The Short Answer
Under the INFORM Act, Amazon must collect and verify your bank account or payee name, your contact information, a business tax ID (or a taxpayer ID if you have none), and a working email and phone number. You also certify those details are still correct at least once a year. When you buy an aged account from us, we handle every Amazon interaction and send a status update every business day.
The INFORM Consumers Act is a US federal law, in force on Amazon's US store since June 27, 2023. It is not an Amazon policy. It puts duties on online marketplaces and on their high-volume third party sellers, the sellers who pass a sales threshold set in the law.
Who Counts as a High-Volume Third Party Seller on Amazon?
Under the INFORM Act, you are a high-volume third party seller once you reach at least 200 discrete sales of consumer products that are new or unused, plus $5,000 or more in gross revenue, both inside any continuous 12-month period during the previous 24 months. Meet both numbers and the verification duties apply to you.
Two details matter here:
- Both numbers, not one. 200 sales with low revenue does not qualify you. Neither does high revenue on fewer than 200 sales.
- A rolling window. The law looks back 24 months for any 12 months in a row that cross both lines.
200 sales
of new or unused products in 12 months
$5,000
in gross revenue in the same 12 months, under the INFORM Act
24 months
the look-back window for those 12 months
10 days
for the marketplace to collect, once you qualify
At least 1 a year
the certification Amazon asks for
What Do I Need to Provide for INFORM Act Verification?
The law names four things a marketplace must collect from a high-volume seller: a bank account number or payee name, contact information, a business tax identification number or, if you have none, a taxpayer identification number, and a current working email address and phone number. Amazon then has to verify what you sent.
Here is how it lines up, with where each line comes from:
| What the law requires | What it covers | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bank account | The account number, or the payee name | 15 U.S.C. 45f |
| Contact information | Who you are and how to reach you | 15 U.S.C. 45f |
| Tax ID | A business tax ID, or a taxpayer ID if there is no business one | 15 U.S.C. 45f |
| Email and phone | Both current and working | 15 U.S.C. 45f |
| ID and business address | What Amazon checks in practice, on top of the law's list | Our own transfers |
On which documents prove each one, the law and Amazon's INFORM page are silent. Amazon's registration requirements page gives the closest answer for the US store: a valid credit card, bank account, phone number and tax information, plus a tax interview that decides between a W-9 (US taxpayer) and a W-8BEN (non-US taxpayer). It warns you might be asked for "scanned copies of a passport, national ID, bank account statement, or credit card statement."
In the transfers we run, the list Amazon checks is seven items long: ID, business address, bank account, working email, working phone, tax ID and the business point of contact. Have a document ready for each before you open the verification.
What Does Amazon Do After the First Verification?
Amazon does not re-verify unchanged details, but it does ask you to certify them at least once a year. Every high-volume seller must keep the information current and tell Amazon when it changes, and any change you report is verified again.
Amazon's own page puts the first part plainly:
"If we have already verified all the required information that you have shared and it has not changed, you will not be required to have your information verified again."
This is why a change of bank, address or company triggers a fresh check.
And the yearly part:
"The INFORM Consumers Act requires us to ask all high-volume sellers to certify that their information is still correct at least once a year."
What Happens If You Miss the Verification?
If you do not complete Amazon's verification or the yearly certification, your account can be deactivated. Under the law, a marketplace first sends a written or electronic notice; if the seller still has not provided the information within 10 days, the marketplace must suspend the seller's future sales activity until the seller complies.
Amazon's page says:
"Your account can be deactivated under the INFORM Consumers act by not completing either the required verification or certification steps."
The way back, per the same page, is the reactivation steps in the deactivation email, or "Reactivate your account" at the top of the Account health page in Seller Central. We do not offer reinstatement as a service, so if your account is already deactivated, start with that email.
What the Amazon Pages Do Not Answer
From our own transfers, one thing the pages skip: the company. If its tax ID (the EIN, the number the IRS gives a business) is not yet in Amazon's system, that alone adds 3 weeks to a month. A company formed at least 30 days before you buy is the one we recommend.
What Changes When You Buy an Aged Account?
Every detail on the account changes to yours, so Amazon re-verifies all of it. ID, business address, bank, email, phone, tax ID and point of contact get checked again in the new owner's name. We are not hiding the change from Amazon. Passing that verification is the transfer, and we hand the account over only once it clears.
In practice that means:
- You bring a clean company never used on Amazon, a new bank account and new payment details.
The standard handover is 10 to 14 business days when Amazon's checks clear the first time. About half of transfers get an extra verification request and run 30 to 60 days. Each redo of identity, bank, address, phone or tax ID adds anywhere from 3 days to 4 weeks. More on the steps in how an Amazon account transfer works.
The Slow Way, or an Account That Already Has It
Verification is a gate every high-volume seller passes, new or aged. The difference is what sits behind it. A new account passes INFORM and still waits on selling history, supplier orders and months for its approvals. An aged account passes INFORM in your name and keeps the approvals its record already carries.
| New account | Aged account from us | |
|---|---|---|
| INFORM verification | Your own documents, your own submissions | Your documents; we run every submission with Amazon |
| Brand approvals | Waits on selling history, supplier orders and months | Often dozens already open, shown live before you buy, plus three more we open on request |
| Hazmat, Seller Fulfilled Prime, Renewed | You apply and qualify from scratch | Held only where that account's record carries them |
| Time to selling | Your own pace through every approval | 10 to 14 business days standard; 30 to 60 when Amazon asks for extra verification |
| After handover | On your own | Support until 30 days after delivery or your first sale, whichever comes first |
Starting prices are on the price page, and the figure for a specific account comes with its details on the call. See what each one holds on our aged Amazon accounts for sale page.
FAQ
What can Amazon do with the data it collects for the INFORM Act?
The FTC says the data collected only for INFORM Act compliance "may not be used for any other purpose unless required by law." That limit sits in the FTC's guidance on the INFORM Consumers Act.
What must Amazon show buyers on a high-volume seller's listings?
The FTC says the product listing page of any high-volume third party seller must clearly and conspicuously carry a phone number and an electronic way for consumers to contact the marketplace to report suspicious activity. Both point to the marketplace, not to you.
I want to sell my verified account. Do you buy it?
Seller Accounts sells accounts, it does not buy them. Our sister brand Cash For Stores buys Amazon, Walmart and eBay seller accounts.
Does the INFORM Act apply to Amazon's stores outside the US?
Amazon's page says the law covers high-volume sellers on Amazon's US store. Other marketplaces run their own rules, and we do not sell UK or EU marketplace accounts.
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