UK consumer group the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO) has instructed Stephenson Harwood to advise on a class action against Amazon before the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), alleging that its pricing policies short-changed consumers.
An application for a collective proceedings order has been filed with the CAT on behalf of more than 45 million consumers, alleging that Amazon employed predatory pricing policies that enabled it to charge sellers higher fees that were passed on to consumers.
The abuse of dominance case sees ACSO argue that Amazon’s price parity policies prevented third-party sellers from offering lower prices elsewhere, thereby restricting competition and allowing Amazon to charge sellers higher fees.
The opt-out claim applies to all UK consumers who purchased from a third-party seller on Amazon between August 2019 and August 2025, who are automatically included in the claim.
Partner Genevieve Quierin, who has built an impressive reputation acting for businesses in collective claims, is leading the Stephenson Harwood team. She is being assisted by partner Tim Knight, who joined the firm in January from Travers Smith, alongside counsel from Monckton Chambers.
“Amazon appears to have circumvented previous regulatory interventions targeting its pricing policies and is now implementing policies which we contend are anti-competitive, to the detriment of UK consumers,” she said.
“We look forward to securing compensation for the millions of consumers who have been affected by Amazon’s alleged anti-competitive conduct.”
It is understood that a litigation funder is backing the claim. Although ACSO declined to disclose the funder’s identity, it confirmed that the funder is a member of the Association of Litigation Funders. Its identity will be revealed at the certification stage.
Amazon said in a statement that the claim was “without merit” and would be defeated.
The tech giant added: “Amazon features offers that provide customers with low prices and fast delivery. We remain committed to supporting the 100,000 independent businesses that sell their products on our UK store, which generate billions of pounds in export sales every year.”
Matthew Maxwell-Scott, executive director of ACSO, said: “We consider that there are strong grounds to argue that UK consumers have paid higher prices because of Amazon’s pricing policies,” claiming consumers had suffered “considerable losses”.
Alive to defendant criticisms of such actions, he added: “Collective actions such as these are an excellent way for consumers to exercise their rights and for anti-competitive corporate behaviour to be challenged.”
The claim’s launch follows the instigation of a UK government review into opt-out claims before the CAT earlier this month and the publication of research by CMS, which found that the total value of UK class action claims hit almost €155bn last year, up from nearly €143bn in 2023.
Quierin led the Stephenson Harwood team that advised a group of businesses which settled a claim against Mastercard last year over card transaction fees, which formed part of the ongoing Merchant Interchange Umbrella Proceedings litigation.
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