The Federal Antimonopoly Service has moved from prescriptions to official warnings. Ozon and Wildberries have received documents with specific claims and specific deadlines for correction.
There are three claims. The first is the timing of payments to sellers. Both sites have increased them, which directly worsens the financial situation of sellers: money for the goods sold comes later, working capital works worse.
The second claim concerns the tariffs for logistics and returns. Marketplaces change them after the product is accepted in the warehouse — that is, the seller learns about the new conditions when it is impossible to win back. Plus, the cost of transportation is linked to the price of the product, and not to the actual cost of the service. This makes planning the supply economy impossible.
The third claim is to Ozon separately. The site sells the "original" sign on the product card to sellers. The buyer sees the marking and believes that the product has been authenticated. Not really. The FAS qualifies this as misleading the consumer.
Both marketplaces are required to change the public offer and eliminate violations. If ignored, the FAS will initiate an antimonopoly case, which will result in fines and mandatory regulations.
This is not the first round. In March, the FAS had already demanded that Wildberries and Ozon bring commissions to an economically reasonable level and eliminate discrimination between Russian and foreign sellers. Wildberries promised to level the stakes. Now the regulator is pushing harder.
FAS pressure is a long—term process. There will be no quick changes in conditions, but the vector is set. The logic of the state is to make work on marketplaces predictable and protect sellers from unilateral rule changes.
