Amazon has argued in court that this relationship absolves it of any liability related to defective products sold by those vendors. That’s because many of the third-party sellers are effectively judgment-proof, Hurwitz said. Recently, courts have started to apply the same rules to Amazon that exist for brick-and-mortar retailers, which can be held liable for products they sold. A key to the Bolger ruling, and the other recent liability rulings against Amazon, is that the company warehoused and shipped the defective products. Carpenter didn’t have an understanding that third-party sellers operate on Amazon, he said.

Source: Washington Post August 29, 2020 10:03 UTC