I used to post quarterly about all the stuff I was selling through Amazon affiliate links. But the iPod stuff has died down quite a bit. 2012 saw a little bit of resurgence with some flashlight-related things selling like flashlights, batteries, and chargers. Plus there is always a secondary effect where I refer people to Amazon and then they buy something completely different, but I still earn a commission.
All told there were 134 items sold in 2012 worth $2649, earning me a commission of $128 (which pays for the hosting the website and domain registrations). The most expensive item that was sold was a kitchen disposal for $129. Second most expensive was an Amazon Kindle for $99. The thing I sold the most of was compact Sony charger, with 13 units being sold (with prices from $7.99 to $11.97). It’s a great little charger and I actually do have links to it, unlike the disposal or Kindle.
The state of Georgia passed a law saying that any goods sold in Georgia, or by companies with locations in Georgia, should apply Georgia sales tax. So while Amazon does not have a location in Georgia, Georgia says that because I am in Georgia and am an affiliate of Amazon, that Amazon should collect Georgia sales tax. This seems like nonsense to me. If the original seller was in Utah, Amazon headquarters are located in Washington state, the affiliate is in Georgia, and the item shipped from a warehouse in Indiana, then by that reasoning they could all 4 charge sales tax. Amazon says it has no intention of complying, and I don’t know that Georgia has any way of making them comply. They could try to make me comply, but I’m not in a position to collect sales tax since I don’t process the payments. So we’ll see if anything materializes. If Georgia somehow wins, then Amazon might just drop all of its Georgia affiliates.