North Carolina says there's a difference between ordinary folk just cleaning out the attic and those who prowl the flea markets for good to auction online - so they're telling state residents to think real hard about becoming licensed as state law requires.
The state Auctioneer Licensing Board says they're just passing on an alert a little more aggressively, especially after a survey on the popular eBay online auction site showed 20,000 auctions originating from the Tar Heel State.
But it's not quite that simple for many people. North Carolina's auctioneer licensing, according to APBNews.com, involves taking classes or having a two-year apprenticeship, then passing an exam and paying a fee. An auction firm license, which the state board tells APBNews is all that's required for online auctioning, requires just a fee and an exam on state auction law.
Ah, but guess what - the initial licensing fee goes from $175 to $250 Jan. 1, with a $150 annual renewal and a one time $50 payment to a "recovery fund" to pay people who encounter problems. And the state isn't concerned about such as eBay, considering those kind of auction sites providing "an advertising format" which brings buyers and sellers together.
Translation? Potentially, yet another roadblock to people performing their own business from their own homes whenever they please, even though the North Carolina board says the concern is for users who don't know where to go if they have a problem with fraud.
Licensing board attorney Jeff Gray, in fact, tells APBNews the rising popularity of online auctioning might turn an initial novelty into a full-blown business. "Somebody who is cleaning out their attic or liquidating their store, they are not going have a problem. It's the folks who are going out and scouring the yard sales or the flea markets," Gray tells APBNews, adding the problem with enforcing the law is distinguishing those who sell for a hobby from those who do it as business.
