Amazon Has Suspended 6,000 Seller Accounts for Pandemic Price Gouging

Signage at an Amazon facility in Bethpage on Long Island, N.Y., on March 17, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Amazon said in a letter to investigators on Thursday that more than 6,000 seller accounts were suspended due to price gouging amid the CCP virus pandemic.

The company’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, said the firm also removed more than 500,000 listings on its website for price gouging.

“Amazon turned over information about sellers we suspect engaged in price gouging of products related to COVID-19 to 42 state attorneys general offices,” Bezos wrote in a filing. “To accelerate our response to price-gouging incidents, we created a special communication channel for state attorneys general to quickly and easily escalate consumer complaints to us.”

The suspensions of accounts came after a letter from Congressional lawmakers to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph Simons called for investigations into reports of price gouging.

“The FTC should be just as vigilant as ever during the COVID-19 pandemic,” a bipartisan group of lawmakers said in a letter to Simons, dated Tuesday.

“Although these are incredibly difficult times, they are an important reminder that what we do as a company can make a big difference in people’s lives,” Bezos also said Thursday. “Customers count on us to be there, and we are fortunate to be able to help. With our scale and ability to innovate quickly, Amazon can make a positive impact and be an organizing force for progress.”

Also on Wednesday, the Seattle-based company said it would “temporarily” suspend all activity in France, one day after a French court ruled it wasn’t doing enough to protect its workers in the country amid the pandemic.

The online giant, which has six warehouses in France, said in a statement that “this week, we are requesting employees of our distribution centers to stay at home. (In) the longer term, we will evaluate the impact of that (court) decision for them and our French logistic network.”

Amazon said Wednesday it will “temporarily” suspend all activity in France, one day after a French court ruled it wasn’t doing enough to protect its workers in the country amid the pandemic.

Amazon France also said it is appealing Tuesday’s emergency ruling, which requires the company to stop selling non-essential goods for a month while it works out new worker safety measures.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China before it was transmitted worldwide.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.