Last week I reported that unsealed court records revealed what most Amazon sellers already knew and have been saying for years — that Amazon punished sellers if their prices were lower on other websites. The documents include internal e-mails, deposition testimony, and confidential corporate presentations that California Attorney General Rob Bonta obtained as part of a civil case his office launched in 2022 accusing Amazon of large-scale price-fixing.
Well since then, more documents have been released that are even more damning, including e-mails that explicitly show Amazon colluding with other companies to raise the prices of pet treats, khaki pants, eyedrops, and other products sold online.
The Guardian reports that in one case, Amazon raised prices on a set of dog treats and worked with a pet treat manufacturer to convince Chewy to follow its increases as a means to protect its market share while simultaneously charging consumers higher prices. Amazon e-mailed the manufacturer a list of products with price increases, instructing them, “As you noted, Chewy should be aware of this update and follow suit accordingly.” Two days later, the manufacturer confirmed that the price had gone up on both sites, ending their message with a 😊 emoji like a slimy piece of shit.
In another case, Amazon sent links to Levi's showing Dockers khaki pants being sold by Walmart for less money. The next day, Levi's reported to Amazon that it talked to Walmart and that the company had “partnered with us” to raise the price of the khakis up to “$29.99 immediately.” Afterwards, Amazon notified Levi's that it would also update its price to $29.99, a few dollars higher than it had previously been selling the pants for.
California attorney general Rob Bonta said:
“The evidence uncovered today is clear as day: Amazon is working to make your life more unaffordable. The company is price fixing, colluding with vendors and other retailers to raise costs for Americans beyond what the market requires – beyond what is fair.”
Amazon said that Bonta's filing was “a transparent attempt to distract from the weakness of its case,” noting that it came “more than three years after filing its complaint and based on supposedly ‘new' evidence it has had for years.”
The company also said in a statement that “Amazon is consistently identified as America’s lowest-priced online retailer” — which is easy to do when you force everyone else to raise their prices!
News of blatant unapologetic price fixing like this is absolutely flabbergasting. If the attorney general's allegations prove to be true, I believe we are all due a substantial refund from Amazon.