I glanced through the prior topics, but didn't see anything specific to Amazon FBA (Fullfillment By Amazon).  If there was and I missed it, I apologize.

 

I'm looking to sell some Lego sets using the Amazon FBA service and was wondering if anybody has had any experience good or bad selling through FBA.  My concerns are that I have to put an FBA label over the barcode on the box.  Not sure how a collector would feel about having to remove it and potentially damage the box. 

 

Also, a little concerned that the boxes that I send which are in mint condition, may not be received by the customer in mint condition, if you know what I mean.  Just checking to see what others have experienced.  

 

If anybody has any experience buying through an FBA seller, I would appreciate any comments on the buying side too.

 

Thanks!

2 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

Yes. essentially thats my question. 

Without getting into off the back of the truck type sources or inside connections to mangers etc.. it is somewhat baffling to me

Although, I realize for sure I missed one thing - additional 5% off with walmart store card so buy in at 95$. With a shipping discount that can make sense if the business model is very low margin and high volume.

I guess it's possible I am missing other discounting techniques, perhaps high volume GC's bought at discount or credit card rebates of some sort

 

 

I've sold off hundreds of units of a single item at a loss.  If you let your money/inventory sit there at Amazon too long, the risk increases for some type of IP/compliance document/false restricted product violation, etc.  Losing a few hundred bucks and getting your money back is not a big deal to someone selling 7 or 8 figures worth of toys a year and making tons of cash.  It's a risk/reward just like sports betting or diversifying in the stock market.  When I speculate on a toy, i'm usually right 90% of the time.  I'll admit I probably have at least 1 sale every day for a bad buy I dump at a loss. Then I make a profit on 299 other items that day.

28 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

Yes. essentially thats my question. 

Without getting into off the back of the truck type sources or inside connections to mangers etc.. it is somewhat baffling to me

Although, I realize for sure I missed one thing - additional 5% off with walmart store card so buy in at 95$. With a shipping discount that can make sense if the business model is very low margin and high volume.

I guess it's possible I am missing other discounting techniques, perhaps high volume GC's bought at discount or credit card rebates of some sort

 

 

Pilfer From Truck (PFT Corp)

49 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

Yes. essentially thats my question. 

Without getting into off the back of the truck type sources or inside connections to mangers etc.. it is somewhat baffling to me

Although, I realize for sure I missed one thing - additional 5% off with walmart store card so buy in at 95$. With a shipping discount that can make sense if the business model is very low margin and high volume.

I guess it's possible I am missing other discounting techniques, perhaps high volume GC's bought at discount or credit card rebates of some sort

 

 

lol - aren't u the person who got all the quidditch matches from mystery man offline at price lower than ever seen online?  well someone else has the same situation going on with london bus - simple as that.  i have seen these in targets.

Edited March 19, 20214 yr by cladner

It may all be as simple as the kid whose mother is/was a Nike exec and had access to limited edition shoes.  I've also heard of instances where resellers have secured large lots from retailers through back channels.

I still don't get selling Tie Fighter Pilots for RRP when the going rate was dbl that during the holidays but maybe there was a price agreement.  Who knows.

1 hour ago, cladner said:

lol - aren't u the person who got all the quidditch matches from mystery man offline at price lower than ever seen online?  well someone else has the same situation going on with london bus - simple as that.  i have seen these in targets.

Good memory  

In that case it was more of a weird one off situation where the guy was PM'ing 100's of sets to Gamestop.

In any case Target themselves had it for the same price at an earlier point. 

This seems a little more systematic. But you probably are correct, that there are other interesting sourcing methods unknown to me. Just curious.

 

Edited March 19, 20214 yr by Bricklectic

50 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

Good memory  

In that case it was more of a weird one off situation where the guy was PM'ing 100's of sets to Gamestop.

In any case Target themselves had it for the same price at an earlier point. 

This seems a little more systematic. But you probably are correct, that there are other interesting sourcing methods unknown to me. Just curious.

 

ur story was incredible and was just another example of alternative sourcing methods going out there that i could not have imagined.  so after hearing your tale, seems  that something similar is happening here as well.  maybe its time to see if mr. quidditch can procure any further massively discounted plastic bricks.

 

I'm probably buying more than I ever have, but i'm not as active in different market places and creating as big a presence as I used to.  This is mostly due to the fact that I took a three year hiatus and I'm mostly building up inventory again. But based on my previous year's experience the more active you are, the more listings you have in various marketplaces, and the more social you are the more deals just seem to come your way.  And not just deals, but buyers too.

Hanging out in the Toys R Us parking lot used to be huge!

6 minutes ago, gmpirate said:

Hanging out in the Toys R Us parking lot used to be huge!

Pro tip: bring a few packs of cigarettes to bribe the teenagers.  (or maybe bring those vaping things if doing it in 2021)

I have been on this forum for far too long

So I sold a Dr. Seuss books for $300 on amazon last week, (FBM, shipping purchased through amazon). Tracking shows it was delivered. Buyer sent me an automated message saying "wheres my item" etc... I sent back the tracking info but a day later I got another "wheres my item" message. Unsure but seems like he is a scammer. Advice I've gotten elsewhere is to encourage him to submit a A-Z claim and since tracking was bought through amazon it wont hurt my metrics. Is that sound advice? Has anyone dealt with this scenario. I guess if it doesnt hurt me theres no loss in doing that but wondering if this is the correct approach

6 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

So I sold a Dr. Seuss books for $300 on amazon last week, (FBM, shipping purchased through amazon). Tracking shows it was delivered. Buyer sent me an automated message saying "wheres my item" etc... I sent back the tracking info but a day later I got another "wheres my item" message. Unsure but seems like he is a scammer. Advice I've gotten elsewhere is to encourage him to submit a A-Z claim and since tracking was bought through amazon it wont hurt my metrics. Is that sound advice? Has anyone dealt with this scenario. I guess if it doesnt hurt me theres no loss in doing that but wondering if this is the correct approach

Yes, communicate to your customer that they must file the A-Z claim. If the item shows delivered, you will be protected. 

5 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

So I sold a Dr. Seuss books for $300 on amazon last week, (FBM, shipping purchased through amazon). Tracking shows it was delivered. Buyer sent me an automated message saying "wheres my item" etc... I sent back the tracking info but a day later I got another "wheres my item" message. Unsure but seems like he is a scammer. Advice I've gotten elsewhere is to encourage him to submit a A-Z claim and since tracking was bought through amazon it wont hurt my metrics. Is that sound advice? Has anyone dealt with this scenario. I guess if it doesnt hurt me theres no loss in doing that but wondering if this is the correct approach

Does tracking say delivered to buyer's city?  Just to make sure since I have seen USPS sent things to wrong state

8 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

So I sold a Dr. Seuss books for $300 on amazon last week, (FBM, shipping purchased through amazon). Tracking shows it was delivered. Buyer sent me an automated message saying "wheres my item" etc... I sent back the tracking info but a day later I got another "wheres my item" message. Unsure but seems like he is a scammer. Advice I've gotten elsewhere is to encourage him to submit a A-Z claim and since tracking was bought through amazon it wont hurt my metrics. Is that sound advice? Has anyone dealt with this scenario. I guess if it doesnt hurt me theres no loss in doing that but wondering if this is the correct approach

Yes as long as they choose inr for reason so make sure you point that pout . If they don’t it is more of a hassle but the outcome will be the same . 

Yep, there are scammers on FBM and I am afraid there will be more of them thanks to this policy

So nothing like that on FBA ?

3 minutes ago, brickolodon said:

So nothing like that on FBA ?

I never said that. We were specifically talking about FBM policy

Thanks guys, feels a little wrong to encourage him to scam amazon but i guess amazon gets us in so many other ways it evens out.

Ill try that and report on results.

8 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

Thanks guys, feels a little wrong to encourage him to scam amazon but i guess amazon gets us in so many other ways it evens out.

Ill try that and report on results.

You are not scamming Amazon, You’re just following Amazon procedures

22 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

Thanks guys, feels a little wrong to encourage him to scam amazon but i guess amazon gets us in so many other ways it evens out.

Ill try that and report on results.

Think of it as helping Amazon (and all of us) to weed out (potential) scammers

37 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

Thanks guys, feels a little wrong to encourage him to scam amazon but i guess amazon gets us in so many other ways it evens out.

Ill try that and report on results.

Who would you rather him scam you or Amazon?

26 minutes ago, jbacunn said:

Who would you rather him scam you or Amazon?

I'm not sure how the alternative scenario would play out if i simply responded only with tracking #'s.  I suppose eventually he would make a bogus claim and/or leave bad feedback.

2 hours ago, Bricklectic said:

I'm not sure how the alternative scenario would play out if i simply responded only with tracking #'s.  I suppose eventually he would make a bogus claim and/or leave bad feedback.

I would at least try that first. It's worth a shot. Tracking number x shows it was delivered on x date at x time on the front porch or mailbox, etc.  

On 3/22/2021 at 10:15 PM, jbacunn said:

I would at least try that first. It's worth a shot. Tracking number x shows it was delivered on x date at x time on the front porch or mailbox, etc.  

So I tried that. Crickets for a day and a half, thought I dodged a bullet abut just now got this:

boom. got my first A-Z claim. Seems like I shouldn't be refunding as Amazon will in theory. So it's guess its basically auto pilot for me at this point as all action is now between customer and amazon or do I need to respond to amazon and make my case?

Edited March 25, 20214 yr by Bricklectic

Why is the customer writing in 3rd person? Or is that an Amazon representative writing on her behalf?

3 minutes ago, Fcbarcelona101 said:

Why is the customer writing in 3rd person? Or is that an Amazon representative writing on her behalf?

Lol, I was wondering the same thing. Like how does amazon know its a her? Surely in this day and age they dont simply simply auto determine that.

the 3rd party talk reminds me of:

 

Edited March 25, 20214 yr by Bricklectic

13 minutes ago, Fcbarcelona101 said:

Why is the customer writing in 3rd person? Or is that an Amazon representative writing on her behalf?

That probably means they called or chatted with a rep and the A-Z was entered for them.

I would explain the shipping was purchased through Amazon Shipping Services and should be covered by Amazon policy.  I always include the latest tracking information and all of the site scans along the way to delivery or where it was lost.

I received many of these over the holidays and was deemed not responsible for all of them.

"Hello, shipping for this item was purchased from USPS through Amazon and Amazon guarantees coverage for the seller if shipping is purchased through Amazon and the item is shipped on time. The item now shows delivered, so it may have been delivered to the wrong address, or the buyer needs to return it.

Delivery Information Time Location Event Details :

First Scan

Out for Delivery

Delivered

Thank you!"

Came across a great write up: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/a-detailed-guide-about-a-to-z-claims/441411

of interest to me: 

”Items Not Received” A-Z claims

While in the past, sellers used to be able to win these claims or at least have them funded by Amazon with just tracking, Amazon has recently gotten a lot stricter and is in most cases of non-receipt complaints requesting sellers to provide a proof of delivery with the buyer’s signature.

So even if you respond properly, the claim might bounce back as requiring a response and end up being granted and Seller Funded.

The only guaranteed way how to win them is having a tracking link showing delivery + pdf file with the buyer’s signature. A tracking link showing delivery with a signature of the addressee will be often sufficient, unless the buyer appeals.

Hope that info isnt correct. 

edited to add: just realized that likely isnt referring to when shipping is bought through amazon.

Edited March 25, 20214 yr by Bricklectic