If you are selling online or using live auctions, new legislation is coming up that may impact not only how you do sales, but what you will be required to give to perform sales.
Selling online has been a lifeline for many small businesses struggling to make it through the last year. But, even as the country is relying more heavily on online goods, unprecedented legislation that is being pushed by Big Box retailers is moving through the US Senate which would negatively impact tens of thousands of entrepreneurs and small businesses.
The legislation, the INFORM Consumers Act, would require online marketplaces like eBay, Etsy, and dozens of small online marketplaces to annually verify each of their “high volume third-party sellers,” defined as those who have 200+ annual sales totaling $5,000 or more. Additionally, the legislation requires that the high-volume sellers’ full name and full contact information be displayed on each listing. Legislators have not fully considered the impact that this legislation would have on online sellers and those who utilize other online marketplaces.
Under the bill, sellers would have to:
- provide online marketplaces with extensive personal information, including tax ID numbers and government-issued identification cards in order to be verified to sell on an online marketplace;
- certify annually – at the risk of account suspension – that their information has not changed; and
- publicly display their full name and contact information, including address, email and phone number, on each product listed for sale.
Please get in contact with North Carolina’s Senators, Richard Burr and Thom TIllis on your opposition to these measures. Any time personally identifiable information is given to anyone, it is a security threat that is only as strongest as the weakest point.