Should this concern you: "De Coster et al. v. Amazon.com, Inc"

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If you purchased five or more new physical goods from third-party sellers on Amazon’s marketplace on or after May 26, 2017, you may be a class member in an ongoing class action lawsuit.

For more information about the lawsuit, read below or visit www.AmazonAntitrustLitigation.com.
Para una notification en Espanol, visitor www.AmazonAntitrustLitigation.com.

A federal court authorized this Notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.

Who’s included? You could be affected by a lawsuit against Amazon.com, Inc. The Court ordered this notice and decided that the lawsuit should proceed on behalf of a group of people that could include you (the “Class”). The Court has decided that, unless you request to opt out (exclude yourself), you are a member of the Class defined as: all persons in the United States who on or after May 26, 2017, purchased five or more new, physical goods from third-party sellers on Amazon’s marketplace.

What is the lawsuit about? The name of the lawsuit is De Coster et al. v. Amazon.com, Inc., and it is pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (Case No. 2:21-cv-00693-JHC).

A group of consumers (“Plaintiffs”) have filed a class action lawsuit against Amazon. The lawsuit alleges that Amazon violated federal antitrust laws by using its market power to impose and enforce an anti-discounting policy on its third-party sellers that allowed Amazon to charge higher commission fees and caused higher prices for goods sold on the Amazon marketplace by third-party sellers. Specifically, Plaintiffs claim that Amazon violated the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. Plaintiffs are seeking money damages for purchasers and changes to Amazon’s policies and practices. Amazon denies any wrongdoing, and the Court has not yet decided whether Amazon did anything wrong.

Who represents the Class? The Court has appointed the law firms of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Keller Postman LLC, and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP to represent the Class (“Class Counsel”). If you are a member of the Class, Class Counsel is representing your interests in the lawsuit. You don’t have to pay Class Counsel to participate. You may hire your own lawyer to appear in Court for you at your own expense.

What are your options? If you want to be included in the Class and this lawsuit, you do not need to do anything, and you will be legally bound by all of the Court’s orders and Court’s judgment, whether favorable or not. You also keep open the possibility of getting money or benefits that may come from a trial or settlement. If you do not want to participate in this lawsuit against Amazon or if you want to keep any right you may have to sue Amazon on your own over the legal claims in this lawsuit, you need to exclude yourself (“opt out”). If you exclude yourself, you cannot get money or benefits, if any are awarded, from this lawsuit in the future. Your request to opt out must be submitted by August 31, 2026. Go to www.AmazonAntitrustLitigation.com for more information on how to opt out.

Where to get more information? This notice is only a summary. For more information on this lawsuit, please visit www.AmazonAntitrustLitigation.com or call (877) 238-1874.

You may also obtain information regarding the lawsuit on the Court docket in this lawsuit, for a fee, through the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.wawd.uscourts.gov or by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, 700 Stewart Street, Suite 2310, Seattle, WA 98101, between 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

DO NOT CONTACT AMAZON, AMAZON’S ATTORNEYS, THE COURT OR THE COURT CLERK’S OFFICE TO ASK ABOUT THIS LAWSUIT.

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The lawyers are the only people who will benefit from this.

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They definitely will (he, he, he, these rascals)… but if they’ll win the case, don’t you think that their clients will benefit as well? (just asking, cause a lawyer without a client to represent can’t earn a thing).

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As a long-time Amazon 3rd party seller and denizen of their seller forum, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a seller complain that Amazon won’t let them lower their price. The opposite is a common complaint, and you see it in products that have no buy box, because Amazon thinks the price is too high. Nevermind that the price they want to see is a guaranteed money loser.

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Well, there’s appears to be a litigation ongoing about that, and clearly it seems to be a growing class action in the works, so, I guess there’s some truth in those claims. Anyway, that’s for the jury to assess and decide, and for the judge to rule on that.

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An example of what I was talking about: I’m the US distributor for a European brand, and also sell the products retail on Amazon. When the 15% tariff hit I raised my prices 5%, eating the rest. On 160 products Amazon allowed the increase on about half, but pulled the buy box on the others (Amazon never says you can’t charge whatever price, they just don’t allow the buy box if it doesn’t comform to their idea of “proper” price). Over the year, most have been able to be increased, but not all. Losing the buy box is the kiss of death. Of course eventually I’ll get the 15% back (less earlier tariffs, which varied from zero to 2.8%), but now I have the 10% one.

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The lawyers will definitely benefit the most. I have been a part of many class action lawsuits and have received settlements of a few dollars to several thousand dollars. There is really nothing to lose by joining.