Amends TCA Title 47, Chapter 18.

This bill requires online marketplaces that include third-party sellers of consumer products to authenticate the identity of certain third-party sellers, as discussed below. This bill requires online marketplaces to: (1) Require a high-volume third-party seller on the online marketplace to provide the online marketplace with certain information within 24 hours of becoming a high-volume third-party seller, including bank account information, contact information, and a business tax identification number as further specified in this bill; (2) In regard to the information referenced in (1): (A) Verify the information within three days and verify within three days any changes to the information that is provided to the marketplace by a high-volume third-party seller. If a high-volume third-party seller provides a copy of a valid government-issued tax document, the information contained within the tax document is presumed to be verified as of the date of issuance of the record or document; (B) Notify, on at least an annual basis, each high-volume third-party seller on the online marketplace that the seller must inform the online marketplace of any changes to the information provided by the seller pursuant to item (1) above within three days of receiving the notification; and (C) Instruct each high-volume third party seller, as a part of the notification in item (1)(B) above, to electronically certify either that the seller's information is unchanged or that the seller is providing changes to the information. If the online marketplace becomes aware that a high-volume third-party seller has neither certified that the seller's information is unchanged nor provided such changed information within three days of receiving such notification, then the online marketplace must suspend the high-volume third-party seller's participation on the marketplace until the seller has either certified that the seller's information is unchanged or has provided such changed information and the information has been verified; (2) Require a high-volume third-party seller in the online marketplace to provide certain information as detailed by this bill, including the identity of the high-volume third-party seller and other information determined to be necessary to address circumvention or evasion of the requirements of this bill. The online market place must disclose the information to consumers in a conspicuous manner either on the product listing or, for information other than the seller's full name, through a conspicuously placed link on the product listing. This bill specifies that the online marketplace may provide for partial disclosure of identity information, upon the request of a high-volume third-party seller, in certain situations as detailed by this bill. If an online marketplace becomes aware that a high-volume third-party seller made a false representation to the online marketplace in order to justify the provision of a partial disclosure, or that a high-volume third-party seller who requested and received a provision for a partial disclosure has not provided responsive answers within a reasonable timeframe to consumer inquiries submitted to the seller by phone or email address, the online marketplace must withdraw its provision for partial disclosure and require the full disclosure of the high-volume third-party seller's identity information upon three-business-days' notice to the high-volume third-party seller; (3) Disclose to consumers, in a conspicuous manner on the product listing of a high-volume third-party seller, a reporting mechanism that allows for electronic and telephonic reporting of suspicious marketplace activity to the online marketplace, and a message encouraging individuals seeking goods for purchase to report suspicious activity to the online marketplace; and (5) If an online marketplace houses, distributes, or otherwise fulfills a consumer product order, disclose to the consumer the identification of the high-volume third-party seller supplying the consumer product if different than the seller listed on the product listing page. Such disclosure is in addition to the verification requirements of this bill. This bill prohibits a political subdivision from establishing, mandating, or otherwise requiring online marketplaces to verify information from high-volume third-party sellers on a one-time or ongoing basis or disclose information to consumers. For the purposes of this bill, a "high-volume third-party seller" is a participant in an online marketplace who is a third-party seller and who, in any continuous 12-month period during the previous 24 months, has entered into 200 or more discrete sales or transactions of new or unused consumer products resulting in the accumulation of an aggregate total of $5,000 or more in gross revenues. A violation of this bill will constitute a violation of the Consumer Protection Act. Generally under present law, a violation of the Act is a Class B misdemeanor, and a person damaged by a violation may recover in a civil action, including treble damages for intentional violations. This bill will take effect on January 1, 2022.