eBay sellers have been facing regulation in various states throughout the US. The latest battleground was Pennsylvania, where the State Board of Auctioneer Examiners had filed complaints against two eBay sellers in the Spring for failing to have an auctioneer's license. One target was a work-from-home eBay Trading Assistant, the other was an ISold It drop-off-store franchisee.
eBay spokesperson Catherine England told AuctionBytes last week, "Our government relations team went to the Legislature and had a bill drafted that would clarify state law that eBay sellers are not subject to regulation as auctioneers. This bill, Senate Bill 908, was introduced by Senator Wonderling but has yet to be scheduled for a hearing."
The state's auctioneers board has confirmed that it is holding off on any action pending the outcome of legislative actions. "Until a final decision is made, nothing will be done about the eBay auctions," wrote Rose Salgado, the Board's Reviewing Officer, in an email to AuctionBytes.
England said another legislator developed a second proposal that would create a special license for eBay Trading Assistants. "We told the sponsor of this bill that eBay would oppose his legislation if it required eBay sellers to register for any type of auctioneers license. He had scheduled a hearing for his bill earlier this month but he cancelled the hearing. At this time no further action is scheduled for this proposal."
eBay has a Main Street program to encourage its users to get involved by writing to legislators (http://www.ebaymainstreet.com). One page, titled "Fight Creeping Expansion of Auction Regulations," asks users to write to their elected officials and ask them to "oppose the misapplication of auction regulations to the online market place" (http://www.ebaymainstreet.com/takeaction/?campaign_id=usauctioneer).
But eBay's efforts to fight regulation does not stop at the US borders. Just this week reports surfaced that the French auction regulatory authority is seeking to close down eBay France for operating an online auction without a permit (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m12/i04/s02).
Related links:
"Auctioneers Agency Wants to Close eBay France" (Dec. 4, 2007):
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m12/i04/s02
eBay Drop-off Store: U.S. State Licensing Issues (compiled May 2007):
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/pages/state_regs
