Amazon is accused of overpricing basic necessities like toilet paper and antibacterial soaps, in Public Citizen Consumer Advocacy Group Report… The report analyzed over a dozen products, including those sold by third-party sellers and items listed as “sold by Amazon.” Prices for some items were found to have more than quadrupled between May and August, apparently in violation of Amazon’s own Fair Pricing Policy.
In response to the report, Amazon said there was “no room for overpricing” for its services, including products it sells directly. “Our systems are designed to offer customers the best online prices available, and if we see an error, we quickly fix it,” the spokesperson said.
But the report casts doubt on Amazon’s claims that it was only on third-party lists published by “attackers” that the prices of goods such as face masks and hand sanitizer increased during the pandemic. Amazon has publicly took a hard line about sellers exploiting demand for hygiene and household goods, and claims that thousands of sellers have been banned for doing so.
For items listed as “sold by Amazon,” hand sanitizer prices increased by about 48 percent, according to Public Citizen (product category, Amazon said it has imposed restrictions on back in March), up to 1,000 percent for packs of disposable masks. In the case of toilet paper, for example, the nonprofit group reported that back in June it found that a pack of eight rolls was selling for $ 36.39, while other retailers were charging just $ 6.89 for the same product. One bottle of antibacterial soap was listed at $ 7, up from $ 1.49, up 470 percent.
In addition to examining the top ten items listed as sold by Amazon, the report also analyzed eight items sold by third-party sellers. These sellers account for a quarter of online retail revenue, according to Amazon’s most recent P&L. Here, Public Citizen found that antibacterial soaps increased by 274 percent and for flour by 941 percent.
While the report found many examples where third-party price tracking systems found large discrepancies between the highest and lowest prices charged for items, in other cases it shows how difficult it is to see how many items have been sold in the past, and therefore obtain an idea of what their price should actually be. Prices fluctuate quickly, making it difficult to determine the typical price, as well as erroneous or deviating prices.
Take face masks, for example. While the Public Citizen report points to an alarming 1,000 percent price increase from about $ 4 to $ 39.99 currently for a pack of 50 masks listed as “sold by Amazon,” it notes that the number of new face mask listings makes it difficult cooking apples. – comparison with apples ”. The link in the report for this original $ 4 price tag for face masks came from Wired report published in Februarywhich indicates now deleted list for a pack of 100, not 50 masks.
Public Citizen is calling for new federal laws that clearly set the point at which price increases lead to price gouging and to which products they apply (Amazon itself called for new federal regulation back in May), but also for Amazon to reform its own listings to make pricing more transparent. The advocacy group wants Amazon to include a link to price history next to each product listing and to end the practice of creating new product pages for products already listed on its service, among other reforms.
In a statement, an Amazon spokesman said the Public Citizen report found a small number of pricing errors. They said Amazon had removed “over a million overpricing attempts” and suspended over 10,000 merchant accounts.
“We have sent the most egregious offenders to federal and state law enforcement agencies across the country to bring them to justice,” the spokesman said. “We continue to actively monitor our store and remove offers that violate our policies.”
