How Kintsugi’s Transparent Pricing Shields Shopify Merchants from Hidden Fees and Unexpected Sales Tax Expenses

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get. ~Warren Buffett.

Shopify merchants know how to run a business, and as business owners, they do not want to throw their money away. So, when they have to pay for a tool or service for their company, they always consider the cost and quality. If the price is right and the tool will serve them, they won't hesitate to pay.

Meanwhile, 89% considered quality the second most important, 88% cited trust in the product or brand as their next priority, and 84% considered the convenience of finding, buying, and using the product or service another factor for purchase.

But if you have to choose, which is more important -- price or quality?

A study from FirstInsight [2] learned that 51% of buyers ranked quality or value higher than price (30%). However, that has since changed.

When you invest in a service or tool, you end up with some expectations and that's understandable. One of the horror stories that some eCommerce business owners encounter with some sales tax automation providers is hidden fees and unwanted upgrades that disrupt their budget.

Kintsugi offers transparent pricing. No hidden fees. No unwanted upgrades. No additional charges.

We are dedicated to helping business owners manage sales tax compliance and not putting you under additional strain.

The Problem: Hidden Fees and Unexpected Sales Tax Expenses

Sales tax automation is growing in popularity, and many eCommerce business owners and Shopify merchants have been using such tools to manage sales tax compliance. 

18% of retailers use third-party technology and integrate an automated sales tax compliance solution into their existing eCommerce systems.

Among the most popular options in the market are Avalara and TaxJar because they have been operating for decades already. However, there's something you must know about these sales tax companies. Several companies had terrible experiences with them after they were charged with surprising amounts.

Numerous Avalara customers claimed to have experienced unreasonable charges that shocked them. Check out their complaints below.

One user said their initial plan with Avalara was discontinued and their account was upgraded without their approval. And to their surprise, their new plan was five times more than the previous one.

“They discontinued their small business plan resulting in us going from about $3k a year to nearly $15k a year. No ramp up, no discussion, no nothing - just here is your 5x increase,“ one verified user said.

Another Avalara client said the company offered “horrible product“ and “horrible service.“ Tom A., has a lot of complaints, including AvaTax not working, unresponsive customer support and questionable pricing.

“Finally, the price. Avalara will automatically upgrade you to higher usage tier without your permission. They will charge exorbitant ‘Upgrade Fees’. Because their QBO integration is so bad, you end up having to use 3x the usage you expected, which then costs you 3x what you expected. We literally paid more because their product was worse than expected,“ Tom wrote.

Another user described Avalara’s auto-renewal and no-refund policy “unfair.” The user claimed that they. were planning to cancel their subscription but forgot it. Due to the auto-renewal, they were charged $12,000 and were not allowed for a refund.

“I started using Avalara on May 2023 and have paid them around $12,000 for their services. Unfortunately, my experience with another service made me realize how inadequate Avalara is. After a year, I decided I no longer wanted to use Avalara and intend to cancel my subscription. However, I forgot to do so, and their system automatically renewed my subscription, charging me $12,000 without my permission,“ the Avalara customer said.

The customer contacted Avalara’s customer support for a refund. However, they were told about an email sent to them about the renewal, which reportedly did not mention the “automatic renewal.“ The customer contacted the cancelation of their subscription on May 7 but their credit card was charged on May 8.

A different user experienced the same unapproved upgrade on their account that led them to pay Avalara more than they expected. Unfortunately, the customer support wasn’t helpful at all.

“At my current company, we signed up for that tier of 1K transaction as we have a small US operation (less than 200 customers) that are getting billed mostly annual. There was no reason to believe we would need more than 1K transactions and they agreed,“ the customer wrote.

“Throughout our term, Avalara’s standard NetSuite connector was picking up erroneous API calls that pushed us into 50K transaction tier and AUTOMATICALLY WITHDREW >45K FROM OUR BANK ACCOUNT without our consent in overages for erroneous usage. Their support team couldn’t figure out why, even after numerous calls with different support team members and an escalation to Tier 2.“

Unfortunately, several Shopify merchants using TaxJar have similar complaints. Many felt that they did not get value for their money because TaxJar failed to deliver their expectations. Some even questioned the automation feature because they still had to do the job, including the filing, because it was not done on time, which also led them to pay penalties.

One TaxJar customer advised others to keep themselves away from the app due to alleged hidden charges. They even called TaxJar a “complete scam.“

“Please stay away from this app, there are a lot of hidden charges that they won’t tell you about it, they charged me $950 for filing $0 in returns no one has EVER told me that I will be paying this amount,“ TAY Online Store said.

Another said that they paid TaxJar $6,000 and were expecting to access data regarding their nexus. However, it didn’t work, so they felt that they wasted their money because they were not refunded after contacting TaxJar for over a month.

“We signed up for this app because they promised that it could provide needed data regarding nexus. We paid almost $6k for their system, and now that it is all set up, we are not able to pull the needed data that was promised,“ the user said. “They will not refund us despite having tried for over a month.“

To make matters worse, they had to resort to another tax advisor for the actual info, which cost them more.

A different Shopify merchant who used TaxJar said they were not informed that a cheaper plan was available. The said plan would have been more appropriate for their business. Also, if you exceed your existing plan, you will be paying extra for it.

“It’s built for big business with nexus in multiple states. But they will not tell you that. My sales rep put us on the $100/month plan, although almost a year later, I found out there was a $20/month plan that would have been better for a business of my size. They will also put in a year contract without tell[ing] you,“ The Real Force wrote. “Lastly, if you go over the order value on your account (maybe you get a good sales month), an extra $100 fee is put onto your account (not like a $100 a month was enough already for what we were using it for).“

Another Shopify seller called TaxJar a “scam.“ According to the disappointed merchant, they were notified that their taxes had been filed and the amount would be deducted from their account. However, it turned out that the filing did not happen.

“Next thing I know I’m getting a letter from the comptroller saying I have late fees for not filing on time plus I still need to file for the quarter. WTF!!!! Now I have to file myself and pay late fees because this service did not do what I paid it to do,“ Bibs & Tucker Co. LLC wrote, adding that they were worried because TaxJar had their details and it might be a “scam.“ Also, their subscription was reportedly a “WASTE OF MONEY!“

These reviews are alarming, as experiencing unexpected costs for tax compliance can place a significant financial strain on Shopify merchants like you. For instance, holiday sales might put you into new tax brackets or jurisdictions, leading to higher tax rates or additional filings.

Kintsugi’s Approach to Price Transparency

Transparent, predictable costs are crucial for Shopify merchants to maintain control over their finances, ensuring they can allocate funds effectively without fearing unplanned expenses. When tax obligations are predictable and included in transparent pricing, merchants can confidently forecast their finances, manage their budgets, and avoid scrambling for additional funds -- this you can expect from Kintsugi's transparent pricing.

Kintsugi offers three plans -- Starter, Growth and Premium. These three plans are designed for companies operating at different levels. 

Here's an overview of the three plans from Kintsugi where you can clearly see our price transparency.

You can use Kintsugi without paying for it using the Starter plan, which offers basic data connections, address validations, sales tax nexus calculations, sales tax liability calculations, exposure monitoring, risk assessments and tax alerts and notifications for FREE.

Growth and Premium plans offer more, including API integrations, sales tax registrations, sales tax filings, refund and amendments, sales tax exemptions, sales tax deregistrations, AI-assisted product categorization,  and TaxGPT by Kintsugi Intelligence.

Here’s an overview of the services you can get from the different Kintsugi plans.

Kintsugi is dedicated to transparent pricing because we want to help you and not shock you with surprising charges. Here are some of the things that Kintsugi users say about us on the Shopify app.

One was happy with our Starter plan because it helped them manage sales tax compliance without even paying for the tool. The Shopify merchant uses our sales tax nexus calculations feature, which is available for free. In other providers, you have to pay for the said feature.

“Kintsugi’s free US sales tax nexus tracking feature has saved me thousands of dollars in potential penalties,“ Fashionsaura wrote.

Several also found our tool cost-effective because we delivered. Kintsugi is designed to make sales tax compliance easy and convenient. We want to reduce your stress when dealing with taxes and that’s what Shopify merchants who use Kintsugi feel about our sales tax automation software.

“Kintsugi is a much more cost-effective alternative to other tax software,“ Hutty Walla wrote. “It’s simple ot use and makes managing taxes a breeze.“

Anther Shopify seller admitted that they were hesitant to use sales tax automation. However, they were glad they did with Kintsugi because our tool exceeded their expectations and helped them save money from paying potential penalties.

“I was skeptical about automating my sales tax, but Kintsugi has exceeded all my expectations!“ PIcksmart wrote. “The app is user-friendly, reliable, and has saved me thousands of dollars in potential penalties. The Kintsugi team truly cares about their customers - I’m so grateful to have found them!“

Kintsugi’s transparent pricing aligns with our commitment to helping merchants stay tax-compliant without extra hassle or surprise charges. Sales tax laws are constantly changing, and for many businesses, staying compliant means additional expenses to keep up with those changes.

With Kintsugi’s pricing, merchants do not have to worry about additional compliance costs or manual updates—everything is seamlessly handled within the agreed price.

How Transparent Pricing Protects Merchants

Kintsugi believes that transparent pricing is a powerful tool in protecting merchants because we do not want to subject you to additional stress by dealing with unexpected charges. We exist to help you avoid penalties, interests and reputational risks.

Here are some reasons why Kintsugi offers transparent pricing.

You know you are covered

One key aspect of transparent pricing is that you are informed of the services you will enjoy, whether what you are paying for covers all necessary compliance services, including tax calculations, filings, updates on new tax regulations or is limited to accessing some key data. With this, we can avoid wrong expectations, and customers are aware if they have to pay more for the additional services they want to enjoy.

Many tax automation providers charge additional fees for certain compliance services, such as amended filings or jurisdictional updates, but Kintsugi’s transparent pricing bundles these into a single, predictable cost. This approach prevents merchants from encountering surprise fees as they navigate sales tax compliance, providing them peace of mind that their compliance needs are consistently met without additional expenses.

Allows accurate financial forecasting

Another protective benefit of transparent pricing is that it enables accurate financial forecasting, which is essential for effective compliance management. When you can predict your tax-related expenses each month, quarter, and year, you are better able to allocate resources toward proactive tax planning.

This stability helps avoid last-minute scrambling to cover compliance costs, which could otherwise jeopardize cash flow or lead to financial shortfalls in other areas of the business. Accurate budgeting ensures that merchants like you are always prepared to cover compliance costs without compromising your overall financial health.

Eliminates contingency plans

Transparent pricing offers another benefit – eliminating the need for contingency funds reserved for unexpected tax management expenses. Many businesses set aside a “buffer” in their budget to cover unknown compliance-related charges, which can tie up resources that could be better spent on growth initiatives or operational improvements.

This serves those struggling to set aside a buffer in their budget for surprising tax compliance costs.

Detailed billing

To keep you from unwanted surprises when it comes to money you spend on sales tax compliance, transparent pricing offers a reliable and detailed billing statement that outlines each service covered in the tax automation plan. This level of transparency makes it easier for you to understand your compliance costs and communicate them clearly to stakeholders, such as accountants or investors.

Detailed, predictable billing strengthens internal record-keeping and provides a clear audit trail, which is essential for financial accuracy and can be instrumental in the case of an audit.

Revolutionize Your Profits With Kintsugi's Transparent Pricing Strategies

Kintsugi is eager to make Shopify merchants' sales tax compliance experience worry-free every step of the way, including the cost you pay for automation with our honesty, openness, clarity and fairness. Our transparent pricing protects you by creating a stable, predictable foundation for managing your sales tax compliance.

With our price transparency, you can plan, budget confidently, and expand into new markets without fear of unforeseen compliance costs. By eliminating hidden fees and ensuring that compliance services are fully covered, we help you enjoy long-term financial health and stability so you can grow and thrive in today's complex regulatory environment.

So, contact us now. You can book a demo now or sign up for free.

Sources

[1] Edelman survey. https://www.emarketer.com/content/5-key-stats-showing-what-customers-value-2024

[2] FirstInsight. https://www.firstinsight.com/blog/price-vs-quality-what-matters-most-to-consumers