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The hours of operation depend on the store, and can vary significantly
from city to city. Most stores will open between 9:00 and 10:00 am and
close at 5:00 or 6:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Some stores
will open as early as 8:00 am and some will close as late as 9:00 or
10:00 pm.
Banks tend to close at 3:00 or 4:00 pm, restaurants at 8:00 or 9:00 pm, and
bars at 11:00 pm to 1:00 am. Stores in shopping malls keep longer
hours, with the typical mall store being open 10:00 am to 9:00 pm,
Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5:00 pm on Sunday.
When most stores in a shopping area close at 5:00 or 6:00 pm weekdays,
there will usually be one day a week when they are open late. Which
day varies from community to community.
Some stores will be open on Saturday. A smaller number of stores will
be open on Sunday. Stores with Sunday hours tend to open between 10:00
am and noon, and to close at 5:00 or 6:00 pm, even if they are open
until 9:00 or 10:00 pm the rest of the week.
Large grocery store chains are usually open 24 hours a day, except
possibly on Sunday. Some pharmacies will also be open 24 hours.
There is no national sales tax in the US, but each state has its own
sales tax. The sales tax is charged as a percentage surcharge on
purchases, and is printed on the receipt. Rates differ from state to
state. Rates may even differ within a state. For example, Pennsylvania
charges 6% sales tax, except in Allegheny County (city of Pittsburgh
and surrounding communities) where the sales tax rate is 7%.
Unprepared food such as groceries is exempt from sales tax, but
prepared food
purchased in a restaurant is not. Clothing and
medicine may also be exempt from sales tax.
The following table lists state sales tax rates. There may also be an
additional local sales tax imposed regionally within the state. Local
sales taxes run from a low of 0% to a high of 7%. Connecticut,
Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia do not have local
sales taxes.
If you purchase an item by mail order and the company has offices in
your state, they will collect sales tax on your purchase. Many states
have passed laws requiring you to voluntarily pay sales tax on
telephone and mail order purchases whether the sales tax was not
collected. But practically speaking you will not have to pay sales tax
on many mail order purchases.
Many airports have duty free shopping areas, where sales tax is not
charged. This is only worthwhile when you are traveling to a country
with a high sales tax rate. The average state sales tax rate in the US
is 3%. You can usually find the same items on sale in the US for a
lower price, even when sales tax is taken into account.
Major department stores frequently have sales in which merchandise is
sold at a discount, typically anywhere from 5% to 25% off the normal
price. Not everything in the store will be on sale. Sale prices are
usually advertised in the Sunday newspaper. Stores will use almost any
excuse for a sale, such as holidays and end-of-season clearance. The
Christmas shopping season officially starts the Friday after
Thanksgiving, but some stores will offer sales starting the weekend before
Thanksgiving. If you don't need something immediately, it is best to
wait until it is on sale. The major department store chains are
Sears,
Macy's,
Lord & Taylor,
Nordstrom,
Kohls, and
JC Penney.
Supermarkets are large grocery stores, often part of a chain of
stores. It is generally less expensive to shop in a supermarket than
in a small local grocery, and the selection is larger. The major grocery store chains advertise
their sale prices in circulars that are distributed by mail toward the end of
the week, and sometimes as an insert in the Sunday newspaper. The
Sunday newspaper will also include collections of manufacturer
cents-off coupons which
you can clip and give to the cashier to save on purchases. Some
supermarkets will double the value of manufacturer coupons. For
non-perishable goods, it is worthwhile to stock up when the item goes
on sale. The supermarkets may also have their own brands which sell
for less than the popular name brands. Some supermarkets have
membership cards which the cashier will scan to give you automatic
discounts on some items. The supermarkets use the cards to track your
purchases, enabling them to better target their promotions.
Discount stores sell name brand merchandise at prices which are less
than the prices charged by department stores. They may also give
discounts for bulk purchases and sell "irregular" items or "seconds"
as a discount.
Irregular items have small imperfections such as variations in size,
color, or weave that will not affect the durability of the
product. Seconds are items with a small amount of damage, such as rips
or tears. They often advertise in the Sunday newspaper and may have
sales in addition to their already discounted prices.
Discount stores are often located near shopping malls.
The largest discount stores are
Wal-Mart,
K Mart,
Ames,
Best Buy,
Service Merchandise,
and
Ross Stores.
For electronic goods you can also go to Circuit City.
For computer equipment, you can visit a
CompUSA store,
but you'll probably be able to buy it at lower prices by mail order
from
CDW,
PC Connection, or
Insight.
Micron Electronics
and
Gateway
sell high quality computers through mail order as well.
For toys, go to a Toys R Us store
or visit web sites like eToys
or Wishbook.
For discount clothing stores, there's also
TJ Maxx, and
Marshalls.
Discount clubs are similar to discount stores, but they sell goods in
a warehouse setting with minimal customer service. You must become a
member in order to shop at these clubs. The most popular discount
clubs are
Sam's Club (a division of Wal-Mart),
Costco,
and
BJ's Wholesale Club. If you
ever need restaurant-size vats of peanut butter or mayonnaise, visit a
discount club.
Outlet stores offer a specific manufacturer's products, often at a
slight discount (5% to 10%). True outlet stores used to offer steeper
discounts, but these are gradually disappearing as manufacturers learn
to manage inventory better. The outlet stores you find in outlet malls
are more properly called factory stores. Some outlet stores, however,
will sell factory refurbished items at a moderately steep discount
compared to the price for new items (at least 30%).
Department stores may have a clearance section, where merchandise they
no longer stock is being sold at a discount.
For extremely inexpensive used clothing and used furniture, go to a
Goodwill, Salvation Army, or other thrift store. The money raised from
sale of the merchandise is used for charitable causes. See the yellow
pages for the names and locations of the thrift stores in your area.
Computer and audio equipment can often be purchased much more cheaply
via mail order. A variety of web sites now track mail order prices for
computers and other equipment. The most popular sites are
PriceWatch,
PriceScan,
StreetPrice,
StreetPrices,
ShopFind,
BuyingGuide,
PriceTrac,
and
Junglee. Some of these services
will even display graphs showing how the price has changed over time.
All stores will accept US currency. No stores will accept foreign
currency. Many stores will accept US-denominated traveler's checks.
Traveler's checks in foreign currency will be refused.
Most people, however, do not carry around large sums of money. Instead
they pay for purchases with a credit card or personal check. Most
stores will accept the major credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Discover
Card, and American Express). Even grocery stores are starting to
accept credit cards.
The larger department stores will try to
encourage you to open a charge account at the store, often by offering
a 10% discount on your purchases the day you open the account. Store
charge cards work similarly to credit cards, except there's never an
annual fee and the card is only good for purchases at the store.
A few
stores offer a Visa or MasterCard with the store's logo and a discount
on purchases at the store. These cards can be used at other stores,
and earn a percentage rebate which can be used at the store that
issued the card. For example, TJ Maxx and Marshalls offer the TJX
card, which gives a 2% rebate on purchases at either store, and a 1%
rebate on purchases elsewhere. The rebates are issued in the form of
$10 certificates that are good for purchases at TJ Maxx and Marshalls.
Most stores that accept Discover Card also accept Visa and
MasterCard. The most significant exception are Sears, which only
accepts the Discover Card and Sears Charge, and Sam's Club, which only
accepts Discover Card.
Purchases may also be paid for by personal check drawn on a US bank. The store will want
to see two forms of identification, such as a driver's license and a
major credit card. Some stores do not accept checks, or charge a high
returned check fee if the check bounces. Some stores that accept
checks will not accept checks drawn on an out-of-state bank. Most supermarkets accept
checks, but require you to get a check cashing card which you will
show whenever you wish to pay by check. This avoids the need for you
to show two forms of identification every time you write a check.
For more information on credit cards, please see the Money and Banking
section of this site.
Most stores will accept returns of unopened merchandise, provided that
you can present the original purchase receipt. If you received the
item as a gift, sometimes a receipt will not be necessary.
Some stores will accept returns of opened merchandise, provided that
you return it in its original packaging and have not damaged it. If
you are returning clothing, you must not have washed it and the
clothing must not be soiled.
The store will give you a cash refund or a credit toward future
purchases in the store. If the item was defective or damaged inside
the box, the store may also allow an even exchange with an identical
item. If you pay by credit card and want a refund, the refund will be
credited to your credit card. Some stores do not give cash refunds,
only store credits. The store's return policy should be posted
somewhere on the premises. If the store gives cash refunds, they may charge a
15% restocking fee, especially if the box has been opened.
There may be a time limit on returns. If you discover that the item is
defective or does not fit properly, almost all stores will accept a
return the next day. Some stores will give you a week to return
merchandise, and some as much as 30, 60, or 90 days from the date of
purchase.
Computer stores will not accept returns of software if the seal has
been broken.
Business Hours
Sales Tax
State Sales Tax Rates State Rate State Rate State Rate Alabama 4.000% Kentucky 6.000% North Dakota 5.000% Alaska 0.000% Louisiana 4.000% Ohio 5.000% Arizona 5.000% Maine 5.500% Oklahoma 4.500% Arkansas 4.625% Maryland 5.000% Oregon 0.000% California 6.000% Massachusetts 5.000% Pennsylvania 6.000% Colorado 3.000% Michigan 6.000% Rhode Island 7.000% Connecticut 6.000% Minnesota 6.500% South Carolina 5.000% Delaware 0.000% Mississippi 7.000% South Dakota 4.000% District of Columbia 5.750% Missouri 4.225% Tennessee 6.000% Florida 6.000% Montana 0.000% Texas 6.250% Georgia 4.000% Nebraska 4.500% Utah 4.750% Hawaii 4.000% Nevada 6.500% Vermont 5.000% Idaho 5.000% New Hampshire 0.000% Virginia 3.500% Illinois 6.250% New Jersey 6.000% Washington 6.500% Indiana 5.000% New Mexico 5.000% West Virginia 6.000% Iowa 5.000% New York 4.000% Wisconsin 5.000% Kansas 4.900% North Carolina 4.000% Wyoming 4.000% Saving Money
Paying for Purchases
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