Consumer antitrust lawsuit against Amazon stands after it fails to get dismissed

A judge in the United States has decided that Amazon.com needs to confront allegations from consumers about their pricing strategies. These methods supposedly caused the price of items sold by other retailers to increase in an unnatural way, which could be a breach of antitrust law.

Last Friday, US District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle made a decision on a potential antitrust class action in which the damages are estimated to be between US$55 billion to US$172 billion.

In 2020, a group of people living in 18 different states, such as Virginia, Texas, California, Florida, and Illinois, took legal action against Amazon. Their aim was to dispute a policy Amazon had established that prevented retailers from lowering prices for products sold on other platforms while also selling on the Amazon Marketplace.

Jones' ruling reduced the lawsuit, but stated that customers can continue with their legal action.

The attorney for the plaintiffs, Steve Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, who is leading the legal team for the group, affirmed that Amazon's primary points were dismissed. Furthermore, Berman interpreted the verdict as being auspicious for the large number of customers, numbering in the tens of millions, who have been subject to exaggerated pricing by Amazon.

A representative from Amazon chose not to provide any statements or remarks on the matter.

Amazon has refuted the allegations made by the plaintiffs. They have cited that their "Fair Pricing Policy" has positive effects on competition and that it aligns with antitrust law in the United States.

The online retail company has the opportunity to justify their pricing methods at a later point during the legal proceedings, and can even ask the court to not permit consumers to join together in a lawsuit. The court has announced that it intends to assess the timeline for certification of a group lawsuit by the middle of April.

Another lawsuit filed by a private consumer in a federal court in Seattle claims that Amazon's policies have led to higher prices for products sold on its own platform.

Lawyers in charge of legal affairs in California and Washington, DC, have also filed lawsuits against Amazon for their pricing policies.