Represented Claimants
If you meet the proposed class definition and want to stay up to date, click here:
Stay Up To Date
If you sold new products on Amazon’s UK online marketplace between 1 October 2015 and 6 June 2024, you may have a claim for compensation.
Why has this website been created?
This website has been created to provide information about a proposed collective claim against Amazon that has been filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal by the British Independent Retailers Association (“BIRA”) on behalf of a proposed ‘class’ of merchants who sold new products on Amazon’s UK marketplace (Amazon.co.uk).
What is the claim about?
The claim says that if between 1 October 2015 and 6 June 2024 you sold goods on Amazon’s marketplace, you may have suffered reduced sales and profit as a result of Amazon’s unlawful conduct. This unlawful conduct involved Amazon using merchant data to benefit its retail operations, known as Amazon Retail. For example, Amazon used merchant data to inform its pricing decisions, its decisions to start and stop purchasing products and to inform its inventory planning for products.
For further details about the claim, click the FAQs button below.
What does this mean for merchants?
You are automatically a member of the proposed class if you were a merchant and sold a new product on Amazon’s UK marketplace between 1 October 2015 and 6 June 2024.
Those merchants who were living abroad, but who made sales on the UK marketplace will have an opportunity to join the class by opting in.
Click the Stay Up to Date button below if you would like to be kept up to date.
About Us
The British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA)
BIRA is a not-for-profit membership association in the UK that has been promoting and representing the interests of retailers in the UK for more than a century. As a leading voice in the UK’s retail sector, BIRA’s work is focussed on assisting retailers with all manner of legal, political and commercial issues they face while running their businesses. As part of its work in advancing the interests of the retail sector as a whole, BIRA advocates for legal and policy changes via government lobbying and media campaigns, such as making submissions in response to government consultations and liaising with MPs. BIRA also provides services for its membership body, including ensuring its members have access to legal support and negotiating deals with suppliers on commercially advantageous terms. With its long history of championing the interests of retailers in the UK, it is the ideal body to act as the class representative on behalf of merchants who sold on Amazon’s UK online marketplace.
Andrew Goodacre
Andrew is the Chief Executive of BIRA, a role he has held for the last five years. As Chief Executive, he works with BIRA’s other directors to develop BIRA’s strategic objectives in advancing the interests of independent retailers in the UK. His most notable achievement in this capacity was leading BIRA’s successful campaign for the Government’s adoption of a tax relief policy for small businesses analogous to a personal allowance for a personal income, leading to BIRA’s appointment to the Retail Sector Council where it consults with the Department for Business and Trade on behalf of the retail sector.
BIRA has applied for its proposed collective proceedings against Amazon to be certified as collective proceedings and is seeking authorisation by the Competition Appeal Tribunal to act as the class representative on behalf of all third-party merchants who sold new products on Amazon’s UK online marketplace between 1 October 2015 and 6 June 2024. It alleges that proposed class members suffered loss as a result of Amazon using their non-public data to inform its business decisions as to which products to sell in competition with those third-party merchants, and by Amazon self-preferencing its products using the ‘Buy Box’ feature, which prominently features a single ‘Featured Offer’.
If BIRA is authorised to act as the class representative for these proposed collective proceedings, and you fall into the class definition, you may be eligible to be included in the class automatically on an opt-out basis, meaning you would have to elect to opt out of the claim if you do not wish to be included in the class of represented merchants. You may fall into the class definition if:
- You are a third-party merchant (i.e. you are not affiliated with Amazon)
- You have sold at least one new product on Amazon’s UK online marketplace between 1 October 2015 and 6 June 2024
- You are domiciled in the United Kingdom (if you are a business, this means you were incorporated or formed in the UK and have your registered office or other official address in the UK, or your central management or control is in the UK; if you are an individual, this means you are a resident of, and have a substantial connection with, the UK)
If you meet conditions (1) and (2) above, but are not domiciled in the UK, then you may be eligible to opt into the claim.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher (UK) LLP (“Willkie”) is the law firm representing BIRA in relation to this claim. Willkie is one of the world’s leading international law firms with capabilities to represent claimants in high-value, large-scale collective proceedings. Its London Competition Litigation team has experience representing claimants in complex cases before the Competition Appeal Tribunal, including acting for the class members of the highest value claim in UK history.
LCM Funding UK Limited (“LCM”) is the litigation funder financing the claim. LCM is a leading international provider of litigation funding and third-party funding and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. It has provided funding to over 260 completed cases in various jurisdiction, achieving recoveries that would not otherwise have been possible without LCM funding the litigation.
Latest News
Wired:
13 June 2024
Sellers Call Amazon’s Buy Box ‘Abusive.’ Now They’re Suing
UK retailers have accused Amazon of using its Buy Box section to choke their businesses, reigniting a years-long debate over whether there was foul play.
Evening Standard:
07 June 2024
UK retailers suing Amazon for damages up to £1.1bn in ‘watershed’ case
The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) said it was the biggest collective action ever launched by UK retailers.
The Guardian:
07 June 2024
Independent UK retailers claim £1bn damages against Amazon
Independent UK retailers have launched the biggest ever retail class action with a £1bn claim for damages against Amazon, which they allege has been pushing them out of its online marketplace.