Integration: TaxCloud API

Migrating from: Avalara

Key metrics:

• Cut sales tax compliance costs by 75%
• Using TaxCloud to file sales taxes in 50 states

 

PangoBooks is an online marketplace dedicated to buying and selling books, built by a team passionate about creating a platform that serves both readers and independent sellers.

Grant Singleton, the CTO and co-founder, helped create PangoBooks with a focus on offering a seamless experience for users, allowing them to explore, discover, and share their love for books. As a rapidly growing company selling across all 50 states, managing sales tax compliance was a complex and time-consuming task.

Challenge

Before implementing TaxCloud, PangoBooks faced significant challenges in managing sales tax compliance, especially with multi-state transactions. They had previously been using Avalara’s Avatax service, but according to Grant, the experience left much to be desired. The cost of Avalara was high, and their customer support was inconsistent, often taking days to respond. Additionally, Avalara’s interface felt overly complex for PangoBooks’ needs.

Grant summarized the challenge:

“We were moving away from Avalara mainly because of the pricing, but also due to bad customer service. When we switched to TaxCloud, I expected a lesser product based on the pricing difference. But the TaxCloud solution was the same—if not simpler—compared to Avatax.”

Solution

TaxCloud proved to be the right fit for PangoBooks, particularly in handling the complexities of multi-state sales tax. The simplicity of TaxCloud’s user interface and its pricing model were standout features for Grant. “TaxCloud does exactly what we need it to do—sales tax collection for an online marketplace—and it works perfectly,” said Grant. The straightforward dashboard allowed PangoBooks to quickly track taxes collected and monitor state-by-state requirements.

One of the key benefits was the ease with which they could manage compliance across all 50 states. Grant explained, “You just turn on a state, and it immediately starts recording transactions. TaxCloud’s onboarding team was really helpful in getting everything set up, but even without that, it’s easy to navigate.”

Results

Since moving to TaxCloud, PangoBooks has seen a significant improvement in the efficiency of its tax management processes. The simplicity of TaxCloud’s platform allowed Grant’s team to integrate it quickly and focus on growing their marketplace, rather than worrying about infrastructure or constant system maintenance. “As a CTO, it’s a relief. You don’t want to spend your time fighting with tax software,” Grant stated.

Additionally, PangoBooks was able to cut costs dramatically. The company saved tens of thousands of dollars by switching from Avalara to TaxCloud.

“We paid around $25 to $30k for TaxCloud, compared to $100 to $150k with Avalara. The pricing difference is huge, and it’s a relief to move away from the endless negotiations just to get a decent price.”

Final thoughts

When asked what the title of a book about the PangoBooks-TaxCloud partnership would be, Grant responded simply: “It works!” For a CTO with a growing company, that’s high praise.

“Things are always breaking in tech, but TaxCloud just works. It’s easy to set up, easy to manage, and it doesn’t require constant oversight. That’s exactly what we need.”

About PangoBooks

PangoBooks is a veteran-founded company powered by a dedicated team of customer support staff, engineers, and marketing specialists. The team comes from every region of the United States, with backgrounds ranging from bookselling and teaching to the armed forces and beyond.

What unites the team is a shared love of books and a commitment to making book buying more accessible and sustainable.

PangoBooks understands how special books are, which is why they built technology to empower readers to share the books they love. Unlike other secondhand marketplaces, PangoBooks is optimized specifically for books and readers. With their app, anyone can start the bookstore of their dreams today.

Download on the appstore.

Get it on Google Play.

TaxCloud simplifies tax compliance and enhances scalability for Bonanza’s diverse marketplace platform

Integration: TaxCloud API

Key metrics:

• 25,000+ merchants on Bonanza covered by TaxCloud sales tax API
• Using TaxCloud to file sales taxes in 47 states

 

In 2008, Bonanza was launched with the vision of providing a unique and supportive platform for merchants in various industries. Led by CEO Quincy Faison, Bonanza has grown into a marketplace ecosystem with over 25,000 merchants, offering products ranging from fashion to electronics.

As Bonanza merchants grew over time , the complexity of managing tax compliance for thousands of merchants across multiple jurisdictions as well as the need to file and remit became increasingly challenging and cumbersome.

Challenge: Navigating Tax Compliance Complexities

Bonanza realized that their existing tax compliance processes were unsustainable as the business continued to grow. Ensuring accurate tax calculations across multiple states required a sophisticated and reliable solution that could automate the filing and remittance process to keep merchants on Bonanza 100% sales tax compliant no matter where or what they sell.

“Managing tax compliance was becoming a bottleneck. We needed a solution that could handle the complexities of sales tax for thousands of merchants across various states efficiently,” explained Quincy Faison, CEO of Bonanza.

Given these challenges, it was clear that a robust tax management solution was essential to streamline operations and maintain compliance.

Solution: Selecting TaxCloud for Tax Compliance

Bonanza needed a reliable tax compliance solution that could seamlessly integrate with their marketplace platform. They chose TaxCloud for its real-time tax calculations and easy API integration capabilities, ensuring compliance with multiple jurisdictions.

“TaxCloud’s integration was straightforward, and their real-time tax calculation feature significantly reduced our manual workload,” Quincy Faison stated.

TaxCloud’s ability to provide accurate tax calculations and simplify compliance across all states and localities was key for Bonanza. The seamless integration with Bonanza allowed for real-time tax management, reducing manual errors and saving valuable time.

Marketplace Integration: Expanding Reach and Efficiency

Bonanza leveraged TaxCloud’s capabilities to ensure consistent tax compliance across all their sales channels. This integration ensured that merchants on Bonanza could focus on growing their businesses without the burden of managing tax compliance.

“The integration with TaxCloud has been beneficial for our merchants. It allowed them to focus more on their business growth while staying compliant with tax regulations. Our merchants don’t need to worry about sales tax at all, ” Quincy Faison explained.

The ability to manage tax compliance for thousands of merchants from a single solution streamlined operations and enhanced overall efficiency.

Results: Achieving Remarkable Growth and Compliance Efficiency

Since integrating TaxCloud, Bonanza has experienced significant improvements in both revenue and operational efficiency. The automation of tax compliance has led to a noticeable reduction in tax-related errors, supporting the overall scalability of the marketplace.

“Using TaxCloud has enabled us to maintain compliance effortlessly, allowing our merchants to focus on what they do best—selling their products,” remarked Quincy Faison.

The combination of Bonanza’s flexible platform and TaxCloud’s reliable tax management solution has enabled Bonanza to focus on growth without the burden of manual tax compliance.

Looking ahead: Continuing Innovation and Expansion

With a focus on continuous growth, Bonanza is excited about the future. They plan to attract even more sellers to their platform, ensuring that they have peace of mind regarding sales tax compliance.

By leveraging the TaxCloud  solution, Bonanza aims to simplify tax management and support the growth of their seller community.

“TaxCloud’s reliable and scalable solution gives us the confidence to grow our seller base while ensuring seamless tax compliance,” stated Quincy Faison.

Bonanza is committed to innovating and expanding their marketplace, providing sellers with the necessary tools and support to thrive in the competitive e-commerce landscape. This strategic focus will help Bonanza continue to grow and deliver greater value to their dedicated sellers and buyers.

About Bonanza

Bonanza is an online marketplace that empowers entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses based on repeat customers. With a wide range of products and a user-friendly platform, Bonanza has become a go-to marketplace for merchants looking to grow their business efficiently.

For more information, visit Bonanza.

For questions about selling on Bonanza, contact support@bonanza.com

UntilGone automates tax compliance and unlocks cost savings with TaxCloud and BigCommerce

Industry: Retail & E-commerce

Migrating from: Avalara

Marketplace integration: BigCommerce

Key metrics:

• Filing taxes in 44 states
• $10M+ GMV

 

In 2005, UntilGone.com, formerly known as Yugster.com, was launched as a pioneer in the daily deals market. The company evolved from a single product daily deal to offering multiple daily deals, targeting a broad mix of consumer goods from electronics to apparel to home goods. 

Led by Richard Bell, President and Owner, UntilGone aims to deliver the best selection of deals on innovative, unique, and quality products at the lowest possible price to its US customer base. 

As the business grew, they faced significant challenges in managing complex tax compliance needs, which became increasingly cumbersome.

Challenge: Navigating tax compliance complexities

UntilGone realized that using Avalara to manage tax compliance was becoming unsustainable as the business expanded. Ensuring accurate tax calculations across multiple jurisdictions required a more reliable solution.

“Initially, we used Avalara for our tax needs, but it wasn’t as helpful as we needed. The process was complex and time-consuming, especially for someone like me who was new to ecommerce and sales tax rules,” explained Richard Bell.

“Avalara was also very expensive, and their customer support was not responsive. Every issue required a consulting contract, and they rarely helped us fix their mistakes. Additionally, Avalara never informed us about the Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) program, which could have saved us a significant amount of money.”

The complexities of managing tax compliance and the inefficiencies of their previous solution highlighted the need for a more effective sales tax compliance software.

Solution: Selecting TaxCloud for tax compliance

UntilGone needed a reliable tax compliance solution. They chose TaxCloud for its price, customer support, easy integration with BigCommerce, and compliance with multiple jurisdictions.

“TaxCloud’s ability to provide accurate tax calculations and simplify compliance across various states and localities was a game-changer,” explained Bell.

TaxCloud provided valuable insights into the SST program, enabling UntilGone to save money on tax remittances. UntilGone benefits from TaxCloud’s support across 25 SST states and 19 direct filing states, ensuring comprehensive and efficient tax management.

Marketplace integration: Expanding reach and efficiency

UntilGone leveraged TaxCloud’s capabilities to integrate with BigCommerce. This integration ensured automated tax compliance.

“The integration process with TaxCloud was incredibly straightforward. We installed the app, and by the time we were done, we were essentially able to just flick a switch and complete the migration. It was very easy to set up the different states that needed to be set up,” explained Bell.

By selecting TaxCloud, UntilGone achieved seamless tax compliance and significant cost savings through the SST program. The straightforward integration with BigCommerce enabled automated, accurate tax calculations across multiple jurisdictions. This comprehensive solution allowed UntilGone to streamline operations and focus on business growth.

Results: Achieving compliance efficiency

Since integrating TaxCloud, UntilGone has experienced significant improvements in operational efficiency. 

Additionally, the scalability of BigCommerce has effectively supported UntilGone’s expanding business needs.

“With TaxCloud, I spend little to no time managing sales tax. It’s more about time savings and convenience, having a partner that is reasonable and easy to work with,” remarked Bell.

The combination of BigCommerce’s flexible platform and TaxCloud’s reliable tax management solution has enabled UntilGone to focus on growth without the burden of tax compliance.

Future: Continuing innovation and expansion

With a new platform, a new brand, and a great new mix of vendors, UntilGone looks to the future with excitement. They plan to leverage the capabilities of BigCommerce and TaxCloud to further optimize operations and continuous growth. The future looks bright for UntilGone, bringing even more value to their loyal customers.

“With BigCommerce and TaxCloud serving as reliable and scalable solutions, we are poised for continued success,” explained Bell.

 

About UntilGone

UntilGone.com (formerly Yugster.com) was a pioneer Daily Deal site. Launched in 2005, the company evolved from a single product daily deal to nine daily deals targeting a broad mix of consumer goods from electronics to apparel to home goods. UntilGone is a tailored-to-fit-you shopping experience delivering the best selection of deals on innovative, unique, and quality products at the lowest possible price to the US customer base.

TaxCloud & FireResQ: Sales Tax Compliance in the Aftermath of the Wayfair Decision

FireResQ, Inc. was established in 2011 with the vision of revolutionizing the fire equipment industry by providing critical equipment to volunteer fire departments without painfully long lead times from manufacturers. Led by CEO, Founder, and Firefighter Barry McConaghey and COO and Vice President Daniel Weber, the company is committed to serving the small, local fire departments which make up 65% of fire departments in the United States, by offering competitive pricing on fire hoses and accessories directly from retail manufacturers. Today they have successfully reduced equipment transit times and now deliver 95% of their inventory within two days.

Here’s how Taxcloud helped the company manage sales tax compliance in the aftermath of the Wayfair Decision.

The Problem: Balancing Price and Quality

In the aftermath of the South Dakota v. Wayfair decision in 2018, sales tax suddenly became more complex. With multiple fulfillment centers across the U.S., Barry knew he would need external help to stay in compliance with new legislation.

That’s where TaxCloud stepped in.

Barry and his team knew price would be the main driver when they set out to find a sales tax solution for their growing business. Of course, that didn’t mean they were willing to sacrifice quality.

The Solution: Streamlining Sales Tax

With pricing as a priority in their search for a sales tax solution, TaxCloud stood out as a winning option against competitors with its simple, affordable pricing. The app’s ease of use was also a major plus for Barry and his team.

TaxCloud also proved to be the answer to FireResQ’s API issues.  When FireResQ initially came to TaxCloud they used an ecommerce software that not only was painful to set up and use but the platform made API integrations challenging and expensive. With the help of our dedicated TaxGeeks, they quickly made the move to Shopify as another step in improving their ecommerce tech stack and making sales tax calculation and collection much easier.

No More Sales Tax Stress

Barry has noted that he’s been happy with TaxCloud over the past few years and has appreciated the dedicated support from the team. At this point, only a sharp decline in customer service or a significant change in pricing would trigger him to search for another provider.

Need help keeping your business sales tax compliant? Get in touch with our team today.