"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."
"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.""
The Bundeskartellamt prohibited Amazon from using mechanisms that control prices set by third-party marketplace sellers in Germany. The platform reviews third-party prices and can remove listings or demote them from the Buy Box to less prominent sections, causing significant sales losses. Amazon operates its own retail business on the same platform, making third-party sellers direct competitors who account for about 60 percent of items sold. The regulator said Amazon should only influence competitor pricing in exceptional cases such as excessive pricing, warning that current practices could let Amazon control price levels and force sellers out of the marketplace.
Read at Engadget
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