E-commerce giant Amazon “takes a hit” in surprise

This is the second major ruling from a California court administration regarding Amazon’s involvement in bad products from third-party sellers. The appeals court rejected Amazon’s long-standing claim that Amazon is merely a service platform that acts as an intermediary between third-party buyers and sellers. The third-party sellers on this platform are completely independent, and they are not part of Amazon’s business or legal affairs.

Amazon is accused of avoiding responsibility

Amazon wasn’t responsible for an exploding self-balancing electric skateboard that it sold to a family in Tennessee.

Specifically, Meghan Fox bought the Fiturbo F1 self-balancing electric skateboard on Amazon for $274.79 in November 2015. She gave it to her son, Matthew for Christmas. In January 2016, Matthew rode the skateboard and then left it next to a bench in the family home. Later that day, the skateboard set off a fire that consumed the house, according to court documents.

This self-balancing electric skateboard was shipped from China and sold by W2M Trading Corporation, a third-party merchant on Amazon. But Fox believes she bought it directly from Amazon, and it came in an Amazon-branded cardboard box.

Before this incident, Amazon thought that it was just a connecting platform between consumers and sellers. However, the Court of Appeals held that, under California’s strict liability principles, in such a distribution chain there is always a direct connection between Amazon and the product in question and the third-party seller.

The skateboard lawsuit’s plaintiff, Christopher Dolan, said in a statement that the ruling is a huge win for consumers. Dolan said: “Amazon’s argument that it’s not engaged in the marketing, sales and distribution of products but is just an advertiser is clearly shirking its responsibility to consumers in the face of advertising. defective products”.

Now, the appeals court has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, meaning Amazon will face a legal issue that could potentially change the way it does business. Third-party sales accounted for $386 billion – or 54% of the company’s total revenue in 2020. Research firm Finbold also found that Amazon was adding 3,700 new sellers daily in year 2021.

Amazon declined to comment on the lawsuit, but it sent Insider a statement about the product’s safety. “Amazon invests heavily in the safety and authenticity of all products offered in our store, including proactively testing sellers and products prior to listing, and in continue to monitor our store for signs of concern,” a spokesperson said in a statement sent to Insider. “Amazon supports legislation that provides protections to consumers wherever they shop online, to ensure that all stores adhere to the same standards.”

Amazon has had many problems with bad products from third-party sellers

In August 2020, the California Court of Appeals overturned a 2019 first instance court ruling in favor of a woman’s allegation that she purchased a laptop computer from a third-party seller on the Internet. Amazon. Then the laptop battery caught fire, the fire left her with 3rd degree burns.

Founded in 1994 and put into operation online in 1995, from a site that only sells books, Amazon has gradually made great strides to become a giant hypermarket where customers can find see any product. Not only diverse, the goods on Amazon are also quite good quality and have many different prices, suitable for users’ pockets.

However, not all goods sold on Amazon are genuine and safe products. In essence, like today’s e-commerce platforms, it is impossible to control the entire origin and quality of products at Amazon, especially when the number of external partners’ stores increases rapidly. fast.