Bill Ward’s Brickpile

I recently wrote (Amazon: You can’t fire me, I quit!) about how Amazon.com is canceling the accounts of California residents because of the state’s attempts to get them to collect sales tax.

Today, I got the monthly report from Amazon describing my earnings. Out of curiosity I clicked the link to see my account balance. Here’s what I saw:

Account Closed

This account is closed and will not generate referrals. Access to this site is for historical purposes only.

Your Payment History		Unpaid Balance: $98.31

…followed by a list of previous commissions I had earned.

I’ve never actually received a check from Amazon. Their policy is to send you payment when you reach $100 in earnings. Which now, I will never do. Damn them.

Update 10/6/2011: They did send me a check after all, after deducting a $15 fee. I changed it to direct deposit so I should get a payment every $10 earned. Now that they’re allowing payments to California residents again, this post is moot.

You might have heard by now that Amazon.com has decided to discontinue the accounts of California residents, such as myself, due to a new California law requiring them to collect sales tax for sales to California residents. If you want to know the details, Google it. The point is, I’ve had Amazon links on my site for a while now, and over the past couple of years have not yet even reached the $100 minimum threshold to get paid for it, and now they’re cutting me off. That annoyed me, but what annoys me even more is that Amazon is trying to interfere with the state’s internal business. They’re even starting a petition to get something on the ballot to reverse it, and that really upsets me. I don’t want to get too political in this blog, but I really don’t think it’s OK for a company that claims it doesn’t have a presence in California to be trying to have a say in the state’s politics.

So I took off all the Amazon links (If I missed any, please let me know). I’m open to participating in other affiliate programs, but I’m done with Amazon.

My Bricks by the Bay Pictures are available on Flickr if you want to take a look at some of the great models on display and the crowds on the public day. The convention was held Friday-Sunday, April 9-11, 2010 in Fremont. We had such great media coverage that throngs of people flocked to the hotel to see the LEGO models on Sunday, April 11. People waited for hours in a line that snaked out the lobby and through the parking garage and we had to turn people away once we realized the line was so long that people at the end might not get in before closing time. It was a huge success and we’re looking forward to having an even bigger and better convention in 2012.

Click the image to see the pictures or view them as a slideshow.