EBay sues Amazon for infiltrating its M2M system and stealing its traders Watch Now

EBay has filed a lawsuit against Amazon which claims the e-commerce giant has been covertly poaching high-value traders from its marketplace.

The lawsuit, filed in a court located in Santa Clara County, California, alleges that Amazon "perpetrated a scheme to infiltrate and exploit eBay's internal member email system" over the last few years, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"Dozens" of Amazon sales representatives allegedly misused the communications platform, in the US and abroad, to recruit eBay sellers on Amazon's behalf.

The lawsuit has been filed roughly two weeks after eBay sent Amazon a cease-and-desist letter relating to the alleged scheme.

As reported by sister site CNET, eBay claimed to have uncovered years' worth of evidence which revealed an "an international, coordinated and illegal effort to target eBay's best sellers and move them over to Amazon's site."

CNET: Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren want Amazon to explain anti-union video

Amazon staff allegedly contacted both businesses and individuals repeatedly through eBay's communication platform in order to urge them to migrate over to Amazon and abandon eBay. The scheme allegedly traces back to Amazon headquarters.

EBay added that unless the claimed, illegal operation stopped immediately, the company would take "appropriate steps" to protect itself.

"For years, and unbeknownst to eBay, Amazon has been engaged in a systematic, coordinated effort to infiltrate and exploit eBay's proprietary M2M system on eBay's platform to lure top eBay sellers to Amazon," the online marketplace alleged.

TechRepublic: Amazon AI misidentifies Congress as criminals, proves it's not ready for enterprise

Amazon and eBay are rivals in the online sales space. Both companies allow individuals and businesses to set up shop on their platforms in order to list and sell products.

Commissions made on the basis of these traders is key to both companies -- although, perhaps, more so for eBay considering Amazon's vast business offshoots -- and so high-value traders are considered precious commodities.

See also: Palm: Drop your 'phone companion' price before Amazon squashes you like the insect you are

In September, Amazon's valuation briefly reached $1 trillion. At the time of writing, Amazon's share price is $1,831, while eBay's stock commands a price of $32.02.

Amazon declined to comment for this story. EBay pointed ZDNet to the court filing but declined to comment further.

Previous and related coverage