The New York Times reports:
The District of Columbia sued Amazon on Tuesday, accusing it of artificially raising prices for the products in its ubiquitous online marketplace and around the web by abusing its monopoly power, a sign that regulators in the United States are increasingly turning their attention to the company’s dominance across the economy.
In the lawsuit, the government said that Amazon had effectively prohibited merchants that use its platform from charging lower prices for the same products elsewhere online. That, in turn, raised prices for those products not just on Amazon’s website but in other marketplaces as well, it said.
Read the full article.
BREAKING: Today my office filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon for illegally abusing and maintaining its monopoly power by controlling prices across the online retail market and violating DC law.
— AG Karl A. Racine (@AGKarlRacine) May 25, 2021
For years, Amazon has controlled online retail prices through its restrictive contract provisions & policies. Amazon requires third-party sellers to agree that they won’t offer their products anywhere else online – including their own websites – for a lower price than on Amazon.
— AG Karl A. Racine (@AGKarlRacine) May 25, 2021
These agreements also impose an artificially high price floor across the online retail marketplace & ensure high fees charged to third-party sellers by Amazon, as much as 40% of the product price, are incorporated into the price on not only Amazon but also on competing platforms.
— AG Karl A. Racine (@AGKarlRacine) May 25, 2021
Amazon has used its dominant position in the online retail market to win at all costs. It maximizes its profits at the expense of 3rd party sellers & consumers forced to pay artificially high prices, while harming competition & innovation & illegally tilting the playing field.
— AG Karl A. Racine (@AGKarlRacine) May 25, 2021
Amazon claimed it removed its price parity restrictions in 2019. But in fact, it quietly replaced the provision w/ an effectively-identical substitute that says third-party sellers can be sanctioned or removed from Amazon if they offer their products for lower prices elsewhere.
— AG Karl A. Racine (@AGKarlRacine) May 25, 2021
We filed this antitrust lawsuit to put an end to Amazon’s illegal control of prices across the online retail market. We need a fair online marketplace that expands options available to District residents and promotes competition, innovation, and choice.
— AG Karl A. Racine (@AGKarlRacine) May 25, 2021