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Sellers Call Amazon’s Buy Box ‘Abusive.’ Now They’re Suing

UK retailers have accused Amazon of using its Buy Box section to choke their businesses, reigniting a years-long debate over whether there was foul play.

Last week, retailers in the UK filed a $1.27 billion class action against Amazon, accusing the company of abusing a position of strength to squeeze third-party sellers on its marketplace and boost sales of its own products. Amazon is taking sales away from merchants, having been able to use competitor data to bring to market its own products,” claims Boris Bronfentrinker, partner at law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher and counsel to the plaintiffs. Bronfentrinker claims the case is “nailed on,” because the commitments made to the EC and CMA amount effectively to an acknowledgement by Amazon that it violated competition law: “The smoking gun is their own admission that they are going to stop doing it,” he says.

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