Japan's Fair Trade Commission said on Wednesday it accepted a plan from Amazon Japan to change how its marketplace ranks sellers, closing a suspected antitrust case over pressure on merchants to cut prices.
The commission inspected Amazon Japan, based in Tokyo's Meguro Ward, in 2024 on suspicion of violating the Antimonopoly Act through unfair trade practices. It had been investigating whether the company forced sellers on its marketplace to lower their prices.
The case ended through a commitment procedure, an administrative step in which a business submits a remedial plan and the investigation closes once it is accepted. It did not result in a cease-and-desist order, the stronger of the two actions.
The buy box at the center of the case
The investigation focused on the "buy box," a slot on Amazon's Marketplace that gives priority display to just one of the sellers offering the same product. Sellers outside the box get little visibility, and most items actually bought on the site come from it.
Amazon required sellers to match or beat prices on rival sites such as Rakuten Ichiba to qualify for the box. The commission viewed this as effectively forcing sellers to cut prices they should set freely, and as possibly amounting to "tied dealing," a practice banned under the Antimonopoly Act.
What changes
The core of Amazon's plan is a new mechanism alongside the buy box. For products with no seller meeting the buy-box conditions, the lowest-priced seller on Amazon's site will get prominent display.
The commission judged that sellers will now be able to set prices without being bound by other sites. It also said fairer competition with rival sites should benefit consumers, and accepted the plan on that basis. The buy box itself stays.
Amazon will make the change within six months. The number of products covered by the new display and its exact format are not yet known.
Pressure abroad and a history of inspections
Regulators abroad have also moved against Amazon's methods for pushing sellers toward low prices, but in the United States and Germany the company and authorities are in litigation, according to the commission. It said Japan's commitment-based resolution means improvements will be made ahead of the rest of the world.
Amazon Japan was also investigated by the commission on suspicion of antitrust violations in 2016 and 2018, and in 2018 it received a disposal of the same kind as this one.