A judge recently announced that the FTC can proceed with the antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, although some of the claims were dropped. The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorney generals filed a complaint against Amazon Inc. in September 2023, alleging that the company used several tactics to enable its monopoly.
Judge John Chun, from the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington, reviewed the claims made by the FTC, as well as Amazon’s motion to dismiss the case. On Sept. 30, Chun ordered the FTC to proceed with the antitrust lawsuit, but Amazon succeeded with the partial dismissal of several claims made by several states.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision and look forward to moving this case forward,” FTC spokesperson Doug Farrar said about the judge’s decision.
Previously, Amazon included a clause in contracts that barred sellers from offering discounted products elsewhere to ensure they had the lowest prices. This clause raised concerns, and while Amazon eliminated it in 2019, the company has continued to penalize sellers through other means.
One of the ways Amazon does this is by “punishing” sellers for conducting business on other websites at a lower price. Eliminating the clause didn’t restrain the company from removing the “faulty” seller’s goods from the “Buy Box,” the list creating almost 98% of sales. It also dropped the products down on the search list, regardless of the product’s rating.
Independent sellers, who account for more than 60% of the sales on Amazon, also suffer from the company’s policies. These sellers are obligated to pay not only a selling fee but also a referral fee, fulfillment fee and advertising fee. To cover the various Amazon commissions, sellers are compelled to increase their prices, ultimately passing the cost onto customers.
The company has also been accused of promoting Amazon brand products over other higher-quality products, moving its own listings to the top. In recent years, the U.S. Department of Justice and FTC have filed a number of lawsuits against major corporations. The FTC is also prosecuting Meta Platforms for alleged monopolistic market manipulation, and Google Inc. is being sued by the DOJ for acquiring rival companies and having arrangements with the largest phone manufacturers. Several pharmaceutical companies, such as CVS Health’s Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts and UnitedHealth’s Optum Rx, are under investigation for increasing insulin prices.
With Amazon, the FTC has time until the end of the month to amend and file the second complaint and address dismissed claims. The hearing for the case is set to be in October 2026.
“The ways Amazon illegally maintains its monopolies and the harm they cause—including suppressed competition and higher prices for shoppers and sellers—will be on full display at trial,” Farrar said.
