EBay Accuses Amazon Managers Of Conspiring To Poach Its Sellers

EBay has accused three Amazon managers of illegally conspiring to poach its sellers, escalating a monthslong feud between two of the country’s largest e-commerce companies. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, eBay says the Amazon managers directed dozens of workers to illegally use eBay’s private messaging system to solicit sellers onto Amazon’s platform. The suit, which claims violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, says the employees’ actions were “coordinated, targeted and designed to inflict harm on eBay.” EBay first raised concerns that Amazon was poaching its sellers last fall in a lawsuit that has since moved to arbitration. In the new case, eBay says the outreach was not a few rogue employees but part of a larger effort within Amazon, with managers giving lower-lever employees lists of eBay sellers to target. Read more at The New York Times.