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Amazon must face US nationwide class action over third-party sales

(www.reuters.com)
293 points giuliomagnifico | 2 comments | 02 Sep 25 19:28 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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crazygringo ◴[02 Sep 25 20:09 UTC] No.45108350[source]▶
> The consumers’ 2021 lawsuit said Amazon violated antitrust law by restricting third-party sellers from offering their products for lower prices elsewhere on rival platforms while they are also for sale on Amazon.

I've noticed that third-party sellers generally get around this by having the same list price on their own site, but basically offering everyone a coupon for 15-30% off. Not just for signing up for e-mails, but spinning a wheel that pops up a discount, items that are on sale 95% of the time, etc.

So while this may very well be anticompetitive of Amazon, at the same time it's generally something savvy sellers and savvy consumers have been able to get around easily for a long time.

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1. levkk ◴[02 Sep 25 20:22 UTC] No.45108496[source]▶
That can easily be perceived as violating the ToS and get you kicked off the marketplace. Big risk to take if that's where you're making most of your $.
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2. crazygringo ◴[02 Sep 25 21:16 UTC] No.45109169[source]▶
I doubt it. I've seen this for products with 10,000+ reviews. It's totally mainstream. If Amazon had a problem with it, they would have cracked down already.

What can they say, that "20% off your cart" coupons are prohibited anywhere else the product is listed? That's not feasible. You see North Face doing the same thing with sports retailers. Their jackets never go on sale, but retailers make cart-wide promotions available so you can still get the discount.