The INFORM Act: Using Seller Verification Against Fakes and What Brands Need to Do Next

If you've ever chased a counterfeit seller on a major marketplace, you know the frustration. You report the listing, the seller disappears, and a new account surfaces within days selling the same fakes. The same anonymous cycle, over and over.

The INFORM Consumers Act, which took effect on June 27, 2023, was designed to break that cycle. It forces online marketplaces to collect, verify, and disclose identifying information about high-volume third-party sellers. For brand protection teams, it represents a meaningful shift in marketplace accountability.

But it is not a complete solution, and treating it like one is a mistake.

The real question is not whether the INFORM Act helps. It does. The question is whether it goes far enough to protect your brand, and what you need to do when it does not.

This piece breaks down exactly what the law requires, where it leaves gaps, and why proactive brand protection remains essential for any brand serious about stopping fakes online.

What the INFORM Act Actually Requires

The full name is the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act. It applies to any online marketplace where "high-volume third-party sellers" list new or unused consumer products.

Who counts as a high-volume seller?

A seller qualifies if, in any continuous 12-month period during the past 24 months, they have completed 200 or more separate transactions and generated $5,000 or more in gross revenues on that platform. Once a seller crosses both thresholds, the marketplace must act.

What marketplaces must do

For every high-volume seller, online marketplaces are required to:

• Collect the seller's bank account number, tax identification number, working email address, working phone number, and a government-issued ID or business document confirming the seller's name and physical address
• Verify all collected information within 10 days, using methods that can "reliably determine" the information is valid, not falsified, and not misappropriated
• Disclose the seller's full name, physical address, and contact information on product listing pages or in order confirmations, for any seller generating $20,000 or more in annual revenue on the platform
• Suspend any seller who fails to provide required information within 10 days of a marketplace request
• Provide a consumer-facing reporting mechanism on every high-volume seller's product listing page

Non-compliance is costly for platforms. The Federal Trade Commission can pursue civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation.

For brand protection purposes, the key gain here is traceability. When seller information is verified and disclosed, it becomes significantly harder for counterfeit operators to hide behind throwaway accounts with false identities.

Where the INFORM Act Falls Short

The law creates real accountability, but it also has structural gaps that sophisticated counterfeit operations are already exploiting. Understanding these gaps is important for any brand that relies on marketplace regulation as its primary line of defense.

The threshold problem

The 200-transaction and $5,000-revenue thresholds only apply per platform. A counterfeit seller can stay beneath both thresholds on any single marketplace by spreading activity across multiple accounts or multiple platforms. As the Retail Industry Leaders Association noted in a 2025 letter to the FTC, peer-to-peer platforms and informal marketplaces create a regulatory grey area that bad actors exploit to evade scrutiny entirely.

No proactive monitoring requirement

The INFORM Act requires marketplaces to collect and verify seller identity. It does not require them to vet product listings for counterfeit content, nor to proactively monitor their own platforms. As Senate testimony from brand protection researcher Kari Kammel made clear, platforms are still only required to remove counterfeit listings reactively, once they have "specific knowledge" of infringement.

No rights for brand owners

This is the part most brand teams miss. The INFORM Act discloses seller information to consumers, not to rights holders. It creates no private right of action for brands to sue non-compliant marketplaces. As WIPO's Advisory Committee on Enforcement observed, brands are still expected to monitor and report massive volumes of listings across multiple platforms and jurisdictions, with limited ability to hold platforms accountable.

The result is a law that improves transparency without eliminating the burden on brands to identify, report, and pursue counterfeit sellers themselves.

How Brands Can Use INFORM as a Starting Point, Not a Finish Line

The INFORM Act shifts some responsibility onto marketplaces. The practical opportunity for brands is to treat verified seller data as an investigative asset, while building the kind of proactive monitoring the law does not require platforms to do.

Here is what that looks like in practice:

• Use test buys strategically. For sellers generating over $20,000 annually, marketplace disclosures now appear in order confirmations and transaction histories. A test purchase gives you access to verified seller contact details that can support a takedown request or legal action.
• Submit voluntary disclosure requests. Marketplaces are not legally required to share seller data with brand owners, but they are more likely to cooperate when that data has already been verified under INFORM. The quality of information you receive in response to a counterfeit report is now more reliable than it was before June 2023.
• Monitor below-threshold sellers actively. The sellers most likely to be running counterfeit operations are the ones deliberately staying under the 200-transaction threshold. They will not be caught by INFORM's requirements. Your brand protection strategy needs to cover them.
• Document repeat offenders across platforms. INFORM does not require cross-platform data sharing. A seller suspended from one marketplace can reappear on another. Maintaining your own records of repeat infringers across platforms is a function the law does not perform for you.

The key insight: INFORM improves the quality of seller information that exists on marketplaces. It does not generate that information for brand owners, and it does not remove infringing listings. That work still falls to you.

This is where dedicated brand protection services become operationally critical. Monitoring thousands of listings across multiple marketplaces, identifying infringing sellers, and executing takedowns at scale is not something most brand teams can sustain manually.

Where Remove.tech Fits Into Your INFORM Strategy

Remove.tech provides brand protection services built specifically for the reality that marketplace laws like INFORM create: more accountability on paper, but the same operational burden on brands to actually find and remove infringing content.

The platform combines automated detection with manual enforcement to identify counterfeit listings, unauthorized sellers, and trademark infringements across online marketplaces, social media, and the broader web. For brands operating across multiple channels and jurisdictions, that coverage is what closes the gap the INFORM Act leaves open.

• Detection runs continuously across marketplaces, not just when a brand team has capacity to check
• Takedown requests are handled directly, including follow-up when platforms are slow to act
• Remove.tech holds official membership in Google's Trusted Copyright Removal Program, which matters for content surfacing in search results alongside authentic product pages
• Both automated and manual removal workflows are covered, which is critical for the below-threshold sellers INFORM does not capture

The INFORM Act raised the floor for marketplace transparency. It did not raise the ceiling for what brands actually need to do to protect themselves. If your current approach relies primarily on reactive reporting, you are operating in exactly the gap counterfeit sellers are designed to exploit.

You can learn more about how Remove.tech approaches marketplace abuse and counterfeit removal, or explore the brand protection FAQ for answers on takedown processes. For brands dealing with unauthorized sellers specifically, the Remove.tech blog covers how to monitor and remove unauthorized sellers on marketplaces without legal bottlenecks in more detail.

FAQ

What is the INFORM Consumers Act?

The INFORM Consumers Act (Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act) is a US federal law that took effect on June 27, 2023. It requires online marketplaces to collect, verify, and disclose identifying information from high-volume third-party sellers to increase transparency and reduce the sale of counterfeit, stolen, and unsafe goods.

Who does the INFORM Act apply to?

The law applies to online marketplaces hosting "high-volume third-party sellers," defined as sellers who have completed 200 or more transactions and generated $5,000 or more in gross revenues on a given platform within any continuous 12-month period during the past 24 months.

Does the INFORM Act give brand owners the right to access seller information?

No. The INFORM Act requires disclosure of seller information to consumers, not to brand owners or rights holders. It also does not create a private right of action for brands to sue non-compliant marketplaces. Brand owners may still request seller information voluntarily from platforms, and the quality of that information is generally more reliable now that marketplaces are required to verify it.

Can counterfeit sellers avoid the INFORM Act?

Yes, in several ways. Sellers can split activity across multiple accounts or platforms to stay below the 200-transaction and $5,000-revenue thresholds. The law also does not apply to low-volume sellers, does not require proactive listing monitoring, and does not cover all marketplace structures equally, particularly peer-to-peer platforms.

Does the INFORM Act replace the need for brand protection services?

No. The INFORM Act improves seller accountability on major marketplaces, but it does not remove infringing listings, monitor platforms for counterfeits, or act on behalf of brand owners. Brands still need proactive monitoring, takedown execution, and cross-platform enforcement to effectively protect their products and reputation online.

How does Remove.tech help brands address the gaps in the INFORM Act?

Remove.tech provides automated and manual brand protection services that continuously monitor marketplaces, identify counterfeit listings and unauthorized sellers, and execute takedowns directly. This covers the below-threshold sellers and proactive monitoring that the INFORM Act does not require platforms to provide.

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