Online Sellers Association appeals for rights protection! "Price fraud case" wins a glimmer of hope!

Since April this year, more than 6,000 seller accounts have been frozen due to price fraud , and 500,000 price fraud listings have been deleted. All of this is inextricably linked to this year's epidemic. Due to the outbreak of the epidemic this year, masks and other epidemic prevention supplies have become well-deserved hot items both at home and abroad, causing many sellers to rush into the market, but were closed down due to "price fraud."

Just when these mask sellers thought they would never be able to turn things around, a piece of news about " sellers of epidemic prevention products such as masks won a price fraud case" gave these "innocently wronged" sellers a glimmer of hope.

The whole story dates back to March of this year, when Kentucky Attorney General Cameron launched an investigation into third-party sellers on Amazon who were suspected of raising prices of necessities during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, claiming that third-party sellers raised the prices of then-scarce items in Amazon stores, such as hand sanitizers and protective masks, and appeared to be engaging in price fraud.

According to recent foreign media reports, a federal judge ruled that the Kentucky Attorney General's investigation into third-party sellers on Amazon suspected of raising prices of necessities during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic violated the U.S. Constitution.

The federal court ruling was a victory for the Online Sellers Association, which sued Kentucky to stop a price gouging investigation, finding that Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron violated constitutional protections for interstate commerce and other provisions when he tried to target individual sellers under state law.

The person who defended the case this time is Paul Rafelson, executive director of the Online Sellers Association. It is understood that he decided to file a lawsuit on this issue after receiving requests from hundreds of sellers in multiple states.

Because many people know that on Amazon, not every ban means that the platform is completely correct and the seller is completely wrong. There will be many cases of bans due to price fraud, and there will also be some "wrongly killed" sellers, and these innocent people should also be treated with corresponding tolerance and treatment.

This successful case of the seller defending his rights has undoubtedly given a shot of hope to a large number of sellers who had previously been blocked for the same issue.

At the same time, it is understood that Amazon has handed over information about sellers suspected of price gouging on COVID-19 related products to the attorney general offices of 42 states. In order to speed up the response to price gouging incidents, they have created a special communication channel for state attorneys general to quickly and easily escalate consumer complaints to the state attorney general, which shows the importance of this matter.

In addition to Amazon's platform, Walmart, AliExpress and other e-commerce companies have also been working to curb third-party sellers from charging excessive fees for products that have seen a surge in demand during the spread of the coronavirus.

Winning the lawsuit in this rights protection incident means that Amazon is showing signs of giving in to these sellers. If you have little capital, weak strength, and do not have enough time to appeal, then there is basically no possibility of a comeback. However, for products suppressed by the platform's price fraud prevention system, if the seller believes that he has offered a reasonable price, he can try to reactivate the listing, or even appeal Amazon's decision through the "Account Health" panel.

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