Merchandise sales

RoboJackets occasionally sells branded merchandise to members. This page documents considerations for purchasing and pricing merchandise.

Purchasing merchandise

Before placing an order with a vendor, consider pre-selling the merchandise to reduce the amount of stock RoboJackets stores on site.

If and only if all units will be per se resold, a corporation officer should fill and sign a ST-5 Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption certifying that the items are for resale only, and the certificate should be provided to the vendor. Students don’t have authorization to sign on behalf of the corporation.

Pricing merchandise

Consider the following expenses when determining the list price for an item.

Square processing fees

RoboJackets will pay about 4% in processing fees for any sales made through Square. This processing fee must be added to the sale price of the item to avoid a net loss on the sale.

Sales tax

RoboJackets must also collect and remit sales tax for sales of tangible goods. Determine if sales tax will be included within the list price, or added on separately, and set the list price accordingly.

Test the checkout flow within Square before publicizing a link to purchase, to ensure that sales tax is calculated and recorded accurately, and the net revenue amount is positive after deducting the unit cost of the item, Square processing fees, and sales tax. Sales tax reporting depends on accurate accounting within Square.

Shipping

If you want to offer shipping for customers beyond Atlanta, consider whether you want to offer a flat rate or Square-calculated shipping rate.