UK-based businesses that sold on Amazon.co.uk with a Professional seller account between June 2018 and June 2024 are included in a £2.7 billion GBP collective action against Amazon that the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal certified in November 2025. The case is headed toward trial; no money is available and there is nothing to file.
Allegations Only · No Settlement Yet
This article describes a UK collective action that has been allowed to proceed. The statements below are unproven allegations. Amazon has not been found liable, no damages have been awarded, and there is nothing to claim at this time. This page is informational and is not legal advice.
What Is This About?
A competition claim against Amazon on behalf of UK-based third-party sellers has cleared the certification stage and is moving toward trial in London. The case is Professor Andreas Stephan v. Amazon.com, Inc. and others, Case No. 1644/7/7/24, in the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal. The class representative is Andreas Stephan, a professor of competition law who heads the law school at the University of East Anglia. He is not an Amazon seller himself; UK rules let a suitable individual bring a claim on behalf of a whole class.The Tribunal ruled on July 24, 2025 that the claim could go ahead as an opt-out class action and made the formal Collective Proceedings Order on November 27, 2025. Amazon then asked the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal, arguing that the class contained a conflict of interest between different kinds of sellers. On February 26, 2026 the Court of Appeal refused, calling it a point with no real prospect of success. The claim is valued at about £2.7 billion GBP. None of the allegations has been tested at trial.
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Who Is in the Class
The class is made up of third-party sellers that meet all of these conditions:- they sold, or were admitted to sell, through Amazon’s UK marketplace, either on amazon.co.uk or in the Amazon app set to shop in the United Kingdom
- they did so in the course of a business, trade or profession, and held a Professional selling account or its equivalent
- they were selling at some point between June 26, 2018 and June 26, 2024
- they were domiciled in the UK on November 27, 2025, the date the order was made
Because the class is opt-out, a seller that fits the definition is included automatically and does not need to do anything. The window to opt out closed at 4 p.m. on February 27, 2026. A seller that now wants to leave the class has to ask the Tribunal, which decides whether to allow it.
What the Claim Alleges
The claim alleges that Amazon holds a dominant position in providing marketplace services to sellers trying to reach UK customers, and that it abused that position in breach of section 18 of the Competition Act 1998 and, for the period before December 31, 2020, Article 102 of the EU treaty. It pleads five practices:- using sellers’ non-public sales data to benefit Amazon’s own retail business
- favouring Amazon’s own retail offers when choosing which offer appears in the Buy Box
- favouring offers fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) over offers the seller ships itself when choosing the Buy Box winner
- tying access to the Prime badge to the use of Amazon’s fulfilment service
- penalising sellers who offer lower prices on other websites
Much of the case tracks concerns raised by regulators. In November 2023 the UK Competition and Markets Authority accepted binding commitments from Amazon on seller data, the Buy Box and Prime eligibility, and the European Commission accepted similar commitments for other European markets in December 2022. Neither authority found that Amazon broke the law, and the Tribunal noted there is no finding that Amazon held or abused a dominant position. Italy’s competition authority did fine Amazon €1.13 billion EUR in 2021 over the link between Prime and fulfilment; Amazon appealed that decision.
Amazon opposed certification. It challenged the class representative’s expert methods and the funding arrangement, and argued that sellers are a diverse group of businesses that have benefited from access to its store and should have to opt in rather than be swept in. The Tribunal rejected those objections at the certification stage, which decides only whether the case can proceed, not whether Amazon did anything wrong.
Who Is Paying for the Case
The claim is funded by Innsworth Capital, a litigation funder, which has committed up to £32.9 million GBP to run the case and has arranged cover for Amazon’s costs if the claim fails. Sellers in the class pay nothing, win or lose.If the claim succeeds, the funder expects to be repaid and to earn a return out of the recovery. Under UK rules that return is not automatic: the Tribunal has to approve it at the end of the case. At an earlier stage the Tribunal described the funder’s potential return as “remarkably high” but said it would review the figure when the case concludes rather than block certification over it.
A Parallel Claim for Shoppers
The Tribunal certified a separate consumer claim against Amazon at the same time, Hammond v. Amazon.com, Inc. and others, Case No. 1595/7/7/23, brought for UK shoppers over the Buy Box and Prime practices. The Court of Appeal refused Amazon permission to appeal that order too. The Tribunal has said the two cases should be heard together, with the sellers’ expert analysis of fulfilment and marketplace fees used in both, because the shoppers’ claim depends on how much of any overcharge sellers passed on in their prices.What Happens Next
With permission to appeal refused, the claim moves into disclosure, expert evidence and, unless it settles, trial. No trial date appears in the published orders. The Tribunal said it expects Amazon to have to disclose any internal assessments it made of the commitments it gave regulators, and anticipated that the monitoring reports filed under those commitments would be disclosable too.No money is available now and there is no guarantee any will be. Payments would only follow a win at trial or a settlement the Tribunal approves, and sellers would be told how to claim at that point. Sellers can register on the official Amazon 3P Seller Claim website for updates. The claim notice also advises any seller that has left the UK since November 27, 2025 to keep records showing it was UK-domiciled on that date.
U.S. shoppers have their own, unrelated class actions over Amazon’s marketplace, explained in the Amazon marketplace antitrust lawsuit explainer.
Read the Claim Notice
The Tribunal-approved notice to sellers is embedded below:Stephan v. Amazon.com, Inc. — Collective Proceedings Order Notice (PDF, Case No. 1644/7/7/24)
Questions
Do Amazon.co.uk sellers need to sign up to be part of the claim?
No. The claim runs on an opt-out basis, so UK-domiciled sellers who fit the class definition are included automatically. Registering on the official claim website only signs a seller up for email updates. The deadline to opt out passed on February 27, 2026, and any later request to leave the class needs the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s permission.
Can a seller based outside the UK take part?
No. The class covers UK-domiciled sellers only, judged on November 27, 2025. A seller that was UK-domiciled on that date but has since moved abroad stays in the class, and the claim notice advises keeping records that show where the business was based on that date.
How much could an Amazon seller get from the UK claim?
Nothing is available now. The class representative’s economist estimated total damages of about £2.7 billion GBP and an average of about £13,000 per seller over 2018 to 2024, before interest. Those are estimates from one side of the case. Money would only become available if the claim wins at trial or settles with the Tribunal’s approval, and the Tribunal must also approve what the litigation funder takes from any recovery.
Does a seller have to pay anything toward the case?
No. The litigation funder, Innsworth Capital, is paying the costs of the claim and has arranged cover for Amazon’s legal costs if the claim loses. Class members do not pay anything, even if the case is unsuccessful.
Is this connected to the Amazon antitrust cases in the United States?
Not legally. The UK claim is brought under UK competition law in the Competition Appeal Tribunal and covers UK-based sellers only. It overlaps in subject matter with U.S. cases over Amazon’s marketplace practices, but a U.S. seller or shopper has no rights in this UK claim, and UK class membership gives no rights in any U.S. case.
Sources
- UK Competition Appeal Tribunal — Judgment (CPO), Hammond v. Amazon.com, Inc. and others and Professor Andreas Stephan v. Amazon.com, Inc. and others, Case Nos. 1595/7/7/23 and 1644/7/7/24, [2025] CAT 42 (July 24, 2025).
- UK Competition Appeal Tribunal — Collective Proceedings Order and Tribunal-approved CPO Notice, Case No. 1644/7/7/24 (November 27, 2025).
- Court of Appeal (Civil Division) — Stephan and Hammond v. Amazon, [2026] EWCA Civ 183 (February 26, 2026), refusing permission to appeal.
- UK Competition Appeal Tribunal — Registrar’s Notice of an Application to Commence Collective Proceedings, Case No. 1644/7/7/24 (published August 1, 2024).
- Litigation funding agreement between Professor Andreas Stephan and Innsworth Capital Limited (June 7, 2024), as published on the claim website.
- Amazon 3P Seller Claim — official claim website.
- Competition Appeal Tribunal — case register.
