Did Amazon rig the Buy Box? $5.4B lawsuits say yes

A heavy week wrapped in drama, and the marketplace didn’t exactly make it easy to keep calm and sell on.

Here’s what went down while you were busy running the show.

• $5.4B in lawsuits target Amazon’s Buy Box 🎯
• Walmart gears up for a holiday sales blitz 🎄
• Star ratings replace seller feedback comments 🤐
• 75 fake review hubs shut down by Amazon 🔨
• Get Looped In and take the chaos out of ecommerce accounting ✉️

HOT TOPIC

Amazon is back in the legal hot seat after a London tribunal approved two class-action lawsuits over alleged Buy Box abuse—together worth up to $5.4B.

🍪 Quick bits

• Seller lawsuit: Led by competition law professor Andreas Stephan for 200,000+ third-party sellers.
• Claim: FBA favoritism in Buy Box kills independent seller chances.
• Consumer lawsuit: Led by advocate Robert Hammond for millions of UK shoppers.
• Claim: Algorithm steered buyers toward higher-priced listings.
• Both lawsuits are opt-out, meaning sellers and shoppers are automatically included.

💬 SellerBites’ take

The Buy Box might be small, but the bill won’t be. 

Sellers have complained for years that FBA gets algorithmic favoritism. Now, sellers and consumers are putting that frustration into legalese with a multi-billion dollar price tag. 

If these cases land, Amazon could be staring down a payout that makes Prime Day sales look like pocket change.

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BITES OF THE WEEK

• India-based Increase: There will be an additional 25% tariff on imports from India, making the tariff total 50%.
• Temu Makes the List: E.U.'s growing list of platforms under investigation gets a new addition—Temu.
• Operation “ClickTock”: Cybersecurity firm CTM360 discovered an ongoing malicious operation involving over 10,000 TikTok Shop domains.
• Staying in China: Walmart's not pulling out of China, where it has achieved double-digit net sales growth annually since 2021.

AMAZON NEWS

Seller feedback gets the mute button

Starting August 4, seller feedback on Amazon is going quiet. Written comments are getting the axe, leaving nothing but star ratings and zero context. 

Amazon calls it a way to speed things up. Sellers might call it a cop-out.

🍪 Quick bits

• Written feedback has been removed, leaving only star ratings.
• Amazon says it helps sellers get “more feedback faster.”
• Without written comments, there’s no way to appeal unfair reviews.
• FBA sellers are penalized for Amazon’s own mistakes.
• Global seller satisfaction has dropped to 84.7%, down from 92.1% in 2020.
• Feedback rarely affects the Buy Box or conversions anyway.

💬 SellerBites’ take

This isn’t simplification, it’s sanitation. 

By completely scrapping comments, Amazon erases context, kills appeals, and leaves sellers open to silent one-star hits they can’t fight. 

And if you’re FBA? You’re still on the hook for problems Amazon caused.

BLACK MARKET

Amazon wipes out 75 review scam sites

Amazon just dropped the hammer on fake reviews—hard.

In its biggest crackdown yet, the company seized 75 domains that doubled as paid review factories, pumping out five-star fiction to boost rankings, fool shoppers, and give cheaters the upper hand.

🍪 Quick bits

• Amazon has seized 75 fake review domains—its largest bust so far.
• These sites brokered paid reviews to game rankings and trick buyers.
• The crackdown has been ongoing since 2015, with lawsuits and new partnerships.
• In July 2024, Amazon and the Better Business Bureau sued a North American review brokerage.
• The FTC’s new rule allows fines of up to $51,744 per fake review.
• In 2024, Amazon blocked more than 250 million suspected fake reviews.

💬 SellerBites’ take

For honest sellers, it’s a welcome cleanup: fewer fake stars means your real ones shine brighter.

But this also raises the stakes, Amazon’s watching everything now. And in this post-takedown era, even a “harmless” gray-area tactic could turn into a headline you really don’t want to star in.