California Attorney General Announces Lawsuit Against Amazon for Anticompetitive Practices

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has accused Amazon of violating California’s unfair competition law and the Cartwright Act, causing price increases across California with anti-competitive practices. announced a lawsuit against

Amazon reportedly enters into restrictive agreements that penalize those who offer lower prices elsewhere, including competitor sites like Walmart, Target and eBay, and often its own website. to prevent online retailers from competing with each other. Merchants who don’t comply get discreet listings, lose their “buy box” (where buyers can see what Amazon deems to be the best deals), and get suspended or even stopped selling on Amazon.

With more than 160 million Prime members in the U.S. and more than 25 million in California alone, Amazon gained considerable market power not by winning competition, but through forced contracts, lawsuits say. claim.

“There’s nowhere else to go and Amazon knows it,” said one seller.

The Attorney General has asked the San Francisco Superior Court for an order to enforce:

• Prohibits Amazon from entering into and enforcing anti-competitive agreements
• Require Amazon to proactively notify vendors that sellers are not required to offer prices comparable to non-Amazon prices
• Appoint court-approved monitors responsible for ensuring that Amazon complies with court orders
• ordered damages to compensate consumers for damages caused by price increases,
• Order Amazon to return unfairly obtained profits and pay penalties, and prevent other companies from engaging in unfair competition.

“With today’s lawsuit, we are fighting back. No,” said Attorney General Bonta.