Amazon Raised Prices on Essentials Amid Pandemic, Watchdog Says
- Soap, toilet paper prices remain elevated, Public Citizen says
- In answer, Amazon has called for a federal price-gouging law
Amazon.com Inc. boxes sit at a United States Postal Service (USPS) facility in Fairfax, Virginia.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Amazon.com Inc. charged inflated prices for hand sanitizer, disposable gloves and other essentials months after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, a consumer watchdog said in a report accusing the world’s largest online retailer of price gouging.
The report, released Thursday by Public Citizen, examines roughly two dozen products on Amazon’s site. Relying on its own observations and data from price-tracking sites, the nonprofit public interest group documented price increases of as much as 1,000% when compared with pre-pandemic levels or prices at other large retailers.