Amazon’s response came more than two months after the FTC —
joined by 17 states — filed the historic complaint against the Seattle-based
company, alleging it inflates prices and stifles competition in what the agency
calls the “online superstore market” and in the field of “online marketplace
services.”
In its 31-page filing made in a federal court in Washington
state, Amazon pushed back, arguing the conduct that the FTC has labeled
anti-competitive consists of common retail practices that benefit consumers.
The FTC’s complaint, filed in September, accused the company of engaging in anti-competitive practices through measures that deter third-party sellers from offering lower prices for products on non-Amazon sites.
The agency said Amazon buried listings offered at lower
prices on other sites. Simultaneously, it noted Amazon was charging merchants
increasingly higher fees and driving up prices for products on its own site. It
also alleged Amazon kept sellers dependent on services, such as its logistics
and delivery service, which have allowed it to collect billions in revenue
every year.
In its request for a dismissal, Amazon said the lawsuit
faults Amazon for featuring competitive prices and declining to feature
uncompetitive ones.
“Amazon promptly matches rivals’ discounts, features
competitively priced deals rather than overpriced ones, and ensures
best-in-class delivery for its Prime subscribers,” the company wrote in the
filing. “Those practices — the targets of this antitrust Complaint— benefit
consumers and are the essence of competition.”
Amazon also pushed back against allegations it conditions
Prime eligibility on products — which denotes fast shipping — on whether
sellers use its fulfillment service, Fulfillment by Amazon.
An unredacted version of the FTC’s lawsuit unveiled in
November alleged Amazon used a tool — codenamed “Project Nessie” — to predict
where it can raise prices and have other shopping sites follow suit. The agency
said Amazon used the algorithm to raise prices on some products and kept the
new elevated prices in place after other sites followed its lead.
In its filing Friday, Amazon said it experimented with the
“automated pricing system” Nessie years ago. It posited Nessie was intended to
“match to the second-lowest competitor instead of the absolute lowest” for
“limited products and duration.” The company also said it stopped the
experiments in 2019, and matches its prices to the lowest prices today.
Amazon also pushed back on the agency’s allegations that the
company is a monopoly. It said in its filing that it faces competition from
small retailers to large online and brick-and-mortar businesses like Walmart,
Target, Best Buy and Apple, among others.
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