Amazon reportedly pressured major brands like Hanes and Levi’s to raise product prices on competitor websites, because apparently that’s what you do when you run a $2.66 trillion empire.
According to recently published unredacted e-mails released by the California attorney general, Rob Bonta, Amazon repeatedly tried to persuade online vendors to raise the prices of products like khaki pants, pet treats, and eyedrops.
The newly released emails are part of an antitrust lawsuit filed in 2022, in which California alleges the e-commerce giant used its influence over vendors to push higher prices across competing platforms. The state argues that this effectively kept prices elevated across the market, allowing Amazon to maintain its low-price image while limiting competition.
The emails show a pattern of Amazon employees flagging lower prices on rival sites like Walmart, Target, and Chewy, then encouraging vendors to do something about it.
In many cases, that meant getting other retailers to raise their prices, or those products would disappear from the sites altogether.
One example in the filing shows Amazon pointing out cheaper Levi’s khakis on Walmart. Within a day, Levi’s reported back that it had spoken to Walmart and that the price was bumped up to $29.99.
Amazon then matched the higher price. Easy peasy.
In another case, Amazon flagged lower prices for plant fertilizer sold by vendor Agrothrive on Home Depot. According to the filing, Agrothrive responded: “Yes, just got out of a meeting with the Home Depot manager and she has agreed to raise the prices this time.”
Another example in the filing involves Amazon, pet products vendor GlobalOne, and Chewy. According to the emails, the plan was for Amazon to raise prices on Canine Naturals pet treats, and GlobalOne would “reach out to Chewy” to flag the change and “ask that [Chewy] follow.” If Chewy matched the increase, prices would go up across both sites.
That’s exactly what seems to have happened. Amazon later told the vendor that a “pricematch override” was in place and to “let Chewy know to update [pricing] immediately.” That same day, GlobalOne confirmed the shift, writing that the “ones that went up on Amazon immediately went up on Chewy 😊 … Overall this looks like it’s working!”
A Hanes employee also said the company contacted Target and Walmart after Amazon flagged lower prices. In a separate example, a vendor for eye drops confirmed Walmart had raised its price before asking Amazon to relist the product.
“The evidence we’ve uncovered is clear as day: Amazon is working to make your life more unaffordable,” said Attorney General Bonta. “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. Amid a crisis of affordability, Amazon is illegally working to rake in profits by making sure consumers have nowhere else to turn to for lower prices. We’ll see them in court.”
Amazon called the allegations “a transparent attempt to distract from the weakness of its case,” and arguing the allegations rely on evidence the state has had “for years.”
“Amazon is consistently identified as America’s lowest-priced online retailer, and we’re proud of the low prices customers find when shopping in our store,” Amazon said in a statement obtained by The Guardian. “Amazon looks forward to responding in court at the appropriate time.”
Cheapism reached out to Amazon for comment, and has not heard back as of this story’s publication.
For shoppers, none of this is exactly shocking. On Reddit, where users were quick to react to the newly unsealed emails, one of the most upvoted comments reads: “The ‘it’s working’ emails are the most damning part — they knew exactly what they were doing and celebrated it internally.”
“If Amazon is telling/encouraging vendors to adopt certain behaviors, that’s not just ‘an algorithm’, that’s actual employees saying ‘do this so you and I can make more money (collusion),” another user said.
“Price fixing is very illegal, and as mentioned puts them on the losing side of a cartel lawsuit,” a third one pointed.
The case is ongoing, with a trial currently scheduled for January 2027.
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