We Need LEGISLATION To Govern Online Marketplaces Such as eBay, Amazon, Etc...

I firmly believe that all online "marketplaces" should be required to follow the same laws as any other commercial landlord in the state where the tenant operates. The same laws governing tenants in shopping centers, malls and other physical bricks and mortar stores.

eBay, Amazon, and other typical online marketplaces rent space to each seller or "tenant". They should not be allowed to spy on email messages between a buyer and seller, impose restrictions on the forms of payment acceptable to a seller, nor materially interfere with any other processes and procedures the seller performs in the natural working of his business. The seller should not be penalized by exceeding their handling time, especially when requested by or acceptable to the buyer. They should not be allowed to offer advertising space to a competing company on the seller's listing that the seller took the time and effort to create and paid their fees to list, without compensating the seller for any "clicks" that the competing company paid the online marketplace for, while encouraging the buyer away from the seller's listing to go to their competing website to make their purchase.

There are too many topics to list that really need to be in a bill submitted in Congress.

It's time sellers take back control of their stores. After all, they do not give us a paycheck, they give us a bill. We pay the rent and should be allowed a generous amount of control over our stores. The very idea that they have requirements for a seller's performance to receive a discount on their fees, is ridiculous. Let the market determine how much business the seller receives, by negative feedback, and loss of repeat business. I do not enjoy being made to feel like an employee having to jump through hoops to satisfy the people who are billing me! They bill me for the store subscription, the listings, and they take a commission if I sell something. And I might not sell something if the competitors they allow to advertise on my listing (that I paid for) steals my customer away. We do not work for them, they work for us. We pay them to peddle our products on the internet, and nothing more. They are a service provider, a vendor, not our employer.

They operate in bad faith, without impunity and if the sellers don't like it, they come out with an updated "user agreement" that you have to sign or close your store. Their verbiage states "your exclusive remedy is to stop selling". Nice!

I would like to forward this petition with any signatures to my member of Congress. I would also like for sellers to contact business attorneys in each of their states to create an association in each state to represent the sellers that reside in their state. I would like the bill to be presented in Congress, along with a clause that allows sellers' associations the right to obtain all contact information on each ebay seller for the purpose of notifying them of the creation of the association, and monthly dues to pay the attorneys for legal representation in court cases brought against an online marketplace. It would also allow for collective "bargaining" to negotiate better trade practices and fees. Currently, these online marketplaces have carte blanche with whatever they want to impose on their virtual tenants, their sellers. Imagine every single ebay store closing for just 2 days - how much money would ebay lose with no final value fee commissions? Effective bargaining chip, if we all did it TOGETHER.

We need to pass legislation that will restrict the online marketplaces from interfering in the daily business of each seller, and that would require these marketplaces to vet all new seller accounts to verify they are legal, bona fide businesses. Not fraudulent sellers creating listings and drop-shipping off other sellers in the same marketplace and pocketing the profit.

All comments with helpful additional requirements from your own experience as a virtual business tenant, or seller - would be appreciated.