New York S 8391: Relates to high-volume third-party sellers in the online marketplace

Bill Text

STATE OF NEW YORK
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8391
IN SENATE
February 22, 2022
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Introduced by Sen. THOMAS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to high-volume
third-party sellers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new article
2 45 to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 45
4 HIGH-VOLUME THIRD-PARTY SELLERS
5 Section 1500. Definitions.
6 1501. Collection and verification of information.
7 1502. Disclosures required.
8 1503. Enforcement.
9 1504. Preemption.
10 § 1500. Definitions. For purposes of this article: 1. "Consumer prod-
11 uct" means tangible personal property that is distributed in commerce
12 and normally used for personal, family, or household purposes, including
13 property intended to be attached to or installed in real property
14 regardless of whether it is actually attached or installed.
15 2. "High-volume third-party seller" means a participant in an online
16 marketplace who is a third-party seller and who, in any continuous
17 twelve-month period during the previous twenty-four months, has entered
18 into two hundred or more discrete sales to, or transactions with, buyers
19 located in New York for new or unused consumer products resulting in the
20 accumulation of an aggregate total of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or
21 more in gross revenues. For purposes of this subdivision, the number of
22 discrete sales or transactions includes only those sales or transactions
23 made through the online marketplace and for which payment is processed
24 by the online marketplace directly or through its payment processor.
25 3. "Online marketplace" means a person or entity that operates a
26 consumer-directed, electronically accessed platform in a manner in which
27 all of the following are true:
28 (a) the platform includes features that allow for, facilitate, or
29 enable third-party sellers to engage in the sale, purchase, payment,
30 storage, shipping, or delivery of a consumer product in this state;
EXPLANATION--Matter in (underscored) is new; matter in bracketsitalics
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14723-01-2

S. 8391 2
1 (b) the features set forth in paragraph (a) of this subdivision are
2 used by third-party sellers; and
3 (c) the person or entity has a contractual or similar relationship
4 with consumers governing their use of the platform to purchase consumer
5 products.
6 4. "Seller" means a person or entity who sells, offers to sell, or
7 contracts to sell a consumer product through an online marketplace's
8 platform.
9 5. (a) "Third-party seller" means a seller, independent of an online
10 marketplace, who sells, offers to sell, or contracts to sell a consumer
11 product in this state through an online marketplace's platform.
12 (b) "Third-party seller" does not mean a seller that meets either of
13 the following criteria:
14 (i) The seller is a business entity that meets all of the following
15 criteria:
16 (A) The seller has made available to the general public the entity's
17 name, business address, and working contact information;
18 (B) The seller has an ongoing contractual relationship with the owner
19 of the online marketplace to provide for the manufacture, distribution,
20 wholesaling, or fulfillment of shipments of consumer products; and
21 (C) The seller has provided to the online marketplace identifying
22 information that has been verified; or
23 (ii) The seller operates the online marketplace's platform.
24 6. "Verify" means to confirm information provided to an online market-
25 place pursuant to this article, including the use of one or more methods
26 that enable the online marketplace to reliably determine that informa-
27 tion and documents provided are valid, corresponding to the seller or an
28 individual acting on the seller's behalf, not misappropriated, and not
29 falsified.
30 § 1501. Collection and verification of information. 1. An online
31 marketplace shall require a high-volume third-party seller on the online
32 marketplace's platform to provide, not later than ten days after quali-
33 fying as a high-volume third-party seller on the platform, all of the
34 following information to the online marketplace:
35 (a) A bank account number, or, if the seller does not have a bank
36 account, the name of the payee for payments issued by the online market-
37 place to the seller. The information required by this paragraph shall
38 be provided by either of the following methods:
39 (i) to the online marketplace; or
40 (ii) to a payment processor or other third party contracted by the
41 online marketplace to maintain the information only if the online
42 marketplace ensures that it can obtain the information on demand from
43 that payment processor or other third party.
44 (b)