NYT: EBay Drop-Off Stores Balk at Regulation

[DeepModem Mom]

EBay Drop-Off Stores Balk at Regulation
By KATIE HAFNER
Published: May 24, 2005


....as more eBay drop-off stores spring up around the nation to help redistribute the accumulated cargo of an acquisitive culture, some public officials worry that they could become unwitting fences for stolen goods. As some states push to regulate the industry, eBay and the stores are joining together to oppose oversight.

States like California and Florida are debating whether drop-off stores like QuikDrop International, AuctionDrop and iSold It should be governed by the laws to prevent the sale of stolen items that currently apply to pawnbrokers, secondhand stores and auctioneers....

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According to eBay, there are more than 7,000 locations listed in the company's directory of independent businesses, or trading assistants, that sell on behalf of others and offer drop-off services. Many of these, including about 3,800 AuctionDrop locations in U.P.S. Stores, are retail-style storefronts. And hundreds more of these stores are expected to open in the next year.

The stores and eBay have no corporate connection, but they are closely linked. EBay's revenue growth is based in part on signing up new eBay sellers; the drop-off stores help bring into the eBay fold people who might be reluctant to hold an online auction themselves....

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EBay is lobbying against a proposed law that would set up an electronic database to track stolen goods sold at secondhand stores in California. The state attorney general recently released an opinion that the drop-off stores should be classified as secondhand dealers. EBay asked that the bill exempt the centers from regulation, but such an exemption has not yet been written into the bill....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/24/technology/24ebay.html