How to Kill eBay…Slowly
I have yet to buy or sell one single item on eBay. My wife, however, frequents the site. Below, I’ve pasted an email that she just received from eBay.
Louisiana sellers – Protect your right to sell items on eBay
Dear Community Member,
If you sell more than two items a year on eBay, the Louisiana Auctioneers Licensing Board wants to force you to be licensed as auctioneers or auction businesses. You may have to pay a licensing fee, obtaining surety bonds, and submit a notarized copy of your voter registration card. All this just to sell a few items on eBay!
Nearly every eBay seller in Louisiana is at risk. One Louisiana seller already shut down his eBay business. Unless we act quickly, thousands more Louisiana businesses may be at risk.
Protect your right to sell items on eBay. Make your voice heard! Write your elected representatives today!
Sincerely,
eBay’s Government Relations team
I would guess this is the result of either (a) competition appealing to the government for help, or, (b) the government trying to increase its tax revenue. Either way, the issue does not seem to have made big news. If anyone has anything on this, I’d love to hear about it.
NM
April 26th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
My brother and I have probably made in excess of $3,000 in profit on eBay, selling everything from baseball cards to Xboxes, which we purchased on sale from Walmart. (We slept in the parking lot one night during the holidays and bought several when the store opened the next morning.) Never have I heard of such a request from the Louisiana Auctioneers Licensing Board. Sounds pretty fishy to me. I agree, however, if there is any truth to this it would certainly be for either competitor or government benefits. But until I hear otherwise, I will continue to use eBay as a means to earn a few extra bucks!
May 7th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
Like many Americans I have made purchases and sold items on ebay. Some of those purchases came out to be phony. I once bought a game for my cousin which never came in. I notified the seller and he never notified me back. I think that this would help out many people. Even though it would be a little trouble, it might make more people interested in Ebay knowing that what they buy would be genuine and in-tact.