Internet second-hand ecommerce behemoth eBay has filed a lawsuit against its biggest rival Amazon.
EBay’s claim is that Amazon employees used eBay’s messaging service to contact third party sellers to try and persuade them to use Amazon’s platform instead.
The accusation is that this went on over a number years and spanned multiple continents.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that eBay is specifically accusing Amazon of “intentional interference with contractual relations and economic relations, as well as fraud and violation of California penal and business and professions codes.”
Verified third party sellers, such as second-hand watch specialists Watchfinder, use eBay as a key selling platform. Amazon runs a similar (and bigger) model, but with a key difference being that Amazon often competes for a sale with its third party sellers, which eBay doesn’t.
WatchPro has asked Watchfinder and other third party eBay sellers for comment.
