‘Made in China, sold on Amazon’ merchants scramble to minimise losses after US platform closes over 50,000 Chinese shops

Several Chinese merchants failed to agree to a legal strategy to challenge Amazon’s ban of their shops for alleged fake reviews. Amazon, whose terms do not allow for class-action lawsuits, is holding onto millions of dollars in assets belonging to the e-commerce sellers, lawyers say. — SCMP

Chinese merchants locked out of selling on Amazon are weighing their legal options and looking to Beijing for help after the world’s largest e-commerce platform shut down more than 50,000 stores from the country over banned practices such as commissioning fake reviews.

A group of more than 20 mid-sized and large companies operating in the “made in China, sold on Amazon” market explored the possibility of teaming up in a jointly filed lawsuit against the Seattle-based online retailer, but the plan was aborted last week after the sellers failed to reach an agreement about their strategy and demands, said Yang Zongqiang, the lawyer who represented the group for Shenzhen-based Daxin Legal Service.