Amazon to publicly list names and addresses of US-based sellers in a bid to curb counterfeiting

Amazon in a bid to curb counterfeit products on its platform, will start publicly listing the names and addresses of third party sellers based in the United States, according to reports.

The retail giant had announced the change in a note that it had sent to its sellers on Wednesday, Business Insider reported. The change will be implemented starting September 1.

The changes are meant to make sure that there is a “consistent baseline of seller information” for customers to know more about the sellers that they are purchasing goods from and to make more informed decisions according to the note as quoted by the report.

Amazon had confirmed the move in a statement given to The Verge . The tech giant stated that it had added various features for sellers to share more information about their businesses over the years including ‘Store’ pages and ‘Maker Profile’ pages.”

“These features help customers learn more about sellers’ businesses and their products. Beginning September 1, we will also display sellers’ business name and address on their Amazon.com seller profile page to ensure there is a consistent baseline of seller information to help customers make informed shopping decisions,” read the statement as cited by The Verge .

Amazon has been bullish on purging counterfeit products from its platform as counterfeit crimes have increasingly become an issue for the online retailer.

For instance, Nike has stopped selling direct products through the Amazon owing to unlicensed and imposter sellers, the Verge reported.

The US administration had also recently placed five of the company’s foreign websites on its “notorious markets” list citing counterfeit sellers as the reason.

Earlier this month, Amazon launched its global Counterfeit Crimes Unit to combat counterfeit products on its website.

“Amazon is launching a new Counterfeit Crimes Unit, dedicated to bringing counterfeiters attempting to list counterfeit products in its store, to justice. The global team, made up of former federal prosecutors, experienced investigators, and data analysts, will support the company's substantial efforts already underway to protect its store from counterfeits,” the company said in an official blog post.

The retail major further said that it had invested over $500 million in combating counterfeit fraud and had over 8,000 employees fighting fraud and abuse on its platform, including counterfeit.

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