April 20 (Reuters) – Amazon.com worked behind the scenes with merchants like Levi Strauss to provoke online rivals like Home Depot, Walmart and Chewy to raise prices for consumers so it wouldn’t be outbid, California’s attorney general said on Monday.
Evidence detailing alleged price-fixing attempts was released as part of Attorney General Rob Bonta’s three-and-a-half-year-old antitrust lawsuit against Amazon. The lawsuit also seeks to recover what Bonta called illicit profits. The trial is scheduled for January 19, 2027.
“Amazon is acting illegally to make profits by ensuring that consumers have nowhere to turn to find lower prices,” Bonta said in a statement.
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The Seattle-based retailer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Amazon is the only defendant in the lawsuit.
In a document filed in San Francisco Superior Court, California described dozens of cases of alleged price fixing that inflated the prices of products such as khaki pants, fertilizer, eye drops and dog treats.
Bonta said the alleged collusion leads merchants and competitors to raise prices or make products temporarily unavailable so that Amazon doesn’t have to match prices.
The document described Levi Strauss’ alleged attempt to persuade Walmart to charge $29.99 for Easy Khaki Classic pants, after Amazon expressed ‘concern’ about Walmart’s original price of $25.47.
California claimed that Amazon’s complaint about falling fertilizer prices led to Home Depot agreeing to “raise prices this time,” while Amazon pressured Allergan, now part of AbbVie to see if Walmart would charge $16.99 per eye drop so it wouldn’t have to match the $13.59 price.
The lawsuit also described Amazon’s alleged attempt to break a price-match agreement with online pet products retailer Chewy for Canine Naturals treats. “Prices that went up on Amazon immediately went up on Chewy,” one mid-tier merchant wrote, adding a smiling emoji. “Overall, it seems to be working!”
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Amazon has stated that its agreements with sellers are legal and benefit consumers through a greater product variety, adequate inventory and competitive prices.
The company’s revenue in 2025 surpassed that of Walmart, long the world’s largest retailer by revenue. Bonta seeks an injunction to stop Amazon’s alleged price fixing while the case is pending. A hearing is scheduled for July 23.
(By Jonathan Stempel)
