Since 2004, Lancaster-based Auction Inn has helped nonprofit groups sell items online to raise money.
It has done so largely unregulated by the government. However, that may soon change.
State officials, including some in the Legislature, want those who sell other people's goods online at Web sites like eBay to sign up for a state-issued license.
Robert Musser, president and CEO of Auction Inn, said he doesn't see exactly why the government wants to step in.
"There haven't been any consumer problems," Musser said Monday. "I don't know why it would be necessary. It seems sometimes it's something to do to raise revenue or extend their reach."
State Rep. Mike Sturla, a Lancaster city Democrat and chairman of the state House Professional Licensure Committee, recently introduced legislation that would require such sellers to pay a $100 fee and to secure a $50 bond for insurance purposes.
Sturla said Monday, that the measure is an attempt to protect not only buyers but consigners, too, from predatory sellers out to benefit themselves.
By requiring licenses, a record of who the seller is and where the seller works would be available to investigators, according to the lawmaker.
"In any case, right now it's buyer beware," Sturla said. "At least (people) would know where (the seller) can be found."
In contrast, Republican state Sen. Robert Wonderling introduced a bill that would exempt anyone selling goods online from having to sign up for a state-issued license.
The issue has its roots in traditional auctioneering, the kind where a person stands before a crowd soliciting bids from the audience for a particular item.
Law mandates traditional auctioneers attend an apprenticeship school or take college auctioneering courses before selling, or risk a $1,000 fine.
The Pennsylvania Department of State, which regulates 27 licensing boards, has interpreted the rule to include online selling. The rule does not apply to anyone selling their own items or goods from their immediate family.
In an attempt to enforce the licensing rule, the state Board of Auctioneer Examiners — dominated by traditional auctioneers — has begun calling online sellers.
The issue has engulfed several sellers. For example, one Allentown-area woman, Mary Jo Pletz, could possibly face a $1,000 fine for each of the 10,000 items she's sold online, including furniture, clothing and antiques. That would be a $10 million fine.
For his part, Musser has reservations about traditional auctioneers regulating online sellers because, in some circumstances, they are in competition with one another.
"All in all, I don't have a big problem with this solution" of requiring a state-issued license, Musser said. "We're a little reluctant to be under the auctioneer board, the same group that wants to bring charges against us."
Musser said Auction Inn has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
E-mail: dpidgeon@lnpnews.com