New York cracks down on price gouging, shipping and other companies are targeted

“Rising prices on necessities and basic household items are making life difficult for working families, ” said Attorney General James. “It makes no sense that while New Yorkers are struggling to make ends meet, businesses are celebrating record profits, and the Office of the Attorney General will use every tool at our disposal to combat price gouging and widespread profiteering.”

The Attorney General's Office noted that some companies' price increases were not entirely driven by rising costs, but rather by the desire to make more profits.

Among them, the office mentioned the issue of transportation costs, noting that higher transportation prices have led to higher prices for consumer goods. "Shipping prices have risen sharply in 2020 and 2021, and the price increases appear to be caused by a combination of actual supply chain disruptions and the motivation to increase profits."

In 2020, the New York Attorney General's Office also cracked down on price gouging by Amazon sellers. At that time, some sellers sold hand sanitizers to consumers for $19.99 to $29.99, which usually cost $1 to $3. For this, these sellers had to pay more than $52,000 in fines and nearly $23,000 in consumer compensation.

In fact, as of March 2021, 42 states in the United States have implemented price deceptive regulations or issued emergency declarations.

At the beginning of this year, with another large-scale outbreak of the epidemic overseas, consumers' demand for epidemic prevention and control related products such as masks, disinfectants, and testing kits has also increased. Some sellers with "ulterior motives" took the opportunity to raise product prices in order to obtain higher profits.

Amazon has said it will investigate price gouging, and sellers who commit serious violations may be banned. Even more serious cases may lead to lawsuits under local consumer protection laws.

For cross-border e-commerce sellers, setting prices reasonably is the only way to avoid being investigated for price fraud and to continue their business without affecting their reputation.

USA

Price gouging