Amazon will be probed in UK over potential anti-competitive practices

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The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority said it is probing Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) on accusations that is is employing anti-competitive practices that gives advantages to its own retail business and sellers over third-party merchants.

The investigation will focus on how Amazon (AMZN) collects and uses third-party seller data, how the e-commerce giant sets criteria for allocation of suppliers to be the preferred/first choice in the 'Buy Box', and how Amazon (AMZN) sets the eligibility criteria for selling under the Prime label.

"Thousands of UK businesses use Amazon (AMZN) to sell their products and it is important they are able to operate in a competitive market," noted CMA General Counsel Sarah Cardell.

The CMA said it has not reached any conclusions at this stage as to whether or not competition law has been infringed.

Amazon (AMZN) said it will work closely with the CMA during the probe.

Shares of AMZN fell 0.05% premarket to $113.44 after gaining 3.60% on Tuesday.

Read the latest breakdowns on Amazon from Seeking Alpha authors.

Comments

[bluescorpion0]

we have reached peak absurdity or perhaps peak communism when even pure commodity industries are labelled anti-competitive.

[ChagrinFalls]

@scorpionblue the thirst for power is never quenched.

[Cobra6]

@scorpionblue why do people always drag communism into a discussion? It just makes you look a bit uninformed.

Amazon is an online marketplace and in Europe we have laws to ensure that vendors on a marketplace are treated equally.
This is simply the fair thing to do and ensures that the consumer will get the best deal as all vendors are playing on the same level playing field.

There is literally nothing in there that even looks like communism, it’s therefore weird you even brought it up.

And before you even try, amazon doesn’t make it’s own rules because it’s a company. It has to adhere to trade practices agreed upon in the region it operates is, regardless of it’s own rules.

[jcat90]

@scorpionblue "The CMA said it has not reached any conclusions at this stage as to whether or not competition law has been infringed."