Amazon Faces Pricing Policy Allegations from UK Consumer Group

Amazon on the ropes. The Association of Consumer Support Organisations (Acso) has launched collective proceedings on behalf of millions of UK consumers against the ecommerce giant alleging that its pricing policies cause consumers to pay more for products sold by third parties.

This is an opt-out class action, a figure that exists in the country and according to which all those potentially affected are automatically included in the legal case, unless they choose to opt out. Thus, the class action could include more than 45 million people in the country, according to British media reports.

Acso filed the application for a class action injunction with the Competition Appeal Tribunal on August 14th. It includes as a member of the proposed class any U.K. consumer who purchased from a third-party seller through Amazon between August 2019 and 2025.

Acso filed the application for a procedural order on Aug. 14th with the Court

According to Acso, Amazon allegedly charged sellers higher fees, which consumers paid with products made more expensive by the higher fees. In fact, consumer associations in Germany, Japan and Canada are also reportedly looking into Amazon’s pricing policy due to suspicions of similar conduct.

In statements to the press, Acso’s founder and executive director, Matthew Maxwell-Scott, indicated that the association’s objective is that “consumers can obtain redress for the considerable losses they have suffered” and that this type of action encourages companies to question their “anti-competitive corporate behavior”.

Globally, Amazon earned between January and June of this year $35.291 billion, 47% more than in the same period of 2024. Its turnover, meanwhile, amounted to $323.369 billion, representing a growth of 11% year-on-year.