TodayE-Bay traders warned they need a Pa. auctioneer’s license
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Article RatingHARRISBURG — Although they hardly bellow like art auctioneers, some people who regularly sell merchandise on eBay are being warned that they need a state auctioneer’s license.
The rule applies only to people who sell merchandise for others through a site, not people selling their own goods. Getting such a license requires serving an apprenticeship with an auctioneer or taking college auctioneering courses — and people risk a $1,000 fine if they do not comply.
Robert Musser, president of a Lancaster-based business that sells items on eBay, said he has no need to master rapid-fire oratory.
“It is a waste,” he said. “It doesn’t advance our skills.”
According to the state, the licenses are designed to protect consumers.
“Our position is that brokers who accept goods from sellers on consignment and then sell goods on eBay and retain a percentage ... must have an auctioneer license,” said spokeswoman Leslie Amoros of the Pennsylvania Department of State, which oversees 27 professional licensing boards.
Barry Fallon, who ran a business called iSold It on eBay in Lower Paxton Township, has been summoned to appear before the state Board of Auctioneer Examiners. He said the board is dominated by traditional auctioneers who fear competition.
“(It’s) kind of like having the buggy whip manufacturers decide whether to allow new automobiles to be sold,” Fallon said.
At least two bills awaiting committee action in the Legislature are designed to deal with eBay auctioneering.
Sen. Rob Wonderling, R-Montgomery, who sponsored one of them, said there are more than 15,000 state residents who make most of their money through Internet trading — but only 2,100 licensed auctioneers in Pennsylvania.
“The bureaucracy, and those special interests that are encouraging the bureaucracy, are lacking in common sense,” Wonderling said.
Mary Jo Pletz of Walnutport, about 20 miles north of Allentown, quit her job to stay home when her young daughter was diagnosed with an illness.
She started selling other people’s furniture, clothing and antiques on eBay, and went on to sell more than 10,000 items online. But a few days after Christmas last year, she got a visit from the Department of State and has since shut down her business.
Neither she nor her attorney can determine if her potential fine is a flat $1,000, or $1,000 per item sold, she said.
“The auction laws were written before the computer age, and there needs to be some change,” said Allen Shissler, a Tioga County farmer who left the auctioneer examiners board within the last 18 months. “But the board is very careful on how they want to evolve the law.”
