GTO Management

Karen and I had the chance to chat with Brian Littleton of Shareasale on a few topics. Most importantly, we spent some time chatting about the New York Affiliate Tax issues.

Some of the main points:

• Sales totals from New York Affiliates that require merchants to report and pay tax
• Fact that orders need to be shipped to New York addresses to qualify and the challenge this present to affiliate networks
• Some of the steps that Shareasale has taken to familitate merchant compliance without compromising affiliate privacy
• Some good advice from Brian on where to get guidance on this. Merchants should consult with their accountant and someone familiar with New York law if New York affiliates are a substantial piece of the their mix or may be in the future to come up with a sound policy
• We reviewed some of the actions that we’ve been seeing merchants take due to the law including Overstock and Amazon filing suit.
• Affiliate shock on receiving action notices from merchants making compliance decisions.

We also chatted a bit on what is happening at Shareasale (technical innovation) and chatted about Brian’s tendancy to end up at a piano at industry events and availability of piano bars near the Affiliate Summit hotel.

Enjoy!