Did a consumer-advocacy group find that Amazon increased prices of essential items sharply as the coronavirus began to spread?
According to a Public Citizen study, the prices of some essential items sold by Amazon directly jumped sharply in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. Media reports, political leaders, law enforcement and Amazon itself focused on price spikes among third-party merchants on its platform during the period. But some products sold directly by the company also dramatically increased in price in spring 2020, including disposable face masks (a 1000% increase) and toilet paper (a 528% increase), the study found.
Although there is no federal law against price gouging, thirty-five states prohibit charging excessively high prices for goods during public emergencies. Some states, including New Jersey and Illinois, included price gouging prohibitions in their coronavirus emergency declarations.