Energizer, Duracell Price-Fixing Lawsuit: Were Walmart Shoppers Overcharged?

A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed alleging that consumers overpaid for Energizer and Duracell batteries at Walmart due to certain anticompetitive agreements, and attorneys working with ClassAction.org are now looking to hear from more people who may have been affected.

Specifically, the lawsuit claims that Energizer and Walmart, its largest customer, agreed to a price-fixing scheme whereby Energizer raised its wholesale prices for all customers other than Walmart and punished any customers that charged lower retail prices for batteries than Walmart. The effect, according to the suit, is that Walmart could charge consumers higher prices for batteries—for both Energizer and Duracell—without fear that its competitors would undercut prices.

Walmart Batteries Price-Fixing Lawsuit: What’s Going On?

A proposed class action lawsuit was filed against Energizer and Walmart in April 2023 over the companies’ allegedly anticompetitive scheme to raise prices for disposable batteries.

According to the case, the price-fixing scheme had two parts. First, Energizer, under pressure from Walmart, agreed to raise its wholesale prices for batteries for all customers other than Walmart, the lawsuit says. Because these other retailers had to pay more for batteries, they were forced to raise their prices, which in turn allowed Walmart to raise its prices more than it would have been able to in a competitive market, according to the suit.

Secondly, the lawsuit says Energizer provided an extra layer of protection for Walmart by punishing any retailers that charged lower prices for batteries than Walmart. According to the suit, any of Energizer’s customers that were found to be charging lower prices than Walmart were first given a warning from Energizer and, if they failed to update their prices, were charged higher wholesale prices by Energizer until they could no longer afford to keep their prices so low.

The lawsuit claims this price-fixing scheme also affected Duracell, Energizer’s main competitor, given Walmart raised its prices for Duracell batteries so as to not undermine its inflated prices for Energizer batteries.

According to the case, Walmart customers were financially harmed in that they had to pay higher prices for batteries than they would have paid in a competitive market.

How a Lawsuit Could Help

If the lawsuit is successful, it could help consumers get back some of the money they spent on Energizer and Duracell batteries from Walmart.

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