Marketplaces & Gig Economy
Buyer age gates for age-restricted product categories and seller verification for regulated listings — with minimal checkout friction.
What You Need to Comply With
- Age-restricted product sales — marketplaces selling alcohol, tobacco, vaping products, knives, or other age-restricted goods must verify the buyer meets the minimum age requirement before completing the sale.
- Platform liability — as the facilitator of transactions, marketplaces may bear liability for sales of age-restricted products to minors. Effective age assurance transfers this risk.
- Seller verification — sellers in regulated categories (alcohol, adult products, weapons) may need identity verification to demonstrate they are licensed or legally permitted to sell.
Recommended Verification Flow
- Buyers — age_only — low-friction 18+ or 21+ gate when a buyer accesses an age-restricted category or adds a restricted product to their cart. No ID document required.
- Sellers — full_age or full_kyc — full_age provides ID-based age and identity verification for seller onboarding. full_kyc adds legal name extraction for sellers in categories with recordkeeping requirements.
Verification is triggered per-user, not per-transaction. Once a buyer is verified, they can purchase from any age-restricted category without re-verifying until the verification expires.
Data Handling
All verification data is stored and processed within the EU (Germany). For marketplaces that need control over seller documents, customer-managed storage (BYOS) routes verification media to your own infrastructure.
Retention & Evidence
Retention is configured per verification level:
- Buyer age_only — expires after 1 year with annual renewal
- Seller full_age — retained for the verification period
- Seller full_kyc — retained per 2257 requirements if applicable, otherwise configurable
Audit logs capture all access to verification data for compliance evidence.
Integration
Trigger verification at the right moment in the buyer or seller journey:
- Buyer: embed at category entry, product page, or checkout for restricted items
- Seller: embed during onboarding for regulated categories
- Listen for
ae:completeto unlock access or proceed with the transaction - Use
/v1/verify/:externalId/verifiedto gate access on subsequent visits
See the quick start guide for step-by-step integration instructions.
Which Plan Fits
Growing marketplaces with moderate verification volumes typically fit the Scale plan. The per-verification pricing model means you only pay for actual verifications, not for users browsing non-restricted categories.
See pricing for full plan details.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I trigger verification only for specific product categories?
- Yes. You control when the verification widget is shown. Embed it at category entry, product page access, or checkout for specific age-restricted categories. Use the externalId parameter to associate the verification with the buyer's account, so they only verify once across all restricted categories.
- What about seller verification for regulated categories?
- Sellers in regulated categories (e.g., alcohol, adult products) can be verified with full_age or full_kyc depending on your requirements. Full_kyc provides identity verification with legal name extraction, suitable for seller onboarding in categories with regulatory obligations.
- How does re-verification work when a verification expires?
- Age-only verifications expire after 1 year. When you check a user's status via the API and receive an expired result, you can prompt them to re-verify by embedding the widget again. The /v1/verify/:externalId/can-submit endpoint tells you whether a user is eligible for a new verification.