eBay Sellers Do NOT Need An Auctioneer's License!!!!

[BJGrolle]

Here is a copy of an email I just sent to Ina:

Hi Ina,

The article written by Kathy Greer caused such a stir within me, that I felt compelled to do something about it.

In short, it is a violation of federal interstate commerce law for any state to attempt to legislate or regulate online auction selling. eBay auction sellers have nothing to fear from continuing to do business as usual without going through their state's time-and-cost-prohibitive procedures to obtain an auctioneer's license.

Here is a link to the sequence of events:

http://tinyurl.com/53gfc

I encourage you to have Kathy Greer write a follow-up to her original article. Online auction sellers need to be informed of the facts, not be forced out of business by fear - and you can quote me on that.

Sincerely,


Brenda J. Grolle
blackcastlebooks on eBay

I've spent the past 2 days on the phone with various government officials, sent countless emails to various news agencies, etc. So I hope you'll forgive the brevity of this post and read the details at the link provided above. I have a few more posts to make elsewhere, and then I'd like to lay low for awhile. I'm tired folks! But it's a "good" tired.

[BJGrolle]

An update! Here is a link to the article that I just found on the web:

Associated Press News Report

It may be in print in the Plain Dealer. I'll pick up a copy today and see.

This is a triumph for all eBay sellers and our customers!

[BJGrolle]

Here is a link to the article as it appears in the print version of page 1 of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/1109932227143740.xml?nohio

[classicn]

Great job, Brenda. I applaud your efforts.. and your results.

If anyone deserves this one...



Thanks,

classicn

[BJGrolle]

Glad to be able to help.

[buyersace]

Good Show Brenda!

Has anyone seen any responses (or attempts to get a response) from eBay on this matter?

I find it hard to believe that "if" eBay found such legislation to be a threat to any eBay seller or reseller, they would just sit quietly by.

In any case, it's a scary thought, nonetheless...

However, it really isn't surprising with the growing number of states having budget shortfalls, online auctions and online business in general have been prime targets for the past few years. Although I find it ludicrous as internet revenue is such a small percentage of retail sales.

My favorite quote from the article:

[classicn]

buyersace,

You're right. If that was what a state was really after, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot. I'd be out of business in a flash, and my tax bill to the state for my eBay sales is WAY more than they'd get from licensure.

classicn

[bidofthis.com]

Copy of my letter to the editor:
Hi Ina,

When I started selling as a Trading Assistant and brainstormed on creating a business I thought about getting an Auctioneer's license in New York State.

I realized something funny:

Sellers are agents and NOT auctioneers.
eBay sellers don't actually auction anything!
As strange as this may sound, it is true.
eBay does the auctioning not the seller.
...and if you think Sellers still need a license, consider this...Even though I Iive in New York it may not be a license
from New York that I would need, it would be where the server is located....
because that is where the auctioning actually takes place (I guess this would be California?).

Feel free to use these comments in my name to letters to the editor.

I think they are extremely important because this is not a clear cut issue, all the STATES are strapped for cash and we do not want them going after sellers fro not having a license.


Best Regards,
Brian Cohen
www.bidofthis.com
"We always have a little BID of this and a little BID of that"

[SunflowerSal]

Just for general information, doing business on line, in the city of L.A., is getting expensive

We are now considered, because we sell on eBay and report our taxes, a Business, and as such, must pay a City License fee each year. The cost is $110.86 minimum. So when I state in my auctions that Ca. buyer must pay 8.25% tax, it's certainly not going into MY pocket, as some buyers seem to think

As someone said, the city's and state's are looking at every possible source of revenue, and in this case, truthful eBay sellers are IT .

[hmh]

Brenda,
You did a good job with follow up of s.b.209 I tried to call state rep for 2 hr. after work one day couldnot get ahold of anyone.
I dont believe we are auctioneers in any way we are just sellers taking our inventory to an auctioneer (EBAY). If I take a piece of furniture to a local auctioneer for him to sell it im not the auctioneer he is.
Ebay needs to get involved in what some of these states are doing because it will effect them as much as us. john

[BJGrolle]

Thanks John!

The boards at eBay are going crazy over this. The news is all over the Internet.

A couple of people posted that Cleveland Fox 19 aired it on Friday night, March 4th. Too bad I missed it. We watch Channel 5 news.

It hit the Saturday Elyria Chronicle Telegram and The Morning Journal.

There are 19 places where I've found it posted online - 3 are blogs, the other 16 are news media. There are probably more, but some sites require passwords and/or subscriptions, so it's impossible for me to check them out.

More places seem to pop up every few hours when I do a search. I expect it'll slow down after a point.

Last evening there were 13 new posts spanning 8 different eBay boards. I had posted the news on 4 different eBay boards - the following day one discussion had been removed entirely and in the other 3, some of my posts with links had been removed. Someone reported me and the warning email I received had some trumped up reason behind it, because my posts did not violate any board policy. The link they removed was the one to the SB 209.

Anyway, I did respond to some of the new discussions, very very carefully, with no links, mentioning that I'd already had posts pulled because of it. But everyone else is posting links like crazy.

Here was my post to the new discussions:

I'm Brenda J. Grolle, the eBay seller who is featured in the news articles that are appearing in print newspapers and online versions of news articles.

A couple of days ago, I posted about this in 4 different eBay discussion boards, in an attempt to spread the good news that something is being done about this.

Unfortunately, someone obviously had an issue with my posts. One of the discussions was removed entirely. In the remaining 3 discussions, some of my posts with links to the law were removed.

I received a warning, accusing my posts of

"Advertising merchandise, auctions, services or commercial Web sites, including
offers to trade, "wanted" posts, or charitable solicitations."

Which is not true. Nothing like that was in my posts.

So, I do apologize for being so vague here, when I know you want the details because you are as understandably upset as I was.

I do not want to be the subject of a campaign of harassment by whoever it was who got my posts pulled, so you can either send me an email and I can direct you to the link with the details.

Or you can follow the directions given by another eBayer in this eBay discussion:

http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.j...ageID=200699922

Or do a search of my name using any major search engine. The articles are all over the Internet.

People mention OTWA all the time on the boards over there, but I was afraid to even go that far. Sorry for being so paranoid.

So, after I submitted my posts, I sent this email to Bill Cobb:

Subject: IMPORTANT: Multiple Posts About Ohio eBay/Auctioneering Law

Dear Mr. Cobb,

I just wanted to let you know that there are several discussions currently running on the eBay Discussion Boards about the new Ohio auctioneering law.

I did not start these discussions. Other posters did. Some posters are copying and pasting the entire contents of news articles that include my name. This is happening because the news has broken wide open in the media over the last couple of days.

I would like to explain how this came about.

After reading about the new law on the Internet, I spent the better part of 2 days on the telephone with various government officials, from Ohio state Senators to the Governor's office, on up to the White House. I sent out multiple emails as well, some to the government offices, and others to the media, including several major metropolitan newspapers, and the Associated Press.

In response to this, I was interviewed on Wednesday, March 2nd, by a reporter from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The article appeared in the print and online versions of that newspaper on Friday, March 4th. Also, the Associated Press news report started hitting the Internet that same day.

It has spread like wildfire, as of this moment on Saturday, March 5th, appearing in several more print newspapers, many online news websites, some blogs, and from what other posters are saying, some major news channels have reported the story on TV.

You can understand, I'm sure, that many people are still panicky over this, because they don't know the whole story.

I am the only one who does. Yet, when I attempted to give people the necessary information a couple of days ago, my posts were reported and I received a letter from a moderator threatening me with suspension - the reason given was for

"Advertising merchandise, auctions, services or commercial Web sites, including
offers to trade, "wanted" posts, or charitable solicitations."

Yet there was nothing in my posts that fit those criteria.

Some people have posted that they are in favor of this new auction law. So I am well aware that my actions might have made me a target of eBayers who hold an opposing view.

I wrote up a response to all these new threads that have sprung up overnight, being purposefully vague and omitting any links in my response, so as not to give the moderators even a hint of a cause to pull my posts. My post is identical in each thread, a simple copy and paste to expedite the posting.

If you do a search of "blackcastlebooks" on your Discussion Boards, you'll see that I do have a history of posting, therefore allegations by a disgruntled eBayer that I am seeking publicity for my auctions and store items is totally false - just in case that is what led to someone reporting my posts before.

I do not intend to post to any other new threads that might spring up. There are currently around a dozen at the time I'm writing this. That is quite enough as far as I'm concerned. If someone starts a new one without bothering to see if it's already being discussed, I will ignore it. I've done what I can to try and alleviate fears that the Ohio govt. is going to put eBayers out of business.

Considering my excellent 5 year record with eBay and with the government - I pay taxes on my eBay income and collect and remit Ohio state sales tax - I anticipate doing business as usual without interference or disruption of any kind to my business or my account with eBay.

However, I am keeping records, just in case I should find myself the target of undue harassment or interference with my auctions, store items, feedback, etc. Already, I've had message boards posts removed, something that I did not expect, particularly since I was posting news that was beneficial to all eBay sellers - and therefore beneficial to eBay itself.

I have printed out all the news articles as I've been finding them online, plus saving them to my hard disk. I also have 3 print newspapers that have run the story. I have printed out a hard copy of the lengthy discussion at OTWA,

[url]http://www.otwa.com/community/showt...26&page=1&pp=25 [/url]

in which I give the details of how this all came to be.

I have printed out copies of the emails that are relevant, and will print out this one after it is sent.

This way, I will have hard evidence that any interference with my eBay business from this point on, took place after the news hit the media and my name was plastered all over the newspapers, TV, blogs, other online news media, and the eBay discussion boards (again - some posters are copying and pasting the entire article with my name included).

I do not regret what I have done and would do it again in a minute. It's to our mutual benefit after all.

Thank you for your consideration and cooperation in seeing that my eBay business is not interfered with.

Sincerely,


Brenda J. Grolle
blackcastlebooks on eBay

This has taken off like a rocket, and I'm glad.
_________________
Brenda’s Bookshelf

[sjustice3]

I personally got very mad when I first thought about states trying to make us get auctioneers licenses to sell on eBay. Then I thought some more and I figured that we shouldn't get so mad. eBay will fight this battle for us. If they don't, they are finished. The fee hikes will pale in comparison. Nobody in their right mind will waste the time or money to get an auctioneer license. I'll just go back to selling locally myself. I won't have a choice. I just don't have the revenue to support all the expense. I'm half gone from eBay now because of the fee hikes. I sell other places now.

[camelot2302]

Here in Germany, you need a licence to sell on eBay but only if you're considered to be running a "professional" eBay business (which is judged by the tax office). Then you need a Gewerbeschein from the local town hall for 20 Euros. A Gewerbeschein is basically a licence to sell things. It's standard practice in Germany.

[BJGrolle]

A "modest" annual fee wouldn't be objectionable.

Ohio's requirements are far from modest.

My suggestion of having a separate set of requirements for non-consignment eBay sellers was totally blown off when I discussed it with the state reps and Governor Taft's office.

I was told they worked long and hard on the Bill, they were satisfied with it, and it was a closed issue.

They changed their tune after the media contacted them. And I resorted to contacting the media with press releases because of the severity of the issue and the number of people that this would have adversely affected.

It's not just the eBay sellers themselves. What about the customers? What about our suppliers? I personally spend easily $1000 or more per year at library book sales. Book dealers make up a large proportion of their customers now, in many communities.
_________________
Brenda’s Bookshelf

[Ranger]

Hello BJ:

Thanks for posting that strong piece of information.
I totally agree with what you and some of the others have said.

One of the biggest problems that I see in the future and have seen since the demise of the OAUA is the fact that now eBay and all the individual State lawmakers now have no one to answer to.

This as you know makes for those individual people and eBay to do as they want not as the majority want.

But with all this and more in mind, I am very much viewing this with an open mind and can see the many benefits that a license would be.

The biggest benefit would be for prices to once again get back to what they were previous to eBay's rise in popularity. The majority of eBay's sellers are very unknowledgeable as to what an item is worth. So as eBay suggests, most start their widgets at some low low price and this is what causes the soft market.

In most cases eBay has become a total "Buyer's Market"..

When I first started with eBay I never in my right mind thought that the market that I deal in would get as soft as it has gotten.

So IMO a license with a yearly fee would be an excellent idea.
I think something that would put money in the State coffers would make them very happy and stop with the insanity that they are displaying.

It also will keep out the people who put out items with a large face value at a pitance of the price it should garner.

An example of what I am talking about is:

A figurine that has a book value (book values are useless today) of say $500 with a true value of say $200 is put up for sale on eBay at $5.00 while others have the same item up at a starting price of $150.00..

So as a buyer where would you bid?

By regulating the sellers somewhat it might help to strengthen the market again. I know that this might upset many buyers but it is a two way street and somewhere this insanity that is displayed by many inexperienced sellers has got to stop. Putting a fee via a yearly license might help to restore the market.