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Rob Bonta, the Attorney General of California, has released an unredacted copy of a legal document that the state filed in relation to its lawsuit against Amazon, containing details of the company\u2019s alleged price fixing scheme. In it, the state of California accuses the e-commerce company of reaching out to brands and asking them to \u201cfix\u201d the retail prices of their products on competitors\u2019 websites. Due to Amazon\u2019s \u201coverwhelming bargaining leverage\u201d and out of fear of punishment, the brands agree to raise their products\u2019 prices on other retailers like Walmart and Target or to remove them altogether, the filing reads.<\/p>\n
California filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing Amazon of price fixing back in 2022. It said the company prevented sellers from offering lower prices on other sites and that vendors risked losing buy buttons and prominent listings if they defied Amazon. In February this year, Bonta filed for a preliminary injunction, asking the court to put a stop to Amazon\u2019s \u201cillegal conduct\u201d while the state\u2019s lawsuit is ongoing and waiting to go to trial next year.<\/p>\n
In the unredacted filing, California said that Amazon instructs vendors and brands to increase their prices on other retailers and threatens them with \u201csignificant penalties for failure to comply.\u201d State officials gave several examples in the filing, including one incident wherein Amazon allegedly emailed security systems provider Arlo.<\/p>\n
The company talked to Arlo about \u201cexternal price matching,\u201d along with a screenshot of one of its cameras on Walmart, noting that its price of $549.93 \u201cdid not go back up.\u201d Arlo reportedly responded that it would get it addressed, and Amazon told the company to \u201cget [it] corrected by EOD.\u201d Afterward, Arlo sent Amazon a screenshot, showing the same Walmart page now listing the camera\u2019s price at $649.99. Amazon ended the conversation by thanking Arlo for its \u201cquick action.\u201d Other samples include Amazon asking Levi\u2019s to \u201cresolve\u201d the lower prices of its khaki pants on Walmart and Hanes to increase the prices of its clothing items on Walmart and Target.<\/p>\n
Amazon shrugged off the filing\u2019s release and called California\u2019s case against the company weak. \u201cThe Attorney General\u2019s motion is a transparent attempt to distract from the weakness of its case, coming more than three years after filing its complaint and based on supposedly \u2018new\u2019 evidence it has had for years,\u201d an Amazon spokesperson told Engadget. \u201cAmazon is consistently identified as America\u2019s lowest-priced online retailer, and we\u2019re proud of the low prices customers find when shopping in our store. Amazon looks forward to responding in court at the appropriate time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n