Target: Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon
Goal: Ease pricing pressures on independent sellers and on consumers.
Amazon has recently added a fuel surcharge to its independent sellers’ fees: the latest in a long line of expenses the global powerhouse often levies on the people who account for nearly two-thirds of its business. The company is the subject of a class action lawsuit targeting these inflated fees. As just one piece of evidence, a state attorney general presented records demonstrating that Amazon apparently pressured its sellers who also sold goods on competing sites to retain their lowest prices on Amazon exclusively…or else the seller would face retaliatory measures that could ultimately harm sales.
Amazon executives have denied the allegations, but accusations of price fixing have been leveled against the company for years. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission brought a similar antitrust case against Amazon in 2023. When sellers face pricing pressures, those pressures inevitably get passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices. The aforementioned class action suit was brought by consumers negatively impacted by the policies.
Sign the petition below to demand the world’s largest marketplace stop using its wealth and might to fight lawsuits and start using it to implement fairer practices that benefit sellers and consumers.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mr. Jassy,
An average of two out of three sales on Amazon come via independent sellers. Without these entrepreneurs – and the buying power of consumers worldwide — Amazon would have never transformed from the humble Cadabra bookseller it was to become the global behemoth it is today. Do not repay the people who made your success possible by trying to squeeze more money out of them.
While Amazon has denied the existence of a platform most-favored-nation clause, strong evidence exists to the contrary. And Amazon’s track record of heaping large piles of surcharges on its sellers (the most recent of which includes a fuel surcharge) speaks for itself. You can spend the next decade or two fighting off lawsuits, or you can implement real reforms that will bolster and uplift third-party sellers and the consumers who have given you their loyalty. Please choose wisely.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Sdkb
