Shipping & PermaLinx Sales Tax Changes Beginning August 1, 2023

Posted in: Company Updates Shipping July 3, 2023

We have had many conversations with the Executive Directors, Sr. Director and Directors over the last 2 months.  They are all aware of these changes and will be a big help if you have any questions after the call.   

First, PermaLinx Buy 6 Get 1 FREE will be staying!

So what are the changes?   

They center around 2 things. 

  1. How we handle Sales Tax for PermaLinx 
  2. Overall shipping costs

 

SALES TAX 

We have been informed by our Sales Tax company (the largest in the US), that the way they helped us set up the Sales Tax for us to pay is now not recommended.  They are concerned this will trigger audits and issues in some states as they get more aggressive to collect taxes.  If that happened, they will not support us on this issue.  So, obviously we have to change.  It would not make sense to not have their support if any issues arose.    

 

SHIPPING 

We all know shipping has changed drastically since COVID.  We have made NO CHANGES in our Shipping cost in 4 years.
We have had a large loss the last few years and this year is on pace for an even MUCH LARGER loss.  Since Covid, most all orders are direct ship and very limited orders get shipped to the Hostess.
So we have to make changes to offset that change in behavior. Knowing we would have to make some changes, we looked at every angle possible to have the LEAST impact on as few of customers as possible.  We wanted to avoid an across the board increase in shipping if possible.   

 

Changes that will be EFFECTIVE AUGUST 1, 2023  

Hostess Shipping – Effective August 1st  

  1. All Shipping to a Hostess on a Boutique will be $6.99.  Same as a regular order.  No Free Hostess shipping.   
  2. No $4.99 Ship to Hostess option will be available.
  3. Customers and Direct ship will all stay the same and still have the $6.99 or $10.99 options. 
  4. The only change is to the Hostess.

PermaLinx Changes – Also Effective August 1st   

  1. Due to the Legal issues concerning Sales Tax we knew we had to make a change. This change will allow us to make a change in the ordering too.   
  2. All PermaLinx will transition to the same ORDERING as ALL jBloom Items.  All PermaLinx will be ordered in the Designer NET PRICING order Starting AUGUST 1st.    
  3. That means they will all now have shipping and Tax added beginning Aug 1st just like all jBloom items. 
  4. Part of this will bring a GOOD change in that all PERMALINX ITEMS will be available to USE BLOOM BUCKS ON.  Many of you have asked to use Bloom Bucks on PermaLinx and you will be able to starting Aug 1st.   
  5. This will also allow you to add jBloom items and PermaLinx items TOGETHER on the same order. 
  6. This will hopefully make it easier for some “PermaLinx” Designers to add some jBloom jewelry to sell as well.    
  7. Then shipping would be your standard $6.99 or $10.99 like it currently is for all jBloom items.  
  8. We will also add the 2nd Day and Overnight options for Permalinx HOWEVER this is for PERMALINX ONLY orders.  
  9. PERMALINX PRE-ORDERS will also be the same $6.99 for that order as well.   

 

SO, how will PermaLinx pricing work? 

  • The base price/Catalog will remain $35/$45. 
  • Designers will add their own tax based on their location 
  • We will be going back to exactly how it was done during the TEST GROUP.   
  • Based on how the test went, most designers would then charge $38 or $39 and this would cover Tax and give them a buffer for Shipping as well and keep it a flat rate for Customers. 

So to recap:

  1. Hostess will now have to pay $6.99 shipping
    (no more free shipping) 
  2. PermaLinx will be moved to the same Order type as all jBloom items and CAN now use Bloom Bucks on PermaLinx items. 
  3. Tax and shipping will not be included in the price.  They will be treated like all other catalog items. 
  4. All these changes will be effective AUG 1st. 

 

Since it won’t take effect until Aug 1st, it is another great reason to register for conference to get the added discount and the program as is until Aug 1st. 

We believe this will help our shipping losses, THEN we are committed to see how we can add certain “shipping events” in the future.   

Something like Free shipping on orders over $100 for a month or something like this.  We need to see how it all shakes out first but we will absolutely look for ways to do other things once we see the change.  

 This will help you as you plan your Boutiques for August and if you have ANY QUESTIONS please reach out to your Director and they will be happy to answer them for you.