California officials have accused Amazon of pressuring retailers and brands to avoid undercutting its prices, according to court filings from the state’s antitrust lawsuit. The allegations claim Amazon collaborated with companies like Levi Strauss to influence pricing at competitors including Walmart, Home Depot and Chewy.
One example cited involves Levi’s allegedly urging Walmart to increase the price of khaki pants after Amazon raised concerns about a lower listing. Another example describes Amazon encouraging suppliers to coordinate price increases on products such as pet treats, which officials say helped Amazon avoid matching lower prices elsewhere.
State officials argue these actions were part of a broader strategy spanning multiple product categories over several years. The filing outlines three alleged tactics: encouraging competitors to raise prices, temporarily breaking price matches so higher prices remain, and in some cases removing lower-priced products from rival websites entirely.
In certain instances, vendors reportedly pulled products from competing retailers completely, eliminating cheaper options before prices increased on Amazon and other platforms. The filing also claims Amazon enforced compliance by leveraging its market power, including threats to suppress product listings, limit promotions or impose financial penalties on vendors that allowed lower prices on competing platforms.
Officials state vendors often had little choice but to comply due to Amazon’s scale and importance to their business. Attorney General Rob Bonta said Amazon is “illegally working to rake in profits by making sure consumers have nowhere else to turn to for lower prices.”
Amazon has denied the allegations, asserting its agreements with sellers are legal and help ensure competitive pricing and product availability. The company maintains it is consistently identified as America’s lowest-priced online retailer and characterizes the lawsuit as an attempt to distract from a weak case.
The filing additionally alleges Amazon discouraged employees from documenting sensitive pricing discussions in writing, instead promoting the use of phone calls for such conversations.
The case arrives as Amazon’s influence continues to grow, with the company recently surpassing Walmart in annual revenue, intensifying scrutiny over its impact on online pricing. California seeks to block the alleged practices and recover profits, with a hearing scheduled for July and trial set for January 2027.