Amazon announces stringent policies for sale of face masks amid Coronavirus price gouging

With the emerging cases of coronavirus around the world, there has been a sudden increase in the number of companies taking to the online medium to sell their products like face masks, hand sanitizers, gloves, and sprays amongst other products purporting to prevent the disease. To tackle the issue, Amazon has now started restricting the types of sellers on its third-party Marketplace platform that can sell these health and sanitation products.

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Amazon restricts selling of health and sanitation products

According to The Verge, the decision is an attempt by Amazon to fight against price gouging and deceptive marketing on its e-commerce platform due to the ongoing concerns surrounding the Coronavirus outbreak. Amazon had even sent out a note to sellers on Wednesday addressing them about the company’s decision.

The note intimated the sellers stating that they are receiving the message because they are currently selling, or have previously sold, products such as disposable face masks, hand sanitizers, disinfecting wipes/sprays, isopropyl alcohol or related products. The note added that the company has implemented more stringent requirements to sell those products on its e-commerce platform, because of which their offers had to be removed. It further added that Amazon is not accepting applications to sell such products at the time.

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Amazon has said that the remaining inventory of such items which lie in its fulfilment centres are eligible for reimbursement of the return or disposal fees; however, sellers will be required to initiate a removal order to get them processed. The reimbursement window begins today and will last over the next two months, until May 31. Amazon has also informed sellers that they can reach out to the company‘s seller support line if they feel they have been improperly targeted with their new policy.

Amazon has not revealed the criteria for companies or sellers to offer such products; however, but it is believed that the company is closing all applications for further listings and will only employ the existing sellers who haven’t run afoul of its fair pricing policy.

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Image credits: Unsplash | Christian Wiediger