Amazon Responsible For 3rd-Party Sellers’ Unsafe Products, Agency Says

WASHINGTON, DC — Global e-commerce giant Amazon is legally responsible for about 400,000 products sold by third-party vendors that pose a “substantial” safety hazard, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday.

Amazon failed to notify customers who ordered the products — specifically, faulty carbon-monoxide detectors, hair dryers that aren’t electrocution-proof and children’s sleepwear that violate federal flammability standards — or provide general notification to the public about the risks of using them, commissioners said in a unanimous decision and order.

Commissioners said, and an administrative law judge overseeing the case agreed, that Amazon acted as distributor of third-party sellers’ products sold, packed and shipped under its fulfillment program and, therefore, is legally required to recall the faulty products and provide other remedies.

Amazon had argued it wasn’t a distributor as defined by the Consumer Product Safety Act and, therefore, had no legal responsibilities to issue recalls. The company has fought the distributor label since 2021, when the CPSC sued Amazon to force the company to accept responsibility and issue recalls for the faulty products sold on its platform.

The commission ordered the Seattle-based, $575 billion-a-year company to develop a plan to notify the public and the customers who bought the faulty products that they don’t meet federal consumer product safety standards, and take other steps, including issuing recalls and offering repairs, replacements or refunds. The plan is subject to approval by the commission.

Tuesday’s decision affirms the initial findings of the administrative law judge in the 2021 lawsuit.