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Here’s how Amazon’s price fixing allegedly drove up prices everywhere
California's Attorney General has unveiled evidence that Amazon allegedly engaged in systematic price-fixing by pressuring vendors like Levi's, Scotts, and Hanes to raise prices or remove products from competing retailers (Walmart, Target, Best Buy) to maintain Amazon's price advantage. The previously redacted documents show explicit communications directing vendors to coordinate price increases across the retail marketplace, particularly around Amazon's Prime Day events. This antitrust case reveals potential anti-competitive practices that artificially inflate consumer prices across the entire retail ecosystem, not just on Amazon's platform.
The Verge2 min read
On Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta revealed the evidence of alleged price-fixing by Amazon. The state filed a request to the Supreme Court in February for a preliminary injunction to stop Amazon's behavior while the lawsuit it originally filed in 2022 proceeds, and is now making that 16-page document available, "largely unredacted." It lays out how Amazon allegedly schemed to raise other retailers' prices ahead of Prime Day, or worked with its vendors to make sure items available at a discount elsewhere were suddenly out of stock and unavailable for the lower price. Bonta says this document shows how the scheme works with Ama … Read the full story at The Verge.