Meet the INFORM Consumers Act
The rule at the heart of this change is the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers (INFORM) Act. Signed into law and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) since mid-2023, this bipartisan legislation
is not about telling you what you can or can’t buy. Instead, it targets the anonymity that has long enabled bad actors to thrive on major e-commerce platforms. At its core, the law is designed to combat the sale of stolen, counterfeit, and otherwise unsafe goods by making it harder for shady sellers to hide. For years, consumers and legitimate businesses have complained about the flood of fake products and items sourced from organized retail crime appearing on sites like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay. The INFORM Act is Congress’s direct response, aiming to unmask the operators behind these problematic online storefronts.
Who Does This Rule Actually Affect?
The law doesn't apply to every casual seller clearing out their garage on Facebook Marketplace. Its focus is on “high-volume third-party sellers.” This is a specific legal definition for merchants who, over a 12-month period, make 200 or more separate sales totaling $5,000 or more. Think of the professional-looking but unverified sellers pushing hundreds of discounted headphones, unbranded phone chargers, or too-good-to-be-true designer accessories.
Online marketplaces are the primary enforcers. Giants like Amazon, Walmart, and eBay are now legally required to collect, verify, and monitor identifying information from these high-volume sellers. This includes their name, address, tax ID, and bank account details. The era of setting up a large-scale, anonymous shop with just a burner email and a fake name is officially over.
How It Makes Your Shopping Safer
Transparency is the law's primary weapon. If a third-party seller grosses more than $20,000 annually, marketplaces must display their full name and address on the product listing page. For sellers below that threshold, the marketplace must still provide the seller's state and country, along with a way for customers to contact them directly via email or phone after a purchase. This simple disclosure has two major effects. First, it acts as a deterrent. Sellers peddling stolen or counterfeit goods are far less likely to do so if their real-world identity is attached to the transaction. Second, it empowers you. If you receive a defective or dangerous product, you now have a clear path to contact the seller directly, rather than getting lost in a labyrinth of automated customer service bots. It also gives law enforcement a much clearer trail to follow when investigating organized retail theft rings that use online platforms to offload their loot.
What This Means for Buyers and Sellers
For the average online shopper, the change might be subtle at first. You may start noticing more seller information on product pages, especially for high-volume merchants. There should also be a new reporting mechanism on product pages, allowing you to flag suspicious activity directly to the marketplace. Over time, the goal is that you'll encounter fewer counterfeit and unsafe products, leading to a more trustworthy shopping experience.
For legitimate third-party sellers, the INFORM Act is mostly a procedural hurdle. If you meet the high-volume criteria, you've likely already been asked by the marketplace to provide and verify your identity. While it’s one more piece of administrative work, it levels the playing field by making it harder for illicit competitors to operate. Small-time, casual sellers who don’t meet the sales thresholds are largely unaffected. The law squarely targets the large, anonymous operations that have given third-party marketplaces a bad name.
