I was shocked and surprised to read the story of Mary Jo Pletz on the Working at Home On the Internet blog today. The story is also in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Mary Jo's story sounds familiar. She wanted to stay at home with her child, so she decided to sell items on eBay (10,000 items, to be exact). She was good at eBay selling. So good, in fact, that she had a 99.9 percent satisfaction rating. She paid her taxes and her business grew.
The story should end there, another work-at-home mom success story, right?
Wrong!
Little did Mary Jo know or suspect that, in her state (Pennsylvania), she might be required to have an auctioneer's license in order to sell items at auction on eBay. Somehow (it's unclear if a complaint was made to state officials), the state of Pennsylvania decided that Mary Jo's business may have broken a state law that requires auctioneers to have a license. Suddenly, Mary Jo found herself possibly liable for thousands of dollars in fines.
How can you keep this from happening to your business?
To some extent, you may not be able to. From the news story it sounds like Mary Jo was acting in good faith and truly believed that she was within the parameters of the law.
However, there are a few precautions that you can take.
- Seek and follow professional legal advice when you organize your business and if you have a specific question.
- Follow the news, particularly as it pertains to business. Don't assume that a statute doesn't apply to you.
- If you live in the United States, contact your congress person when you become aware of legislation that would be harmful to your business.
- If you live in Pennsylvania, review the two bills that are being considered about online business: the house bill and the senate bill. Let your congress person know which option you believe to be best.
Leave a comment and let us know.
Hey Laura,
Thanks for sharing this story with your readers. I think it is really important that us Work at Homers realize that WE have to make the effort to do it right as far as the law is concerned.
I hope we can all learn a lesson from Mary Jo's story.
(I am hoping to get an interview with her to see what's happening now.)
Joe
Posted by: Joe | January 31, 2008 1:45 PM | Permalink to Comment