Who knew? You can buy a business for $8,000, pick up 100 retractable telephone cords for $49.95 and 1,000 plastic forks for $9.95, all in the same shopping spree without leaving your office.

Internet-savvy business shoppers have found that out to the tune of $2 billion a year at www.ebaybusiness.com. Small businesses have taken advantage of the Internet-based auction site to help grow their inventories and equipment since it was launched in January, 2003.

Wyoming.com is one of those realizing savings and boosting its services through the system. The Riverton-based Internet provider was selected as one of 51 small businesses recently recognized by eBay, as Small Business Success Stories at the company's "United States of eBay Summit" held in Washington D.C.

Using eBay to purchase for Wyoming.com was a trial by fire for purchasing manager Julie Watts.

She was given the job last year after the previous manager left. The company owners gave her some training, then turned her loose. Today, she said, the company spends about $100,000 a year on supplies, but saves about $300,000 a year over standard purchases by purchasing through eBay.

"We used eBay, because in Wyoming we can not purchase a lot of the specialized equipment we need to run an Internet service provider company," Watts said. "And eBay provides a forum for us to sell and to buy this very bizarre equipment."

The business accounts work exactly like personal accounts, she said. The format also gives purchasers the ability to shop with just a part number.

"I know eBay started with like antiques and collectibles, but it's amazing when I look for things that I need to replace within our network and the only thing I have is a part number and it's in no recognizable format," Watts said. "I can put that part number in and I can order something and it'll ship from Florida, and it'll be exactly what I need."

Wyoming.com buys in bulk, and can usually find things cheaper on eBay than through a vendor, Watts said.

"We get a lot of equipment from the failed dot-com industries. … Secondary companies will buy out their warehouses or their equipment, and just put stuff on eBay and they don't necessarily even know what they're selling," Watts said. Not everything she has purchased is new.

Cleaning up

Small retailers are cleaning up with eBay. For example, a piece of restaurant equipment sells every 20 minutes and an oscilloscope every 10 minutes.

Lets not forget the contractor's friend, the fork lift. One of those sells every four hours, according to eBay figures.

Buyers tend to find the service both a savings and a convenience, according to an eBay press release. Sellers find it broadens their market area and is cost effective, with the average cost for sellers from 5 to 7 percent of the total sell price. Sellers also realize higher prices compared to other liquidation channels, according to the release.

In 2003, Internet business buying reached $2 billion in gross merchandise sales, doubling sales from the previous year. An estimated 430,000 people use eBay to make a living, according to the release.

Taxes

While there is a boom in selling, government agencies have found themselves struggling with who is responsible for sales tax and where it should be collected.

Internet sellers are not required to collect sales tax from buyers, but the 42-state member Streamlined Sales Tax and Use Project (SSTP) is evaluating sales tax collections in the U.S. and developing a system to simplify the tax laws.

According to the project summary on the Web site www.streamlinedsalestax.org, the tax system would provide:

*Uniform definitions in tax laws.

*Rate simplification

*State level administration of all state and local sales and use taxes

*A uniform sourcing rule

*Simplified exemption administration for use

*Uniform audit procedures and state funding of the system.

As of April 2004, 20 states have enacted all or part of the conforming legislation, the report said.

Wyoming enacted legislation in 2002 that would bring it in-line with SSTP.

"We have drafted rules, sourcing rules, to basically conform with the Streamlined Sales Tax Project," said Dan Noble, administrator of the Wyoming Department of Revenue's Excise Tax Division. "We have a few other items to clear up. One of them is going to be on how vendors are compensated for utilizing the certified service providers and some of the audit functions, and some of those things are still to be worked out."

Under the plan's sourcing rules, taxes would be collected based on the buyer's location.

"If you make a sale to another state, the tax rate that would be collected would be the rate that is in effect in the state where the product was destined for. That's very similar to the way Wyoming deals with it today," Noble said.

Watts said Wyoming.com pays taxes on purchases through tax allotments from the state.

"We pay taxes based on how much stuff we buy. So we turn in the value of everything we buy - new, used, whatever - and we pay taxes based on that." Watts said. "Then some of the states - California, Tennessee … - they have to pay taxes on everything they buy. And some of the eBay sites don't differentiate between whether you are in California or not. So you have to ask for them to credit you back, because you're not buying within California."

Getting the excess taxes back can take between three to six months, she said.

Watts said she believes recent taxation proposals could damage small internet businesses.

"Every time I make a Web-based purchase … it automatically calculates my shipping costs. It totals up my purchases, and then it gives the option of charging credit cards or purchasing however," Watts said. "In order to integrate a nationwide tax table into every single Web purchasing program, the cost is going to be astronomical.

"These small mom and pop business that do buying and selling, they are barely able to build their own Web sites because of the cost," Watts said. She estimated that it would cost $50 to $100 an hour to update systems and the added costs would be too much for the small business owner to absorb.

By using certified service providers as stipulated in the SSTP, it would be easier for small businesses to comply, said Noble.

"My understanding of the way that network would work is that any compensation for use of that certified service provider would be through tax revenues being generated by the project itself," Noble said. "And, the filing of the tax returns and the calculation of the tax would be done by the certified service provider, so it would basically, if anything, reduce the burden on the small retailers."

On the Net:

Wyoming.com: www.wyoming.com

eBay: www.ebay.com or www.ebaybusiness.com

Streamlined Sales Tax Project: www.streamlinedsalestax.org