The FTC is currently looking into the Apple-Amazon agreement for antitrust issues regarding third-party resellers. Reports say that lawyers have reached out to independent sellers as they investigate the new policy enforced when the deal took place.
OpenMarkets Institute enforcement strategy director Sally Hubbard says that the deal itself could be grounds for antitrust complaints when the brand is preventing their products from being sold below the minimum advertised price, but so far there haven’t been any formal concerns raised.
Last year, Apple started selling its products on the Amazon platform, including the Apple Watch, Mac, iPad, and iPhone models. As part of the agreement, Amazon has removed Apple product listings of unauthorized resellers on January 4.
Independent sellers then had to apply to become an Apple Authorized Reseller and Amazon Renewed program to sell refurbished or used Apple products, but due to the steep requirements, not everyone was able to acquire the status.
