipped to 185 countries and it shipped enough items with Prime to deliver at least one gift to every household in the country.

Moreover, Amazon Prime drew in over one million members from around the world only in the third week of December. Prime Instant Video catalog surged from 33,000 titles to 40,000 movies and TV shows, the Kindle store played host to over 200,000 exclusive books in 2013. Xbox One and PlayStation 4 topped the gaming charts, during the peak time around Black Friday, both consoles saw sales topping 1,000 units per minute. Amazon’s best seller charts had the Kindle Fire and Kindle e-readers on top, they were some of the most sold products in their category throughout the holiday season. An interesting fun fact to note is that half of Amazon’s customers during this period shopped using a mobile device, another is that enough Crayola Marker Makers were purchased this season to draw a line around the world four times.

Amazon Saw 426 Items Being Sold Per Second During 2013 Holiday Season original content from Ubergizmo.