marketplace

The U.S. Senate on Monday approved a controversial bill by more than a 2-to-1 margin that would allow states to levy taxes on Internet purchases.

The Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states to require online vendors to collect sales and use tax on certain out-of-state purchases, was approved in a bipartisan vote of 69 to 27. The bill, which already has the support of President Obama, will now move on to the House of Representatives.

If approved, the bill would overturn a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that found out-of-state retailers generally don't have to collect taxes unless … Read more

eBay is trying to marshal its users to change federal sales tax legislation pending in the Senate that could usher in the first national Internet sales tax.

eBay CEO John Donahoe began sending e-mails to the online auctioneer's users on Sunday, asking they contact their federal representatives to express their opposition for the Marketplace Fairness Act. The proposed legislation, which the Senate is expected to vote on this week, would allow states to require online vendors to collect sales and use tax on certain out-of-state purchases. Only businesses with less than $1 million in annual U.S. sales would … Read more

A group of Republicans and Democrats yesterday reintroduced a federal bill that could cost online retailers and customers more money.

The Marketplace Fairness Act would allow states to require online vendors to collect sales and use tax on certain out-of-state purchases. Only businesses with less than $1 million dollars in annual U.S. sales would be exempt.

The bill was debated by the Senate last year but went nowhere. Now a group of 35 House members and 18 senators are trying again. And they're optimistic the bill will pass this time, according to The Hill.

The bill's top … Read more

Facebook is fussing with the look of those fuddy-duddy ads it shows to members on the right-hand side of the website. The point is to get the easily ignored ads more clicks -- and to make more money, of course.

The social network today confirmed that it is conducting a small test in the U.S. and showing some users advertisements with bigger images. The new ad unit is a tweaked version of the standard "marketplace ads," or the ads you see in the right-hand column, and is distinct from the ads you find in the News Feed. … Read more

Online consumers may one day be able to sell or trade their digital items to other users, at least if a new Amazon patent comes to fruition.

Granted to the retail giant on January 29, the patent dubbed "Secondary market for digital objects" describes an electronic marketplace for swapping digital items.

You'd start off by housing your purchased music, videos, apps, and e-books in your own online storage space, just as many of us do today. When you get tired of listening to the same songs or reading the same books, you can move those items to … Read more

A couple of senators in Washington want to make sure people in the U.S. never have to pay taxes for Internet access.

Passed in 1998, the Internet Tax Freedom Act prevents federal, state, and local governments from collecting sales taxes on the use of e-mail and other types of Internet access. The bill is due to expire November of next year.

New legislation introduced yesterday by Republican Sens. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) and Dean Heller (Nev.) is designed to extend the ban indefinitely. The Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act would stop governments from imposing new taxes on Internet access.… Read more

Microsoft has temporarily ceased publishing of new apps to the Windows Phone Marketplace while it grapples with a bug that is preventing some users from downloading or updating apps.

An issue with the digital certificates used to sign apps has prevented some phones from installing some apps for the past several days, the company said today.

A Microsoft investigation revealed that the issue affects only phones that were upgraded to Windows Phone 7.5 from an earlier version of the operating system, Mazhar Mohammed, Microsoft's director of program management, said in a Windows Phone blog post. Phones purchased with … Read more

The Senate could soon decide whether consumers will have to shell out taxes on more of their online purchases.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is scheduled to hold a hearing today to examine the current policy that exempts many online retailers from collecting sales tax. The present ruling is based on a 1992 Supreme Court decision, which found that businesses without a physical presence in a state are not required to collect state sales tax.

But up for debate this afternoon is the Marketplace Fairness Act (PDF), which would reverse the Supreme Court decision. Senators … Read more

Amazon's Marketplace has been a boon for third-party merchants looking to sell their products online. But according to a new report, it's not always fun working with the online retail giant.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that some retailers in Amazon's Marketplace have witnessed the online company examining which products they sell that are popular, and then offering them itself to the detriment of those merchants.

The Journal spoke with one retailer, Jeff Peterson of Collectible Supplies, who sold as many as 100 Pillow Pets a day. After continued success, he claims Amazon started selling … Read more