Oberdorf v. Amazon.com Inc.

Oberdorf (plaintiff) bought a dog collar through Amazon's (defendant) online marketplace from a third-party vendor neither party could later locate. The collar's ring broke when her dog lunged, causing a retractable leash to snap back and blind her in one eye. She sued Amazon for negligence and strict liability. Amazon required its vendors to indemnify it and provide product warnings, and retained the right to reject vendors.

Whether an online-marketplace provider may be held strictly liable for selling a defective product where the provider may reject vendors, requires vendors to indemnify it, and enables vendors to avoid liability.