By Noy Baraness
Contributing Writer:

Many students in both high school and college found Amazon a very useful place because it was convenient and they offered competitive prices. In an article from the Los Angeles Times, some people were saying that they were buying things such as laptops, cameras, DVDs etc. from Amazon. The reason they were doing this was because on expensive items such as technology, sales tax can add hundreds of dollars to the final price.

Starting Sept. 15, 2012 Amazon.com began to charge sales tax. Before this everything you bought from Amazon was tax free, but now this is over.

“I will probably not buy (from Amazon) as often anymore because I don’t want to extra pay for something I haven’t seen in person,” said sophomore Theresa Carter.

Amazon had an advantage because some people preferred to buy things online, wait a few days to get it but not pay extra money in sales tax, perhaps now more than ever in this economy. After the change was annouced, Amazon did release a statement saying “We offer customers the best prices with or without sales tax.”

“Sure, I would still continue using Amazon because it’s still better quality then getting something for cheaper on eBay or even in stores,” said sophomore  Jessica Stein.

Stein makes an excellent point; it is a lot better and faster than eBay. Also, Amazon doesn’t charge much for shipping. If you’re a Prime member, you get free two day shipping on all orders.

The changes also  affect students here at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS). Books for example, are quite expensive. Some of us students at DPMHS use Amazon to buy books and other useful items. What is great about Amazon is that you can buy two or three books and pay half the price you would pay at Barnes and Noble or Borders today. In addition, a lot of the bookstores have gone out of business.

Senior Kylie Greenhut had an interesting point to make. “I don’t actively buy from Amazon,” Greenhut said. “I will probably still buy from there though, depending on what the prices have changed to. I feel as though every business, even online ones have to keep up with this economy. It was nice not having to pay for the tax, though.”

This is just a few people, how do the rest of you Sharks feel?  Tell us in the comments. Click here to create a WordPress account (needed for commenting).