Seed Seller Licensing
- To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
- Subject: Seed Seller Licensing
- From: V* G*
- Date: Thu, 20 May 1999 05:02:14 PDT
Brad --
Sorry to hear about your encounter w/ the Oregon Dept of Ag. I'm in
Michigan, so I don't have any specific info for you, but I have two
suggestions.
1. Don't bother asking them who "turned you in." They're not likely to
tell you b/c you're not being charged w/ a crime, which is the only time
you're immediately entitled to know who accused you & why. Asking will get
you off on the wrong foot, & put the focus somewhere other than settling the
actual problem. (My experience is that they immediately think you're a
crank &/or have something to hide.)
2. Call & ask what the definition of "seed sales" is in Oregon, and why
they thought you qualified. Usually, sales licensing kicks in when there's
ongoing, regular activity & a threshold amount in sales. (Unless, which is
unlikely, they're treating it like medicine or law -- in order to do it at
all, you must 1st be licensed -- but again, I don't know what's up w/
Oregon.) You will probably get bounced from one person to another in the
dept; keep track of the names of the people you talk to. Follow up with a
letter reiterating the points you got in the phone conversation, & ask for
confirmation. (You may or may not get it.) Alternatively, they may give you
the name/address of someone to write to, explaining why you believe you
don't need a sales license. Obviously, keep copies of all the letters you
write & are sent. The reason you want to treat this seriously is b/c you
don't want to have a phantom "business" that looks like it could've brought
in income which didn't get reported to the IRS. (I assume you've been
keeping track of the $$ coming in, & can get a receipt for the $$ you've
turned over to the charity. If not, now's a good time to play catch-up.)
They may tell you that you need a permit to sell, even for charity, in which
case I suggest that you get the license in the charity's name & ask for
permission from the group to take the fee from the proceeds of the previous
sales. (Of course, if you let this group know how much the fee is, I'm sure
a few donations would be forthcoming!)
If you have trouble getting through to the dept, or don't get a clear
response, or don't have time for this nonsense, sic a lawyer on them. I'm
sorry I don't know anyone in Oregon I can recommend, but if you like, I can
ask around.
Good luck with this! We're rooting for you!
Vicki Green
vgreen31@hotmail.com
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