Section 2 of Amazon’s Business Solutions Agreement Stricken Again by Washington Arbitrator

Amazon Sellers Attorney, a lawyer-supervised suspension appeal service, announced today that a Washington arbitrator and one from a New York arbitrator has again 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 sixth case this year and the third this month 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 failed to establish that the seller had violated its policies; and that it did not act in good faith when it suspended the seller’s account and kept all the funds in the account. He ruled that Amazon failed to give notice of specific policies the seller allegedly violated and that its retention of the seller’s funds was a breach of the contract.

As in the five other arbitration awards secured by Mr. Eade this year against Amazon, the Arbitrator ruled that section 2 of the BSA is an unenforceable penalty and not a validated liquidated damages clause, stating, “There is no evidence that the parties considered a balance in a seller account to be a reasonable forecast of damages incurred upon seller’s breach, and it would not have been reasonable for them to do so. A seller’s account balance varies depending on the volume of sales, independent of any damages caused to Amazon. In addition, Amazon is in a position to manipulate the seller’s balance by timing the notice of suspension when the account is greatest.”

Eade prevailed in five other cases against Amazon this year, where section 2 was ruled as an unenforceable liquidated damages clause in all five 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. “Unfortunately, the arbitration process results in non-precedential decisions, because arbitration awards are private and seldomly vacated by the courts,” he added.

About Amazon Sellers Attorney

AMZ 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 sellers after they had lost appeal for the reinstatement of their Amazon seller account and restoration of sales proceeds.

Contact Information

Kenneth Eade

Attorney

AMZ Sellers Attorney®

(1) 8888062440

info@amazonsellers.attorney