Auctions to get serious - one year apprenticeship, 200$ license fee, $50,000 bond.Saw a story on Slashdot this morning mentioning that power sellers on eBay may be relegated as they have just passed an auctioneer law which requires more than the usual?five minutes it takes to call Staples to get eBay Professional stamped on a stack of business cards-
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 $1,000 and jailed for a maximum of 90 days.
eBay of course thinks this does not apply to anyone that is just selling on eBay so it remain to be seen if this will be actively enforced. I had a talk with someone about eBay the other day and I remember talking about some guy who had a pretty spotless selling record decided to go for broke and sell a lot of expensive figurines that he did not have in his posession. He ended up getting away with 200-300,000$. It might be an idea to get rid of some of the more stupid guidelines (like the apprenticeship) and require a bond of a scaling size depending on what is being sold. Someone moving a lot of glow-sticks is different than a guy selling used cars on eBay and should be differentiated as such. Article Link: Ohio passes auctioneer law; may affect eBay sellers
