Naming Names: Attorney General Bonta Secures Public Access to Evidence in Amazon Price Fixing Case

"I'm making efforts to push the market back to a retail that will give you [Amazon] solid headroom…"

"I am very determined to help you hunt the disrupters in the market."

"If the problematic retail does not fix by the end of the week, we will discontinue [these products] from your problematic competition to ensure that Amazon can return to a healthy state with these items."

OAKLAND - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced the public release of evidence clearly showing Amazon's illegal price fixing scheme that is artificially driving up prices for Americans. In February, Attorney General Bonta filed a request for a preliminary injunction asking the San Francisco Superior Court to halt Amazon's illegal conduct while California's lawsuit proceeds, and today he secured a largely unredacted copy of that filing for the public. The unredacted filing paints a clear and shocking picture of specific interactions in which Amazon, vendors, and competing retailers like Target, Walmart, Chewy, Best Buy, Home Depot, and others agree to increase retail prices across their platforms, all so Amazon can maintain its profit margins at the expense of consumers.

"The evidence we've uncovered is clear as day: Amazon is working to make your life more unaffordable. The company is price fixing, colluding with vendors and other retailers to raise costs for Americans beyond what the market requires - beyond what is fair," said Attorney General Bonta. "Amid a crisis of affordability, Amazon is illegally working to rake in profits by making sure consumers have nowhere else to turn to for lower prices. We'll see them in court."

What is Happening? Amazon is illegally raising prices for Americans.

For years, Amazon has reached out to its vendors and instructed them to increase retail prices on competitors' websites, threatening dire consequences if vendors do not comply. Vendors, bullied by Amazon's overwhelming bargaining leverage and fearing punishment, agree to raise prices on competitors' websites, or to remove products from competing websites altogether.

This price fixing scheme typically begins with Amazon demanding that vendors "fix," "correct," "increase," "raise," or "look into" the prices of products on other retailers' websites. These directives to vendors are backed by the threat of significant penalties for failure to comply - ranging from advertising and promotion restrictions, to demands for financial compensation, to the removal of vendors' products from Amazon.

How Are Prices Being Raised? Amazon uses three different illegal schemes, all of which result in increased prices for consumers.

• Amazon or its competitor, through their common vendor, will agree to increase the retail price or make a product temporarily unavailable, so that the other retailer can match the increased market price, increasing the price for consumers.
• A competitor offering a cheaper price on a product will increase its retail price at Amazon's request (a request made through the vendor), so that Amazon can then match that increased retail price, thereby increasing the price for consumers.
• The vendor removes a product from a competing retailer that is offering a lower price than Amazon, so that the lower price is no longer available in the market and Amazon then raises its retail price, resulting in a higher price for consumers.

What Are Some Examples of These Schemes in Action?

Highlights from the newly revealed portions of the preliminary injunction include the following:

• Amazon, Levi's, and Walmart Agreed on Increased Retail Pricing for Khaki Pants: Amazon sent Levi's links to Khaki pants that were priced lower on Walmart.com [$25.47 to $26.99], saying it "hop[ed] these can get resolved over the next few days." The next day, Levi's reported that "I talked to Walmart and they have partnered with us to … take Easy Khaki Classic fit back up to…$29.99 immediately" and provided links to show the increased Walmart price. Amazon acknowledged that Walmart raised its price and confirmed it had matched that higher price: "the updated pricing of $29.99 is now showing up on [Amazon]."
• Amazon, GlobalOne, and Chewy Agreed on Increased Retail Prices for Pet Treats: The plan was written in an email between Amazon and its vendor, GlobalOne. For its part, Amazon would raise GlobalOne's Canine Naturals pet treat prices to get Chewy to follow, then GlobalOne would "reach out to Chewy" to let them know that Amazon was increasing the pricing and "would ask that [Chewy] follow." In other words, if Chewy agreed, Amazon would increase its retail pricing for the Canine Naturals pet treats and Chewy would match the price increase. The plan materialized. Amazon told GlobalOne that the pricematch override was in place, and to "let Chewy know to update [pricing] immediately." That same day, GlobalOne confirmed the "ones that went up on Amazon immediately went up on Chewy [happy face emoji] … Overall this looks like it's working!" The result of Amazon, Chewy and GlobalOne's price fixing agreement was to increase the retail prices of over ten Canine Naturals pet treat products on Amazon and Chewy.
• Amazon, Hanes, and Target Worked to Raise the Price of Apparel: Amazon sent Hanes links to Target.com and Walmart.com showing lower prices than were on Amazon, and Hanes confirmed that it "reached out to Target and Walmart to have the prices increased."
• Amazon, Allergan, and Walmart Worked to Increase the Price of Eyedrops: Amazon emailed vendor Allergan to say that it had temporarily suppressed eye drops due to a price match at $13.59, telling the vendor that it would "check the price match regularly throughout the day." In response, Allergan sent a screenshot of Walmart's website at $16.99, stating that "Walmart got their price back up" and asked Amazon to unsuppress the product. Amazon did so, confirming: "Buy box back up at $16.99."
• Amazon, Agrothrive, and Home Depot Worked to Raise the Price of Plant Fertilizer: Amazon complained to vendor Agrothrive about lower prices for Agrothrive's products at Home Depot, to which Agrothrive responded: "Yes, just got out of a meeting with the Home Depot manager and she has agreed to raise the prices this time."
• Amazon, Songmic, and Wayfair Worked to Increase the Price of a Trash Can: Amazon complained to vendor Songmic that Wayfair was selling Songmic's trash can product for less and that the price needed to increase. In response, Songmic "urgently asked" Wayfair "to stop running deals for it."

The examples above are not outliers and are not exhaustive. They are illustrative of countless interactions - spanning years and product lines - in which Amazon, vendors, and Amazon's competitors agree to increase and fix the prices of products on other retail websites. As Amazon told one vendor explicitly: "I am very determined to help you hunt the disrupters in the market."

What Happens Next?

As part of the motion for preliminary injunction, originally filed in February, Attorney General Bonta asks the court to stop Amazon's unlawful conduct while this case proceeds, including: engaging in explicit price fixing with its vendors and its competitors; communicating with vendors about other retailers' pricing; and coercing its vendors to serve as the go-between with its competitors by demanding money to make Amazon whole for price matching a lower-priced retailer. The hearing on the preliminary injunction motion is set for July 23. This case is scheduled to go to trial in January 2027.