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EU Questions Sellers on Amazon Price-Parity Rules

The European Commission is asking sellers whether Amazon still penalises them for pricing lower elsewhere — early-stage DMA enquiries, not yet a formal case.

The European Commission is questioning Amazon sellers about whether the company still suppresses listings that are priced lower elsewhere — a probe under the Digital Markets Act first reported by Bloomberg on 18 September. Amazon dropped its written price-parity clauses in Europe years ago; the question now is whether the practice survived without them. One seller contacted by the Commission, Jack Nekhala of Bed Scrunchie, told Bloomberg that selling his product cheaper on his own website could reduce its visibility on Amazon — which, in his words, would let Amazon "influence prices across the internet."

What is happening

This is information gathering, not yet a formal case. The Commission is sending questions to third-party sellers about so-called price-parity rules — measures that reportedly punish sellers for offering lower prices on rival marketplaces or on their own websites. A Commission spokesperson described "regular dialogue with Amazon and its business customers to monitor compliance with the parity ban requirement" under the DMA. Amazon said it is "committed to complying with the DMA" and engages constructively with the Commission's oversight. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg the review is at an early stage and could grow into a full-scale investigation.

Why it matters

The DMA's parity ban matters to sellers in two ways. First, if you price the same product lower on your own site or another marketplace and lose the Featured Offer — the Buy Box — as a result, that is precisely the behaviour under scrutiny, and the Commission's questionnaires are how it gathers the evidence. Second, Amazon's 2022 EU commitments, which closed an earlier probe, covered marketplace data and the Buy Box, not cross-channel pricing. This new line of questioning is testing ground beyond those commitments, which is why it could become something larger. Since the DMA took effect in 2023 it has produced several high-profile cases — including multi-million-euro fines on Apple, Meta and Google — and enforcement has added strain to EU–US trade relations, which is one reason Amazon is treating this seriously even at the questionnaire stage.

What to do

No action is required of you, but two things are worth doing this week. Log the price you list by channel for your top ASINs, and date any Featured Offer losses alongside your off-Amazon price, so you hold a clean record if questions ever come your way. And keep pricing each channel on its own cost to serve rather than trying to match everywhere — a parity rule cuts against the repricing logic that already protects your margin, and you want your numbers defensible either way.

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