Amazon's antitrust case expands to include suppliers!

According to foreign media reports, Amazon's antitrust case has further expanded. The Attorney General of the District of Columbia began to track Amazon's first-party business in a revised antitrust complaint . Initial complaints against Amazon focused on its contracts with third-party sellers or with private label sellers , but now the scope has expanded to include suppliers . Karl Racine , Attorney General of the District of Columbia , said that Amazon used its dominant position in e-commerce to "manipulate the system," exposing consumers to higher prices and reducing competition between online markets .

  As is well known , Amazon ’s dominance in e-commerce is primarily in its third-party marketplace , which consists of millions of independent merchants who rely on Amazon’s logistics and services to get their goods to buyers . Amazon also buys products wholesale from suppliers to sell .

Karl Racine said that they found an agreement in the new investigation, through which Amazon can get the lowest product price from suppliers. If other platforms have lower prices later, Amazon will also lower prices to compete, and the difference caused (the difference between the lowest price promised by the supplier and the current selling price) will be made up by the supplier.

Amazon's mobile phone accessories supplier PopSockets and others have previously stated that Amazon's aggressive pricing strategy is a long-term problem the company encounters when selling products . Karl Racine said in a statement that the purpose of filing a lawsuit is to safeguard the interests of consumers, hold Amazon accountable for its anti-competitive behavior, and protect market fairness .

In response, Amazon spokesman Jack Evans refuted the argument, saying that the Washington, D.C. Attorney General's view is exactly the opposite of Karl Racine's , who believes that Amazon provides consumers with low-priced goods. Amazon has previously argued that sellers set their own prices for products and have the right not to display uncompetitive quotes in the price.

The amended complaint reportedly adds more allegations of Amazon's misconduct . In addition, Amazon faces many lawsuits, including an ongoing investigation by the Federal Trade Commission into Amazon's business practices in retail and cloud computing , and an antitrust investigation by the European Commission in India on charges of anti-competitive behavior . In short, Amazon has been "busy" this year!

Antitrust

supplier