Immediate unlocking of Amazon seller account

Once again, a German court has confirmed that blocking an Amazon seller account without traceable justification is unlawful. The Regional Court (LG) Frankfurt a. M. has prohibited corresponding deactivations of seller accounts in two urgent proceedings.

The sellers were affected by a deactivation of their account in early December 2021. In a notification, Amazon had accused them of manipulating customer reviews. The notification contained no specific justification.

In the sellers' view, the allegations were not verifiable. As a result of the account suspension, the sellers were unable to access their account or place offers. Their account balance was also frozen.

Out-of-court requests from the sellers to Amazon were unsuccessful; therefore, they proceeded to court in urgent proceedings against the deactivation of their seller accounts.

LG Frankfurt a.M. orders unlocking of Amazon seller account

By orders of 06.12.2021 – 2-03 O 453/21 – and of 16.12.2021 –2-06 O347/21 – the LG Frankfurt a. M. has prohibited Amazon from deactivating the respective Amazon seller account without justification and without the opportunity for the seller to submit a statement, or from removing offers from the Amazon website.

Like the LG München I the LG Frankfurt a.M. has also, in its decisions, relied on Amazon's dominant market position.

Both accounts have since been unlocked and the respective account balances have been released.

Conclusion

A deactivation of Amazon seller accounts often causes significant economic damage to those affected. The current case law and the possibility of obtaining an immediate release through court proceedings are therefore to be welcomed, not least from the perspective of damage minimization.

It is also noteworthy that the jurisdiction of German courts was unproblematically assumed, even though Amazon's registered office is in Luxembourg.

A main action regarding Amazon's liability for the loss of turnover suffered by the affected Amazon sellers is still pending. It remains to be seen whether Amazon will be required to compensate the sellers for the damages resulting from the unjustified account suspensions.