Amazon offered fake discounts to drive Fire TV sales, lawsuit alleges

Amazon is reportedly facing a new class-action lawsuit that accuses the retail giant of deceptive pricing practices related to its Fire TV products. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, claims Amazon was deceiving shoppers by displaying inflated list prices, creating the illusion of more substantial discounts than were actually available.

The suit alleges that Amazon engaged in a “persistent and uniform scheme” by setting “fake list prices” for its Fire TVs. By doing so, the company is accused of tricking customers into thinking they were getting time-limited deals, leading them to spend more than they otherwise might have. According to the complaint, many of the Fire TVs had not been sold anywhere close to the listed prices for over a year.

At the heart of the lawsuit are claims that Amazon violated Washington’s Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits deceptive acts or practices in trade. Plaintiff David Ramirez is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and an injunction to prevent Amazon from continuing the alleged behavior. The amount of damages will be determined by the court or a jury, and the suit also requests prejudgment interest on any awarded amounts.

This isn’t the first time Amazon has been accused of misleading pricing. A similar case in California in 2021 resulted in the company agreeing to stop using false list prices and paying around $2 million in penalties and restitution. In this latest case, Amazon has declined to comment when approached by KIRO 7, a Seattle-based news outlet.

We’ll just have to wait and see how the lawsuit unfolds. That said, such tactics are common around the world. An article by Quartz, published in 2019, highlights how sellers in India were marking up prices considerably during big sales in the country in an attempt to make deals look much more attractive. Unfortunately, this practice is still thriving due to loose regulations.