Bundeskartellamt checks Amazon's price strategies: pressure on retailers is growing!

Bundeskartellamt checks Amazon's price strategies: pressure on retailers is growing!

Bonn, Deutschland - On June 2, 2025, Amazon is the focus of the German Federal Cartel Office. The competition authority examines the pricing on the marketplace, since dealers report opaque requirements that strongly influence the visibility of their offers. The examination is due to the suspicion that Amazon may violate competition law. Smaller dealers who are increasingly under pressure are particularly affected by these practices.

The Federal Cartel Office has found that Amazon, which is about 60 % of sales in German online trade, works as a platform both in the own business and as a marketplace operator. The authority has already published a preliminary legal assessment of the pricing, which points out that Amazon dealers are not allowed to exceed specified price limits. Therefore, there could be a possible abuse according to § 19a (2) GWB and a violation of § 19 GWB and Article 102 TFEU reports the Federal Authority .

price pressure and algorithmic control

internally, Amazon sets price upper limits, which the dealers have to comply with in order to offer their products visibly. Offers that exceed these price limits disappear not only from the so -called "Buy Box", but often from the search results. In serious cases, the offers are even completely removed. This leads to a disadvantage of dealers who demand higher prices and may no longer be able to cover their costs hin .

According to the Federal Cartel Office, the price limits are not transparent and are at the discretion of Amazon. In such cases, retailers receive notifications to adapt their prices, taking into account reference prices considered appropriate. This could significantly restrict the competition process on the marketplace and put pressure on the entire online trade, which is why consumers and providers outside of Amazon could have difficulty competing with competitive prices.

market position of Amazon and their effects

Amazon also acts as a seller on their own marketplace, which leads to a potential conflict of interest. The behavior of the platform could strengthen Amazon's market position and displace smaller providers, which can ultimately lead to a withdrawal or failure of these retailers. This makes it more difficult for consumers to choose from a wide portfolio of products adds Statista .

The decision of the Federal Cartel Office to check Amazon more intensively does not come from. As early as July 2022, the authority found that Amazon has an outstanding cross -market importance and is subject to expanded abuse supervision. This decision was confirmed by the Federal Court of Justice in April 2024. Now it remains to be seen how Amazon reacts to the allegations and what further steps the authority will take.