Class action lawsuit against Amazon in the UK. The giant faces a billion-dollar fine over his Buy Box
Amazon is due to face legal action soon over its use of the Buy Box, which promotes bargains. The Guardian reports that lawyers are filing a class action lawsuit in the UK Competition Court of Appeal on the grounds that Buy Box is “cheating”customers into paying more than they should.
Class action lawsuit against Amazon in the UK
Lawyer Julie Hunter explains that the section favors either Amazon’s own products or sellers using Amazon’s logistics solutions over better prices or better service. A better deal may well end up at the bottom of the page, or even in the “hidden corner”of the site.
Leslie Hanna, second lead advisor on the case, adds that users rely heavily on the Buy Box, with up to 90% of purchases made through it. “Millions” of buyers most likely overpaid because of this. This practice would also violate the conditions of fair competition by smothering sellers with better offers.
This class action will seek compensation in the amount of 900 million pounds (approximately 1.027 billion euros). It covers all UK residents who have made purchases on the platform since October 2016 and does not require you to participate in it.
The giant faces a billion-dollar fine over his Buy Box
Amazon told The Guardian that it considers the lawsuit “unfounded”. The American giant claims it supports all sellers on its UK marketplace and that “more than half”of physical goods sales in the country are through independent sellers. Amazon didn’t explicitly mention Buy Box. The firm recently urged vendors to oppose antitrust laws that should prevent tech giants from giving their services an unfair advantage.
There is no guarantee that this lawsuit will result in changes to Amazon Buy Box. However, this lawsuit is filed as the giant faces several allegations of abuse of dominance to make life difficult for third-party sellers. California recently sued Amazon on the grounds that the platform penalizes sellers who offer lower prices elsewhere, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating Amazon for possible prohibited use of seller data to promote competing products.