Suspected of price manipulation against competition, Amazon's third-party seller program is terminated!

"The world has been suffering from the Amazon for a long time!"

Amazon may be a rare Internet giant that "does not like and cannot be done", such as the "store closure tide" incident set off last year, and the "one-size-fits-all" policy adopted by many domestic sellers has cast a shadow on the entire cross-border e-commerce industry.

For many suppliers, Amazon's "self-operated plan (third-party seller program)" has also caused everyone a "headache", but now Amazon is closing the project in the United States.

Foreign media reported that on Wednesday, local time, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that Amazon will terminate the "self-operated plan (third-party seller program)" in the United States, and paid $2.25 million to settle the price manipulation allegations.

In detail, Ferguson's lawsuit alleges that Amazon not only violated antitrust laws by entering into price agreements with sellers instead of using competitive means, but also that Amazon unreasonably restricted competition and maximized profits from merchants.

Ferguson said in a press release: "In fact, when giants like Amazon increase profits by pricing, it is the consumers who really suffer in the end. And our actions against Amazon have contributed to product innovation, increased consumer choice, and made sellers in Washington and the United States more competitive. ”

Referring to Amazon's "proprietary program (third-party seller program)", which opened in 2018 and lasted until 2020, Amazon has an algorithm for automatic price alignment for third-party sellers. The program allows third-party sellers and Amazon to reach an agreement to set a minimum payment rate for products sold on the platform, and if sales exceed the agreed minimum, Amazon will take a commission from the higher revenue.

Users will naturally choose cheap platforms, and Amazon to a certain extent through the algorithm artificially increase the price, sellers if not withdraw from the program can hardly provide discounts, so for sellers, naturally will face a high price, low sales situation, and consumers do not have more choice, and Amazon is finally a "winner", can maximize their own profits.

Amazon's response is that the proprietary program (the third-party seller program) provides another channel for small and medium-sized enterprises to enter the market and pay a low price, while the self-operated program (third-party seller program) is closed because of business-related issues that are being investigated.

An Amazon spokesperson said: "This plan is to provide sellers with lower prices to better serve consumers through tools, and other retailers have similar plans, although it was later stopped, but we firmly believe that it is legal and we are very happy that this matter can be solved." ”

In fact, a similar lawsuit amazon faced in May last year, and whether the suspension of the "self-operated plan (third-party seller program)" really affected Amazon's own business? It's hard to say at the moment, but it's a good thing for sellers.

Leifeng network learned that one theory is that only this price has stopped its algorithm, which is unlikely to affect the self-operated business in essence, and in terms of Amazon's development, the self-operated business, especially the standard general goods, will become more and more powerful, "This is also the general trend of platform e-commerce, and I am both an athlete and a referee." For the majority of sellers, a relatively conservative choice is "since you can't beat Amazon, join."

However, does the suspension of the project mean that Amazon will continue to close many businesses due to "antitrust" problems in the future? With the rapid rise of Walmart e-commerce, TikTok, Shopify, etc., can Amazon continue to maintain its absolute advantage? We'll see...

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