Dave Lee
March 4, 2020
AFR
San Francisco | Amazon is struggling to contain rampant price-gouging by sellers capitalising on the fear surrounding the spread of the coronavirus.
Hand sanitiser and respiratory masks were in some cases being sold on the site this week at a more than 2000 per cent mark-up, compared with normal retail prices, despite Amazon saying it had removed “tens of thousands” of listings and was monitoring postings closely.
Despite the disruption, Amazon has not followed tech rivals Microsoft and Apple in issuing a profit warning for the current quarter. AP
Among the many examples still available at the time of writing, a pack of 20 masks made by manufacturer 3M, but sold by an unauthorised reseller, was on sale at $US387 ($586.4), compared with a normal retail price of around $US14.99. A pack of 24 2oz bottles of Purell hand sanitiser, typically sold for less than $US10 a box, was listed at $US400.
“There is no place for price-gouging on Amazon,” the company said in a statement. “We are disappointed that bad actors are attempting to artificially raise prices on basic need products during a global health crisis and, in line with our longstanding policy, have recently blocked or removed tens of thousands of offers.
It added: “We continue to actively monitor our store and remove offers that violate our policies.”
The disclosure came as the World Health Organisation called on governments and companies to increase supplies of protective equipment and control soaring prices. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general, warned that “rising demand hoarding and misuse” were leaving frontline healthcare workers ill-equipped to deal with the health crisis.
The French government said it was appropriating stocks of masks and was investigating if shops were illegitimately increasing prices, adding it would regulate prices if abuses were widespread.
An Amazon spokesman said 1 million listings had been removed for misleading product descriptions related to coronavirus.
The listings in question were posted by third-party sellers on Amazon’s platform, which make up about half of all sales on the site. These vendors list items directly on Amazon’s marketplace and in some cases use the company’s fulfilment infrastructure to get their products to customers.
Reputable sellers of the goods did appear within Amazon’s listings, but most displayed messages saying products were out of stock or simply “unavailable”.
“We have added shifts and have team members working overtime,” said a spokeswoman for Gojo Industries, which distributes Purell, a leading hand sanitiser brand in the US. “Gojo does not set retail prices to consumers, but we feel strongly that there is no place for price-gouging, especially during times of elevated public health concern.”
With the number of confirmed cases in the US rising — particularly in Amazon’s home state of Washington — the impact of coronavirus is starting to be felt in several areas of the vast Amazon empire. On Monday, the company displayed a message for its “Prime Now” fast delivery customers warning of delays in some markets, understood to be due to excessive demand.
In an effort to lessen employees’ potential exposure to the virus, the company last week instructed its staff to avoid any non-essential travel in the US and internationally. Its program inviting customers to take a tour of its distribution centres has been “paused” in North America.
The World Health Organization has called on governments and companies to increase supplies of protective equipment and control soaring prices. AP
Two Amazon employees in Milan, Italy, have contracted the disease and were being quarantined, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
Despite the disruption, Amazon has not followed tech rivals Microsoft and Apple in issuing a profit warning for the current quarter.
“I don’t think Amazon’s going to suffer,” said James Thomson, a former Amazon manager who now runs a consultancy for brands selling on the platform.
“There’s so much selection on Amazon, that if everybody on the first page is out of stock, there’s still 35 more pages. It’s like a sports team where all the starters get injured — there’s still a bench of other players.”
Additional reporting by Clive Cookson in London, David Keohane and Leila Abboud in Paris
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