It won't harm you, but it won't get you ungated. Retail receipts don't cut the mustard with Amazon.

 

1 minute ago, Phil B said:

Anyone know why this listing is gated? ASIN B01CU9X1OU (Nexo Ultimate Axl). Says I cannot list. I'm fine listing other Nexo Ultimate figures.

The "request approval" screen asks me to upload a recent invoice/receipt from a manufacturer/distributor showing purchase of a minimum of 10 units. Would it be worth a shot sending in a Walmart receipt with my address details added, or is that going to harm me as it doesn't meet the requirements?

other than the one case, I haven't heard of anyone having issue sending receipts, nothing to lose really. 

1 minute ago, Bold-Arrow said:

other than the one case, I haven't heard of anyone having issue sending receipts, nothing to lose really. 

Even if the receipt is not for this item, but for other LEGO items? I don't have 10 Ultimate Axls (embarrassed to admit I even have some, but they were $2 before points at KMart so what can you do?)

3 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Even if the receipt is not for this item, but for other LEGO items? I don't have 10 Ultimate Axls (embarrassed to admit I even have some, but they were $2 before points at KMart so what can you do?)

give it a shot, the worse that can happen is that you cant list 

No "Request Approval" button is even there for me on that one.

1 hour ago, Bold-Arrow said:

give it a shot, the worse that can happen is that you cant list 

Approval request form ask for a CPC to be provided (Children's Product Certificate). Anyone familiar with this or how to get one? Looks like I can draft something myself, but it requires details on how the product was tested etc., which seems like something only a manufacturer could supply. 
Any suggestions?

I had to provide a certificate once when selling on Amazon.  I sent them sarcastic emails instead saying something along the lines of "Really? cause there are 5,356 other lego listings that are listed and I've listed and sold hundreds of em" . They lifted the ban saying it was an error on their part.   Try that against the monopoly known as Amazon.

My first attempt was not a success. Both invoice (Walmart receipt) and official LEGO CPC were declined. Understand the first one, puzzled by the second.

Edited January 21, 20187 yr by Phil B

Only a matter of time:

"The e-commerce and retail giant is reportedly developing a "Shipping With Amazon" delivery service that would compete against FedEx and UPS, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2018/02/09/amazon-reportedly-developing-delivery-service-compete-fedex-and-ups/322725002/

Yeah, I saw that. So basically the only element that would still be out of their control in the selling process is payment. Are they going to buy Paypal or similar?

6 hours ago, BrickLegacy said:

Only a matter of time:

"The e-commerce and retail giant is reportedly developing a "Shipping With Amazon" delivery service that would compete against FedEx and UPS, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2018/02/09/amazon-reportedly-developing-delivery-service-compete-fedex-and-ups/322725002/

I had been predicting this for years. Can't believe UPS and Fedex ever partnered with them. Bezos is a beast. Much more interesting for me though is their move into healthcare. Amazon is positioning itself as a lifestyle, not just a place to buy toilet paper. No doubt they will have their own digital currency before the end of the next decade.

11 minutes ago, asharerin said:

I had been predicting this for years. Can't believe UPS and Fedex ever partnered with them. Bezos is a beast. Much more interesting for me though is their move into healthcare. Amazon is positioning itself as a lifestyle, not just a place to buy toilet paper. No doubt they will have their own digital currency before the end of the next decade.

Good thing I have 10 more years to buy toilet paper.

I guess all those drivers who seemed so put out by having to deal with all the Amazon packages will be able to relax now. 

9 minutes ago, Mos_Eisley said:

I guess all those drivers who seemed so put out by having to deal with all the Amazon packages will be able to relax now. 

Now they are going to be "put out" of work.  I assume Amazon is a large majority of their business even with the explosion of e-commerce by other retailers.

Just now, cobrakai said:

Now they are going to be "put out" of work.  I assume Amazon is a large majority of their business even with the explosion of e-commerce by other retailers.

That's what I was saying. They'll be laying off drivers all over the place. 

That's what I was saying. They'll be laying off drivers all over the place. 

And Amazon will hire them right back, I assume ...

Amazon already poached a lot of ups and FedEx higher ups about 1.5 years ago.  Gave them some good money to learn the infrastructure and systems. Ups will just make it up on DIM weight.  

11 minutes ago, Phil B said:

And Amazon will hire them right back, I assume ...

I hope not. If you work for a company that's sole purpose is handling packages, you probably shouldn't be upset when you're expected to handle them. 

43 minutes ago, Mos_Eisley said:

I hope not. If you work for a company that's sole purpose is handling packages, you probably shouldn't be upset when you're expected to handle them. 

Humans will complain about anything.. Even when being paid to do it.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/23/amazon-will-turn-over-third-party-seller-tax-data-to-massachusetts.html

1 hour ago, river41 said:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/23/amazon-will-turn-over-third-party-seller-tax-data-to-massachusetts.html

This is a hotly debated topic within the Amazon FBA world. Ideally, I think Amazon will manage the nexus's that sellers are in and will handle it for us. Handling 20+ sales tax certificates, various zoning tax laws. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

6 hours ago, landphieran said:

This is a hotly debated topic within the Amazon FBA world. Ideally, I think Amazon will manage the nexus's that sellers are in and will handle it for us. Handling 20+ sales tax certificates, various zoning tax laws. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

I am expecting the Supreme Court to overturn quill this April. I’m also expecting more states to go after the bigger online 3p sellers until we have a framework in place within the next 5-7 years where the platforms handle state tax collection and remittance like amazon now does for Washington state. Just one more adjustment in a long line of never ending adjustments for recommence in its infancy.

I'm surprised no one is talking about the increased requirements around labeling FBA goods. It appears Amazon is moving away from sticker-less commingled inventory (sort of). I anticipate with all of these new restrictions your items are still technically commingled, but they are tracking which sellers items were sourced for a particular order.

Is Amazon looking to more aggressively ax sellers  that are sending in sub par quality product? 
Is this part of there long term plan to limit counterfeit sellers?

I think being a full time seller on Amazon is quickly becoming necessary otherwise you will nickel and dime'd off the platform. Ensuring you aren't being screwed on returns, shipment dependencies, whole sellers are increasingly difficult to get a contract with unless you have a factory/website/help staff, tax filling overhead (especially if interstate taxes become a thing), a lot of manufacturers are moving to a "select few Amazon sellers" and gating the rest,  increasingly splintered shipments, Amazons incentives to move to FBM Prime enabled, on and on.

I think being on the inside of these deals is going to vital for continued success.
 

2 minutes ago, landphieran said:

I'm surprised no one is talking about the increased requirements around labeling FBA goods. It appears Amazon is moving away from sticker-less commingled inventory (sort of). I anticipate with all of these new restrictions your items are still technically commingled, but they are tracking which sellers items were sourced for a particular order.

Is Amazon looking to more aggressively ax sellers  that are sending in sub par quality product? 
Is this part of there long term plan to limit counterfeit sellers?

I think being a full time seller on Amazon is quickly becoming necessary otherwise you will nickel and dime'd off the platform. Ensuring you aren't being screwed on returns, shipment dependencies, whole sellers are increasingly difficult to get a contract with unless you have a factory/website/help staff, tax filling overhead (especially if interstate taxes become a thing), a lot of manufacturers are moving to a "select few Amazon sellers" and gating the rest,  increasingly splintered shipments, Amazons incentives to move to FBM Prime enabled, on and on.

I think being on the inside of these deals is going to vital for continued success.
 

I think bad sellers and counterfeit sellers took advantage of the comingling system and are ruining it for the good ones. I think it has started to cause problems with the Amazon fulfillment network because Amazons merchandise is getting mixed up with 3P sellers merchandise.  I'm not sure how this happens so much, but I assume that they lose your item, reimburse you with one of their units, and then find yours a few months later and sell it themselves.  If you just sent it in without removing price tags, etc. then i'm guessing most warehouse workers wouldn't notice or care about this as they pull and pack it. I think this is why I keep getting sets that have been resealed, torn, gift wrap pieces stuck to them, missing bags, Walmart online stickers on them, Target/B&N security tags, etc when I order direct from Amazon.  I guess that could happen even if comingled inventory went away though.  I also think their quality control is terrible when they receive returns nowadays.  I got an order with 4 sets the other day and one of them was packed into the box still sealed in the shipping box a customer returned it in. It still had the customers return slip with their info on it also. I get the point about being nickle and dime'd off the platform for part time people.  I shoot for an average $5 profit per sale and do very large volume with hardly any overhead costs at home. If I had to switch to a merchant fulfilled/FBA prime model and ship every order myself, that $5 profit per sale would not work to make a very good living.  No way could I pack all the orders every day that FBA takes care of for me and no way could $5 profit per sale support a warehouse and employees without major changes and increased volume.

We have been stickering for the past 2 years. We still get "our" items back that Amazon obviously printed our FNSKU sticker and placed over another seller's FNSKU sticker. With Amazon you just need to roll your eyes and keep cashing those large checks until it all comes to an end for 3P selling on the platform.

7 hours ago, cobrakai said:

I shoot for an average $5 profit per sale and do very large volume with hardly any overhead costs at home. If I had to switch to a merchant fulfilled/FBA prime model and ship every order myself, that $5 profit per sale would not work to make a very good living.  No way could I pack all the orders every day that FBA takes care of for me and no way could $5 profit per sale support a warehouse and employees without major changes and increased volume.

Our minimum is $4 per item and 50% ROI. Our current average is $10 and %60 ROI. Competition is dwindling on most of our listings (beauty, health and home goods) as sellers leave or get axed and new sellers have an incredibly difficult time dealing with the Amazon craziness. But we know the end will come one day for 3P on Amazon so we continually pull all of our profits out and invest in other passive ventures.