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Legal requirements for an on-line auction?

ChrisFarleyChrisFarley subscriber Posts: 20
edited December 2007 in Selecting a Business
What licenses must you have to start an auction on-line? I know you have to have your own website and domain name and such but what legal documentation do you need?
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Comments

  • LizardWisdomLizardWisdom subscriber Posts: 0
    Just for clarification purposes (mainly for our own curiosity since we know nothing about actually starting an online auction service), do you actually want to start an online auction service, or do you want to sell on an existing service, such as eBay?
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  • ChrisFarleyChrisFarley subscriber Posts: 20
    I would like to start my own not on ebay.
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  • ChrisFarleyChrisFarley subscriber Posts: 20
    ChrisFarley12/16/2007 3:38 PM
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  • businessbymittiebusinessbymittie subscriber Posts: 1
    You would need to make sure that you have the legal right to sell whatever you are offering.
     
    Certain items are off limits, make sure yours is not. I would go to the government website for your state. They can tell you what permits you will need, if any.
     
    Good Luck!
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  • ChrisFarleyChrisFarley subscriber Posts: 20
    Well that didn`t work... Has anybody started an auction and knows what you need to do this? I need some help. Thank you.
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  • infinique1infinique1 subscriber Posts: 0 Member
    I think knowing the true source of the products is important. If you were to auction off some loot, you might be in for trouble with the authorities.
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  • PatriotPromotionPatriotPromotion subscriber Posts: 0
    Chris - I am working on starting up an online auction service much like ebay only localized. I have been doing a fair amount of digging online for information pertaining to this topic. From what I have found it depends on the state/territory in which you plan to start the service. Some states like South Dakota require an auctioneers license to operate an online auction house, however it appears that there is a loophole for those that only provide a platform for users to auction their own items, although if they wanted to get particular they could stick you with a fine for acting as an auctioneer. The only way I can see around this is to set your fee structure up in such a way as to eliminate "consignment" type compensation. Say a per item listing fee or per item sold fee could be assumed to be a consignment fee by some definitions. I would have to do a lot more research before I could feel confident enough to say for sure but I think ebay gets around the auctioneer stipulation in all states. If you want more information about the plan I have for my auction site please drop me an email and we can talk.
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