Last week, Oliver Prothmann, founder of Choice in eCommerce, wrote a blog post explaining the impact of platform bans on eCommerce.  In recent years, a growing number of brands and manufacturers are restricting Internet trade, for example using contract terms to stop sellers from selling goods on Online-Shops and online marketplaces.  Platform bans not only disproportionately affect small and medium size businesses, but also consumers.  Brand owners and manufactures are using contracts to limit consumer access to goods.  As Prothmann explains, platform bans mean “l

On April 8, UK Minister for the Cabinet Office, Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, and a delegation of UK Government officials joined PayPal President, David Marcus, and key eBay Inc. representatives to discuss a range of issues, including PayPal’s position as an innovative, world class technology company, a global leader in mobile payments, and a leader managing risk and fraud.  The Minister and his team were keen to learn from eBay Inc.

Marc Ducey, a small business owner in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, published a letter to the Sentinel & Enterprise editor expressing his opposition to the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act.  Marc explains that although he understands that Massachusetts needs to do what is best for the state, they should not do it at the expense and detriment of local small businesses.  Treating a small business with only a few employees the same as mega billion dollar retailer with physical presence in every state is not sound public policy.  In addition, Marc argues that is unfair to allow

Today is the kick off event for the Postal Vision 2020 conference in Washington, DC. The conference is focused on re-envisioning the nation’s postal delivery ecosystem and discussing new systems that would accommodate changing 21^st century societal demands.

Brian Bieron, a member of eBay Inc.’s Connected Commerce Policy Lab made the following statement in advance of his participation at today’s event:

Earlier this week, The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization, released a policy analysis on the Marketplace Fairness Act.  In their analysis, the NCPA looked a number of factors that play into the overall Internet sales tax issue, including simplification requirements mandated by the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA), the effectiveness of state use taxes, potential uncollected revenue from online retail, and the potential impact on small Internet-enabled retailers.