Retailers call for legislation to fight organized theft

U.S retailers lose about $30 million a year to organized theft, much of what is later sold on internet auction sites such as Ebay.

Retailers have called upon the U.S. Congress for legislation to combat this growing problem. Specifically, retailers have asked Congress to require online auction sites such as eBay to post the serial numbers of items for sale and to provide more information about high volume sellers.

"Operators of sites such as eBay have historically failed to provide any meaningful information to retail investigators," said Karl Langhorst, director of loss prevention for Randall's and Tom Thumb stores.

Robert Chesnut, SVP of rules, trust and safety at eBay, said it was reasonable "to think about what we could do about high-volume sellers."

It is not known if or how soon legislation is pending.