Bill to combat organised US retail theft passes California legislature

SB 1144 won approval from the state senate on a vote of 37-0, after it received strong bipartisan support last week in the state assembly, on a 73-0 vote.

Part of the legislature’s Safer California Plan, SB 1144 would strengthen the state’s law regulating online marketplaces by ensuring that platforms are not facilitating the sale of stolen goods and incentivising organised retail theft, a press release from Skinner’s office said.

Skinner is chair of the Senate Housing Committee and the California Legislative Women’s Caucus.

“Online marketplaces are a valuable tool to buy and sell legitimate goods and services, but increasingly they’re also used by organised retail theft rings to unload stolen goods,” said the Democrat senator.

If signed by state governor Gavin Newsom, the bill would take effect from July 1, 2025. SB 1144 is supported by a large coalition of retailers, law enforcement and cities and counties.

“This legislation brings critical updates to the criteria for high-volume third-party sellers and improves the measures required for online marketplaces to prevent the trafficking of stolen goods. The California Retailers Association is proud to support SB 1144,” said Rachel Michelin, president and chief executive officer of the association.

SB 1144 builds on Skinner’s 2022 law, SB 301, landmark legislation that established the state’s first-ever regulations governing the sale of stolen goods on online marketplaces.

According to many brick-and-mortar retailers, the rapid growth of online marketplaces has spurred organised retail theft. According to some estimates, $500 billion worth of stolen or counterfeit products change hands via online marketplaces each year.

Increasingly, organised retail theft operations are run by ringleaders who hire and pay ‘workers’ to rob specific items from popular brick-and-mortar stores. The stolen goods are then collected from those workers, and the ringleaders make millions selling the ill-gotten goods online.

In 2022, SB 301 launched California’s effort to combat the sale of stolen goods online by providing higher standards of accountability and verification and by helping marketplaces identify and take action against organised retail theft rings.

SB 1144 strengthens SB 301 by also requiring online marketplaces to regulate high-volume sellers that advertise goods online but complete their sales transaction offline rather than through the marketplace.

It applies to high-volume sellers that complete 200 or more transactions a year involving new or unused goods, valued at least $5,000.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)