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The Bundeskartellamt, or the Federal Cartel Office of Germany, has prohibited Amazon from continuing its practice of using mechanisms to control the prices charged by sellers on its platform in the country. Germany's competition regulator explained that the company uses "various price control mechanisms" to review prices set by third-party Markerplace sellers. If the website deems a specific listing's pricing as too high, it allegedly removes the listing altogether or prevents it from being prominently displayed in the Buy Box section that lets you quickly purchase items. If those listings aren't removed completely, they're banished to less prominent sections like in the "See all buying options" and the "Other sellers on Amazon" lists. This reduced visibility could "lead to significant losses in sales" for sellers.
Amazon was found to have engaged in anti-competitive practices, because the company itself runs its own retail business and sells goods on the platform. That makes third-party sellers, which make up for 60 percent of the items sold on the website, direct competitors. Cartel Office president Andreas Mundt said Amazon must only be allowed to influence competitors' pricing "in the most exceptional cases," such as "in the event of excessive pricing." He didn't specify what the agency views as "excessive pricing," but he said allowing the company to continue its current practices will give it the power to "control the price level on the trading platform according to its own ideas." He also said that Amazon could use its mechanisms "to compete with the rest of the online retail sector outside"of its own website. Amazon's interference could lead to third-party sellers "no longer being able to cover their own costs, forcing them out of the Marketplace," he added.
Rocco Bräu
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