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The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is preparing to hit Amazon with an order that will force it to assume liability for all items sold by third-party vendors on its website, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Amazon has been playing the “just a middleman” card for years… arguing that it’s only a digital marketplace that connects sellers and buyers - and so it cannot be held responsible for products sold by outside vendors on its website. But it looks like that defense is wearing thin.
- Amazon dominates e-commerce in the US, accounting for nearly 40% of all online sales,
- And more than 60% of those sales are by third-party vendors.
Flashback: The CPSC began investigating Amazon all the way back in 2019.
- Per the WSJ, the CPSC launached an investigation after the paper published reports on potentially dangerous products being sold on Amazon. The products included children’s toys lacking proper choking-hazard warnings, motorcycle helmets that failed federal safety tests and children’s toys that contained lead levels exceeding federal limits.
- Then, in 2021, the CPSC forced Amazon to issue a recall for a variety of products including 24,000 faulty carbon monoxide detectors, children’s pajamas that were found to be too flammable to be legally sold, and 400,000 hair dryers that hadn’t been properly tested to see if they might give users an electric shock.
Looking ahead: The CPSC’s commissioners are about to cast their votes. And if the majority votes in favor, Amazon will be classified as a distributor, which means it will assume the same safety responsibilities as brick-and-mortar retailers. This could open the floodgates to lawsuits and massive recalls for items sold via Amazon.
