Sources: California is conducting an inquiry into Amazon's practices, focused in part on Amazon selling its own products in competition with third-party sellers
In early 2017, the Yale Law Journal … Mariella Moon / Engadget : Two states are reportedly looking into how Amazon treats sellers New York Times : Amazon Said to Be Under Scrutiny in 2 States for Abuse of Power Aaron Mamiit / Digital Trends : California, Washington probing how Amazon treats 3rd-party sellers, report says Alyse Stanley / Gizmodo : Amazon's Reportedly Fielding Probes From California, Washington State Over Trade Practices Annie Gaus / TheStreet : New York AG Reportedly Investigating Amazon For Firing Employees Kurt Schlosser / GeekWire : Photos: Inside an Amazon fulfillment center, masked up and spaced apart during COVID-19 Msmash / Slashdot : New York Attorney General is Interviewing Amazon Employees About Warehouse Conditions as Retaliation Probe Continues Brandy Betz / Seeking Alpha : California probing Amazon's seller practices Aditi Agrawal / MediaNama : EU to file antitrust charges against Amazon over treatment of third-party sellers: Report Adrian Potoroaca / TechSpot : The European Commission is readying charges against Amazon for abusing third-party seller data Annie Palmer / CNBC : Sources: NY AG has interviewed NY Amazon warehouse workers as employee retaliation claims become a central focus of investigation into Amazon's labor practices Tweets: Luther Lowe / @lutherlowe : It's a bad look for California to be the only state sitting out of a 51 state/territory investigation of Google and then drop this. https://twitter.com/... David Dayen / @ddayen : One of the chapters of @monopolizedbook is mostly about Amazon third-party sellers. I don't think Amazon stealing data to use for their native products is the main problem, it's the monopoly rents; the 3P market is set up to turn sellers into serfs https://www.wsj.com/... Zak Kukoff / @zck : I'm sure they'll be investigating supermarkets next https://twitter.com/... Annie Palmer / @annierpalmer : Scoop: The New York attorney general's office is interviewing Amazon workers about workplace conditions and claims of retaliation as part of its probe into the company's labor practices. https://www.cnbc.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
California's inquiry lands on ground antitrust experts had already mapped: back in 2019, analysts flagged that Amazon's practice of demoting items priced lower elsewhere — the leverage it holds over sellers who depend on the marketplace — would draw regulatory scrutiny. Weeks before this report, the Wall Street Journal detailed how Amazon employees consulted third-party sellers' sales data when building private-label merchandise, contradicting the company's testimony to Congress.
The California probe, reportedly run alongside a parallel Washington state inquiry, turns those data and self-preferencing concerns into formal state action — and sets up the coordination that followed, with New York and California AGs later partnering with the FTC on the marketplace investigation.
First-order effects
- Amazon now faces formal state-level examination of its dual role as marketplace operator and competing seller, with its treatment of third-party sellers as the stated focus.
- Third-party sellers gain an official channel for their complaints about self-preferencing and pricing pressure, moving those grievances from press reports into an inquiry with subpoena power.
Second-order effects
- The state probes push Amazon's marketplace conduct onto the FTC's agenda, as New York and California AGs later join the federal agency in investigating the platform and planning witness interviews.
- Amazon's private-label sourcing practices — already documented in reporting on employee use of vendor sales data — become evidence in multiple proceedings rather than a single-story controversy.
Third-order effects
- The inquiry arc culminates in California's AG filing an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon in 2022 over alleged penalties on sellers who list lower prices elsewhere, signaling that state enforcers are willing to litigate platform self-preferencing directly.
- If state AGs keep leading where federal action stalls, marketplace platforms face a durable enforcement regime in which pricing and data practices toward third-party sellers are litigated state by state.
The trend: State attorneys general are becoming the primary antitrust check on Amazon's marketplace power, escalating from inquiries into litigation over self-preferencing and seller treatment.