Veterans across the nation are about to receive a permanent shopping perk. Beginning November 11th, honorably discharged veterans who aren’t retirees will get access to military exchanges through shopmyexhange.com, the online site for the Army and Air Force Exchange Services. Military retirees currently enjoy the tax-free shopping through the website.
The new policy allows veterans to shop tax free through the exchange for their entire life. The policy had currently covered 12 million active-duty members and retirees, but now about 18.5 million more veterans will qualify for the benefit. The Operations current chief executive Tom Shull expanded the access to the site because he wanted to see online shopping privileges for veterans extended to show appreciation for their service. While veterans are often recognized for their service during Veterans day, Shull said he wanted to show that appreciate year-round.
Shoppers on shopmyexchange.com can enjoy tax free shopping, competitive pricing, free shipping for orders over $49, and access to a line of credit through the private Military Star Card program.
Veterans can visit shopmyexchange.com to register and their discharge statuses will be verified through government records. Once verified, veterans can shop on the website and they can also shop through the sister websites for exchanges that serve the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The different sites carry about the same products, though specific service sites carry service-specific uniforms and accessories.
Another benefit of the online exchange is that most of the profits generated by the site go towards supporting quality-of-life programs for active-duty military members and their families. Those quality-of-life programs include building and operating fitness and child development centers, paying for below-cost school lunches for children overseas, providing active-duty service members with below-cost uniforms and other activities.