With the surge of online shopping, organized retail theft has experienced a simultaneous increase. This led to more strict online selling regulations and the introduction of the INFORM Consumers Act, which became effective on June 27, 2023.
The Act mandates that online channels like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart functioning within the United States must gather specific details from third-party sellers who generate significant sales volumes. This information is necessary to verify the merchants’ authorization to sell the listed items.
Online marketplaces cannot collect mandatory details without the sellers’ involvement. If you want to continue selling on US marketplaces of Amazon/eBay/Walmart, you need to validate your business details as soon as possible. In this blog post, we’ll describe the verification process for each platform, so you can take the needed steps and ensure your compliance with the new law.
INFORM Act: The Basics
Essentially, this Act serves as an additional security measure to enhance transparency on e-commerce channels and uphold their trustworthy reputation. With this law, the government aims to reduce the number of counterfeit items and sketchy businesses in the online-selling sphere.
Apart from collecting merchant details, online marketplaces are also obligated to present buyers with access to merchants’ names and contact information through item listing pages, purchase confirmation emails, and order details.
How can sellers conform to the INFORM Act?
The answer to this question is simple – you need to verify your merchant identity on the channels where you sell. But firstly, make sure that your business falls under this law and that you can classify as a high-volume merchant. The law only applies to merchants who have sold over 200 new items, amounting to over $5,000, within an ongoing 12-month period on the US sites in the past 24 months.
Even if you have previously verified certain information during recent interactions on the marketplace or when you registered your account, you still need to provide additional details to fulfill the conditions of the Act. The details may differ depending on the channel but mostly include:
- Bank account numbers
- Government-issued identification
- Tax identification numbers
- Contact information (telephone number, business address, etc.)
Once the marketplace verifies your merchant details, you’ll need to review and update it on an annual basis.
What happens if the seller ignores the verification?
Similar to most laws for online business, delaying compliance with the INFORM Act isn’t a viable option. If you don’t provide the requested information, documents, or certifications by the specified deadlines, the channel will limit your ability to conduct sales. Your selling account may be deactivated, and payouts may be paused, leading to potential profit loss and other extreme consequences.
You shouldn’t risk your selling account and your business, especially since submitting the details is quick. Let us show you how to complete the INFORM Act verification on eBay, Amazon, and Walmart US sites.
Verifying your identity on eBay
If you fall under the category of high-volume eBay merchants, check your inbox for a corresponding email from eBay. They have sent eligible merchants detailed instructions on completing the eBay verification process and uploading the necessary information through Seller Hub and My eBay.
When your annual total revenue reaches $20,000, it becomes mandatory for eBay to include the merchant’s complete name/company name and physical address in purchase confirmation emails and order details, as per the conditions of the Act. However, in some cases, eBay will share only a partial address with buyers:
- If the business is home-based, only merchant’s state and country will be shown.
- If a different address is used specifically for item returns, that return address will be shown.
With these exceptions, eBay protects the privacy of merchants operating businesses from their homes. If you qualify for any of those two cases, you can make a request for the exception on the dedicated page.
Once eBay processes your request and confirms your exemption, you can double-check the address shared with shoppers after purchase in Account settings.
Verifying your identity on Amazon
You can pass Amazon seller verification by following the instructions in the corresponding email sent by Amazon. If you haven’t received any related emails, it is possible that Amazon has already completed all the necessary verifications for your account.
To double-check for items requiring your attention, visit your Account Health or Account Information page. Items with a green check mark indicate that they’ve already been verified.
Once you’ve completed the account verification process and received a confirmation email from Amazon, wait about 24 hours for the update to reflect on your Account Health page in Seller Central. If you don’t see the update after this time period, make sure to reach out to Seller Support for assistance.
Even after receiving the confirmation message, you may still get additional requests from Amazon. They are typically related to specific types of information, such as your identity or bank account details. If you end up receiving multiple requests to verify additional information, you shouldn’t worry – it is absolutely normal.
Verifying your identity on Walmart
Walmart has also reached out to their merchants with the request to validate business information. To continue selling on Walmart, you should navigate to the dedicated page and go through the verification procedure. Another way to do it is to visit Walmart Seller Center and navigate to Administrative Options > Seller Verification tab. According to Walmart, verifying takes no longer than a minute.
Wrapping up
Honest sellers should have no concerns regarding INFORM Act compliance on channels. In fact, the more rigorous validation of merchant identities is expected to benefit those who adhere to the rules and help eliminate unfair competition.
As a Magento-based extension integrating with leading channels, M2E Pro closely monitors the dynamic e-commerce market and ensures that merchants are equipped with up-to-date info and insights. Stay connected to get the latest news regarding rules for selling on eBay, Amazon, and Walmart.
