BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s anti-trust authority has launched an investigation into Amazon’s relationship with third-party retailers selling on its site, its head was quoted as saying on Sunday.
PHILO PHOTO: The Amazon logo is seen at the Business Logistics Center in Lauwin-Planque, Northern France, April 22, 2020. REUTERS / Pascal Rossignol
“We are currently investigating whether and how Amazon affects how retailers set prices in the market,” Andreas Mundt, president of the Federal Cartel Office, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung every day.
Germany is the second largest market from Amazon to the United States.
In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many stores were closed and shoppers streamed online, Mundt said there were complaints that Amazon was blocking some retailers because of all too high prices.
“Amazon should not be a price controller,” he said, adding that Amazon had responded to its office’s requests for information and that statements were being evaluated.
The cartel office was not immediately available for comment.
An Amazon spokeswoman said the company’s policies are designed to ensure that its partners set competitive prices.
“Amazon sales partners set their own product prices in our store,” the spokeswoman said. “Our systems are designed to take action against price increases,” she said, adding that those concerned had to contact his support team for their buyers.
Until 2013, Amazon had prevented retailers from offering their products through other online sites at a lower price than on their market, a policy that forced Germany’s anti-trust watchdog to abandon it.
Last year, Amazon reached a deal with the German authority to review its terms of service for third-party retailers, prompting the agency to drop a previous seven-month investigation.
Report by Emma Thomasson; Edited by Toby Chopra and Barbara Lewis
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