Third-party sellers on Amazon’s German marketplace are free to set their own prices, but the company uses a range of mechanisms to review those prices and can remove products it deems too expensive, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
According to Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, these methods rely on “non-transparent rules,” leaving retailers unclear about how price caps are calculated.
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“Amazon directly competes with the other marketplace sellers on its platform,” said cartel office president Andreas Mundt. “Therefore, influencing its competitors’ pricing, including through price caps, is only permissible in the most exceptional cases, such as in the event of excessive pricing,” he added.
The watchdog warned that Amazon, which it says accounts for around 60% of online sales in Germany, risks abusing its market power to the detriment of third-party retailers.
As a result, the cartel office ordered Amazon to return nearly 59 million euros it said the company earned through anti-competitive behaviour. The agency noted that this figure may increase, as the investigation remains ongoing.
Amazon said it plans to appeal what it called an “unprecedented regulatory decision” and will continue operating its online store as usual while preparing legal action. The ruling “directly contradicts the consumer-related standards of EU competition law,” said Rocco Braeuniger, Amazon’s Germany chief.
“As a result of this decision, Amazon would be the only retailer in Germany forced to highlight non-competitive prices to customers. This makes no sense for customers, sales partners, or competition,” he said.
Amazon has one month to file an appeal, which will be heard by Germany’s Federal Court of Justice. The cartel office launched its investigation into Amazon’s pricing practices in November 2022.
