Moving the discuss here going forward 

Bonus points for a creating a great thread title despite the unsettling seriousness of it all 

8 minutes ago, legorunner said:

Bonus points for a creating a great thread title despite the unsettling seriousness of it all 

If you don’t laugh you’ll cry . And wish I can get credit to the title , it was someone else’s idea but I told them I’m stealing it 

Has anyone seen any mention of similar letters sent for LEGO anywhere other than here?  I've been looking, but haven't come across anything.

1 hour ago, Bold-Arrow said:

Moving the discuss here going forward 

So on cashing out you're VIP points, are you thinking that was a probable place they identified you as a reseller and attained the address where you are receiving this letter?

33 minutes ago, redcell said:

Has anyone seen any mention of similar letters sent for LEGO anywhere other than here?  I've been looking, but haven't come across anything.

No, no specific mention,  but the Amazon Seller Forum is filled with posts about 3p sellers receiving letters from Vorys and very few of them ID which brand(s) were targeted, so who knows. 

9 minutes ago, LegoBro said:

So on cashing out you're VIP points, are you thinking that was a probable place they identified you as a reseller and attained the address where you are receiving this letter?

Not really, I am thinking if Lego is going after me, it would make sense for them to block my online account and void my points. I have about $120  so : 

1- I didn't want to lose them 

2- Wanted to see if I am banned online 

I know we are all talking about Amazon, but something tells me this might have to do with the spate of Walmart 3P scammers sending out bogus bricks sets under LEGO listings. @Bold-Arrow any chance you list on WM too?

10 minutes ago, Phil B said:

I know we are all talking about Amazon, but something tells me this might have to do with the spate of Walmart 3P scammers sending out bogus bricks sets under LEGO listings. @Bold-Arrow any chance you list on WM too?

No WM for me .

edit : i have a WM selling account, but never listed nor sold on it. the interface is a mess and time consuming, so I gave up on it.  

I know we are all talking about Amazon, but something tells me this might have to do with the spate of Walmart 3P scammers sending out bogus bricks sets under LEGO listings. [mention=28706]Bold-Arrow[/mention] any chance you list on WM too?

Just guessing here, and could be completely wrong, but I bet it has more to do with Lego receiving complaints about newly released products being sold out instantly or at least within a day or two and then the "scalpers" selling a $37 set on Amazon for $100.

But yes, it doesn't really make sense because as others have said, you would think that their first step to combat this would be to turn off those listings on Bricklink, the 3rd party selling site that they own.

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They should look at ps5, 3080 video card


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49 minutes ago, Shortbus311 said:

Just guessing here, and could be completely wrong, but I bet it has more to do with Lego receiving complaints about newly released products being sold out instantly or at least within a day or two and then the "scalpers" selling a $37 set on Amazon for $100.

But yes, it doesn't really make sense because as others have said, you would think that their first step to combat this would be to turn off those listings on Bricklink, the 3rd party selling site that they own.

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I think this has more to do with stuff that happened last year during the pandemic.  I sat in on a webinar over the summer that included someone that does brand protection work for LEGO (internal employee).  It was clear from what she said that the explosion in online sellers and particularly the rise of false storefronts was of great concern to them.  My sense is that this has a lot more to do with LEGO wanting to ensure that the products that reach the hands of end users are products that have flowed through an official distribution channel that they have control over than any of the ancillary effects of reseller scum doing what they do.

I have no idea what's going on with Bricklink, but if this is part of a larger effort to get control over who is selling branded products, I think we'll see them taking some action around Bricklink sooner or later.

15 minutes ago, redcell said:

I think this has more to do with stuff that happened last year during the pandemic.  I sat in on a webinar over the summer that included someone that does brand protection work for LEGO (internal employee).  It was clear from what she said that the explosion in online sellers and particularly the rise of false storefronts was of great concern to them.  My sense is that this has a lot more to do with LEGO wanting to ensure that the products that reach the hands of end users are products that have flowed through an official distribution channel that they have control over than any of the ancillary effects of reseller scum doing what they do.

I have no idea what's going on with Bricklink, but if this is part of a larger effort to get control over who is selling branded products, I think we'll see them taking some action around Bricklink sooner or later.

so what happens with retired sets when said authorized dealers don't carry them after production stops >?

47 minutes ago, redcell said:

I think this has more to do with stuff that happened last year during the pandemic.  I sat in on a webinar over the summer that included someone that does brand protection work for LEGO (internal employee).  It was clear from what she said that the explosion in online sellers and particularly the rise of false storefronts was of great concern to them.  My sense is that this has a lot more to do with LEGO wanting to ensure that the products that reach the hands of end users are products that have flowed through an official distribution channel that they have control over than any of the ancillary effects of reseller scum doing what they do.

I have no idea what's going on with Bricklink, but if this is part of a larger effort to get control over who is selling branded products, I think we'll see them taking some action around Bricklink sooner or later.

The pandemic was like the one time in my life where I was prepared for an investment windfall (Selling LEGO).

Reveal : Ok, it aint for LEGO 

are you laughing or crying?😀
😪

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Edited December 17, 20213 yr by yyyybird

23 minutes ago, yyyybird said:

are you laughing or crying?😀
😪

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Guess relieved is the word . This “should” be an easy fix since I have authorization for the brand in question.  Offloading my inventory would have been a nightmare. 

Having said that , I just deleted all my listings for any set that is still in production even if my inventory was zeroed out 

 

Of note , 

These items are 100% FBA and they had both of my name and company name sent to my home address 

31 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

Of note , 

These items are 100% FBA and they had both of my name and company name sent to my home address 

I'm assuming your company is properly registered in which case it is public record that you are the owner

1 minute ago, river41 said:

I'm assuming your company is properly registered in which case it is public record that you are the owner

Yes but the address isn’t my home . Someone did their homework ( granted it ain’t rocket science ) 

Every year there's always something that threatens our way of doing business. Although I don't think we're out of the woods yet, I'm happy this story has a happy ending and provides some sort of momentary relief going into the xmas season.

35 minutes ago, LegoBro said:

Every year there's always something that threatens our way of doing business. Although I don't think we're out of the woods yet, I'm happy this story has a happy ending and provides some sort of momentary relief going into the xmas season.

can someone provide clifnotes?

Yes but the address isn’t my home . Someone did their homework ( granted it ain’t rocket science ) 

This stuff is way easier to get a hold of than many people realize. I got into some spat years ago with a seller who was being a total d*** until I started referencing things about him and his background that I got out of a public records database. That shut him up very quickly.

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3 hours ago, redcell said:

This stuff is way easier to get a hold of than many people realize. I got into some spat years ago with a seller who was being a total d*** until I started referencing things about him and his background that I got out of a public records database. That shut him up very quickly.

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Just had a Niko flashback. 

Just now, TheBrickClique said:

Just had a Niko flashback. 

I bought a ton of lego from the crazy SOB!