[JayBee1404]

I’m an ex-accountant, retired seven years now so my memory of sales tax (VAT is the closest thing we have in the UK) isn’t perhaps as good as it was, and I’ve never worked in the retail industry, but I’m sure that the transaction chain here, using your percentages, would have been:-

Sale of guitar to customer = $2,000

Commission charge to owner 25% = $500
Tax on commission 10% of $500. = $50
Total charge to seller. = $550

Net proceeds to seller. = $1,450

There would be no tax on the sale of the guitar because it wasn’t owned by the store and it wasn’t on their inventory - they were merely acting as a middle-man, and the $2,000 was not their own earnings, it was simply received on your behalf.

The 25% commission, $500, was the store’s earnings, and they would charge 10% tax - $50 - to the seller. Net cash to the seller would be $2,000-500-50= $1,450.

I’m betting that’s the figure you received? If so, it’s correct. But that’s assuming US sales tax rules work the same way as UK VAT rules, and it’s possible, even probable, they’re different. But the result is the same either way.

I don’t think it was you who got ripped off, I think it was the guy who bought the guitar and who paid $220 tax on a private sale.

If I’m wrong, I’d be interested to hear - my knowledge of US sales tax is limited to the small amounts I’ve been charged when I’ve been over there in Houston TX.