Hi Ann,
I completely agree with you on "internet seller vs brick and mortar". When purchasing electronics such as an HDTV, I feel compelled to buy from Best Buy (and I do), because I appreciate them having a store where I can go and see everything in person, and try it all out. Having said that, with buying an ebike, at least in my case, it isn't internet seller vs store, it's simply store in one state versus another. If my local shop is losing a local sale due to taxes, then can just the same gain a sale for the same reason, to a buyer in another state.
As a noob here, I definitely want to shy away from saying anything political, but Steve echoes a lot of my sentiments about tax. I am a patriot, and believe in being honest; however, if you are playing honest and everyone else is cheating, at some point you have to adjust to survive. The biggest proponents of the "pay your fair share" spiel cheat on their own taxes. The very same politicians who rage about "unfair alliances" are the very same people who reward friends and supporters themselves. So as someone working very hard, who is not rich, and who feels I am already WAY overtaxed, I am quite eager to be able to escape some taxes.
And as Steve already stated, tax is a HINDRANCE to sales, not an assist. When I consider my purchase of a $4K or $5K ebike (or more), the extra $500 I am going to have to pay (out of money I earned which was already taxed when I earned it, but don't get me started) makes me much LESS likely to make the purchase. Just some feedback as a buyer here.
And one other thing about internet seller versus bike shop... even though I want to save money and resent paying extra taxes, I'd shy away from a strictly internet seller. A bike shop knows a lot more about the bikes, how to set them up, how to adjust them, etc... For ebikes, that seems a MUST to me. So I don't see the big deal about internet vs shop in this industry. Maybe I am naiive, or maybe there are aggressive internet sellers attempting to assert themselves into the marketplace? I thought that ebikes were kind of like cars though, in that one had to have a dealer license/approval, in order to sell the bikes? Like with the Stromer I am considering, I believe only official Stromer dealers can sell their bikes. And if someone wasn't an official Stromer dealer, well maybe it's just me, but I'd be leery about the product in that case.