I rarely get political. It is not part of my business model. That said, Arkansas Senate Bill SB470 grabbed my attention for many reasons. The Senate passed the bill and it is filed with the Arkansas House Committee on Insurance and Commerce; which meets Monday, March 22, 2021. SB470 is on the agenda. This is the first of two blog posts. Now, let’s get into it.
The title of SB470 is TO ESTABLISH THE ONLINE MARKETPLACE CONSUMER INFORM ACT; TO REQUIRE THE DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION BY ONLINE MARKETPLACES TO BETTER INFORM CONSUMERS; TO REGULATE ONLINE MARKETPLACES TO STOP ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME.
In a nutshell, the bill mandates “high volume sellers” in online marketplaces post their personally identifying information to the general public. SB470 defines high volume as 200 separate sales (as opposed to a single sale containing 200 items) or $5,000 in sales over a 24-month period. That is not high volume. Almost anyone running a side hustle, hobby, or actual business qualifies as high volume under this proposed law. Did you sell a car through Facebook Marketplace sometime in the last 2 years? Did you get $5,000 or more? If yes, you are a high volume seller. The definition of high volume seller is ridiculously low.
What type of personally identifying information is required under this bill? Your name, physical address, personal phone number, and email address in bold face type in each and every listing. You can request a waiver from the third party if your business address and phone are your personal home address and phone. But then you have on the listing, in boldface, there is no business address, no business email address, and no business phone. Who would buy from someone with this on their listing? Not I.
Who has to comply? All sellers who use third party websites to sell. Sellers are individuals or businesses, even if you sell out of your home. Both are required to comply if they use a third-party venue like Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, WooCommerce, eBay, Amazon, RedBubble, etc.
Next, for some bizarre and ignorant reasons, Senator Jonathan Dismang and Representative Brian Evans (sponsors of SB470) feel that requiring a street address, phone number and email address will prevent criminals from selling online. That’s laughable. If this were true, fake IDs and identity theft would not be a thing. It is just flat out stupid to think this will prevent online selling by criminals.
One last point about the wording in the bill. Sellers are required to inform each selling platform if they sell elsewhere online. So, if you sell on Etsy and on eBay and have your own website through WooCommerce, you must tell all three that you sell on the others. It is none of their business where else you sell. I’ll end the post at this point. Check in tomorrow for part two, where I will discuss why this bill is actually a money grab by the State and really has nothing to do with consumer protection. What do you think? Leave a comment below. All respectful and on-topic views are appreciated. Inflammatory, offensive, and off-topic rants will be deleted.
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