News

We Now Charge California Sales Tax. Here's Why.

By Carlton Hoyt, 03 July 2019

We don't like taxes any more than anyone else. Unfortunately for many, last year's South Dakota v. Wayfair decision by the United States Supreme Court meant that more companies are going to have to charge state and local sales taxes in more jurisdictions. A number of factors have made us come to what we consider an unfortunate but necessary decision to begin collecting CA sales tax. Here's why we're doing it:

  1. We already had a number of suppliers that charged us sales tax to ship to various jurisdictions, and we simply ate the cost. The number doing so in California are increasing rapidly.
  2. Many institutional customers' require that they can show they are paying sales tax in order to avoid having to pay it themselves. If we don't collect it, and therefore don't bill it, tax is being double-paid. The customer is still liable to pay it, and additionally we're being charged it by our suppliers.
  3. We're right on the cusp of being legally liable to do so anyway, just based on our own sales volume. While here in New Hampshire we do have a bit of that "live free" mentality, for business purposes it's best to remain above board.

Here in New Hampshire we have no sales tax, so we're still figuring all this stuff out ourselves. We apologize to any of our customers in California who will be disappointed by the new laws. We liked it better when "tax nexus" was determined based on physical presence but hey - we don't make the rules.

As always, if you have any questions about past, present, or future business with us, just drop us a line.

Small Changes to Shipping Rates

By Carlton Hoyt, 19 June 2017

We've updated our shipping rates. Rates for all US customers have been rounded down, and shipping rates for Canadian customers were increased slightly on orders under $1000 to reflect the higher costs of shipping and order processing for orders to Canada.

For the US, the rates are now:

$0 - $999 $19
$1000 - $1999 $12
$2000 or more Free

For Canada, the rates are now:

$0 - $999 $30
$1000 - $1999 $18
$2000 or more Free

We No Longer Charge Canadian Sales Tax

By Carlton Hoyt, 18 May 2017

A few years back, we registered as a non-resident importer (NRI) in Canada. What that meant is that we designated ourselves as the importer of record and were liable for collecting and paying sales tax (GST & PST) whenever we shipped to Canada. Ultimately, we found that this was confusing to many of our Canadian customers, who were not used to paying sales tax to US-based businesses. In light of this, we have canceled our NRI brokerage and will no longer be designating ourselves as the importer of record for Canadian shipments.

What does this mean for our Canadian customers?

There are two main implications:

  1. We will no longer be charging sales tax for orders being shipped to Canada.
  2. You, the customer, will be responsible for paying all import duties and taxes.

In many cases, the shipper (UPS, FedEx, etc.) will require payment of import duties and / or taxes prior to delivery. It is your responsibility to ensure that prompt payment is made such that delivery can occur. If it is not, and the order is returned, you will be liable for all shipping fees to you and back to us. If the item carries a restocking fee for returns, you will be charged that fee. If the item is not a returnable item, you will not be eligible for any refund. In other words, be sure to pay all required import duties and taxes!

As always, if you ever have any questions about shipments to Canada or anything else, just give us a ring or drop us an email and we'll be happy to help.

Our marketplaces are now more secure!

By Carlton Hoyt, 29 April 2016

While we've always encrypted our checkout process, we've added SSL encryption to the entirety of our marketplaces! Now when you're shopping on any Laboratory Supply Network site, you can be comforted knowing that your data and privacy are protected by secure SSL encryption.

When you're browsing WaterBaths.net or any of our marketplaces, you can see the green https in the navigation bar of your browser to show that you're protected.

Our Shipments are Carbon Neutral!

By Carlton Hoyt, 03 December 2015

We're happy to announce that all shipments originating from Laboratory Supply Network are now carbon neutral! That means we're paying our express shipping providers extra in order to purchase certified CO2 offsets and negate the emissions produced by the transportation of your laboratory products.

Disclaimer: please note that not all shipments originate from a Laboratory Supply Network facility. To expedite order processing, orders will sometimes be fulfilled directly from the manufacturer and while we request that they also offset the carbon emissions from shipments, we have no way of guaranteeing that they do so. However, carbon neutrality will apply to many US shipments and all Canadian shipments.

WaterBaths.net Has Arrived!

By Carlton Hoyt, 11 August 2015

Welcome to WaterBaths.net! We're here to help make it easy to find the water bath or circulator you need for your laboratory. For liquid-based laboratory temperature control, there's no need to go anywhere else.

We've painstakingly documented the important attributes of each product so you can cut through the clutter and find the product you need - fast. (And there are a TON of baths and circulators out there - just ask our e-commerce manager Traci who had to add them all!) With so many options, it's important that you have the tools you need to find the best product for your application.

Think of WaterBaths.net as your toolkit for finding laboratory baths and circulators. We have a huge selection and many features to help you narrow down your options.

If you ever have questions or can't quite find what you need, feel free to drop us a line as well! Our support wizards would be happy to hear from you!