US Representative Eric Swalwell and the meeting participants

This week US Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15) held a roundtable meeting with a group of eBay sellers at eWaste Direct in Livermore, California. In attendance were the owners of eWaste Direct, Angie and Joe Nelson, as well as eBay sellers Shari and Arlie Smith, Joo Foo, owner of eBay store sunrisegolfshop, and Henry Lau, owner of eBay store houseofnike.

The meeting began with a tour of the eWaste Direct facility, which refurbishes and resells computer items on eBay. Following the tour the group sat down for a roundtable discussion with the Congressman. Of the various ecommerce policy issues discussed, Internet sales tax took center stage. The sellers explained just how difficult dealing with over 9,600 taxing jurisdictions could be, given that many of their customers are outside of California. Several of the sellers were very clear with the Congressman that a destination-based tax system (as seen in proposals like the Marketplace Fairness Act and the Remote Transactions Parity Act) would force these sellers to seriously curtail their operations or close their businesses entirely.

eBay would like to thank both Representative Swalwell and our sellers for taking time out of their busy schedules to have this very important meeting.