Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

EBay to offer health insurance to online merchants

SAN FRANCISCO -- Online retailer eBay Inc. will offer health insurance to merchants who make a living auctioning items on its popular site, a decision that may go a long way in keeping the site's smaller sellers content.

EBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman made the announcement over the weekend in Anaheim at the company's eBay Live convention for buyers and sellers.

"Over the last two to two and a half years, we have seen an increasing number of people coming onto eBay and making eBay their full-time source of income," company spokesman Kevin Pursglove said Sunday. "We've been hearing from our users that they wish there was some way eBay could work with an insurance provider to get health coverage. In many instances, they had left a brick and mortar job."

The company hopes to offer the coverage by October. EBay touts its offer for access to group health care coverage as the first for a major online auction site.

"I think it's great," said Kurt Dietrich, of Los Angeles, who makes his living selling handmade cat toys and other items. "Insurance for some people is too much money and everybody needs health insurance."

Dietrich has used eBay as his prime source of income since 1999. He already has health insurance, but said he'd switch to eBay's coverage provided he can keep his current doctor.

Those eligible for the coverage must be registered with eBay's Power Seller program, and make between $2,000 and $25,000 a month on eBay. The company is expanding that program to include those who earn between $1,000 and $150,000 or more a month. EBay estimates there are already 35,000 to 45,000 qualified users enrolled and another 40,000 to 50,000 who meet the criteria.

But Rosalinda Baldwin, CEO of The Auction Guild, an industry watchdog group, said she's not sold on eBay's health insurance plan because there are too many questions surrounding how it would be managed.

"I think it's a bad idea," she said. "The Power Seller program is based on how many dollars worth of listings and sales you do through eBay. What happens if your sales drop below the minimum level? Do you lose your health insurance?"

The company says it's still working out the details.

Critics contend that eBay has given big companies an unfair advantage by prominently featuring their brand-name wares, creating tough competition for the millions of regular folks who helped make eBay the site it is.

EBay Live was an attempt to reconnect with those regular users, allowing them to mingle with company managers, hear Whitman's speech and attend an awards ceremony.

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