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Question about the legalities of Amazon Affiliate Program

by Redorb
8 replies
Well first of all I live in a blacklisted state by Amazon because of the recent law passed here. However I have a relative who lives in another state that is willing to let me use their address to get around the issue if I do in fact decide to sign up for the program. My question is this legal or is a grey area issue? Would it be easier to form an LLC in Delaware? If I did how would I go about getting a PO Box in Delaware without going there?

Sorry for all the questions. Also hi to everyone since this is my first post on the forums.
#affiliate #amazon #legalities #program #question
  • Profile picture of the author Redorb
    Bumping the thread.
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by Redorb View Post

    Well first of all I live in a blacklisted state by Amazon because of the recent law passed here. However I have a relative who lives in another state that is willing to let me use their address to get around the issue if I do in fact decide to sign up for the program. My question is this legal or is a grey area issue? Would it be easier to form an LLC in Delaware? If I did how would I go about getting a PO Box in Delaware without going there?

    Sorry for all the questions. Also hi to everyone since this is my first post on the forums.
    Warning: The following is NOT legal advice and I am NOT a lawyer.

    1. If you have a legal business presence in another state, you should have no problems. Using a relative's address as a mail drop doesn't establish a legal presence.

    2. What you are looking for is a "mail forwarding service", of which there should be many in Delaware, given it's popularity as a location for corporations, LLCs, etc.

    Side note: Bumping your threads because you haven't gotten what you want is considered poor manners around here...
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    • Profile picture of the author Redorb
      Ah sorry about that I didn't want it to get pushed back excessively far to where it wouldn't be found. Thank you though on the advice I guess my best bet would be to do the mail forwarding service in Delaware or do a combination of that with a LLC.

      Also since I'm new here I was wondering if there was a sticky about all the basics?
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        One thing you'll find if you choose to hang around is that there are fairly few written rules, which you can find in the stickies at the top of the forum.

        The powers that be try to keep it that way because it works out better for both the mods and the members. With too many exact rules, you end up with forum lawyers trying to find the loopholes they can exploit.

        There are also unwritten rules, which most folks either learn by osmosis as they participate or inadvertently break, which is what you did. At that point, most of the members who encounter new folks with good intentions and holes in their knowledge will simply point out where the new person went wrong.

        At that point the incident is over, no harm, no foul.

        Oh, and welcome to the Warrior Forum...
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        • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
          Not legal advice for what is about to be an obvious reason.....

          Let me put it this way. Now that Schwarzenegger is no longer around to veto the "Amazon tax" bill in California, if the California legislature looks like it will pass such a bill again, my Amazon affiliate address will suddenly change to a mail forwarding service in another state.

          Or, you could assume I like to be prepared and already have a second Amazon account under another business name with an address from a mail forwarding service in a state that will not be affected by this nonsense.

          Frankly, that's what anyone would half a brain would do. Hard to believe so many people just roll over and let their accounts (ie., money to put food on the table) be canceled.
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          • Profile picture of the author Redorb
            Originally Posted by kindsvater View Post

            Not legal advice for what is about to be an obvious reason.....

            Let me put it this way. Now that Schwarzenegger is no longer around to veto the "Amazon tax" bill in California, if the California legislature looks like it will pass such a bill again, my Amazon affiliate address will suddenly change to a mail forwarding service in another state.

            Or, you could assume I like to be prepared and already have a second Amazon account under another business name with an address from a mail forwarding service in a state that will not be affected by this nonsense.

            Frankly, that's what anyone would half a brain would do. Hard to believe so many people just roll over and let their accounts (ie., money to put food on the table) be canceled.
            Yeah and the sad thing is once the bill passes like it has in my state it will be next to impossible to repeal because of it being a tax law. The way things are going make me wonder about internet marketing but I'm just getting my feet wet in terms of the ins and outs. I guess there is always around such things like John mentioned above.
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            • Profile picture of the author Kay King
              make me wonder about internet marketing
              Don't worry about it - just do what you need to do. If you are concerned, look up the figures of WHERE shopping was done before Christmas this year. Online shopping - again - showed a great increase.

              Just a few years ago people were afraid to place an order online - that's no longer the case and more and more people are buying on the internet. It's easier to compare prices, find good deals and they don't have to brave the traffic or buy gas.

              kay
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              January was long, February was iffy, March was a freaking dumpster fire.
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  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by Redorb View Post

    My question is this legal
    Don't ask for legal advice in a public internet forum. Get an attorney.

    The clean and simple solution is to form a legitimate company in a state with no state sales tax, like Delaware. How far you need to go with this and what hoops need to be jumped for it to be legitimate... that's for an attorney to discuss.

    The five states with no state sales tax are Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.

    Additionally, Washington state is the home office location for Amazon and they already have to collect sales tax here - so it's another "safe" state for your Amazon account, where you're pretty much guaranteed they will never shut down their affiliate program.
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