[Trust]

Seeing this pop up on Twitter, didn't see it posted here yet. So you can pick your state and see which merchants are already collecting sales tax/claim nexus, so you're safe to work with them -

http://nexusaware.com/

[Nathan Weinberg]

I wonder where they get their info. I want to make sure all my guys are in there with the correct data.

[Trust]

It's run by http://gtomanagement.com/gto-announces-nexusaware/

and

"If you are a merchant and you want to be added to the directory or if you feel information is incorrect or has changed in regards to a particular merchant listed here, please contact us at info at nexusaware.com."

[MichaelColey]

Just spot-checking it, it looks very incomplete. Should be a useful tool if it's built out more. Would also be nice to see when ones don't accept affiliates from which states.

[flamingoworld]

Yeah for MN they dont have Target on the list and Target is headquartered here.
For Target it says undeclared if I do a search.

[kgarcia]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to pop in really quick...all the data we have is hand-compiled and not surprisingly a lot of merchants don't make their nexus status particularly easy to locate. The database is incomplete and we have a lot of new features we plan on rolling out (like being able to search by category) but with everything that's going on tax bill wise and the surprise move in CO, we decided that it was better to get -some- information out and available to affiliates rather than nothing at all.

We're working on plugging the holes as quickly as possible, so if you know of something that is incorrect, please let me know and Joel and I will get it fixed asap.

We have a private form for affiliate managers to enter their program info (we'll be making this public soon...just trying to add a few safeguards to prevent spam/bad info) and I'm happy to share it with any AMs or OPMs that would like it ahead of time. Just email me at info at nexusaware.com, PM me here on ABW, or snag me on twitter (@karengarcia) and I'll get you all fixed up.

I'm really excited about this and I hope you all find it a useful tool. We're definitely open to suggestions, so if there is something you'd like to see, let us know!

Thanks,
Karen

[zooma230]

It would be helpful to know where they pulled the data for their database so that I could correct it with the original source. I did submit our nexus/tax collection status by state to GTO so that it is correct for affiliates moving forward.

[Nathan Weinberg]

Also a fairly useful link, just go it from my Linkshare rep:

http://www.linkshare.com/internettax/

Already subscribed to their RSS feed for updates.

I'm really glad nexusaware exists, and we're going to gather all the data for our programs and get it to Karen if it needs to be updated on the site.

[loxly]

Karen, why weren't OPMs and Managers reached out to before the launch? And where was the information gathered from and how is it being verified? It's a great idea, but before launching it I would have liked it if you had reached out to many people that could give you information. Like the tax forum right here on ABW.

[loxly]

Another point that was just brought up to me is that some merchants may not want to be in the database without their permission. Your database could work backwards by letting the taxing entities know about companies that *they* may not know about. In other words you are telling the tax departments who is in their jurisdictions.

I think that it should not be public information unless the merchants want it to be. And unless it is verified.

[kgarcia]

Hi Jeff,

In a majority of cases, we pulled the information from the merchants FAQ, affiliate information pages, and contact us pages. We also took a look at the affiliate information provided in the networks to see if the information was available and in worst case scenarios, we looked at the whois info to see if it was useful at all. Thanks for sending your info, we've updated and added it to the database. (btw, I'm glad SB has a program again...I managed that for 5 years and was sad when they killed it off )

Debbie, while we did talk about the idea in passing with a few OPMs over the last several months, it was mostly for feedback purposes. Our initial target was the networks and we contacted several of them to solicit help in contacting merchants since it would be near impossible to contact everyone before launching. Unfortunately, our requests were met with either silence or "we're too busy, we'll get back to you". We decided to approach this from the other end, which is why we've launched. We're reaching out to -everyone- now. We want to make this tool as useful as possible, but we can't do it alone.

In regards to the tax jurisdiction question, the information we've included is publically available. If a state chooses to use the tool to find merchants that are breaking their laws, that's their choice, although most of the states with issues are already making liberal use of their subpoena systems. If a merchant doesn't want their states listed, that's fine. We can mark them as non-participating. We're flexible.

Thanks,
Karen

[loxly]

If a merchant doesn't want their states listed, that's fine. We can mark them as non-participating.

My opinion is that if a merchant doesn't want their information listed they should not be listed at all and not listed as non-participating.

Again, you have done something that is going to be valuable, but some of it needs to be reconsidered. You can have an unexpected impact that could be damaging.

[flamingoworld]

I do have concern that the enemy will see the list and use it against us. They will say "see they still have plenty of merchants to work with"
Maybe the list should be private in some way? Access by registering or something?