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I think the original post from me boils down to this:
What is the barrier to entry to being a vendor on this site? Is it just a matter of paying dues? Or should the business prove that they are a legitimate business?
It's not very hard to take a picture of a tax document showing who you are as a business, and if you don't want confidential information spread out you shouldn't be doing business in the first place.
I can't speak for other countries, but in the US if you are buying products from another vendor, usually there is a requirement for a W-9 form to be filled out for tax identification purposes. This is what allows a company like Amazon to start buying/stocking products to sell.
A W-9 is filled out even when contract work/1099 is performed. This isn't hard.
As for concerns about SSN: if one chooses to be sole proprietorship, their SSN is their effective tax ID number for IRS purposes. That is a choice the business owner makes. Those that don't want to be exposed will set up a different arrangement and be assigned a Federal EIN xx-xxxxxx
In any case, I think this is important to set up. I have a feeling there are a few "work from home" vendors that aren't licensed to sell products of any kind.
-alex
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