31 minutes ago, jerryherb said:

yeah, that is some bull honky... can consumers flag listings as inappropriate/fake on amazon?

I don't see an option to do so. I also don't see any red flags in terms of copyright infringement. While the box art is obviusly stolen from lego there are no claims to being LEGO, but just LEGO compatible.

TLG's decision to build a plant in China will have major repercussions in terms of future counterfeiting IMO.

How quickly things have changed but:

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30% off for members ( even those engaged in criminal activity   ) 

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6 hours ago, pstebbing said:

I don't see an option to do so. I also don't see any red flags in terms of copyright infringement. While the box art is obviusly stolen from lego there are no claims to being LEGO, but just LEGO compatible.

Trade dress is copyrighted. That case is slam-dunk before you even begin to get into the other underlying IP infringements.

OK FBA Pros... explain to me, how does merchant GAMEDIRECT (2 DAY Shipping) get the buy box for 75920 RE at $92.95, when there are multiple other FBA sellers in the $72 - $80 range?

41 minutes ago, Kenxxx said:

OK FBA Pros... explain to me, how does merchant GAMEDIRECT (2 DAY Shipping) get the buy box for 75920 RE at $92.95, when there are multiple other FBA sellers in the $72 - $80 range?

Are they back ordered ? 

OK FBA Pros... explain to me, how does merchant GAMEDIRECT (2 DAY Shipping) get the buy box for 75920 RE at $92.95, when there are multiple other FBA sellers in the $72 - $80 range?

Are they back ordered ? 

Interesting. I see in-stock listings at $80. Plus Buy Box algorithm usually shouldn't be granting it to anyone at 180% of MSRP right now. Glitch?

7 minutes ago, zak001 said:

Interesting. I see in-stock listings at $80. Plus Buy Box algorithm usually shouldn't be granting it to anyone at 180% of MSRP right now. Glitch?

Just took a look. Almost all FBA sellers are back ordered aside from one at 79.99 with low feedback count . That explains the BB being high 

57 minutes ago, Kenxxx said:

OK FBA Pros... explain to me, how does merchant GAMEDIRECT (2 DAY Shipping) get the buy box for 75920 RE at $92.95, when there are multiple other FBA sellers in the $72 - $80 range?

They opened up the BB on a lot of items a few days ago and this is just the BB stretch that is happening, due to all the BO offers.

I don't get it... I see at least 4 FBA sellers with good feedback ratings, in stock at around $79.99.  I don't have a dog in this fight.... I'm just curious how the system works.  

5 minutes ago, Kenxxx said:

I don't get it... I see at least 4 FBA sellers with good feedback ratings, in stock at around $79.99.  I don't have a dog in this fight.... I'm just curious how the system works.  

I don't see that using the app . In all cases the BB algorithm is a trade secret and most answers are educated guesses ( low price , established seller , FBA , good feedback, ect....) 

Just checked... all of the sub $80 sellers have no more than 1 or 2 in stock.  The seller in the buy box has over 20.  Could stock levels may be part of the algorithm?

23 minutes ago, Kenxxx said:

Just checked... all of the sub $80 sellers have no more than 1 or 2 in stock.  The seller in the buy box has over 20.  Could stock levels may be part of the algorithm?

Amazon probably doesn't want too many "We're sorry, this item is no longer available from the seller you selected" responses, so that's a good insight.

Interesting. I see in-stock listings at $80. Plus Buy Box algorithm usually shouldn't be granting it to anyone at 180% of MSRP right now. Glitch?

Just took a look. Almost all FBA sellers are back ordered aside from one at 79.99 with low feedback count . That explains the BB being high 

I sold through all of mine at $90 when the buy box hit me. I checked and there were 3-4 pages of other sellers priced lower.

"What Prisoner's Dilemma?"

                          - every undercutter on Amazon

Don't forget, the buy box is almost never the lowest price when Amazon is not a seller of the product.  I think there is some price elasticity component to the algorithm to keep the price as high as possible while still generating sales.  

I'm thinking of selling FBA, but not sure what is cheaper or how to send in Lego boxes into FBA.

For example, if I had 20 of set 76000, do you put your own UPC labels on the boxes or do you do the commingled deal? I think I remember seeing that doing your own labels was cheaper and better than commingled, however I just wanted to double check. 

Thanks for anyone who helps! 

10 minutes ago, Busch97racing said:

I'm thinking of selling FBA, but not sure what is cheaper or how to send in Lego boxes into FBA.

For example, if I had 20 of set 76000, do you put your own UPC labels on the boxes or do you do the commingled deal? I think I remember seeing that doing your own labels was cheaper and better than commingled, however I just wanted to double check. 

Thanks for anyone who helps! 

Commingled is the cheapest since your are not applying any labels . Risk is you can't track what Amazon sends to the customer and a lot of below par items and fakes  out there that I don't want my stuff mixed with them . Amazon claims they track it , but I have doubts based on prior experience .  

If you go the label route , u have two options : either do it ur self or pay Amazon to do it for u . 

 

Labeling yourself is not expensive, and is pretty easy. I bought a pack of Avery labels - std 8-1/2 x 11" sheet size to fit in my basic, household printer - for about $10 at Walmart. The Amazon software worked easily with these std sheets and required no special "set-up" on my part.  I agree with BA... I know my product is defect free.  I just have more peace of mind, knowing that my product is segregated from the "unknown" product in their warehouse.

15 minutes ago, Kenxxx said:

I just have more peace of mind, knowing that my product is segregated from the "unknown" product in their warehouse.

Even then, Amazon can still ship out your supposedly segregated items to fulfill orders for items sold by Amazon.  I have ordered sets from Amazon and Amzn sent sets with FBA labels. I am guessing they do this when they expect more inventory from LEGO.  What happens if Amazon oversold ?  Or worst, if their new shipment is full of dented boxes?  Will Amazon take responsibility?

Cool, thanks everyone all for you input!

[quote name="Kenxxx" timestamp="1452278013"

Amazon can still ship out your supposedly segregated items to fulfill orders for items sold by Amazon.  I have ordered sets from Amazon and Amzn sent sets with FBA labels.

I believe they only do this after making a direct request of you, or at any rate this was true at one point. I've gotten requests from Amazon that essentially said, "We'd like to buy this from you at x price to fulfill an order that fell victim to an inventory error." Usually it was below my ask but since the fees were waived it was close enough, and they were absorbing liability for customer damage / returns as well.

1 hour ago, Kenxxx said:

Labeling yourself is not expensive, and is pretty easy. I bought a pack of Avery labels - std 8-1/2 x 11" sheet size to fit in my basic, household printer - for about $10 at Walmart. The Amazon software worked easily with these std sheets and required no special "set-up" on my part.  I agree with BA... I know my product is defect free.  I just have more peace of mind, knowing that my product is segregated from the "unknown" product in their warehouse.

Agreed.  Labeling yourself is a very simple process and I like that customer's are getting "my" product.

I experimented with commingled for a little while, and I will never do it again.  Even though I stickered everything I sent in, when you have commingled on, they will send other peoples stuff.  I had a few items returned as defective.  When I had them shipped back to me, they were stickered with someone else's sticker.  And the sets were defective.  I would have returned them too.

What kind of volume are you guys dealing with on annual basis?  I can't imagine stickering every item that I send in to Amazon...way too big of a pain in the rear.

6 minutes ago, redcell said:

What kind of volume are you guys dealing with on annual basis?  I can't imagine stickering every item that I send in to Amazon...way too big of a pain in the rear.

10k+ units