UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
The Price We Pay For Fashion
A penny here, a dollar there. That is a New Yorker’s way of life. The price we pay for ordinary conveniences in this city is excessive: a mediocre slice of pizza can be $3, a fresh tossed salad $15, and the daily commute will get more expensive come December.
One way to protest such prices is by window-shopping a bit before class, possibly trying on and twirling in a gorgeous piece, and deciding what might actually be purchased. That is retail therapy, and it is supposed to be therapeutic, not stressful. Therefore, the last thing New Yorkers need is a tax on their moderate-price fashion sense!
Beginning October 1st, shoppers will have to pay four percent sales tax on clothing and shoes under one hundred and ten dollars. This tax is meant to help the NYS government eliminate a multibillion dollar budget deficit so that they can pass a balanced budget for 2012. Despite the good intentions, this tax will ultimately cast another gloomy cloud over the fashion industry.
Since I work in retail at Victoria’s Secret, I have had to assist customers in the decision making process, increasingly with their budgets as a prime consideration. Customers consistently calculate the total of their purchases and eliminate the more expensive pieces now that the added tax is a factor. I encourage all shoppers to get the most for their money by purchasing classic pieces that will work from season to season. Get the most for your buck since the government now wants more of it!
An exemption from the tax is expected to return for a year in April, but it will only apply to purchases under $55. Shoppers will pay the tax until at least 2012, most forecasters agree, and that is likely to hurt even moderately priced shopping badly.
-- Caroline Thompson
Further Reading
For bargain hunters
http://www.savingsnut.com/clothing.html
More on the tax issue from the NYS government
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/business/business_tax_nys_sales.shtml
Does “retail therapy” help?
http://mental-health.families.com/blog/retail-therapy-good-or-bad
Topics: New York City, fashion trends