Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[river41]

11 hours ago, cladner said:

waking up to the harsh reality of only having UPS as an amazon partnered carrier for sending in FBA shipments now that FEDEX is completely out.    besides doing a better job , fedex was consistently 25-30% cheaper.  also i am old school and would drop off a van full of 24x20x20s at the fedex distribution center and take away 2-3 chances for a driver to damage my box.  dropping off at shipping center like that early in the day, items being checked in the next morning at the nearest distribution center 2 states away .  ups takes at least 2x as long and no nearby distribution center.  more damage, higher prices, longer delivery times heading into busiest time of  year.

ongoing lack of competition can only mean more higher shipping prices.  

i think to a large degree the higher expense is because of dimensional weight.What for ups is considered 205 pounds fedex considered like 150 pounds

[Foreman Porgy]

Every product is ungated. Might be a glitch. 

 

Edit* false alarm. It was a glitch. Now everything is gated again. 

Edited August 21, 2019 by Foreman Porgy

[cladner]

11 hours ago, Foreman Porgy said:

Every product is ungated. Might be a glitch. 

 

Edit* false alarm. It was a glitch. Now everything is gated again. 

there was a pokemon mega construx that i was randomly gated on earlier this week - when you posted i was able to list the item so you weren't completely fos (this time) lol.  still no can send in fba  ucs sandcrawlers  dream the impossible dream.

[Foreman Porgy]

1 hour ago, cladner said:

there was a pokemon mega construx that i was randomly gated on earlier this week - when you posted i was able to list the item so you weren't completely fos (this time) lol.  still no can send in fba  ucs sandcrawlers  dream the impossible dream.

There was a set that I was gated in for some reason. When I saw the glitch I managed to sneak it into an fba shipment I’m working on. 

[Pseudoty]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-has-ceded-control-of-its-site-the-result-thousands-of-banned-unsafe-or-mislabeled-products-11566564990

[Darth_Raichu]

22 minutes ago, Pseudoty said:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-has-ceded-control-of-its-site-the-result-thousands-of-banned-unsafe-or-mislabeled-products-11566564990

The blowback is gonna be severe

[asharerin]

On 8/21/2019 at 4:06 PM, Foreman Porgy said:

Every product is ungated. Might be a glitch. 

 

Edit* false alarm. It was a glitch. Now everything is gated again. 

Nothing on Amazon is a glitch. I see big changes coming to this platform in the wake of the Justice Dept anti-trust investigations, some voluntary, others not. Stay nimble and stay diversified. Not all is well at Amazon, or the economy.

[redcell]

1 hour ago, asharerin said:

Nothing on Amazon is a glitch. I see big changes coming to this platform in the wake of the Justice Dept anti-trust investigations, some voluntary, others not. Stay nimble and stay diversified. Not all is well at Amazon, or the economy.

Nothing on Amazon is a glitch?  That's funny dude...you obviously have never worked in a large corporation that relies heavily on technology.

[iahawks550]

Amazon has had thousands of glitches over the years. Dozens involving LEGO. It happens, even from billion dollar companies. 

But yes, everyone should diversify. 

[Foreman Porgy]

2 hours ago, asharerin said:

Nothing on Amazon is a glitch. I see big changes coming to this platform in the wake of the Justice Dept anti-trust investigations, some voluntary, others not. Stay nimble and stay diversified. Not all is well at Amazon, or the economy.

I’ve been reading about the economy collapsing for the past 2 years. There will always be products that people need, even during a recession. 

[Jackson]

4 hours ago, asharerin said:

Nothing on Amazon is a glitch. 

LOL.

[donbee]

Does USS Enterprise count as diversifying? How’s that working out?

I’m looking into Elmer’s. Home made slime has got to have had an impact on their sales.

[Emvisawthatswho]

Receieve a FBA return today, claimed “missing parts and pieces”. Basically buyer returned the set without 4 bags. Ninjago Dragons Forge. They stole bags 1-4, the Dragon and minifigures, and sent the rest back. Do I have ANY chance of fighting this? Or I just have to eat this.
They even returned the non-dragon pieces in a ziplock bag. Took them about 3 weeks to file the return. Is there a way to report the buyer, even if nothing changes on my end?

[chinothegeeko]

Definitely take pics and report to seller support


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bold-Arrow]

26 minutes ago, Emvisawthatswho said:

Receieve a FBA return today, claimed “missing parts and pieces”. Basically buyer returned the set without 4 bags. Ninjago Dragons Forge. They stole bags 1-4, the Dragon and minifigures, and sent the rest back. Do I have ANY chance of fighting this? Or I just have to eat this.
They even returned the non-dragon pieces in a ziplock bag. Took them about 3 weeks to file the return. Is there a way to report the buyer, even if nothing changes on my end?

You should be able to win this if you stick  to the facts .. I had a similar reason for return for a ninjago set , haven’t had the chance to examine it yet . Wonder if it is the same person.

[donbee]

You should be able to win this if you stick  to the facts .. I had a similar reason for return for a ninjago set , haven’t had the chance to examine it yet . Wonder if it is the same person.

Same. A ninjago return. Salvage mech.

[thombockerman]

Receieve a FBA return today, claimed “missing parts and pieces”. Basically buyer returned the set without 4 bags. Ninjago Dragons Forge. They stole bags 1-4, the Dragon and minifigures, and sent the rest back. Do I have ANY chance of fighting this? Or I just have to eat this.
They even returned the non-dragon pieces in a ziplock bag. Took them about 3 weeks to file the return. Is there a way to report the buyer, even if nothing changes on my end?

Look man there is no “win this”. You are required to refund something or amazon will refund the customer in full from your account.

Your options are to refund with a restocking fee of your choosing up to 50% of the item cost, and the return shipping cost. You will potentially have some ramifications like A-Z claim for the full refund. You will almost certainly have a negative feedback too. You can report the buyer.

If you go through the whole song and dance and provide proof of the missing pieces you may win a safe-t claim from amazon (pro plan only).
You are likely going to be asked for invoices. If you cannot provide invoices- as they are going to be your only proof that the item sent was whole when you sent it- you’re going to find your account suspended and all of your funds held. If you have fba inventory that will be held too, and if your suspension isn’t cleared up quickly it will be liquidated.

You have a lot to think about here. If you don’t have a dealer or wholesaler invoice you need to really think about how much attention you want to draw to yourself.

[Bold-Arrow]

^ 

A. This is a FBA order so the first part doesn’t apply 

B. I would disagree with the rest re invoices etc .. 

[Phil B]

Surprisingly, I had a “missing pieces” return of a 41118 Friends Supermarket last month that came back still sealed and pristine.

[Emvisawthatswho]

Look man there is no “win this”. You are required to refund something or amazon will refund the customer in full from your account.

Your options are to refund with a restocking fee of your choosing up to 50% of the item cost, and the return shipping cost. You will potentially have some ramifications like A-Z claim for the full refund. You will almost certainly have a negative feedback too. You can report the buyer.

If you go through the whole song and dance and provide proof of the missing pieces you may win a safe-t claim from amazon (pro plan only).
You are likely going to be asked for invoices. If you cannot provide invoices- as they are going to be your only proof that the item sent was whole when you sent it- you’re going to find your account suspended and all of your funds held. If you have fba inventory that will be held too, and if your suspension isn’t cleared up quickly it will be liquidated.

You have a lot to think about here. If you don’t have a dealer or wholesaler invoice you need to really think about how much attention you want to draw to yourself.

This is FBA, not FBM. Buyer received full refund already. Just received item back from FBA to me. Took the buyer more than 3 weeks to return the item. I sold 3 others, no issues, all had same weight (within fractions of an ounce).

Filed a case with amazon. Let’s see what happens from here. Sucky part is you eat the fees also, not just the sale price.

[Emvisawthatswho]

Look man there is no “win this”. You are required to refund something or amazon will refund the customer in full from your account.

Your options are to refund with a restocking fee of your choosing up to 50% of the item cost, and the return shipping cost. You will potentially have some ramifications like A-Z claim for the full refund. You will almost certainly have a negative feedback too. You can report the buyer.

If you go through the whole song and dance and provide proof of the missing pieces you may win a safe-t claim from amazon (pro plan only).
You are likely going to be asked for invoices. If you cannot provide invoices- as they are going to be your only proof that the item sent was whole when you sent it- you’re going to find your account suspended and all of your funds held. If you have fba inventory that will be held too, and if your suspension isn’t cleared up quickly it will be liquidated.

You have a lot to think about here. If you don’t have a dealer or wholesaler invoice you need to really think about how much attention you want to draw to yourself.

This is FBA, not FBM. Buyer received full refund already. Just received item back from FBA to me. Took the buyer more than 3 weeks to return the item. I sold 3 others, no issues, all had same weight (within fractions of an ounce).

Filed a case with amazon. Let’s see what happens from here. Sucky part is you eat the fees also, not just the sale price.

[river41]

1 hour ago, Phil B said:

Surprisingly, I had a “missing pieces” return of a 41118 Friends Supermarket last month that came back still sealed and pristine.

they get free return shipping if they choose that reason

1 hour ago, thombockerman said:

 

Look man there is no “win this”. You are required to refund something or amazon will refund the customer in full from your account.

Your options are to refund with a restocking fee of your choosing up to 50% of the item cost, and the return shipping cost. You will potentially have some ramifications like A-Z claim for the full refund. You will almost certainly have a negative feedback too. You can report the buyer.

If you go through the whole song and dance and provide proof of the missing pieces you may win a safe-t claim from amazon (pro plan only).
You are likely going to be asked for invoices. If you cannot provide invoices- as they are going to be your only proof that the item sent was whole when you sent it- you’re going to find your account suspended and all of your funds held. If you have fba inventory that will be held too, and if your suspension isn’t cleared up quickly it will be liquidated.

You have a lot to think about here. If you don’t have a dealer or wholesaler invoice you need to really think about how much attention you want to draw to yourself.

 

i think there is some level of exxageration there.Also first level seller support probably haas nothing to do with suspensions etc.

[Jackson]

I just noticed this on Amazon's listing for set 75167: "LEGO Star Wars toy includes three minifigures: Danger, Boss and 4-loom, plus an IG-88 figure".

It should read, "Dengar, Bossk and 4-LOM, plus an IG-88 figure".

You're drunk again, Amazon. Go home.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XRMHXYX

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Here is another fun error on the Unexpected Gathering listing:

"COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY

COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY

COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY"

There really is an absurd number of errors in Amazon's catalog.

https://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Hobbit-79003-Unexpected-Gathering/dp/B009TCYK74/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=lego+unexpected+gathering&qid=1567053700&s=gateway&sr=8-1

 

[Phil B]

I am considering switching to a Pro plan for the upcoming Holidays. I have a lot of inventory I want to move, and the 10 cu. ft. limitation for the personal plan is too little (plus I would get the benefit of Amazon withholding Sales Tax for me for customers in my own state, which I currently have to deduct from my sales proceeds). I have 2 questions for the pros:

1. Apart from having to submit some sort of an ID to get "re-verified" (and having my listings on hold), are there any other cons to switching to Pro? I assume it won't affect my gated status, correct?

2. I am also considering setting up an LLC to run my business (instead of running this on personal title). Is it easy to update my account to make it owned by my LLC? Should I do this at the same time, or rather sometime later? Or is this impossible without starting a new account?

 

Edited August 29, 2019 by Phil B

[zmnnch]

1 hour ago, Phil B said:

I am considering switching to a Pro plan for the upcoming Holidays. I have a lot of inventory I want to move, and the 10 cu. ft. limitation for the personal plan is too little (plus I would get the benefit of Amazon withholding Sales Tax for me for customers in my own state, which I currently have to deduct from my sales proceeds). I have 2 questions for the pros:

1. Apart from having to submit some sort of an ID to get "re-verified" (and having my listings on hold), are there any other cons to switching to Pro? I assume it won't affect my gated status, correct?

2. I am also considering setting up an LLC to run my business (instead of running this on personal title). Is it easy to update my account to make it owned by my LLC? Should I do this at the same time, or rather sometime later? Or is this impossible without starting a new account?

 

Just a personal opinion.  Other more experience BP-ers feel free to discuss.

Disclaimer: I am gated out for LEGO but (grandfathered) gated in for another category. 

I thought about upgrade to PRO last year before Q4 for the exact reason (10 cu ft storage). The only thing that pulled me back is the potential "ask for invoice" during the process. I will not be able to provide an invoice if being asked.  In my opinion, unless you have invoices available just in case Amazon ask, it does not worth the risk. And I am still in a personal account now. 

Given how unique/rare an Amazon account that can sell LEGO, I would not take a chance.

WRT change from Sole Proprietorship to LLC, similar caution should be applied. Yes, from our prospective, we maybe changing from my sole proprietorship to my LLC.  But, from Amazon's prospective, isn't it a change of ownership of the the account? Simply have a new owner set up an LLC and change from your SSN to the LLC's EIN.  Voila, the account is under new control.....   Maybe the people at sellercentral can provide more insight in this process.

Just my 2 cents.