State legislatures are especially active right now. With continued gridlock at the federal level, more policymaking is happening in state capitals—and that means an increasing risk of a patchwork of rules that can vary significantly from one state to another.

At the same time, many states are facing fiscal pressure and looking for new revenue streams. That’s led to proposals like digital services taxes, digital advertising taxes, and expanded oversight of online platforms. 

The volume—and complexity—of state-level proposals continues to grow. Our focus is ensuring that lawmakers understand how these policies affect small online businesses in practice, not just in theory.

In March, several California-based seller advocates joined us at the state capitol to make a powerful case for small businesses.

Together, we met with state policymakers to highlight how eBay helps drive economic opportunity across California, and sellers shared firsthand what support they need from legislators to continue growing and succeeding. These conversations are critical—and seller perspectives made them real.

Events like this are a reminder that advocacy isn’t just about meetings—it’s about storytelling, visibility, and showing policymakers what small businesses actually look like in practice.

A massive thank you to the eight eBay small business sellers who joined us in Sacramento! We could not do what we do without your dedication and enthusiasm to champion small businesses like yours. 

Federal Policy Updates

While much attention is on the states, several important issues are also developing in Washington.

SHOP SAFE Act

Over the past year, our Federal Government Relations team has engaged extensively on potential updates to the SHOP SAFE Act.

You may recall from previous updates that the SHOP SAFE Act is an attempt to address online counterfeits that could actually harm legitimate sellers. Previous versions of the bill included a “three strikes” policy that would require marketplaces to permanently ban sellers after three listings reported for potential counterfeits.

eBay opposes counterfeits and works hard to keep those listings off of the platform, but as previously written, SHOP SAFE could force legitimate sellers to be banned.

The good news is that SBAN engagement has made a difference, and the authors of SHOP SAFE are looking at how to focus the bill on truly bad actors while protecting legitimate sellers.

We’re monitoring closely and will continue advocating for policies that support trust and safety without disadvantaging responsible sellers.

USPS Proposed Rule on Parcel Dimension Compliance

The United States Postal Service recently proposed a new rule that would introduce a $3 per-parcel fee for missing or inaccurate dimensions on commercial packages, beginning July 12.

Currently, sellers are only required to report accurate dimensions if a package is larger than one cubic foot or longer than 22 inches. Under the proposed rule, the new fee would apply more broadly.

Why this matters:

• Many small sellers use less standardized packaging, such as poly bags or irregular parcels.
• A $3 fee can be significant—especially for lower-value items.
• For packages under one cubic foot, postage today is based on weight only, not dimensions—making this a meaningful shift.

We are preparing substantive feedback ahead of the proposed implementation date and are focused on ensuring policymakers understand how this would affect small sellers day to day.

If this proposal would impact your shipping practices, we’d especially welcome your perspective.