California Unseals Evidence Supporting Price-Fixing Allegations Against Amazon

BreakingBusinessRetailCalifornia Unseals Evidence Supporting Price-Fixing Allegations Against AmazonByPamela N. Danziger,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Pam Danziger reports on retail, focused on the luxury consumer market.Follow AuthorApr 26, 2026, 03:42pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.ToplineCalifornia Attorney General Rob Bonta is seeking a preliminary injunction against Amazon to halt alleged illegal price-fixing practices as his office released evidence showing Amazon pressured vendors to raise prices across competitors’ platforms, according to the AG’s office and the court filing. “Amazon doesn’t have cheap prices because of its good business sense. Amazon’s ‘cheap’ prices are the result of intimidation and illegality that drove up prices for consumers across the marketplace,” stated California Attorney General Rob Bonta. (Photo illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images)Getty ImagesKey FactsThe evidence presented to the court involved products from Levi’s, Hanes, Newell Brands, Allergan, SkullCandy, Westinghouse, pet supplier GlobalOne, Agrothrive, BabyVision, Maxi-Matic, Songmic and others. The filing claimed Amazon exerted pressure on first-party vendors to raise product prices—or remove listings entirely—on Walmart, Target, Chewy, Best Buy, Home Depot and Wayfair, warning their Amazon listings could be suppressed unless they complied.The filing cites an example in which Amazon sent Hanes links to Target.com and Walmart.com showing lower prices than were on Amazon, and Hanes confirmed that it “reached out to Target and Walmart to have the prices increased.”The state requests an injunction to prohibit Amazon from agreeing with its vendors “to set, fix, control, maintain, stabilize, and/or tamper with retail prices for the vendor’s products at any non-Amazon retailer” and asks for a court-appointed monitor to oversee...