Originally published March 16 2005
Ohio will require eBay sellers in the state to obtain auction licenses
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A law set to go into effect on May 2 will require Ohio residents to receive an auction license before they can sell merchandise on eBay. This law, which was designed to cover professional auctioneers, would require thousands of dollars in expenses and tons of red tape to clear before a person could sell so much as an old CD on eBay.
Law may require costly, time-consuming auction license for Ohio online sellers; changes vowed.
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.
Larry Mumper, told the paper the legislature never intended it to apply to individuals selling items over eBay.
But Mumper, while vowing changes, couldn't say exactly who would or would not be exempt from the license requirement under any changes in the pending law.
Kathy Greer, senior editor of UnRavel the Gavel, a newspaper covering the New England auction market, told the Plain Dealer that similar regulation efforts are under way in Tennessee and Illinois, but that past efforts have always either been withdrawn or left unenforced due to public outcry over the restrictions.
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 told the paper.
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