The Internet Association hosted a panel discussion, in which Mike Dabbs of eBay Government Relations was a participant, focused on how small businesses are using online marketplaces and the challenges they face during the pandemic. The event was hosted in conjunction with the Congressional E-commerce Caucus and Congressman Pete Aguilar (D-CA-31) and Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY-02) provided opening remarks. Other panelists included Katharine Lister of Amazon and John Walsh of Groupon.

Mike noted that eBay has been a place for small businesses to extend their reach and sell to customers around the world since its founding. He touched on how this has been an extremely difficult time for many small businesses and that eBay has provided a way for them to adapt. He highlighted the work of eBay’s foundation in providing funding to communities in need and discussed the generosity that sellers have continued to make through the option of making charitable donations through sales. eBay has seen tremendous support from our sellers for charities during the pandemic. Mike also discussed how protecting consumers on eBay is fundamental so there is a trusted relationship between buyers and sellers and that we moved expeditiously at the start of the pandemic to remove prohibited items such as masks and hand sanitizer to prevent price gouging. He concluded by reiterating the need for Congress to provide more stimulus legislation for small businesses as soon as possible.