Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[gmpirate]

I have a sales tax exemption account with Amazon on one account.

Down the road I opened up another account to sell Lego on.  I still can, but that account is not sales tax exempt.  I just did not set it up that way at the beginning and have just used my other account (under a different business) to make purchases.  So, to clean things up I'd like to get my Lego selling account setup to be sales tax exempt too.  I'm grandfathered in and fear drawing any scrutiny, however.

What do you guys think?

[Achilles]

25 minutes ago, gmpirate said:

I have a sales tax exemption account with Amazon on one account.

Down the road I opened up another account to sell Lego on.  I still can, but that account is not sales tax exempt.  I just did not set it up that way at the beginning and have just used my other account (under a different business) to make purchases.  So, to clean things up I'd like to get my Lego selling account setup to be sales tax exempt too.  I'm grandfathered in and fear drawing any scrutiny, however.

What do you guys think?

I mean, if you have a legit business need as Amazon itself states, you can apply for an exception to the one seller account rule. But I assume you have the same Tax exempt ID. If you do, I definitely would not try to use it with two different seller accounts. I am not an expert on this process, just my thoughts.

 

[DadsAFOL]

Sales tax exemption only applies to buying, not selling.   Is there a reason you need to buy from the same account you sell from?  Your accountant should be able to help you behind the scenes (e.g. business A buys lego tax-exempt.  business A transfers inventory to business B.  Business B sells product through Amason).

I think your bigger concern would be accessing both accounts from the same IP address.  They do monitor that...

[gmpirate]

I'm not looking to skirt Amazon's buying rules, rather just use the seller's number on my Lego selling account instead of the one from my other business.  And I'm good with accounting principles.

My concern is just Amazon then wanting to qualify me to sell Lego after already been grandfathered in.  Drawing unwanted attention . . .

[Bold-Arrow]

Some USPS offices just closing early ( ex 5p instead of 6 pm ) without notice because they dont have enough manpower .. Had to go to three locations before the dude felt bad enough and took the packages at 6:04 b/c the closed at 6 instead of 7. 

[ravenb99]

16 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

Some USPS offices just closing early ( ex 5p instead of 6 pm ) without notice because they dont have enough manpower .. Had to go to three locations before the dude felt bad enough and took the packages at 6:04 b/c the closed at 6 instead of 7. 

surely the BA has daily pickup at his warehouse...

[Bold-Arrow]

18 minutes ago, ravenb99 said:

surely the BA has daily pickup at his warehouse...

The BA loves to make his customers happy. So late orders gotta go . 

[Jackson]

Instead of closing at the usual 6:30 p.m., the local UPS Store is closing an hour earlier because...everyone knows that the virus becomes more lethal after 5:30 p.m.

[marcandre]

38 minutes ago, Jackson said:

Instead of closing at the usual 6:30 p.m., the local UPS Store is closing an hour earlier because...everyone knows that the virus becomes more lethal after 5:30 p.m.

Stores here open an hour later. If the hours are shorter there will be less time to go making them more crowded. 

[exciter1]

This busy period is again reminding me that I need a label printer.

1 hour ago, Bold-Arrow said:

Some USPS offices just closing early ( ex 5p instead of 6 pm ) without notice because they dont have enough manpower .. Had to go to three locations before the dude felt bad enough and took the packages at 6:04 b/c the closed at 6 instead of 7. 

Our post offices have always closed at 4pm.

[BrickLegacy]

45 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

This busy period is again reminding me that I need a label printer.

Our post offices have always closed at 4pm.

Ponderosa buffet opens up at 4:15?

[exciter1]

26 minutes ago, BrickLegacy said:

Ponderosa buffet opens up at 4:15?

Yes, shrimp is on the bar before 6pm.

[Bold-Arrow]

USPS domestic deliveries affected by COVID-19

On Friday, USPS announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on transportation availability, some services will experience delays beginning April 17, 2020. Below is what you need to know.

• USPS Priority Mail Express : This service will not experience any delays at this time.

• USPS Priority Mail : Local 1-day delivery will not experience delays. However, the 2-3 day delivery window will be extended to 3-4 days.

• USPS First-Class Package Service : 2-3 day delivery windows will be extended to 3-4 day delivery windows.

 

Source : https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/usps-announces-delays/613488

 

 

[exciter1]

29 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

USPS domestic deliveries affected by COVID-19

On Friday, USPS announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on transportation availability, some services will experience delays beginning April 17, 2020. Below is what you need to know.

• USPS Priority Mail Express : This service will not experience any delays at this time.

• USPS Priority Mail : Local 1-day delivery will not experience delays. However, the 2-3 day delivery window will be extended to 3-4 days.

• USPS First-Class Package Service : 2-3 day delivery windows will be extended to 3-4 day delivery windows.

 

Source : https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/usps-announces-delays/613488

 

 

So, business as usual.

[I am Niko]

Is anyone else getting missed USPS scans?  I've had at least two big sets, both via Priority Mail (one picked up Monday, one picked up Wednesday) stuck in Pre-Shipment status and not get delivered as of today (Saturday). One is going one state over and the other is going two states over.  Meanwhile other, smaller packages picked up on those days got an initial scan and most have already been delivered, including ones across the country and one to Puerto Rico.  Should I start panicking?  I have them fully insured, but that may or may not help if USPS doesn't even acknowledge having them in its possession.

Edited April 19, 2020 by I am Niko

[BrickLegacy]

9 minutes ago, I am Niko said:

Is anyone else getting missed USPS scans?  I've had at least two big sets, both via Priority Mail (one picked up Monday, one picked up Wednesday) stuck in Pre-Shipment status and not get delivered as of today (Saturday). One is going one state over and the other is going two states over.  Meanwhile other, smaller packages picked up on those days got an initial scan and most have already been delivered, including ones across the country and one to Puerto Rico.  Should I start panicking?  I have them fully insured, but that may or may not help if USPS doesn't even acknowledge having them in its possession.

Yes.  It's a complete cluster right now.  Packages are taking days to get through distribution centers.  I have several that appear to be stuck.  I had no issues over Christmas but presumably they were staffed and ready for the load. That's certainly not the case now.

I'm already battling with buyers over shipping refunds (eBay not Amazon but same difference).  Good times.

[I am Niko]

1 minute ago, BrickLegacy said:

Yes.  It's a complete cluster right now.  Packages are taking days to get through distribution centers.  I have several that appear to be stuck.  I had no issues over Christmas but presumably they were staffed and ready for the load. That's certainly not the case now.

I'm already battling with buyers over shipping refunds. Good times.

Yeah, I knew things were behind, but I didn't know some I shipped almost a week ago didn't have any tracking at all, until an AMZ customer contacted me tonight (and they paid for Expedited)   Hopefully the tracking gets updated early next week, because I'm starting to pull out my luxurious hair.

[jbacunn]

Anyone having similar delay issues with UPS?

[V22driver]

8 hours ago, I am Niko said:

Is anyone else getting missed USPS scans?  I've had at least two big sets, both via Priority Mail (one picked up Monday, one picked up Wednesday) stuck in Pre-Shipment status and not get delivered as of today (Saturday). One is going one state over and the other is going two states over.  Meanwhile other, smaller packages picked up on those days got an initial scan and most have already been delivered, including ones across the country and one to Puerto Rico.  Should I start panicking?  I have them fully insured, but that may or may not help if USPS doesn't even acknowledge having them in its possession.

I had a similar thing happen to me with a priority mail package on a purchase through Bricklink.  It was never scanned into their system so on the tracking page it only showed label creation.  I made a claim on USPS with an invoice for the purchase.  I got a full reimbursement from them for the cost of the items plus the cost on shipping.  Since then I always bring my bigger items to the counter and watch them scan it in person.  Hope this puts your mind at ease a bit.

[I am Niko]

2 hours ago, V22driver said:

I had a similar thing happen to me with a priority mail package on a purchase through Bricklink.  It was never scanned into their system so on the tracking page it only showed label creation.  I made a claim on USPS with an invoice for the purchase.  I got a full reimbursement from them for the cost of the items plus the cost on shipping.  Since then I always bring my bigger items to the counter and watch them scan it in person.  Hope this puts your mind at ease a bit.

Thanks, good to know you got reimbursed for it. Unfortunately, I'm in a COVID-19 hotspot, so bringing them to the post office isn't a great option right now. As an aside, my closest post office always got mad at me for bringing prepaid packages to the counter, instead of dropping them in a large bin in their foyer, which was out of employee's view. No thanks!  They put the bin there to cut down on wait times, but I only ever had maybe 5-6 packages tops, which took a minute to process compared to everyone else not having any clue and taking 5 minutes.

I've read that some shipments through a facility close to me are getting massively delayed and that USPS isn't scanning everything to save time, so hopefully the tracking updates soon and the buyers get the sets.

Edited April 19, 2020 by I am Niko

[I am Niko]

3 hours ago, jbacunn said:

Anyone having similar delay issues with UPS?

I've got at least one UPS package that is being held up at a local facility with the status "Delay in delivery due to weather or natural disaster".

[Jackson]

4 hours ago, V22driver said:

I had a similar thing happen to me with a priority mail package on a purchase through Bricklink.  It was never scanned into their system so on the tracking page it only showed label creation.  I made a claim on USPS with an invoice for the purchase.  I got a full reimbursement from them for the cost of the items plus the cost on shipping.  Since then I always bring my bigger items to the counter and watch them scan it in person.  Hope this puts your mind at ease a bit.

Did you make the claim via usps.com? I have a similar situation going on.

[V22driver]

On 4/19/2020 at 1:04 PM, Jackson said:

Did you make the claim via usps.com? I have a similar situation going on.

Yes I did everything through USPS.com.  Was surprisingly simple.  

[I am Niko]

Some good news in my case.  My two missing Priority Mail packages from last Monday and Wednesday finally got scanned late last night and the tracking said they only left my local facility (after sitting for 7 and 5 days).  Then one miraculously ended up being delivered to the buyer (in a very rural area 2 hours away) this morning, after moving through two distribution centers overnight.  The buyer was understanding and left nice feedback (my only feedback since December).  Now just hope the other delayed one gets to the buyer soon.

[Phil B]

Since we're talking USPS issues with packages - anyone else noticing delays/issues with International shipments using USPS? I have 3 packages (all bubble mailers) going to Europe:

1 was sent on Feb 28th, has been received at the International Shipping facility in Chicago on 3/1, no updates since (but surprisingly, no Buyer complaints - BL order) - that's almost 2 months.

1 was sent on Apr 10th, has been scanned at and sent from my local post office, but hasn't been checked in anywhere since Apr 12th.

1 was sent on Apr 17th, arrived in Chicago on Apr 19th, and is currently "in transit".

Edited April 21, 2020 by Phil B