posted on June 15, 2005 04:27:53 PM new
(I thanked this fella accordingly .. I know at least Cheryl and I were concerned about this) .
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Dear Ohio Seller,
In May, Ohio State Senator Larry Mumper sponsored and passed substitute Senate Bill 99 in the Ohio legislature. Why should you care about this particular bill? Because, it exempts Ohio eBay sellers from becoming licensed auctioneers.
Without this legislation your costs and regulatory burden to do business in Ohio would have dramatically increased. eBay Sellers would have been forced to waste hours and potentially thousands of dollars on certification classes and ongoing compliance requirements.
So, please take a moment to thank Senator Mumper for his leadership on this important legislation. Below is a draft thank you note that you can personalize and either e-mail to Senator Mumper or print off and mail.
[email protected]
Senator Larry Mumper
Ohio Senate Building
Columbus, Ohio 43215
posted on June 15, 2005 04:50:22 PM new
Oh, estatesalestuff, that is good news indeed! I know you were as worried about it as I. Now, the worry is over!!!!
posted on June 15, 2005 05:03:46 PM new
An honest politician that actually listens to his constituents and does something to help them???? How did you get so lucky? We havn't had anything like that in California in years.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on June 15, 2005 05:18:02 PM new
Cheryl ... quite a shock to me, ebay sent me that email ... like "wow!" ...
I know at least a couple other regulars here at EO are Ohioans too, but I can't remember who they are ... Yes, Tom and I were sweating this out, and I know you were quite more of an activist than I a few months ago when this was coming up, so I thank YOU TOO for whatever it is you wrote to the legislature on our behalf ...
posted on June 15, 2005 05:38:56 PM new
Thank YOU Larry! Please move to California....We need the SAME kind of LEADERSHIP here! Someone who LISTENS and rights the wrongs....and the insanities.
I think we'll keep him and send you Taft instead. There are not many politians from Ohio that give a crap about anyone but the wealthy. And to think, this guy is a republican. Must be one of the middle ones and no friend of Taft. LOL!
Edited to add: Thanks, Marcia! Most of my letters went to Dennis K and the other dems in Congress. Oh, and to my state rep, Dale Miller. I also wrote the Department of Agriculture. Can you believe they are the ones in charge of this bill? What does agriculture have to do with selling on eBay????
Cheryl
[ edited by CBlev65252 on Jun 15, 2005 05:55 PM ]
posted on June 15, 2005 05:59:16 PM new
"I also wrote the Department of Agriculture. Can you believe they are the ones in charge of this bill? What does agriculture have to do with selling on eBay????"
It's ancient history of this region, Cheryl~! ... Dept. of Agriculture was the main body of govt. involved in the "auction industry" back when the largest "lots" of items auctioned were cattle, herds, etc. from farming ...
posted on June 16, 2005 11:28:23 AM new
Ok, bear with me here for a minute. I am unfamiliar with this bill in Ohio as I do not live in Ohio. What was it going to stop? Having to be a licensed auctioner? Why would you have to be licensed as a auctioner when you are not running a auction? This may be why I'm a little confused. What is the difference between taking your items to the local auction house and selling them and selling them on ebay? None in my opinion. You yourself are not the auctioner in either situation. At a real auction the auctioner does the selling (that's why he has the license) and on ebay, ebay does the selling. Just like a real auction you get charged a fee for "them" selling your item for you. If anyone would have to get a state auction license I would have thought it would have been ebay as they are the auction/auctioner, not the person selling their items. I guess that's why this bill was passed.
Like I said I had not heard about this and just don't see how they thought they could make ebay sellers get a license as they are nothing more than a consignor of items for sale and not the actual seller/auctioner. If ebay "did not" charge any fee's, they might have had a leg to stand on but as they charge a fee just like every other auction house and internet auction you are more or less just someone selling your items "through" a auction. Just my opinion.
The bill was written in such a way that it classified sellers on eBay as auctioneers. We would have been required by law to get an auctioneers license and post a $50,000 bond. The exception would be listing at a fixed price. It would also effect those who sell on eBay for others. After reading the bill, I actually had to contact the Dept of Agriculture to get clarification. Here was their response to me:
SB 209 which goes into effect on May 6, 2005 was inadvertently written so that anyone who is selling (via the internet which would include eBay auctions) property that was purchased with the intent to resell would have to get an auctioneer license. The intent of the legislation was to require those individuals who have auction drop off sites who are actively taking consignments from the public and who are selling the public’s property via internet auction to get an auction firm license.
SB 99 (the bill Estatesalestuff was referring to) which is currently before the House has an emergency clause in it which will allow it to go into effect at the same time as SB 209. If passed, SB 99 will exempt anyone who is selling on the internet regardless of whether or not they are selling their own property or not from having to be licensed under Chapter 4707 of the Ohio Revised Code. You can look at SB 99 on the web at the following address: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=126_SB_99. Once you are on LSC’s web page you can track the progress of the bill by clicking status report of legislation.
Thanks for clearing that up for me. This was the first I had heard of it. Sound's like a ebay power seller payed off someone to add that clause Hee Hee. In any case that sounds like good news as this will make a precedent incase any other states look to make laws like this.
posted on June 16, 2005 09:48:33 PM new
Cheryl,
That is great news! I grew up in Cleveland & now live in CA. Our state politicians are pretty much useless. They can't make decisions, so everything goes on the ballot. Then the ballots are swamped with issues & the public is subjected to negative campaigning.
Now if they could just figure out how to run fair elections!
posted on June 17, 2005 01:43:41 AM new
Cheryl, I found the 'Substitute Senate Bill Number 99' ... wording near top refers to the stance of the bill as being submitted 'declare(d) as emergency'.
... lol ... it WAS time-sensitive to get it reworded.
within the bill, one line is crossed out, and another one is underlined.
a side link on that bill says "Passed Senate (31-0)" good vote, guys!!!
oooooooooh, and the last paragraph is best:
"SECTION 4. This act is hereby declared to be an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety. The reason for such necessity is to clarify that the amendment of Chapter 4707. of the Revised Code by Sub. S.B. 209 of the 125th General Assembly, which is to take effect on May 6, 2005, was not intended to regulate a person who sells real or personal property by means of the Internet. Therefore, this act shall go into immediate effect."
[ edited by EstateSaleStuff on Jun 17, 2005 01:55 AM ]
