The class action lawsuit alleges that Amazon manipulates its platform through biased algorithms to favor “buy-a-box” products that generate high fees for Amazon, often over products that are available for less and just as quickly. They argue that consumers are increasingly paying too much for their products (PDF). From other sellers on the platform. Ars Technica reports: The lawsuit alleges that Amazon's “buy box,” which appears on product pages and prompts shoppers to “buy now” or “add to cart,” is driven by a biased algorithm. According to the customers who filed the lawsuit, nearly 98% of Amazon's sales come from products featured on Buy Box, and customers say their featured products offer the best deals on the platform. He is said to believe it rationally.
“But they are often wrong,” the complaint says, noting that Amazon instead promotes products from its own retailers and sellers that participate in Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), both of which are They claim that they pay high fees and receive secret benefits such as appearing on products. buy a box “As a result, consumers routinely overpay for products sold at lower prices by other sellers on Amazon. Even if consumers don't care about price, they don't have enough information Amazon chooses to display prices not because they are making purchasing decisions based on “the offers that earn them the highest commissions,'' the complaint states.
U.S. and European Union authorities investigated Amazon's allegedly anticompetitive Buy Box algorithm and determined that it has “favored FBA sellers since at least 2016,” the complaint says. has been done. In 2021, Amazon was fined more than $1 billion by the Italian Competition Authority for these unfair practices, and in 2022, the European Commission said, It ordered Amazon to “apply equal treatment to all people.” Those investigations were the first public knowledge that Amazon's Buy Box was unreliable, the customers who filed the lawsuit said. Amazon claimed that this algorithm was fixed in 2020, but so far Amazon does not seem to have addressed all concerns about the Buy Box algorithm. The customer's complaint states that as of 2023, European regulators continue to pressure Amazon “to take further action to correct box-buying bias in their respective jurisdictions.” ing.
