Making a Difference with a Mouse
From the comfort of their computers, thousands of eBay Community members made a difference in 2008 by writing letters to legislators on high priority issues, such as:

• Auctioneering License Requirements: members promoted legislation to exempt eBay sellers from regulations required of traditional auctioneers.

• Open Event Tickets Market: members helped remove price caps on the resale of tickets, increasing availability and allowing buyers and sellers to trade tickets in a free and open marketplace.

• State Sales Tax: members fought efforts to require eBay sellers to collect and pay taxes to the states–and thousands of local jurisdictions–where their customers are located.

Members of eBay’s Main Street receive about four to six emails per year alerting them to new public policy challenges. Solicitation to contact elected officials is based solely on the importance of the issue and the ability to make change. The choice to participate is voluntary and the ability to “opt out” is available at any time.

Main Street Highlights:
• Main Street is a grassroots action network that allows eBay users to stay informed and act upon proposed legislation that could affect their ability to buy and sell on the site.
• Since January, more than 6,000 members of the eBay Community have become new Main Street members.
• In 2008, Main Street members sent more than 22,000 letters to lawmakers in support of “pro-eBay” public policy

Cheers,
RBH