On Thursday, Amazon said it had banned the sale of more than 1 million products in recent weeks. All of them had claimed to cure or protect against coronavirus.
Also Read: Coronavirus: The First Vaccine Is Ready To Be Tested On Humans
Amazon also removed tens of thousands of transactions from merchants, saying they were trying to price fraud on customers. The world’s largest online retailer is currently facing censorship of health products on its platform. Earlier this week, Italy launched a survey to investigate the surge in the prices of disinfecting gels and masks on the Internet while the country is fighting the biggest virus outbreak in Europe. Currently, the number of newly reported infections worldwide has exceeded the number of infections from mainland China. From Australia to Iran, many governments have closed schools, canceled activities, and stockpiled medical supplies to control the spread of the virus.
Gizchina News of the week
The American industrial giant recently sold masks on Amazon for more than usual. According to data from camelcamelcamel.com, when you click on the purchase option on Amazon, you can see that a merchant offered 10 packs of N95 masks for $128 on Thursday, a price that is much higher than the recent average price of $41.24. But later in the day, these mask options were no longer available. The price-tracking website also revealed another interesting thing that happened earlier this week. A third-party seller launched a dual-pack gas mask for $24.99, which is higher than Amazon’s recent average price of $6.65.
Official Statement of Amazon
‘There is no place for price gouging on Amazon,’ a spokeswoman said in a statement, citing the company’s policy that product information must be accurate and that Amazon can take down offers that hurt customer trust, including when pricing ‘is significantly higher than recent prices offered on or off Amazon.’
The company said it has monitored price increases through automatic and manual reviews of online products.
