Silver Spring Entrepreneurs Attend eBay Small Business Advocacy Day

SILVER SPRING, MD — A Silver Spring business is attending eBay's 12th Annual Advocacy Day of meetings in DC Wednesday. Owners of Vitamins 2 You will join 20 other small Internet-enabled retailers from around the country to meet with policymakers to discuss issues such as online sales tax legislation.

Brothers Ryan Terko and Brandon Owens, owners of Vitamins 2 You, have meetings with Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD); Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th-MD) to discuss policies impacting Internet-enabled businesses that make sales across state borders. Policy debates around Internet sales tax and customs “de minimis” thresholds could have a meaningful impact on the ability of ecommerce entrepreneurs to succeed and grow their businesses, according to the owners.

eBay will partner with its small business community to advocate on policies that impact small 21st Century businesses. eBay small businesses will meet with their elected officials in the U.S. house and Senate to discuss tax and trade policies in the digital age, such as bills introduced in the 114th Congress that attempted to impose new Internet sales tax collection and audit burdens on small Internet-enabled businesses.

These businesses believe taxes like these are in "favor of big box retailers and creating an unhealthy environment for small business to thrive and compete," according to a news release. They think this sales tax collection compromises the ability of small businesses to use the Internet to compete and grow.

The participating small businesses want policymakers to allow them to adopt an omnichannel retail strategy, rather than expose them to cross-border tax liabilities from up to 9,600 jurisdictions nationwide.

"As policymakers consider updates to trade policies, we believe increases in foreign de minimis thresholds (the threshold below which US ecommerce exports are exempt from duty, tax, and paperwork) would enable small U.S. exporters to access and succeed in new markets," the new release says.

Around 97 percent of eBay small businesses export, compared to about 1 percent of traditional small businesses. These businesses believe online small businesses are not reaching their full exporting potential because trade policies have not been updated for the digital trade economy.

Terko and Owens began Vitamins 2 You in 2012. They left their other jobs to work on the business full-time in 2015, thanks to the growth of sales from ecommerce retail sites. The brothers credit their growth to the diversity of customers they reach online and say the majority of sales come from ecommerce platforms.

The business continues to grow at an exponential pace and has experienced a 400 percent growth each year since 2012. Vitams 2 You currently has eight full-time employees, and they wish to expand from their warehouse to a dedicated storefront.

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