Amazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are two tech giants that have been sued by an independent retailer, who sells electronics accessories. The retailer has a number of allegations against them of which one is that since he offers Apple accessories to its customers at very low prices therefore the companies have stopped it from selling its Apple products on the site of Amazon.
“Apple and Amazon have engaged in conspiratory and/or concerted action that involves Apple monitoring Amazon’s sellers (like H2F) for selling items at an ‘aggressive price point’,” the document reads.
Apple asked Amazon
If we go by what the court documents say, the retailer ‘Hard 2 Find Accessories’ has claimed that it was Apple’s orders to Amazon that this online store company’s product listings be removed from the site and the seller’s account be suspended. This has led to the shutdown of the business of the retailer. The company says that Amazon’s actions have led to huge losses estimated at more than $180,000 a month and it wants Apple and Amazon to make up for the loss. The retailer has filed a suit for the same.
According to the lawsuit, Amazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) had received a request from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) initially asking it to get down the listings of its product by the said retailer as the products were counterfeit, but Hard 2 Find does not agree to it and has contested it. The alleged action taken by Amazon is said to be “anti-competitive” and “conspiratory” in the complaint by the retailer.
Both Apple and Amazon have chosen not to comment on the issue, with a spokesman from Amazon stating that the company does not want litigation and individual seller accounts to be discussed publicly.
Other allegations against Amazon, Apple
The Timeline of events has been discussed and explained at length by Hard 2 Find Accessories and it has few more allegations against Amazon. The company says that Amazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) has been withholding the payments due to it for an extended amount of time, and before acting on Apple’s complaint it should have conducted a thorough investigation. The retailer has also accused Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) of defamation because it called its products counterfeit.
The fact that Amazon tries to compete with its own sellers leads to a sort of disharmony between the sellers and the e-commerce giant. This time it’s a different story with Hard 2 Find who has accused the two tech giants of colluding with each other.
