Washington Arbitrator Strikes Amazon Funds Withholding in Business Solutions Agreement

Amazon Sellers Attorney, a lawyer-supervised suspension appeal service, announced today that a Washington arbitrator in an arbitration case brought against Amazon by one of its third-party sellers has stricken the controversial permanent withholding provision of section 2 of Amazon’s Business Solutions Agreement (BSA) which allows Amazon to permanently withhold any funds from a seller if Amazon determines the seller’s account has been used for illegal or fraudulent activity, or to repeatedly violate Amazon’s policies.

“This marks the fourth case this year where we have prevailed against Amazon’s unenforceable permanent withholding provision,” stated Kenneth Eade, Attorney for the Claimant in the case.

The arbitrator ruled that Amazon’s BSA was a contract of adhesion that was not subject to negotiation, and that the provision of section 2 of Amazon’s Business Solutions Agreement, “providing Amazon with the sole discretion to determine the use of the funds it retains under Washington law is an unenforceable penalty clause. The Business Solutions Agreement allows retention by Amazon of all generated revenues irrespective of amount or potential invalidity.”

Eade prevailed in three other cases against Amazon this year, where section 2 was ruled as an unenforceable liquidated damages clause in all three cases. In two of the cases, arbitrators ruled that Amazon’s In-Person Verification (IPI) was not a condition for release of seller funds. One of the cases ruled that section 2 of the BSA was also unconscionable.

“The first such case I had where an arbitrator struck down Amazon’s funds withholding provision was in 2021. In that case, the arbitator also held the provision was not enforceable as a liquidated damages clause as well as unconscionable,” said Eade.

About Amazon Sellers Attorney

Amazon Sellers Attorney is an Amazon appeal service, supervised by lawyers, which serves third-party sellers worldwide with issues of suspension of their Amazon seller accounts and deactivation of listings through its website at www.amazonsellers.attorney. The firm provides 24-hour service to its customers by live chat, telephone, and email, and free appeal consultations. Its current supervising attorney, Kenneth Eade, represented the above-referenced seller after he had lost his appeal for the reinstatement of his Amazon seller account and restoration of sales proceeds.

Contact Information

Kenneth Eade

Attorney

AMZ Sellers Attorney®

(1) 8888062440

info@amazonsellers.attorney