Ohio Law Would Regulate eBay Sellers

KingFish

Ohio residents selling goods on eBay would have to get a license and be bonded under a law set to go into effect May 2, although authors of the legislation vow to make changes before that date to exempt individuals.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the law, signed by Gov. Robert Taft on Feb. 1, was meant to insure that auctioneers were abiding by the established rules and regulations. The law, as written, requires Ohio residents who sell products online to get a state auction license.

Besides costing $200 and posting a $50,000 bond, the license requires a one-year apprenticeship to a licensed auctioneer, acting as a bid-caller in 12 auctions, attending an approved auction school, passing a written and oral exam. Failure to get a license could result in the seller being fined up to $1,000 and jailed for a maximum of 90 days.

WTF? What is the reasoning behind this? Totally absurd in my opinion... -KF

Source: CNN

profdlp

I subscribe to The Plain Dealer and read this article last Friday when it came out. CNN's version is somewhat edited.

Reading farther down the page:

Erin Davis, aide to Sen. Tom Roberts, a Dayton Democrat, said eBay was never intended to be part of the legislation.

"It is a complete, unintended consequence," he said. "We did refer to Internet auctions in the bill, but we were talking about Internet auction houses, not individuals. It is important that the law be changed before it goes into effect."

Hani Durzy, eBay spokesman, said the company has reviewed Ohio's law and is not concerned.

"We do not believe the law applies to people who sell items on eBay or to eBay itself," he said. "There are 430,000 people in the United States who sell a great quantity of things on eBay and make a living doing it or a significant part of a living. There are 135 million registered eBay users around the world."

A spokesman for Gov. Bob Taft, who signed the bill on Feb. 1, said the Department of Agriculture has been asked for clarification.

Sen. Eric Fingerhut said the law is "clearly a mistake that needs to be fixed." He speaks from the heart.

"I'm an eBayer myself," said the Shaker Heights Democrat.

(Italics added)

The full PD article

KingFish

Glad to hear that. I would feel better when the bill officially gets edited. Sounds like some news organizations got a little carried away with the hysteria.

profdlp

Actually, the PD was all doom and gloom for the first 2/3 of the article. If I didn't have a daughter (in VA) who is a very active seller on ebay, and wasn't interested in the subject in general, I might not have read to the end where they quote the people who have the power to fix it saying that they agree that it's a very poorly written law.

I guess they sell more newspapers that way...