The People's Republic of Maryland also has a sales tax on internet purchases of 6 percent. Fortunately, a lot of sites ignore this, especially foreign sites. Our past governor never saw a tax he didn't like.

When I owned a small business many years ago, all I had to do was match the price of the big box stores in order to be successful, mainly because I had something they didn't have - on site service. It made a huge difference. Unfortunately, my business depended upon leisure money for outdoor recreational purposes, fishing, hunting, boating and camping. When the economy went to hell and the building trades business fell off precipitously, my business crashed.

Good luck,

Gary