Amazon Vow to Stop Seller Squeeze Was Fake, California Says
- Company never ended price-inflating policy, state’s suit says
- Retailer denies wrongdoing, has called complaint ‘backwards’
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Amazon.com Inc. continued blocking sellers from offering lower prices on rival sites, despite assuring antitrust enforcers it ended its policy that artificially inflated prices for consumers, according to newly unsealed filings in California’s antitrust lawsuit against the e-commerce giant.
The Seattle-based company planned to expand penalties on sellers who presented lower prices outside Amazon, even after it claimed in 2019 that it stopped punishing third-party merchants who posted better deals on Walmart, Target, eBay, and, in some instances, their own websites, according to previously redacted portions of the suit that were made public Friday.