Comments Document

The PASS Coalition respectfully opposes SB 341. Please see our attached letter detailing our concerns: On behalf of the member companies of the Coalition to Protect America’s Small Sellers (PASS), we appreciate the opportunity to share our concerns with SB 341 in the attached letter. As a coalition of third-party eCommerce platforms powered by small sellers, including thousands across Virginia, our companies are deeply committed to protecting consumers who use our platforms, including preserving the privacy of our sellers. We welcome the opportunity to work with the General Assembly and other partners to combat illegal goods, protect consumers, and support small businesses rather than creating a patchwork of state requirements that will ultimately harm small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Comments Document

Good afternoon, My name is Montana Williams and I am the Director of State & Local Public Policy with the Chamber of Progress. Please find our letter in opposition to SB 341 attached to this submission. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me at 407-491-5960 or email me at montana@progresschamber.org. Thank you, Montana Williams

The Prince William Chamber of Commerce opposes the bill

Comments Document

Letter in support of S.B. 341 -- legislation from Senator Barker from The Home Depot

Comments Document

We ask you to oppose SB 341 because it: 1. hurts Virginia’s small businesses; 2. undercuts your constituents’ privacy rights; 3. requires online marketplaces to assume responsibility for big-box stores’ challenges; 4. discriminates against businesses—large and small—that sell online; and 5. conflicts with federal law. SB 341 basically demands that online marketplaces treat their sellers like criminals. This is neither reasonable nor necessary. SB 341 also fails to address the root cause of retail criminal theft: the actual theft itself. Nor does SB 341 address the theft of goods along the supply chain from distributors to retail stores. And it doesn’t address the ability of criminal enterprises to steal pallets of products from warehouses and loading docks. Instead, SB 341 just makes it harder for Virginia’s small businesses to compete with big-box stores.

Sara McDonald Testimony for the Record Before the Virginia Assembly House Commerce and Energy Committee Subcommittee #4 Regarding SB 341 My name is Sara McDonald and I’m the proprietor and owner of “Sam and Molly” an online store located in Glen Allen that sells products on marketplaces like eBay and Amazon. I am writing to respectfully request my Virginia legislators reject SB 341. I’ve been selling products on the Internet for more than two decades, mainly on eBay but have recently begun doing so on Amazon as well. Over the years, I’ve adapted to a range of challenges and changes, but I’m concerned by hurdles that would be brought on by SB 341. I understand that lawmakers are worried about stolen goods sold online, but the proposed solution could inadvertently put honest online businesses at risk without addressing the root of the problem. SB 341 could add multiple hurdles to my daily operations and divert precious time and attention away from my customers across the country. If standards start varying state-by-state, I’m worried it could become harder for me to keep up with larger foreign companies that use ecommerce to sell products and compete with local Virginia online sellers. Virginia’s lawmakers should stand up for American small businesses like mine and reject SB 341. Thank you for your consideration of my views.

Comments Document

February 23, 2022 House Commerce and Energy Committee Subcommittee #4 Virginia General Assembly Richmond, VA Dear Chairman Head and Members of the Subcommittee: My name is Shawn McGowen. I am the CEO of Leather Honey LLC, a Charlottesville-based family owned small business that sells leather conditioners and cleaners online. I write to express concerns with SB 341, legislation that would create bureaucratic hurdles for honest Virginia entrepreneurs who sell online. As a resident of Virginia, I respectfully ask you to oppose this legislation. The legislation does little to prevent the online sale of counterfeit products or stolen goods, but would engender significant unintended consequences for Virginia entrepreneurs. While the intent of SB 341 may be laudatory, this legislation would simply create additional red tape for local small businesses, while doing little to address the problems it seeks to address. As a local Charlottesville entrepreneur who has used the Internet to reach new customers worldwide over the last twelve years, I can say if these regulations had existed when we were launching our business, I might have been effectively dissuaded from selling online. It would be unfortunate to saddle the next generation of Internet entrepreneurs with ill-conceived regulations that will not solve the problem they are meant to address. Under this legislation, small businesses that reach an arbitrary threshold would be labeled a “high- volume” seller and subjected to new disclosures regulations. Small businesses would further be required to annually reverify information submitted to online marketplaces - even if nothing has changed - or risk being suspended from selling. This could mean an honest small business owner who misses or never receives an email from an online marketplace might be unintentionally suspended, losing badly needed sales and revenue. Further, enacting this legislation at the state level contributes to an unworkable state-by-state patchwork of varying regulations. For many small businesses that sell products online, this would create time consuming and costly compliance burdens. Thank you in advance for your consideration of my views. Shawn McGowen