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Birkenstock's CEO slams Amazon over third-party sales

Birkenstock squares off with Amazon
Birkenstock takes on Amazon over third-party sales 03:25

The CEO of Birkenstock is squaring off with the online retail giant Amazon. 

Birkenstock is fighting a new Amazon program that buys products from third-party merchants and sells them on its website. The footwear company pulled its products from Amazon earlier this year. 

In an email obtained by the Washington Post, Birkenstock's CEO, David Kahan, wrote to shop owners, "I share in no uncertain terms that this is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Any authorized retailer who may do this for even a single pair will be closed forever. I repeat, forever." 

CBS News reached out to Birkenstock, but they declined to comment. 

In a conversation on "CBS This Morning," Leigh Gallagher, senior editor-at-large of Fortune, said Kahan "pulled the product from Amazon because of concerns over counterfeit goods." 

"He was concerned there were too many counterfeit goods there from third-party retailers," Gallagher said. "It's an issue that many brands have with Amazon." 

According to Gallagher, Amazon "does not make a penny" through third-party sales because they're "buying them for retail and selling them for retail." 

Gallagher says other big brands are actually conforming to Amazon's program because they're "coming to the reality that you're doing yourself a disservice if you're not on Amazon" because of the "hundreds of millions of eyeballs that you can sell to there." 

"Amazon is 100,000 percent focused only on the consumer," Gallagher said. "They just want to please the consumer. They want to make it as easy as possible. And that's how they've gotten so big." 

Amazon has defended their program, saying, "While sellers can opt out at any time, this offers consumers a widening selection of great brands." 

Birkenstock is considering taking legal action against Amazon, according to Gallagher. 

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