It is heavily subsidized by the stock market, which has permitted it to discount heavily and suffer huge losses in order to beat competition. Local governments can't collect Farrington is absolutely correct. They said their book-selling operation actually made a very small profit. The losses came from expansion into other areas as the company expands its types of products. Last week, they announced they are coming out with their own co-branded credit card.
Online companies do usually charge their customers for shipping.
However, what customers pay for shipping charges is often made up for by the lack of sales taxes. Now we are all supposed to figure our own sales taxes on online and catalog sales and voluntarily send that money to the Texas comptroller. I'm sure that all of us do. Now as much as I personally like Farrington and love going to her store, it's not the place of the state to protect her from competitors, no matter how much credulous investors subsidize them. But we need to face, and soon, the problem of sales taxes.