future ebay rules???

[luckydog]

this would make it hard for the little guys like me to comform. i got this message from ebay today.
i guess i'll have to save my goodwill reciepts

Protect your business--get involved in eBay's Citizen Action Network

2009 is shaping up to be a historic year in Washington, DC and state capitals around America. We face the most challenging economy in decades, a new President, and strong majorities in Congress looking to take bold action. Some of the biggest companies in America are lobbying Congress to make their interests known. And make no mistake, not all of their interests are aligned with those of Internet entrepreneurs like you.

Here are three issues you need to be aware of:

Remote sales taxes
Today, eBay sellers are required to collect sales taxes only in states where they're located, not all of the states (and thousands of local jurisdictions) where their customers live. A number of states and big retailers are pushing to impose remote sales taxes on small Internet sellers. Big retailers know increased sales tax burdens will hurt their smaller competitors.

"Stolen Goods" legislation
Representatives of some of the nation's largest retailers recently claimed that many eBay sellers are listing stolen goods, a baseless charge that hurts every honest seller. Big retailers are pushing legislation to prohibit some eBay categories and require sellers to post their personal information and show receipts for the purchase of merchandise sold online.

Price fixing
A 2007 Supreme Court decision reversed the federal law that made price fixing an illegal anti-trust violation. Overturning this nearly 100-year-old precedent has empowered manufacturers and their large retail distributors to aggressively enforce minimum prices on the Internet, which hurts eBay sellers and the Internet as a whole.

All of these threats and more face small entrepreneurial retailers using the Internet to compete and survive in this economic climate. The eBay Government Relations team is working to protect eBay sellers from harmful legislation in both Congress and state capitals. But we need your help--and your voice--to make a major impact.

If you haven't joined Main Street yet, please join 250,000 other eBay users in protecting e-commerce. Together, we can make a big difference.

Sincerely,

Tod Cohen
Vice President, Government Relations

P.S. Main Street is free to join. Members receive approximately 4-6 emails per year. We'll only ask you to contact your elected officials on crucial issues. And, of course, you can opt out at any time

[takethecastle57]

[owennewton]

I want to post my thoughts on this but the filters would block almost all of it.

[Sid]

its all about the big guys perceiving that they are losing money.

i wonder whats next. imposing sales tax on classified ads?

[owennewton]

its all about the big guys perceiving that they are losing money.

i wonder whats next. imposing sales tax on classified ads?

don't give them any ideas

[alstonj1]

probably a us postal stamp tax for e-mail ...their losing money thanks to emails ...how can you lose money on something you never touched or made ...are there allot of idol postal workers sitting around cleaning their guns ???

maybe its time to close this archaic fossil down and let the private sector handle it since more and more people are paying electronically and email is replacing the regular letter . packages are being sent via ups and FedEx so maybe its time has come ...

U.S. Postal Service wants to deliver mail 5 days a week, not 6 -

WalletPopWalletPop

Blog

us postal budget
WikiAnswers - What is the annual budget for the US Postal Service

[Sid]

well governments around the world are going to have to reassess what is really necessary and lose the fat that has been bogging them down. be that civil service, the post or whatever..

[drcrippen324]

Same here with the postoffice but instead of compeating on parcels ect they put the prices up and force your average person like me to use a courier for parcels over 1kilo as it is cheaper and collected fom your door

[Sid]

i dont know how it is for the rest of the world but here there is legislation in place that states.
courier companies must charge X% more then the post office by law. i forget what the exact percentage is but its significant.

[luckydog]

ebay does have some postal limits on some items, if you list a movie or 10 in a group the most you can charge is 3.00,
video game accessories are limited to 6.00. and a xbox Hd player with movie cost 12.00 to ship flat rate.
the most you can charge to ship a book, no matter how big or heavy it is is 3.00.

usps flat rate prices have gone up this month, bids are lower on a lot of items because of higher postage rates. and some items don't sell at all.

[alstonj1]

well those limits wouldnt be needed if shipping rates were reflective of actual cost not trying to pad the cost of the item in general as many do .You can see many vendors offer lower prices but the shipping is hightened by the same amount go figure ...Do they really think the public is that stupid ...wait a min i guess we are we're paying it arent we

[luckydog]

i always factor in shipping cost in my bids or buy it nows.

if i can get the item for a cheaper total price with higher shipping i will.

[FTKServices]

They just pad the shipping cost to beat eBay out of their fees. That is one of the reasons they raised their rates.

[pinball wizard]

i think the remote sales tax is the stupidest.that would require every seller to have a sales & use tax permit for each state.imagine having to keep your total sales separated by each state,filling out 50 returns and writing 50 checks each month.would probably have to hire a bookkeeper to handle all the paperwork.

[FTKServices]

That is not the worst of it. Some states charge different sales tax in every county. So in some states you would have to have 30 to 100 different ones. TN for one has a different tax in each county.

[luckydog]

i would thing the tax payments to states might be handled by ebay, but, of course they would charge an extra fee for that