Tag: Amazon

  • Amazon to Pay $400,000 to Vermont for Vape Sales

    Amazon to Pay $400,000 to Vermont for Vape Sales

    Credit: Sundry Photography

    Amazon will pay Vermont $400,000 and improve its vetting practices to settle claims that it failed to stop online vendors from selling e-cigarettes, Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark announced Wednesday.

    An investigation by the attorney general’s office found that third-party sellers had been hawking tobacco products, especially vapes, to Vermonters on Amazon over the past few years.

    That practice violates a Vermont law, which prohibits the online sale of tobacco products to anyone other than a licensed dealer. Amazon also prohibits the sale of e-cigarettes, and has a variety of safeguards in place to prevent such sales, according to the settlement, according to media reports.

    But even so, “between July 2019 and September 2024, certain e-cigarettes were purchased from third-party sellers in Amazon’s store and shipped to Vermont consumers,” the settlement reads.

    After being informed of the infractions by Vermont’s attorney general, Amazon made unspecified improvements to its oversight practices, the settlement said.

    In addition to the payment, each year for the next four years Amazon will also create a list of vendors that have sold tobacco products to Vermont — the “Vermont Evasive Seller List” — and provide the list to the attorney general if needed.

  • Italy Investigating BAT, Amazon for Hyper X2 Ads

    Italy Investigating BAT, Amazon for Hyper X2 Ads

    Italian regulators announced an investigation into British American Tobacco and Amazon over what regulators say is potentially misleading advertising for the Glo Hyper X2 heated-tobacco product, the Italian Competition Authority said on Tuesday.

    “It is not made clear, or it is inadequately stated” in the advertising that Glo Hyper X2 is a nicotine-based product, and that it is “intended for an adult audience”, the authority said.

    It also said it had seen the Hyper X2 was being marketed as “nicotine-free.”

    “The omission and/or deceptiveness of this essential information” in advertising could influence consumers’ decisions and expose them, “minors in particular”, to the risk of unknowingly damaging their health, the regulator said.

    Amazon Services Europe and Amazon Italia Customer Services were included in the investigation because the tobacco heating device is sold on the online platform.

    Reuters found an offer for Glo Hyper X2 on Amazon Prime Italy presenting the product as “the cigarette alternative, a smokeless and odor-free experience, nicotine-free”.

    An accompanying image had a “no under 18s” symbol.

    A spokesperson for BAT said the company was committed to “responsible marketing”, in addition to the requirements set by local applicable laws.

    “We are available to cooperate with the Italian Competition Authority to ensure a swift conclusion of these proceedings”, the spokesperson said.