Mercado Libre

Mercado Libre, Inc. operates marketplaces across Latin America, led by Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina. Mercado Pago is the payment wallet. Mercado Envios is the logistics arm. Sellers who want the buy box often need all three.

In several countries it is the default online store, the way Amazon is in the United States. Competition authorities in Brazil and Mexico have looked at marketplace conduct, including how the platform treats sellers who also sell on their own sites.

Tying checkout to Mercado Pago, or ranking sellers who use Mercado Envios above those who do not, is the self-preferencing and tying pattern. The company says integration is why the delivery promise works.

Credit offered to sellers based on marketplace data is a financial product the platform alone can underwrite. That data advantage is a barrier for a bank that cannot see the sales.

Marketplace, payments, and logistics in one firm recreate the Amazon stack.

Ranking that rewards the platform's own delivery is a self-preferencing theory.

Seller credit priced off exclusive sales data is a data-lock-in theory.

National competition agencies, not US courts, are the primary reviewers.

Shoppers get one default marketplace and a wallet that also works off-platform, which spreads the payment network.

A small seller who refuses Pago or Envios can lose the listing position that generates the order.