In Support of H.B. 272 - The Home Depot (House Commerce & Labor Committee, June 7, 2021)

Summary

A letter dated June 7, 2021, to The Honorable Dick Stein, Chairman of the House Commerce & Labor committee, in re H.B. 272, on behalf of The Home Depot's nearly 13,000 associates in the state of Ohio. The letter states strong support for the bill, saying it requires online marketplaces to collect and verify basic information from high-volume sellers and to disclose a third-party seller's true name and contact information to the consumer. It discusses organized retail crime, stating that losses to retailers nationally are in excess of $30 Billion annually, and says 3M has removed more than 15,000 fraudulent e-commerce listings. The closing names Jared E. Holt, State and Local Government Relations, Manager.

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                                1155 F Street, N.W. ● Suite 400 ● Washington, DC 20004
                                          (202)393-4400 ● Fax: (202)393-4414


                                                   June 7, 2021

The Honorable Dick Stein
Chairman, House Commerce & Labor committee
77 South High St
12th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215

VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

In re: H.B. 272

Dear Chairman Stein, Ranking Member Lepore- Hagan and Members of the House Commerce & Labor
committee,

On behalf of The Home Depot’s nearly 13,000 associates in the state of Ohio, I write in strong support of H.B.
272. This legislation (H.B. 272), appropriately requires online marketplaces to know who is selling on their
platforms by collecting and verifying basic information of high-volume sellers – name, contact information, bank
account and tax ID number. The bill also requires marketplaces to disclose the true name and contact
information of a third-party seller to the consumer in a conspicuous manner.

When a retailer sells a product in a brick-and-mortar store, they’re guaranteeing that product is what they say it
is and there are consequences if it is not. If that guarantee is not met, the consumer knows how to seek
recourse. H.B. 272 is an extension of that same guarantee and protection to consumers who shop on online
marketplaces. The goal of this legislation is to empower consumers with the information they need to make
safe and legitimate purchases on online marketplace while deterring bad actors, who seek anonymity, from
selling on platforms through increased transparency requirements.

Organized Retail Crime (ORC) is the theft of goods with the intent to resell the merchandise. ORC is not petty
shoplifting but is a part of larger criminal networks who recruit individuals to steal. These predatory syndicates
often target vulnerable populations such as the homeless and individuals afflicted by drug addiction. Quite
often, stolen goods are aggregated and sold on unregulated online platforms. This avenue is the new pawn
shop; and shorts the state of its due tax revenue. Nationally, this problem results in losses to retailers in excess
of $30 Billion annually costing states hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales tax revenue.

The urgency to address this problem has only been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As many
Ohioans stayed home to promote social distancing, they increasingly turned to online marketplaces to
purchase cleaning supplies, personal protective equipment, and other household goods. Unfortunately, the
lack of regulation on these platforms allowed bad actors to sell illegitimate products such as deficient hand
sanitizer and counterfeit N95 masks putting lives in jeopardy. 3M, one of The Home Depot’s suppliers of N95
masks and other PPE, has removed more than 15,000 fraudulent e-commerce listings to date.


We respectfully ask the committee to give H.B. 272 a favorable report and are happy to answer any questions
you may have.

Thank you for your consideration,
Jared E. Holt
State and Local Government Relations, Manager


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