What is ICA?
The Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act (INFORM Consumers Act or ICA for short) aims to create a safe and transparent online buying process. It requires marketplaces (like eBay, Amazon, and us!) to collect, verify, and disclose certain high-volume seller information. Similar to CAN-Spam or CCPA, it’s designed to protect consumers in our online, transaction-based world. ICA was just passed in June 2023, and PhotoDay always strives for full compliance to keep you and your customers safe and secure.
What do I need to do?
PhotoDay Users who qualify as high-volume sellers will be asked to verify their business and contact information.
If you meet these requirements, we’ll email you instructions/reminders and notify you when you log into your PhotoDay Studio Panel. Just click the button in the email and/or the banner in your Studio Panel to start the quick and easy verification process!
Once your business is verified successfully, PhotoDay will ask you once yearly to confirm that your information is updated and correct.
What do I need to prepare for the verification process?
Below are the items you'll need to provide during the verification process (which is completed via Persona, a secure verification software).
Bank Account: Your studio is already connected to Stripe, so this one’s an easy checkmark!
Tax ID: As an online marketplace, we’ll need to collect your tax ID, whether you’re selling as an individual or a business.
Proof of Identity: We'll need photos of a valid, unexpired form of ID (e.g., driver's license, state ID, passport, etc.)
Contact Information: We’ll need to make sure your customers can contact you by phone and email.
Is this typical for online selling?
Yes. The online marketplaces you frequent—Amazon, eBay, Etsy, etc.— are all required to adhere to ICA requirements.
What defines a high-volume seller?
A high-volume seller is defined as someone who has sold 200 or more new items totaling more than $5,000 in a 12-consecutive-month period over the last 24 months through PhotoDay.
How will this affect my customers?
Being a verified seller will only increase your credibility with customers. Your customers will only be affected if you don’t verify your business.
Will this affect all PhotoDay Users?
No, only those who qualify as “high-volume sellers” (see above) will be asked to verify their business. But even if you don’t meet these requirements currently, you may need to go through this process in the future!
Annual Certification
PhotoDay Users who qualify as high-volume sellers are annually required to certify that their business and contact information is updated and correct.
Here's how it works:
One year after your initial business verification, we will send you a series of emails and a banner in the Studio Panel notifying you of the certification requirement.
If your information hasn’t changed, you can simply confirm that everything is still correct to complete the certification.
If your information has changed, we’ll lead you through the simple business verification steps again.
You will have 10 days from initial notification to complete the certification, with an additional 10 day grace period after the deadline before galleries are disabled.