Plain-language notes on U.S. tax deadlines, IRS letters, cross-border reporting and running a small business, written by the CPAs who handle these questions every day.
Alibaba.com is B2B wholesale: a Chinese factory sells to U.S. business buyers, who usually import the goods themselves. AliExpress is B2C retail to U.S. consumers. Trade terms (FOB, EXW, DDP) decide who is importer and pays duty; the platforms collect sales tax on U.S. orders under marketplace facilitator laws, and resellers can claim exemption. A factory exporting FOB through Alibaba.com generally needs no U.S. company.
A beauty brand entering the U.S., whether through Macy's, Amazon or its own site, has two sets of rules. On the product side, FDA's MoCRA requires facility registration, product listing, a responsible person and serious adverse event reports within 15 business days. On the tax side, cosmetics are generally taxable, platforms collect only on their own orders, and duty, samples and destroyed returns need correct bookkeeping.
Faire is registered as a marketplace facilitator in 45 states and DC, collecting resale certificates from retailers, reporting platform sales and charging tax to business-use buyers. Brands don't collect certificates on Faire orders, but off-platform wholesale, inventory states and gross receipts taxes stay with them.
Electronics carry state recycling fees and registrations on top of sales tax. California's e-waste fee is $4, $5 or $6 by screen size, and from 2026 its battery-embedded fee is 1.5% of price up to $15 per item; brand owners face EPR registrations in many states. Marketplaces may collect some fees; on your own site they're yours. Lithium batteries also need UN38.3 testing.
Temu's local seller program is for U.S.-registered businesses and U.S. residents. A business's name and EIN must match its IRS CP 575 letter, the representative verifies identity, and payouts go to a U.S. bank account. After launch you give a W-9, report on Schedule C or a company return, get a 1099-K at $20,000 and 200 transactions, and Temu collects sales tax at checkout.
Walmart collects sales tax on its orders as a marketplace facilitator, but stock in a WFS warehouse is property in that state and can create physical presence: off-platform sales are yours to tax, some states require registration, and state income tax, Texas franchise tax, California's $800 and Washington B&O aren't the platform's job. States don't follow tax treaties.
Wayfair buys from suppliers and resells to customers, so your sale to Wayfair is a sale for resale: usually no retail sales tax, but keep the resale certificate, and inventory and nexus states may still require registration. Wayfair pays for merchandise and generally issues no 1099-K or 1099-NEC.
