Senator Nancy Skinner’s bill to combat organized shoplifting, SB 1144, passed the state legislature today with overwhelming bipartisan support. Part of the state legislature’s Safer California Plan, SB 1144 is designed to strengthen California’s laws regulating online marketplaces by ensuring that platforms do not facilitate the sale of stolen goods or encourage organized shoplifting.
“Online marketplaces are a valuable tool for buying and selling legitimate goods and services, but they are also increasingly being used by organized retail theft rings to get rid of stolen goods,” said Senator Skinner, Democrat of Berkeley. “With the overwhelming passage of SB 1144, the California Legislature has sent a clear message: online marketplaces can no longer be used by organized retail theft rings as giant fencing operations. Those days are over.”
SB 1144 received overwhelming bipartisan approval in the Senate today, 37-0, after receiving strong bipartisan support in the State Assembly last Thursday, 73-0. If Governor Gavin Newsom signs the bill, it will take effect on July 1, 2025. SB 1144 is supported by a large coalition of retailers, law enforcement, and cities and counties.
“Organized retail crime is a complex, multifaceted problem, and combating it requires a comprehensive approach. SB 1144 builds on the work of good actors in online marketplaces by improving accountability and transparency,” said Rachel Michelin, President/CEO of the California Retailers Association. “This legislation brings important updates to the criteria for third-party wholesalers and enhances the measures required for online marketplaces to prevent the trafficking of stolen goods. The California Retailers Association is proud to support SB 1144, and we thank Senator Skinner for her dedicated work with us to ensure the legislation is fair and effective.”
“When we take away the market for stolen goods, we take away the incentive for shoplifting. Thanks to the passage of SB 1144, online marketplaces in California will no longer be places where individuals can profit from theft. Our communities will be safer and stronger as a result,” said Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of Prosecutors Alliance Action, a sponsor of SB 1144.
SB 1144 builds on Senator Skinner’s SB 301 of 2022, a landmark law that established the state’s first regulations on the sale of stolen goods on online marketplaces. According to many retailers, the rapid growth of online marketplaces has encouraged organized retail theft. By some estimates Stolen or counterfeit products valued at $500 billion change hands every year via online marketplaces.
Increasingly, organized shoplifting is carried out by gang leaders who hire and pay “workers” to steal specific items from popular brick-and-mortar stores. The stolen goods are then collected by these workers and the gang leaders make millions by selling the ill-gotten goods online.
Earlier this year, a wealthy couple from Southern California became the flagship for organized shoplifting. The couple paid people to steal popular beauty products from certain retailers. According to the California Department of Justice, the couple then raked in over $8 million by selling the stolen products online.
In 2022, Senator Skinner launched California’s effort to combat the online sale of stolen goods with SB 301, which will establish higher accountability and verification standards and help marketplaces identify and take action against organized retail theft rings.
SB 1144 strengthens SB 301 by also requiring online marketplaces to regulate wholesalers who offer their goods online but complete their sales transactions offline rather than through the marketplace. According to retailers, organized retail theft rings are increasingly not completing their sales through the online marketplace’s transaction feature, which allows the seller to circumvent the regulations created under SB 301.
SB 1144 applies to wholesalers who complete 200 or more transactions annually involving new or unused goods valued at $5,000 or more and builds on SB 301 by:
- Clarifying that wholesalers must meet the requirements in SB 301 regardless of whether payment is processed on the online marketplace;
- The obligation of online marketplaces to block or close wholesalers suspected of selling stolen goods and to report them to law enforcement authorities;
- Allows local county, city, and district attorneys to file civil lawsuits against an online marketplace or an individual for the sale of stolen goods on the online marketplace.
- Improve transparency and build consumer trust by requiring online marketplaces to inform consumers that wholesalers on their platforms have been verified and certified.
Senator Nancy Skinner represents the 9th Senate District and is chair of the Senate Housing Committee and the California Legislative Women’s Caucus.
