Recently I bought a $999 electronics item on Amazon.... during check out I realized buying through Amazon and using my Prime it was going to cost me over $77.67 in taxes. Because Amazon has a physical operation in the state I live in, all purchases are subject to being taxed as I'd pay taxes on those items had I gotten them at a brick and mortar.
Amazon will always feature it's items first. There is usually a note like, "Note: Available at a lower price from other sellers, potentially without free Prime shipping." Be sure to click that other sellers link and see what options exist. You need to be smart though, and not just buy the lowest shown price, now all vendors are created equal. And you have to take into account the shipping cost and the potential of being taxed.
What I do is first assess the prices from other vendors, the condition (I strive for New), and the delivery cost. Typically items with lower prices lose their low price when you add in shipping. HOWEVER, you can click the left hand side bar and choose Prime, so only Prime offers are showing if you have Prime. Otherwise, Amazon has a nice little hidden drop down that shows "Price + Shipping" and "Price + Shipping + Tax." Why they wouldn't default to P,S, and T, is beyond me. But likely due to their items would never show up.
As you can see, not only did I find a lower price, but it's free shipping with my Prime AND no taxes from a vendor with good reviews. Don't have Prime? Not a problem, just click "Free shipping" and see what results are yielded. In my case, it shows an even lower total price option.
In short, you can and should learn to be a smarter online consumer. This is just on small lesson of the greater knowledge you can have as a consumer. To increase your savings, you could use Ebates to get cash back on your purchase. And you could even get a reduced price Amazon gift card for more savings. And maybe there is even a promo code to apply.
