Amazon Gave ‘Black-owned business’ Badges to Companies That Are Not Black-Owned

*Some Amazon sellers have received “Small Business” badges despite being large corporations.

Additionally, several non-Black-owned companies were reportedly listed as Black-owned, Business Insider reports. These findings have many giving a side eye to Amazon’s badge program’s ability to boost third-party sales, The Information reported. 

Amazon awarded “Small Business” badges to sellers who are “multinational corporations with thousands of employees,” according to The Information. It’s worth noting that a company with fewer than 100 employees and revenue of less than $50,000 can reportedly apply for the badges.

It’s not clear how “Black-Owned Small Business” badges are given to companies that are not actually Black-owned. Per Amazon: “This badge appears in Search results and the Additional Details section of detail pages and identifies product offers sold by Black-owned businesses with diversity certifications from eligible third-party organizations.”

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Amazon received backlash when products from the beef jerky firm Chomps reportedly received the Black-owned business badge.

An Amazon spokesperson told Insider “the Black-Owned Business badge was never displayed on Chomp’s products” and that the “product in question was included in the storefront in error” and “has since been resolved.”

The spokesperson added, “We are committed to ensuring that the badge is a helpful shopping tool for customers to discover small business brand owners and we are continuously auditing and refining the information used to award the badge to ensure a trustworthy and accurate experience.”

The company’s rep said, “If the badge is awarded in error we move quickly to make appropriate updates.”

“If they’re not managing this program, they’re being negligent and they’re disadvantaging true small businesses,” Jason Boyce, CEO of Avenue7Media, which helps companies sell on Amazon, told The Information. “And they’re giving companies that don’t need the help an unfair advantage.”

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