On March 5-6, 14 eBay sellers from across the United States represented the eBay Inc. community on Capitol Hill during the 8^th annual U.S. of eBay Seller Fly-In event in Washington, D.C.  The event included a group dinner and a full lobbying day on March 6.  Despite the federal government’s closure because of the less-than-ideal weather conditions in Washington, D.C., the sellers were able to spend quality time on Capitol Hill engaging with our policy makers.  In all, the sellers participated in 39 meetings in congressional offices.

The U.S. of eBay program was designed to showcase the eBay spirit of entrepreneurship to members on Capitol Hill, and to reinvigorate discussion among policymakers about the real businesses and jobs being created through eBay Inc.’s platform and payment tools.  As well as being a hugely valuable educational event for policymakers and their staff, the fly-in was also an opportunity to discuss the very important and impending issue of Internet Sales Tax. Our sellers used their personal small business stories to illustrate how eBay-enabled small businesses are a powerful force fostering economic growth in communities across the country. Along with eBay staff, the sellers explained how new taxes could harm their businesses and lead to new burdens. Overall, the sellers were successfully able to highlight to members of Congress and their staff how the issues debated in Congress could impact their businesses’ bottom line. 

Event highlights included a question-and-answer panel moderated by former Congressman Vin Weber, featuring Congresswoman Annie Kuster (D/NH-02) and Congressman David Schweikert (R/AZ-06) as well as a dinner keynote address by Tod Cohen, Deputy General Counsel and Vice President of eBay Inc. Government Relations.