Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[Lordoflego]

I see opportunity here, time to strike....i need to sell some of my overstock guys, especially you @MahoneyOne, every single modular for $50, please mail cash to.... let me check the address on that boarded up, vacant house next door.....not a scam, just too much stock. 

[MahoneyOne]

8 minutes ago, Lordoflego said:

I see opportunity here, time to strike....i need to sell some of my overstock guys, especially you @MahoneyOne, every single modular for $50, please mail cash to.... let me check the address on that boarded up, vacant house next door.....not a scam, just too much stock. 

Do you take Amex gift checks?

 

Sorry to be the source of consternation. Yes, I jumped before the threads turned on the original posting. I appreciate the concern for my well being and I'd love to help put an end to the practice that makes life harder (and more expensive) for the rest of us. I'm afraid a boycott won't get us there... although it will lessen the individual impact.

Should I cancel the order now, or spend the next 2 months obsessing over it? (Who am I kidding... I'm going to spend the next two months obsessing over it either way.)

[Lordoflego]

2 minutes ago, MahoneyOne said:

Do you take Amex gift checks?

 

Sorry to be the source of consternation. Yes, I jumped before the threads turned on the original posting. I appreciate the concern for my well being and I'd love to help put an end to the practice that makes life harder (and more expensive) for the rest of us. I'm afraid a boycott won't get us there... although it will lessen the individual impact.

Should I cancel the order now, or spend the next 2 months obsessing over it? (Who am I kidding... I'm going to spend the next two months obsessing over it either way.)

I'm just messing with you so dont even mind me, people here are correct though, but.......please keep us updated at least  

Edited March 25, 2017 by Lordoflego

[micbelt]

Non-Lego but my nes classic listing was just deactivated due to pricing error for being over-priced when it is in line with all other sellers except the super scammers with their fake prices. Anyone else have this happen?

[smittypop2]

1 minute ago, micbelt said:

Non-Lego but my nes classic listing was just deactivated due to pricing error for being over-priced when it is in line with all other sellers except the super scammers with their fake prices. Anyone else have this happen?

It happens all the time due to all these scammers of late. Amazon pretty much deactivates anything when you are at 3x (or some number) of the lowest asking price for an item in the same condition. Just put in a min/max price you are comfortable with and move along. That is all you can do. 

[Jackson]

Lots of fun theories regarding all the scam sellers on Amazon. A new one I read is that maybe employees inside Amazon are being bribed or perpetrating the scam themselves. I would say get me some popcorn, but this sh!t is costing me sales.

[carini26]

So I asked rtalley50 if he could expedite any orders for a non-existent birthday party next week. Here was the reply:

hello friend
thank you for your appreciation ,
i am sorry that the shipping time is out of our control
we can't give you any words,
Happy your time
regards

Seems legit. Happy your time everyone!

[Bold-Arrow]

He had you at hello ? 

[asharerin]

New gates on Amazon (and more coming soon for alot more categories). On alot of Lego listings you can now sell only "new" unless you are ungated in Toy Building Blocks. The fee is $2500 but like every other gated category they are most likely not ungating anyone even if you have all of the correct paperwork and pay the fee.

This means no more used sets can be sold as "collectible" for alot of Lego listings. With condition notes gone new means new again. Lots of toy brands are affected not just Lego. 

My advice diversify, diversify and diversify (especially on Amazon). New brands and categories are getting gated everyday so list as much as you can to get grandfathered in. If you business model is mainly one brand on one platform (especially Amazon) then your business is going to be in trouble sooner or later when conditions become restricted or the entire brand get shuts down. If you are adamant you only want to resell Lego then make sure you have a backup plan other than Amazon (such as FB marketplace, Offer Up, your own Shopify store, ebay etc). If you are at a scale where you cannot possibly self fulfill your inventory by yourself and are relying on Amazon FBA to move everything you could be in real trouble if they shut the brand down. Even if you are grandfatered into Lego right now on Amazon do NOT build your business model on the assumption you will be able to sell it forever more on that platform.

Big changes coming in other categories from what I hear as well. Not really surprising as Amazon continually makes big changes in Bezos's quest for 3 hour fulfillment to most of the country on most of its catalog while complying with every possible law and tax regulation (3P sellers will be collecting sales tax believe me before everything is said and done unless you are based in a tax free state).

[cobrakai]

26 minutes ago, asharerin said:

New gates on Amazon (and more coming soon for alot more categories). On alot of Lego listings you can now sell only "new" unless you are ungated in Toy Building Blocks. The fee is $2500 but like every other gated category they are most likely not ungating anyone even if you have all of the correct paperwork and pay the fee.

This means no more used sets can be sold as "collectible" for alot of Lego listings. With condition notes gone new means new again. Lots of toy brands are affected not just Lego. 

My advice diversify, diversify and diversify (especially on Amazon). New brands and categories are getting gated everyday so list as much as you can to get grandfathered in. If you business model is mainly one brand on one platform (especially Amazon) then your business is going to be in trouble sooner or later when conditions become restricted or the entire brand get shuts down. If you are adamant you only want to resell Lego then make sure you have a backup plan other than Amazon (such as FB marketplace, Offer Up, your own Shopify store, ebay etc). If you are at a scale where you cannot possibly self fulfill your inventory by yourself and are relying on Amazon FBA to move everything you could be in real trouble if they shut the brand down. Even if you are grandfatered into Lego right now on Amazon do NOT build your business model on the assumption you will be able to sell it forever more on that platform.

Big changes coming in other categories from what I hear as well. Not really surprising as Amazon continually makes big changes in Bezos's quest for 3 hour fulfillment to most of the country on most of its catalog while complying with every possible law and tax regulation (3P sellers will be collecting sales tax believe me before everything is said and done unless you are based in a tax free state).

It's very weird that they would allow you to sell new Lego without "building block" approval, but not used.  Seems odd to send in an invoice from a manufacturer to gain the right to sell used items.  I have to think that there is more going on here. Perhaps it is a glitch or they are going to gate all Lego and give a deadline to sell everything.  If they gated all Lego, I would assume that would be a TON of removal orders for them to handle.

[Bold-Arrow]

Writing has been on the wall for over a year . Amazon is slowly but surely moving away from RO/RA . Call me a broken record 

[Darth_Raichu]

Used LEGO always show up as needing permission for me, even when I have been selling new LEGO for a year (I was most likely the last few that got grandfathered in for LEGO).  I thought that was a bit strange but IMO Amzn is not the place to sell used sets anyway.

 

11 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

Writing has been on the wall for over a year . Amazon is slowly but surely moving away from RO/RA . Call me a broken record 

Whats RO RA again ?

[exciter1]

2 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

Whats RO RA again ?

I wanted to call him a broken record, but needed this key information first.

[belljohn]

11 minutes ago, cobrakai said:

It's very weird that they would allow you to sell new Lego without "building block" approval, but not used.  Seems odd to send in an invoice from a manufacturer to gain the right to sell used items.  I have to think that there is more going on here. Perhaps it is a glitch or they are going to gate all Lego and give a deadline to sell everything.  If they gated all Lego, I would assume that would be a TON of removal orders for them to handle.

Maybe my account was foreshadowing, but I have never been able to choose any category except for New ever since the gate went up last year.  All used and collectible Lego is dead to me.  Only New has been allowed since last fall.  I was initially gated but approved after selling a few FBM items I still had on my inventory screen.  I am guessing since I didn't have any used sets in my inventory, that gate was never listed and is a separate category in their system.

[asharerin]

8 minutes ago, cobrakai said:

It's very weird that they would allow you to sell new Lego without "building block" approval, but not used.  Seems odd to send in an invoice from a manufacturer to gain the right to sell used items.  I have to think that there is more going on here. Perhaps it is a glitch or they are going to gate all Lego and give a deadline to sell everything.  If they gated all Lego, I would assume that would be a TON of removal orders for them to handle.

You will not get approved even with invoices and even if you pay the fee. Lots have tried with Nike and other brands who are legit distributors. Amazon is not taking on anymore 3P sellers for the big brands. Plenty of laws and regulations against selling used toys in different states. Sellers were abusing the collectible loophole. That is gone now. Amazon will be moving more into brick and mortar and in compliance will all applicable laws across the country. As I said Lego is just one toy brand out of thousands you can no longer sell used (or collectible as it was) so it is no glitch or directed specifically at Lego. But do NOT assume Lego will not get shut down sometime in the future on Amazon.

[Bold-Arrow]

11 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

Used LEGO always show up as needing permission for me, even when I have been selling new LEGO for a year (I was most likely the last few that got grandfathered in for LEGO).  I thought that was a bit strange but IMO Amzn is not the place to sell used sets anyway.

 

Whats RO RA again ?

i meant OA and RA *

online arbitrage and retail arbitrage . 

[exciter1]

25 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

i meant OA and RA *

online arbitrage and retail arbitrage . 

[Darth_Raichu]

51 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

i meant OA and RA *

online arbitrage and retail arbitrage . 

They are moving to become world's largest patent enforcer instead

[Bold-Arrow]

interesting store : https://www.amazon.com/sp?_encoding=UTF8&asin=&isAmazonFulfilled=0&isCBA=&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&orderID=115-6288697-3792255&seller=A3STYQYL7LO697&tab=&vasStoreID=

[Robb]

I see growth in eBay's future.

But, I really don't want to box and ship for each sale. Is there an FBA alternative?

Secondary market is going to be able to charge more.

[LegoBro]

I see growth in eBay's future.

But, I really don't want to box and ship for each sale. Is there an FBA alternative?

Secondary market is going to be able to charge more.

Ebay Valet - but last I checked they do not take Lego.

[Robb]

Do we know if items ever get old enough to not be gated at all? Like do they gate Nikes that haven't been sold in stores for years? For example I sold a bunch of original Nintendo games used without any trouble.

[asharerin]

12 minutes ago, Robb said:

I see growth in eBay's future.

But, I really don't want to box and ship for each sale. Is there an FBA alternative?

Secondary market is going to be able to charge more.

You can do multi-channel fulfillment utilizing Amazon. They would still store all of your items and give you a pretty good discount on 1 and 2 day shipping. Those items will be eligible for ebay's guaranteed delivery program which IMO is going to be a game changer for ebay this summer. The 2 day shipping rate is on par with ground shipping cost through ebay. The 1 day rate is roughly $15 more than that. When you sell an item on Amazon's platform using FBA then Amazon uses the 15% fee to subsidize the 1 or 2 day rate so it appears insanely cheap. With the multi channel fulfillment you get Amazon's real rates which are still way cheaper than any other option out there. A modular size set will be $18.40 anywhere in the continental US pick, packed and shipped 2 day. 1 day is $33.50. That includes the box and labor. An unbelievable value.

There are a few things to keep in mind when using Amazon to fulfill your ebay orders. You won't get a tracking number straight away. If your item is in a FL warehouse and will be shipped to your ebay customer who happens to live in FL even with 2 day shipping it won't ship until the delivery day as Amazon will use either Flex or some other third party to deliver. I have not shipped on ebay in a long time so im not sure if they will accept these other third party tracking numbers. Also Amazon may re-route your items around the country so you only want to use this program if you have plenty in stock at Amazon.

There are plenty of other fulfillment services besides Amazon but they are more expensive. If you want to scale up you need to either hire employees or outsource. Amazon MCF is a great choice for that if you are able to plan ahead and keep track of all your inventory. No doubt they will open up 3 hour once they have Flex perfected which your ebay customers are going to love.

 

 

[asharerin]

14 minutes ago, Robb said:

Do we know if items ever get old enough to not be gated at all? Like do they gate Nikes that haven't been sold in stores for years? For example I sold a bunch of original Nintendo games used without any trouble.

Nope. Nike is gated. Phil Knight himself won't get approved unless he was grandfathered in. Nintendo is not gated at the brand level, but a few of their products are gated at the ASIN level. Time means nothing, it is all about the brand.

[Bold-Arrow]

my concern with the above method is box condition upon deviltry to buyer. ebay folks tend to be picky when it comes to dents and dings and Amazon has a bad record when it comes to keeping a big Lego set in pristine condition.