I lived in Juneau with its 5% sales tax on almost everything.   Like many Juneau residents, I only paid the tax on gas, oil, groceries, building materials and the like; everything else I bought Outside.  We both worked "dress up" jobs and I don't think either of us owned a stitch bought in Juneau.   In the early days by mail or phone order, later online postage or shipping was cheaper than sales tax.   We had an account with Alaska Marine Lines so we could take advantage of the free shipping offers in the Lower 48 and just have it shipped to AML, leaving us with only the freight from Seattle when we bought larger items Outside.   People adapt; I like seeing things b4 I buy them, but I lived a lot of years without doing so and still know how.