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Update #2, 11/17 at 8pm: Google has reactivated the suspended accounts!
Here is the message that they each received:
“Hello Google user,
Your Google Account was suspended as part of our fraud prevention efforts, based on violations of our Terms of Service and Terms of Sale for Devices. After reviewing your appeal, we are re-enabling your account.
Google takes violations of our terms very seriously, and we ask that you review relevant terms and product policies to ensure that you understand them. Repeated violations of our terms may lead to account termination.
In order to access your Google account, please sign in. When you sign in, you will be asked to verify a security code via SMS. Once you verify the code, you will be able to access your account again.
Last but not least, we wanted to remind you that Google users can always export and download their data from Google products like Gmail, Photos, and Drive while their account is active. In a few easy steps, you can create an archive to keep for your records or backup your data to another service. More information about backing up your data can be found at google.com/takeout.”
I find it hard to understand why Google only allows you to download your data if your account is active. They claim the data belongs to you, but if you violate any of their terms you will lose the ability to retrieve your data.
Update, 11/17 at 6:30pm: This story has gone viral in the 25 hours since I published it and has been covered by The Guardian, Consumerist, PCMag, Engadget, Mashable, Ars Technica, Reddit, Hacker News, and more.
The Associated Press covered the story in depth and interviewed DDF members.
My hope was for that to get Google’s attention and put pressure on them to respond.
And indeed Google has just sent me the following statement,
“We identified a scheme in which consumers were asked to purchase Pixel devices on behalf of a reseller, who then marked-up the cost of those devices in order to resell them to other customers. We prohibit the commercial resale of devices purchased through Project Fi or the Google Store so everyone has an equal opportunity to purchase devices at a fair price. Many of the accounts suspended were created for the sole purpose of this scheme. After investigating the situation, we are restoring access to genuine accounts for customers who are locked out of many Google services they rely on.”
As of yet none of the suspended accounts have been restored, but hopefully that will happen soon and I’ll update this post again when that occurs. Google did not respond with a timeframe of when they can expect to regain access to their accounts. Many people have been devastated by losing their access to Google services over terms that they didn’t read. They’re not blameless, but let’s face it, how many non-lawyers actually read all the terms?
Kudos to Google for agreeing to restore their online identities. I still wonder though if a human authorized the account suspensions or if it was triggered by an algorithm. Either way, it’s scary to think about how much power Google has over our lives.
As for me, I got my Google Takeout order today and plan to request backups of my Google data on a weekly basis. Many others have moved their email to private servers and other hosts in order to diversify their online presence in case they ever run afoul of Google’s terms.
Will you be changing where you store you data based on this story?
Originally posted on 11/16 at 5PM:
Several DDF members are reporting that they have not been able to access their Google accounts over the past few days.
This is the error message they encounter when trying to login:
They also got an email stating that all of their data will be deleted if they do not successfully appeal their suspension:
It turns out the common denominator is that they had all bought Google Pixel phones and shipped them to a phone dealer in New Hampshire who paid them a profit on each phone. There is no sales tax in New Hampshire and the phones are then resold to others.
The problem is that many of them didn’t read the terms that they agreed to when buying the phone from the Google store. Those state “You may only purchase Devices for your personal use. You may not commercially resell any Device, but you may give the Device as a gift.”
I did some research and found the dealer, who feels awful about the situation. There are over 200 people who are locked out of their Google accounts currently. Some of those people used multiple Google accounts in order to place orders for more than 5 phones and they are locked out of all of the accounts. The dealer is more than happy to return all the phones to Google if it will rectify the situation.
The dealer has been ordering phones from Google in this manner since the original Nexus and has never had an issue. In total a few thousand phones were ordered this time, which is fewer phones than were ordered in the past. However this time was the first time that they were ordered through Project Fi, as they were shipping out faster that way. The phones were all ordered at the full retail price and about 500 orders were cancelled by Google.
Google has apparently closed the accounts of everyone who shipped their phones directly to his address in New Hampshire, regardless of how many phones the account ordered or whether the phones actually shipped or were cancelled by Google.
The account closure includes all of Google’s services. The people affected don’t have access to Gmail, Google Drive, Google Voice, or anything from Google. They don’t have any access to gift cards, bills, travel confirmations, work documents, etc that were saved in their Gmail accounts.
Worse yet, emails that are sent to their Gmail accounts are being bounced back as undeliverable. Even if Google relents and reactivates their accounts they will never know what emails they missed while the account was locked.
Some people had family photos saved in their drive that are now lost. It’s the 21st century version of losing priceless mementos in a house fire.
Some people are also locked out of other online accounts that require email authentication, which of course they can no longer access. Many accounts require email access in order to change a password or update your email. There’s a world of pain in store for people who have lost their primary email account.
I’m not defending those who violated the terms of the sale, but I do think it is heavy-handed for Google to block access to all of their services for doing so. Was violating Google’s phone resale policy really worthy of an effective digital death penalty?
One DDF member even claims that his Google account, that didn’t order a phone, was banned just for having a recovery account that was banned for ordering a phone.
Quite frankly it’s scary to think about how much I rely upon Google for everyday life. Losing everything that I’ve accumulated with Google for the past 15 years would be devastating.
There are a few lessons here for everyone:
1. Don’t mess around with Google or any company that you simply can’t live without.
I’m guilty of this myself and it’s a good thing that they didn’t have this kind of account auditing in place when my friends and I passed hundreds of thousands of dollars around with Google Checkout when they were offering free credit card processing in 2006. The boatload of free miles were great, but were not enough to live without Google. Then again, Google wasn’t as critical to my day to day life 10 years ago.
2. Ignorance of the terms isn’t an excuse, so be sure to read them.
3. Backup your Google data often with Google Takeout. That page is not accessible if you are banned. I’ve already started the process of having my information delivered to me so that I can back it up locally and plan on doing so on a regular basis in the future.
People who have not been able to access their accounts have appealed to Google and that appeal is still in process.
It seems to me that a warning should have been issued before closing account access. At a bare minimum Google should have allowed emails to be sent to their accounts and not bounce back to the sender as undeliverable during the appeal process. And at the very least they should be allowed to download their saved data.
But hopefully they quickly get back access to their Gmail and other vital Google services where they weren’t in violation of Google’s terms.
I know that Google employees read this blog. Back when Google Wallet required you to receive money from another person in order to be able to send money to others there was a conga made on DDF that grabbed the attention of the director of Google Wallet. He was amazed by the concept and even stuck around to answer people’s questions. If anyone working at Google does read this I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Of course this leads to bigger questions on a national scale about what is or isn’t ours when it’s stored in the cloud? Should there be government legislation guaranteeing people access to their data?
I’ve reached out to the EFF, Engadget, and the Consumerist for their thoughts on Google’s actions and am awaiting their replies.
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Leave a Reply
270 Comments on "PSA: Don’t Mess With The Google!"
And now is the time to reiterate to everyone what you should have realized long ago: Google is NOT your friend. There is a reason why all of their services are offered for free. They monetize on your data, they look at and know whatever you do online. Even when you use their opt-out options to disable directed ads, they still track you.
Google’s TOS stated clearly (at least at some point) that everything you upload to Drive or Docs becomes shared intellectual property with them. That means that the hard-working thesis you worked on – Google owns it and can publish it. Your financial spreadsheets – they have full clearness to read them. Your most personal and intimate emails – they’re Google’s for the taking.
At a time when many companies try to streamline their TOS’s and make them simpler to read and understand, Google continues to make theirs heavier and more obfuscated. They rely on you not reading them, because if you did, you’d never agree to them.
There are plenty of low-cost options for cloud storage that rival Google and don’t mess with you. You can host your own emails for pennies a day, including the domain name, at any of the big registrars. We all have some sort of a network at home, if only to connect our computer and modem. Adding a networked file storage server is not expensive, and many are pretty idiot-proof.
Take your life and data back. It may cost a bit, it may not have the ease you’re used to, but your info will stay YOURS (at least until you share it with someone else). Don’t let Google rule you.
You may want to add to the post what some DDFers have mentioned that in order to regain access they had to resubmit their claim.
[P.S. No need to post this comment. This is just a suggestion.]
Dan, you’re a Tzadik!
Bh, i wasnt affected, but am inspired how you are mamesh osek betzorchei tzibur.
Keep it up!
@Dan: You are correct, BUT. If it was all on the up and up, which clearly it was not. The address that the phones were shipped to was a Regus office and these guys do this all the time.
If they were legit, they could have had it all shipped to NYC or Fl etc.
a reseller might not have to pay tax, but there is a limit on how many items can be purchased.
A hot item new or even clearence, has limits on quantity for this exact reason. Resellers will always have a different price structure than the public consumer, -and that’s assuming the original company (in this case google) even allows resellers.
Circumventing quantity limits is a half a problem.
Having these high priced items shipped in bulk to another state to save thousands on tax, the other half a problem.
Sure, some genius will try to have you believe all these people were shipping them to a heimish legitimate dealer in NH.
But, That’s about as plausible as Giving the arabs all the land in the world, on the condition that they never throw another rock at a Jew. Ha.
@Alex: “Adding a networked file storage server is not expensive, and many are pretty idiot-proof.”
Backing them up properly (like the online services do) is not so simple. And if you mess that up, sometimes you really lose your data forever!
Great news for all those who got their data back!
Let’s not forget the larger problem: google is too big for the good of anyone but itself. It needs to be broken up now, not regulated, not shamed into exerting its immense power slightly less harshly, but broken up into several independent companies. Anti-trust enforcers, I hope you’re reading this.
Although my a count was reinstated I lost a lot of contacts, extremely painfull.
I’m happy the the accounts were restored. As I posted yesterday, the one thing that would make google set up and take notice would be a press coverage questioning their trustworthiness and reliability. I hope this is a lesson learned not to take a risk Where the fall out would be catastrophic….
@Avi: looks like you lost all but one period too.
for every1 hating on the dealer…
there is no tax evasion. u r obligated to pay sales tax only if u purchase an item to be shipped to a state that obligates it OR if you have it shipped elsewhere and ‘smuggle’ it in to a state AND then use it, called USE tax….
this dealer did neither of the above… and therefore no state can come after him for the sales tax, assuming he is collecting sales tax on his sales to his customers’
SOCIAL MEDIA IS VERY POWERFUL & I APPLAUD @dan FOR UTILIZING HIS RESOURCES & SPEAKING UP FOR MANY FRUSTRATED PEOPLE WHO FOR NOT HIM…THEY MORE THAN LIKELY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HEARD. YOU PUT THIS STORY OUT IN A RESPECTFUL YET PROFESSIONAL MANNER ALL WHILE LAYING OUT THE FACTS WITH PRECISE DETAIL & INFORMATION.
KUDOS & MUCH RESPECT TO YOU. MAY YOU CONTINUE TO BE SUCCESSFULL IN MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.
MW
Dan Congratulations to you! And a big thank you while I wasn’t affected at all this was a story I kept on checking up for updates I noticed you were busy and on top of the situation the entire day and I know you did it because you felt awful for these people just like I did and for the Nay sayers who say you did it for ratings and traffic I’m positive otherwise especially since this story can get you flack as you appeared to defend dishonest people so a big thank you for all your hard work today!
@Alex,
Google tracking you even when you opt-out?
Taking a user’s thesis and claiming it’s Google’s property and publishing it?
That is a big deal of BS you wrote there.
Following the recent US elections, it would be wiser to either quote credible resources for what you say or stop spreading disinformation altogether. We have too much of that.
Over here in old Europe it’s pretty regulated what you can and can’t put in the Terms & Conditions, simply because corporations can’t expect users to read 20 pages of legalese which is hard to understand. It may be sensible to introduce similar legislation – limit the scope of the fine print to a few pages of clear language.
@POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA: Looks like Google still hasn’t restored your lower case letters.
still locked out of my account. Anyone else?
@nobiggy:
Try appealing it and you should get it back now.
Ok guys I got my GMAIL BACK! MAZAL TOV I’m finally breathing again.
Yall have no idea what a nightmare this was for me, my banking and everything else was screwed up I could not log into my account I have tried to change my email put needed my old email in order to enter a new email this is been a hell of a week for me.
All my personal family photos google drive.
Billing subscriptions were all billed to this email that was blocked from getting access to , I’m so happy I got it all back I’m literally a new person again I can breath.
BUT google lost my trust and every single one of my family members trust , due to them locking me out for almost a week without giving me access to my data which belongs to me and is written in the t&c straight out.
I and many others of my friends whom I shared my frustrating story with all started a private server email that backs up all emails and docs to a secure place that is reachable just in case google ever tried destroying my life again.
Lesson learned google can not be trusted.
@JB: yes the amount was $5 for a phone but the credit cards points equaled to 3700 points for miles or cash back that’s why we do it
Bucket list item of mine: Go viral just once like Dan does so often 🙂
Can you explain how you did it? Im so relieved access to my account was restored, but like you, I lost all faith in google.
@TravelBloggerBuzz:
Between the first pitch in game 7 of the world series, winning the USAToday travel blog contest, and now this. I think I’m ready for a vacation 🙂
@Chaya:
1. I heard from a number of suspended people who were desperate for a solution.
2. I reached out to the NH dealer to understand exactly what happened.
3. I wrote about the story and shared it to 100K+ DD social media followers.
4. I reached out and spoke to several news organizations.
5. I watched the story spread virally via social media and news media across the globe.
6. Eventually there was enough pressure that Google was forced to rapidly respond before the story would continue to snowball and further harm their reputation as the guardians of billions of people’s online lives.
I didn’t read all the comments but I guess if I got the gist of it right it’s a good thing we are not a few years down the road and I mean that literally, in a few years we will have Google cars imagine if you had a Google car and you got locked out of everything, and all that just to make a few dollars on a Google pixel phone of all things…..
Now THAT’S a scary thought
@Dansfan:
It sounds funny now, but I said the same exact thing last night about Google cars and I don’t doubt that we’re headed that way.
Google is very convenient, but what price will we pay one day to have digital overlords that control our lives and demand that we stay within their arbitrary terms?
Very scary when you think about it. This was a rude but necessary awakening for me.
@Anonymous: i made about 20,000 points from the phone sales….STILL WAS NOT WORTH IT, and i would not do it again
THANKS DAN FOR HELPING US ALL OUT TO GET OUR INFORMATION BACK!
Was is advertised somehwere? Where did you guys know of this NH guy and how did he pay u?
Everyone is pissed at Google yet they violated the T&Cs. LOL
So people were scamming google/others and got caught?
Seems like that is not only illegal but immoral.
I do not understand the stupidity of people. After an event like this, how can you ever use the services of this company again? Isn’t it just common sense to avoid making yourself depending on any company? Gosh people, diversify the services you use, don’t depend on one single company with your routines and avoid all that cloud stuff. People don’t think any more nowadays and then just put up with anything. How comes? Are you not aware that this kind of behaviour from Google (well, from any company really) is unacceptable?
Google is being presented as evil but all of you participated in this fraud for $5 each and lots of mileage. This is fraudulent business activity. Forget Google’s punishment. You sold a part of your soul.
@Avi 2.0 since I got my gmail back:
I really do not see why it needed an incident like that to come to your final conclusion, that Google is not trustworthy. No company is, don’t depend on them, did you not know this? People are strange.
Anyway to get the emails back from the last four days that were bounced back?
@Mark: Yes, that’s true. Which is why I first mentioned other cloud services. If you have a RAID 5 or 10 storage device, AND back it up to a cloud server, you’re pretty much covered. And while such devices are more expensive, if your data is so important (which to many of us it is), then it’s worth the expense.
@J:
Do you read every term of every service you use?
@Tim:
@Excuse me?:
Scamming?
They paid them full price!
@whatamess:
No.
@whatamess: unfortunately not , I have bills that I didn’t receive notices about and many more business related emails that haven’t made it to my inbox
@Dan: Google is a common carrier and is subject to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations. You may have a basis for a class action lawsuit.
I don’t use Google, I don’t have an account with Google, I do not twitter, I am not with Facebook… and I never was.
.
…and my life is still nice and prosper.
All of you who bought those 5 phones each acted as resellers. You received your sales price back plus a small profit. Without a business license. And probably without declared income. And the fraud piece isn’t that you didn’t pay full price but that you knew you were invited to participate (yes you have to wait to hear from him) to help him skirt the rules.
@Wrong about the tax:
1. You don’t need a business license to resell a few phones.
2. The income was a whopping $5/phone, the point was the manufactured spend for miles.
3. Reselling full priced phones is not fraudulent.
@Dan: DD 1- Google 0
@kdm: I’m right there with you. I have a non-working Gmail address which is only used so my Android phone can work and get apps. I don’t store anything on Google’s systems, opt out of their “tailored ads”, and never use Chrome. I don’t use social media of any type, and pay for my online storage. And, like you, have a very active and social life without these things.
Whether the point was the $5 or manufactured spend, the article only said the $5 part. And being that both people quoted in the AP article have jewish names, and live in Brooklyn and Lakewood, that did nothing good for jewish image. I read the comments on the AP article, many blasted the resellers, and some pointed out that they were jewish and did it for 5 bucks.
Regardless of who is right or wrong, the world sees it as “Jews playing the system for a few dollars, and then complaining and blaming when they get busted”. All these shticks are great, lots of free money to go around, but all it takes is one little chillul hashem, and then you really have to ask yourself if it’s really worth it.
Dan,
You should change the name of your website to “Dan Vs Google”…!
Dan you’re the man, love how you take the courage to go toe to toe with a company like Google! Well, it is America after all!
Keep the faith, great work, kudos!
All the best!
@Avi 2.0 since I got my gmail back:
You were the scammer, my friend, not Google.
Can YOU be trusted?
@Dan:
I tried and I just got an email saying that it’s not eligible to be reinstated. Any idea what I should do?
@David:
How did they scam Google? They broke a term of sale, but that’s not a scam.
@nobiggy:
Send me an email with your closed account and I’ll forward it to Google.
@Dan:
I just tried to login and it worked. Do I need to be concerned being that the email said we are unable to reinstate your account?
LOL! I feel kinda bad for laughing, but unless you’re all 12 year olds you should know better.
It costs a tiny amount of money to set up your own email. Google doesn’t exactly hide the fact that they own your data. On top of that, you have the gall to s**t where you eat scamming Google and arguing that you’re too busy to read the T&C.
Are you really naive enough to believe that free email is free? If you aren’t paying for it, then you’re probably the product.
@nobiggy:
If you’re in the account you should be good to go.
@James G:
I’ve yet to hear a coherent explanation on how Google was scammed.
A term was violated. Most people don’t read every term. That shouldn’t mean you lose everything from Google and apparently Google agrees as they have their accounts back.
@Smith: Victim? Please. Anyone who went in on this scam is a prick and getting what they deserve.
Many people wanted those phones, and this dealer is intentionally running a scheme to get them and sell for outrageous prices.
Anyone who did this, knew it was at the very least shady. Deal with the consequences.
@Avi: You never though about the fact that you were buying 5 phones for a re-seller? Additionally that didn’t make you take pause and read the TOS? Google should have shut down all the accounts permanently IMO.
@Oscar: if this didn’t reek of being a bad choice to you, you need to evaluate your decisions in life. It’s insane to act like Google is evil here. Good on them for protecting their stock for people who want the items as opposed to some jerk in NH hoarding and marking up their products.
Even if you assume that people do read the terms (and who actually does that) and even if you believe that Google should have stuck with their decision to ban them, do you honestly believe it is fair to delete their data?
That’s data that Google maintains belongs to the user.
I would maintain that would be thievery.
I’m not here to justify those who violated Google’s terms. But I’m happy to have fought against data theft if nothing else.
And I’m happy that Google agrees that most people don’t actually read the terms of service (though they should).
@Dan: you make a fair argument in regards to the data. They should absolutely get it back. As for the banning, even if temporary, I support it. Nobody could have possibly gone into this deal thinking it was all on the up and up.
I am fortunate to have gotten a Pixel. Many people can’t. This scam is a partial reason for that. Also, I am biased against scalping. I abhor it and think anyone who takes part in it is wrong.
@Jacob:
“I’m not a lawyer so I’ll let AJ address this, but I don’t think it’s honestly expected of most people in today’s day and age to read T&C’s in general.”
With the attempts to fudge removed, this is saying:
“I’m not a lawyer or a reader. I don’t think anyone is expected to read T&C’s.”
Terms and conditions of a contract offered to you, whether online or offline, are mostly not there for your benefit, they are for the offerer’s benefit. So they actually do really matter to you: they contain the nasty bits of the deal, in addition to the more obvious ‘cheese’ you want that sucked you in.
What other method do you suggest to tell the offeree (you) what the deal is, before you accept it? Telepathy? A cartoon? 50 clickbait memes that you will click?
It’s true most people do not read T&Cs. They are often too long, hard to read or understand, full of unwelcome dull reality, and they are non-negotiable (except you can say no). Google’s are often shorter and clearer, though they are still full of unwelcome stuff (and leave key bits out).
But they are usually bindng: when you click that button that says “I have read and understood and agree”, the offerer and any court will take this at face value, and work on the basis that you have accepted the deal and there is now a contract with you.
If you choose to say you accept something you didn’t bother to read, it’s hard to see how the other side can tell, or how this should stop your acceptance being taken as real. (The fact that most people don’t read them doesn’t mean they are not bound, it’s not a popularity contest or vote: it just means they are all ignorant of what they have been bound by. Mass denial and mass ignorance is a thing. There is no safety in numbers.)
You might like to imagine that ignorance of those terms means that you get to make up some other ones, a simpler, nicer version of the terms that leave out the bad bits; or that because you know that really you don’t know what’s in them, you should get the cheese without being bound by the deal at all. But this is self-delusion.
The contract terms are often not fair, the deal is often bad, but that’s the reality. When stuff hits the fan later, the reality you took that bait and did that deal without bothering find out what’s in the ‘fine print’.
@Dan: well said Dan1
I just set up an archive. I hate – actually revel – to think how much this is costing Google. I will be setting up a new archive weekly as well.
Google probably reinstated the accounts because the scammers were pretty much all jewish. So rather than be accused of contrived antisemitism they simply bit the bullet.
@Osborne Greene:
Good grief.
Or because they don’t want people to be terrified of their digital overlords and look for other cloud solutions.
Or because they would have been sued in court and lost.
@Dan:
Fine.
Let’s say it’s not a “scam.”
(Although it certainly does seem to have been “a dishonest scheme,” which is one definition of “scam”.)
Instead, let’s call it “lying” and “stealing,” which is what it was, according to Jewish Law, as far as I understand.
(Acquiring something under false pretense, which, had you disc the seller
@David:
Stealing? From whom?
They paid Google the full price!
The USA has a first sale doctrine that allows you to resell producta that you buy.
They are guilty of not reading Google’s legalese. Nothing more.
@Dan: @Dan:
People didn’t know they were doing something dishonest and deceitful by purchasing multiple phones and having them shipped to an address in New Hampshire?
And those who created fake GMAIL accounts (so as to purchase more than the 5 Google wanted to sell them) also didn’t know they were doing something deceitful and dishonest?
Just saw this article on Google News as “Most References”. Alol!
@David: @Dan:
And, please explain why acquiring under false pretense would not be considered geneva’as da’as, if not geneivas mammon.
Thank You
@Dan, on Google news in the technology section, there’s an article from yahoo about this, then if you open the pull down thing to see more articles on that topic, you’re one of like 3 or so articles. Yay! 🙂
I’m glad it ended good for all those people, but I personally have many Google accounts to prevent that from happening to me, one for financial, personal, general, professional etc. I don’t save my password in chrome and I manually type in every time, so in case I can’t access my account I’m less likely to use “Forgot username/password” because I remember it, and I use a different password for EVERY ACCOUNT. I have at least 3 copies of everything that is important to me, on 3 different services like Google, Dropbox, Mega, ADrive, Microsoft etc. my rule is; if it’s valuable to me I back it up on 3 different places.
@Jacob: Oh, you mean sort of like the Constitution
@Dan,
IANAL, but when Google says that it’s YOUR data, they mean it in a very specific way – in regards to intellectual property that they are storing on your behalf. Yes, you OWN it and Google has limited license as to what they are permitted to do with that data.
It’s like those hundreds of AOL mailer disks you turned into drink coasters. AOL “owns” the intellectual property on that plastic substrate, but you can take that data and turn it into frangible frisbee ammo if you wish because that plastic now belongs to you even though you may lack the license to copy AOL’s code for your social-media platform project.
Similarly, your service contract with Google doesn’t make you part owner of the physical hardware that hosts your data; your agreement to the TOS grants Google a limited license for what they can do with your intellectual property and no more.
Google retains full ownership of the substrate that stores your IP, and if they so choose, they are within the color of the law to run BleachBit on selective portions of their server farm.
@Morris: Yes, punishing users who ignore terms of use and use their store to commit tax fraud, how DARE they!
@Steve:
Resellers don’t have to pay sales tax.
Thanks for playing!