Pennsylvania
Overview
Founded in 1995, eBay provides a global trading platform where practically anyone can trade practically anything.
The eBay community includes 83.9 million active registered users from around the world, making it the most popular shopping destination on the Internet.
Every day, there are millions of items listed on eBay. People come to the eBay marketplace to buy and sell items in thousands of categories including antiques and art, books, business & industrial equipment, cars & other vehicles, computers & electronics, and home furnishings.
eBay State Presence
Registered Users - eBay has more than 4.6 million registered users in the state of Pennsylvania. Top Sellers - More than 15,600 of those users qualify as Top Sellers. Top Sellers are members of the eBay community who sell over $1,000 worth of merchandise or services each month. Employees - eBay maintains an office in Pennsylvania with a small workforce.
Issue/Policy Updates:
Streamlined Sales Tax Project (“SSTP”) - The SSTP is an attempt by some state governments to require out-of-state businesses (including Internet sellers) to collect and remit sales taxes to the states of all their buyers. Even assuming the SSTP effectively streamlines some portions of sales tax collection, small businesses would be forced to collect, remit and account for sales tax to buyers in thousands of separate taxing jurisdictions across America, a prospect which is unrealistic to all but the largest companies. Changing state and federal law in this way would impose a costly and complex new burden on small businesses using the Internet. Tickets - eBay supports the elimination of restrictions capping the resale price of tickets to sports and entertainment events. Today, there are serious issues in the ticket resale market relating to fair business practice. With primary market ticket suppliers facing no serious competition, ticket prices are artificially driven up. These virtual monopolies ensure that ticket prices will remain inflated and that consumers will be left footing the bill . Allowing individuals to purchase tickets at fair market value in the secondary market results in increased competition in the ticket sales industry and better service to the event-going public. If done properly, the elimination of this barrier to e-commerce can result in increased competition, increased ticket availability, and better service to the event-going public. eBay supports provisions that expressly prohibit the ticket issuer to limits or restrict the after sale use of the ticket. Internet Auction Users Regulation - eBay opposes attempts to increase the regulatory burden on individual eBay-based small businesses. eBay works extremely hard to maintain a marketplace that is well-lit, safe and secure. Our commitment to transparency ensures that individual eBay sellers are held to the highest standards of conduct and sharply reduces the need for additional government regulation. At the same time, costly and unnecessary regulation has the potential to force existing small businesses to scale back or even close their operations. Excessive regulation also acts as a deterrent to the establishment of new online businesses, thus limiting future job creation.
Success Stories:
eBay Foundation - eBay FoundationTM works to build thriving communities by supporting targeted initiatives to improve the economic and social well-being of our communities both on and offline. Charitable Giving - Since 2000, more than $110 million has been raised for charity from items sold on eBay.
Education and Enablement:
eBay University - eBay held seminars in Pittsburgh in February 2006 to educate new and existing users on how to buy and sell items and build small businesses using the eBay marketplace. US of eBay - Every year eBay holds the United States of eBay, a small business summit featuring representatives from all across the country. These small business owners come to Washington D.C. to share their stories with their members of Congress. In 2005, Pennsylvania was represented by George Graves who owns an eBay store called “Sell Your Old Stuff.” As a registered eBay Trading Assistant, George helps other individuals sell their items on the site. George first turned to eBay to make a living after losing his job unexpectedly in March 2004. Now, George considers himself an “e”tiree – which is a term he coined to describe the growing number of people who supplement retirement savings or income through eBay and Internet sales. eBay Live! Conference Program - Every year eBay holds a community conference that brings together people throughout the eBay community. In 2008, more than 15,000 buyers, sellers, and eBay employees will converge on Chicago June 19-21 for three days of classes, panels and exhibits aimed at creating a better online marketplace and more successful users.
Corporate Facts
Confirmed active registered users worldwide at the end of Q1 2008 totaled 83.9 million. In Q1 2008, Gross Merchandise Volume, the value of all successfully closed listings on eBay world wide, was $16 billion. Total GMV for 2007 was more than $59 billion. Currently, more than $2,040 worth of merchandise is sold on eBay every second. At any given time, there are approximately 115.3 million listings worldwide, and approximately 6.9 million listings are added per day. As of December 2006, eBay had approximately 15,000 employees. Over 768,000 professional sellers in the U.S. use eBay as a primary or secondary source of income. Another 1.5 million individuals sell on eBay to supplement their incomes. Thousands of additional businesses save money by purchasing equipment and supplies on eBay.
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