Amazon Buy Box rigging suit dismissed after users failed to show receipts
Users want Amazon held accountable for hiding cheaper items with faster delivery.
Enlarge (credit: Daria Nipot | iStock Editorial / Getty Images Plus)
A court has dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that Amazon's Buy Box was rigged to rip off customers seeking the best deals on the platform.
The suit followed 2022 antitrust probes in the European Union and United Kingdom that found that Amazon's Buy Box hid cheaper items with faster delivery times to preference Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA) sellers since at least 2016.
As a result, Amazon had to change its Buy Box practices and earn back the trust of customers and sellers, the company said in a 2022 blog. Among changes, Amazon agreed to treat all sellers equally when featuring offers in the Buy Box and to promote a second competing offer when a comparable deal is available at either a lower price or with a faster delivery time.