Amazon pressured companies like Levi Strauss & Co and Hanes to inflate prices as part of a wide-ranging price-fixing scheme against rival online marketplaces, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
The unsealed documents that were released Monday were part of a 2022 antitrust lawsuit alleging Amazon stifled competition and increased prices consumers pay across the internet.
Bonta said Amazon’s agreements with its millions of vendors “keeps prices artificially high” on competing platforms.
Vendors are compelled to agree to Amazon’s demands because of its dominant position in online retail, Bonta argued.
Amazon previously disputed the claims, and a spokesperson told CNBC that it will respond in court “at the appropriate time”.
“The Attorney General’s motion is a transparent attempt to distract from the weakness of its case, coming more than three years after filing its complaint and based on supposedly ‘new’ evidence it has had for years,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The released documents show emails where Amazon colluded with other companies to raise the prices of pet treats, khaki pants, eyedrops and other products sold online.
In one case, Amazon sent links to Levi’s showing Dockers khaki pants being sold by Walmart and described them as “styles of concern”.
According to Bonta, the big box chain was selling them for less.
The next day, state officials allege, Levi’s reported to Amazon that it talked to Walmart and that the big box chain had “partnered with us” to raise the khakis price up to “US$29.99 immediately”.
After, Amazon notified Levi’s that it would also update its price to $29.99, a few dollars higher than it had been selling the pants for previously, according to Bonta’s office.
“The evidence uncovered today is clear as day: Amazon is working to make your life more unaffordable,” Bonta said in a statement.
“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.”
Amazon also alerted Allegren that it temporarily suppressed its listings for its eye drops once it found out they were being sold for less elsewhere.
The medical products company replied, saying, “Walmart got their price back up” to $16.99 and asked Amazon to unsuppress the product. Amazon agreed, according to the filing.
Bonta’s office asked a San Francisco Superior Court judge to prevent Amazon from engaging in alleged price-fixing practices while the lawsuit proceeds.
The office has also requested the court to appoint an independent monitor to oversee Amazon’s compliance. The case is slated to go to trial in 2027.
Based on market estimates, Amazon controls as much as 50% of the U.S. e-commerce market.
The Federal Trade Commission and 17 states sued Amazon in 2023, accusing it of wielding its monopoly power to squeeze merchants, resulting in higher prices on rival websites. Washington, D.C.’s attorney general sued Amazon in 2021 over its pricing polices, while European regulators have also scrutinised the issue.
