Amazon strikes hard! Under the epidemic, it is not easy for all living beings!

As the new coronavirus spreads around the world, Europe and the United States have become the hardest hit areas.

Data as of 9:00 a.m. Beijing time on March 26: 65,534 cases have been confirmed in the United States, and more than 330,000 cases have been confirmed outside of China.

Yesterday, employees at at least six Amazon warehouses in the United States tested positive for the new coronavirus. In response, attorneys general of many U.S. states criticized Amazon's inadequate sick leave system during the epidemic.

It is understood that the attorneys general of 14 states and Washington, D.C. criticized in a letter that Amazon's sick leave system was insufficient to protect public health during the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic.

Although Amazon has said it will provide up to two weeks of paid sick leave to employees who are confirmed to have contracted the virus or are quarantined, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said two weeks of paid sick leave is not enough.

The attorney general also urged the company to offer more generous paid leave policies to its employees and independent contractors.

Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.

In fact, in addition to criticizing Amazon for its inadequate sick leave system, attorneys general from 33 states and regions in the United States also jointly called on Amazon, eBay, Facebook and other platforms to strictly prevent price fraud on coronavirus-related products.

In their letter to the platforms, they wrote that although the companies had taken steps to remove some price-gouging products from their sites, consumers had already been harmed.

Therefore, these companies should take proactive measures to prevent price gouging on their websites.

Amazon had already taken action long before the call.

I remember that at that time, Amazon removed more than 530,000 products from its shelves. The main reason was that these products might have price gouging problems, and many products claimed to be able to fight the new coronavirus without verification.

eBay has also notified sellers that it is prohibiting sellers from listing new masks and hand sanitizers to prevent further price fraud.

Yesterday, following eBay sites in the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Spain and other countries, eBay UK, Germany and Australia also recently introduced policies to restrict the sales of epidemic prevention supplies such as masks and disinfectant hand sanitizers.

In fact, as early as the beginning of March, eBay US reminded sellers to pay attention to the listing policy of related products.

eBay prohibits the inclusion of health claims in titles and item descriptions, and prohibits the misuse of terms such as "Coronavirus", "Covid-19", "Virus", and "epidemic".

From March 6 to 18, sites in the United States, Canada, France, Italy, and Spain successively announced a ban on the sale of related epidemic prevention supplies and cracked down on price gouging.

It should be noted that listings that violate eBay policies will be blocked or removed, and related accounts may be restricted or even frozen.

In addition, in the eBay global market, the new coronavirus pneumonia nucleic acid test kit is also a prohibited epidemic prevention item for sale. Sellers are required to check their online item listings and remove related products from the shelves.

Recently, due to the surge in overseas epidemics, Amazon's policies have also changed rapidly. First, it stopped entering the warehouse and was forced to make way for six categories of high-demand products.

Then, orders from the Italian and French sites were suspended, and soon after, it was reported that FBA delivery would be delayed by a month. Yesterday, Amazon issued another announcement, announcing the temporary suspension of removal operations from some operation centers.

Under the influence of this series of operations, the orders of many sellers also showed a cliff-like decline.

Seeing that sellers are almost unable to hold on, Amazon announced yesterday that it will not require sellers on the website to repay their loans before May 1.

Amazon said that the "Amazon Loan" service plan will suspend repayments from Thursday this week until April 30, and no interest or late fees will be incurred during this period.

Loan repayments will restart on May 1, and the seller's remaining repayment amount will remain the same as before.

It is understood that as of the end of 2019, Amazon has issued a total of US$863 million in loans to sellers, with terms ranging from 3 to 12 months and interest rates ranging from 6% to 19.9%.

Due to the recent development of the epidemic, many sellers are facing cash flow constraints. Amazon's move will relieve pressure on many sellers.

In fact, in addition to sellers and consumers, Amazon has also been under pressure recently. First, Amazon announced that it would recruit an additional 100,000 warehouse and delivery employees in the United States to meet the surging demand for online shopping.

Subsequently, the priority of non-essential goods was lowered and the delivery period of these goods was extended to April 21 to ensure the delivery of daily necessities and food during this special period.

It’s not easy for all living beings under the epidemic!