Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[newbie77]

11 minutes ago, tyclin said:

Let's get back to right track. Recent hit sale: Lego 21309. One buyer did not like the appearance of the Lego box, requesting return because he wants to collect this set. Return request was authorized. The item was shipped back but with two seals cut open. I checked inside, there are twelve sealed bags and one sealed instruction booklet.

What would you do to the refund? From New in Factory sealed box to open box (sealed bags), how much value (in %) is deemed lost generally speaking?

Would you consider building the set to make sure no bricks are missing? Is there special bricks in this sets worth being taken out of the bag and "reseal" the bag?

 

 

1. weigh this set with other set you have and see if you have major difference.

2. i don't think its easy to unseal plastic package and seal it such that no difference is observed/seen. [ may be to common people] but after you have been dealing with legos for some time you should be able to see the pattern and endings and types of seals or closing.

3. there are only 12 bags in this set. and of which there are some printed tiles which are of decent value. there are around 4 different tiles another 4printed slopes. so if anyone is really out to scam they could have substituted the numbered bags with same numbered bag of another set. 

but its unlikely the scammer would go to the length to match the weight so you can notice/find/deduce by taking the net wt. of the box. 

but as mentioned before there are about (less than 50) printed tiles which would be worth pretty pennies. but selling them would be another battle because those parts will be flooded in market through backdoors and will hit bricklink via german/czech/polish/croatian sellers.

[redcell]

Let's get back to right track. Recent hit sale: Lego 21309. One buyer did not like the appearance of the Lego box, requesting return because he wants to collect this set. Return request was authorized. The item was shipped back but with two seals cut open. I checked inside, there are twelve sealed bags and one sealed instruction booklet.
What would you do to the refund? From New in Factory sealed box to open box (sealed bags), how much value (in %) is deemed lost generally speaking?
Would you consider building the set to make sure no bricks are missing? Is there special bricks in this sets worth being taken out of the bag and "reseal" the bag?
 
 

Refund the full amount and move on...cost of doing business on Amazon. Anything less is risking an A to Z or other complaint from buyer.

[dmc]

Well, I sold the vast majority of my stuff on Ebay or at live shows anyways, but I am done with Amazon. I always use their shipping labels. The other day I got a request for a refund from a buyer stating item not received. $125 item. Tracking showed item was delivered 6 weeks ago. I contacted Amazon. Rep told me I would be covered since I had used Amazon's shipping labels. Policy states I should be covered (bottom of this page https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/201526770)). A to Z claim was filed. I provided the tracking info and noted that I purchased the shipping label using Amazon's buy shipping service. I lost. I appealed, linked to their policy, and again noted that shipping was purchased from Amazon and that both their policy and their customer service rep stated I would be covered. I lost the appeal. They stated:

"The maximum estimated delivery date or 30 days from the order date had passed and the buyer had not received the merchandise. You are responsible for this claim because you had not submitted the tracking number to us when the claim was filed."

This is crap. One, they already had the tracking number because I used their shipping services. Two, I again provided the tracking number when I responded to the claim.

Just wanted to share for anyone who is weighing the benefits of different selling platforms. In my experience, Paypal and Ebay at least follow their stated rules. Amazon seems to ignore them if it suits them.

[Kenxxx]

That sounds like one their robot just failed to read properly.  If buyer claimed item not received, and you responded correctly, this should be reversed on appeal. We've all been screwed by Amz, and given up, but I'd appeal that one a third time, forth, or how many it takes... Open a case if you have to. Good luck!

[asharerin]

1 hour ago, dmc said:

Just wanted to share for anyone who is weighing the benefits of different selling platforms. In my experience, Paypal and Ebay at least follow their stated rules. Amazon seems to ignore them if it suits them.

I never use FBM but I have read the same story over and over again 100's of times. The issue is your customer is not choosing the correct reason when opening their case. If they choose item not received you won't even hear about it and amazon will pay off your customer themselves. If they choose any other reason then you will not be covered by their policy and you will lose the A-Z claim.

So why do most customers choose the wrong reason to open the case? Because the customer has to wait 1 week after the item was supposedly delivered to be given the option to choose item not received. Since most people don't know they have to wait the week or just want to open the case immediately and get it over with they will choose something else and then type in the comments box item not received. When they do this the bots won't know how to handle it and you will auto lose.

Simple answer is still use signature confirmation if you must do FBM. IMO FBA is the only way to sell on the Amazon platform without banging your head against a wall over and over and over again. Sell in volume to cover the unavoidable loss to fraud. Ebay is a great option, just not enough traffic for our model.

[dmc]

7 minutes ago, Kenxxx said:

That sounds like one their robot just failed to read properly.  If buyer claimed item not received, and you responded correctly, this should be reversed on appeal. We've all been screwed by Amz, and given up, but I'd appeal that one a third time, forth, or how many it takes... Open a case if you have to. Good luck!

Thank you! It seems like you only get one appeal though.

2 minutes ago, asharerin said:

I never use FBM but I have read the same story over and over again 100's of times. The issue is your customer is not choosing the correct reason when opening their case. If they choose item not received you won't even hear about it and amazon will pay off your customer themselves. If they choose any other reason then you will not be covered by their policy and you will lose the A-Z claim.

So why do most customers choose the wrong reason to open the case? Because the customer has to wait 1 week after the item was supposedly delivered to be given the option to choose item not received. Since most people don't know they have to wait the week or just want to open the case immediately and get it over with they will choose something else and then type in the comments box item not received. When they do this the bots won't know how to handle it and you will auto lose.

Simple answer is still use signature confirmation if you must do FBM. IMO FBA is the only way to sell on the Amazon platform without banging your head against a wall over and over and over again. Sell in volume to cover the unavoidable loss to fraud. Ebay is a great option, just not enough traffic for our model.

Thanks, but no, they chose the correct reason.

 

[dmc]

24 minutes ago, Kenxxx said:

That sounds like one their robot just failed to read properly.  If buyer claimed item not received, and you responded correctly, this should be reversed on appeal. We've all been screwed by Amz, and given up, but I'd appeal that one a third time, forth, or how many it takes... Open a case if you have to. Good luck!

Well, Kenxxx, your encouragement saved me. Even though I lost the appeal, and could not see any way to appeal again, after I read your post, I opened a case yet again, stated the facts again, and just now got this reply:

"We see that your account was debited for the claim on order 111-7018795-1985832 in error." The money they took is back in my account. The whole experience was maddening, but at least I got the money back.

Thanks for encouraging me to keep trying!

[Kenxxx]

@dmc I'm glad it worked out (wish it happened this way more often).  FYI, you can appeal a rejected appeal, by just replying to their rejection email.  Here is one similar to yours that worked for me:

Amazon wrote:

Hello, We have reviewed the buyer’s claim and the information you provided for order 110-XXXXXXX-492XXXX.

The maximum estimated delivery date or 30 days from the order date had passed and the buyer had not received the merchandise. You are responsible for this claim because you had not submitted the tracking number to us when the claim was filed.

We understand you may not agree with our decision, but the A-to-z Guarantee claim will remain unchanged.

In the future, please enter tracking information on the Confirm Shipments page or in your Shipping Confirmation File as soon as you dispatch an order. It is not sufficient to provide tracking information directly to the buyer. To learn more about this policy, search for “Confirm Shipments” in Seller Central Help.

You may contact the buyer to check if they received the merchandise after filing the claim. If so, please advise them to contact us at [email protected] to confirm receipt of the merchandise and authorize a new charge. Please keep in mind that contact between parties must be respectful. We do not allow inappropriate or excessive contact between parties.

Sincerely --- Salma
Account Specialist
A-to-z Guarantee Program

I replied directly to that email:

There must be some mistake. Please review the facts below...

 

You wrote: "The maximum estimated delivery date or 30 days from the order date had passed and the buyer had not received the merchandise."

This is incorrect. The maximum order delivery date for this order is Feb 01, 2017.  That date has yet to arrive.

 

You wrote: "You are responsible for this claim because you had not submitted the tracking number to us when the claim was filed."

This is incorrect.  The item was shipped using Amazon Buy Shipping Services.  Amazon had instant access to the tracking information the moment the label was purchased.  I also offered this information in my original response to the claim.

 

You wrote: "In the future, please enter tracking information on the Confirm Shipments page or in your Shipping Confirmation File as soon as you dispatch an order."

Again, using Amazon's Buy Shipping Services, the tracking information was automatically entered in the Confirmation Shipments page.

 

I beg you to reconsider. Please review the facts of this case below. Amazon policy specifically states the opposite of this decision. That if I use Amazon Buy Shipping Services (with tracking) and a buyer files a claim for order not received "Amazon will cover the A-to-z claim and the claim won't be included into your Order Defect Rate." I have fully complied with all of the guidelines Amazon has provided.

 

 

... in this case, I won out.  (though still took a hit to my seller metrics). In a virtually identical case at the same time, I lost.  I replied to that email in much the same way and received this back:

 

Hello, We have reviewed the buyer’s claim and the information you provided for order 105-XXXXXXX-345XXXX.

Although we understand your position, we stand by our decision.

We cannot give you more information about this matter, and we may not reply to further emails about this claim.

Sincerely, --- Pavan K
Account Specialist
A-to-z Guarantee Program

 

Here they clearly wrote that any email reply will be ignored. In this case, one might still open a claim... but - being my third appeal - I just decided to let it go.

[cladner]

3 hours ago, dmc said:

Well, Kenxxx, your encouragement saved me. Even though I lost the appeal, and could not see any way to appeal again, after I read your post, I opened a case yet again, stated the facts again, and just now got this reply:

"We see that your account was debited for the claim on order 111-7018795-1985832 in error." The money they took is back in my account. The whole experience was maddening, but at least I got the money back.

Thanks for encouraging me to keep trying!

 

[newbie77]

1 hour ago, Kenxxx said:

@dmc I'm glad it worked out (wish it happened this way more often).  FYI, you can appeal a rejected appeal, by just replying to their rejection email.  Here is one similar to yours that worked for me:

Amazon wrote:

Hello, We have reviewed the buyer’s claim and the information you provided for order 110-XXXXXXX-492XXXX.

The maximum estimated delivery date or 30 days from the order date had passed and the buyer had not received the merchandise. You are responsible for this claim because you had not submitted the tracking number to us when the claim was filed.

We understand you may not agree with our decision, but the A-to-z Guarantee claim will remain unchanged.

In the future, please enter tracking information on the Confirm Shipments page or in your Shipping Confirmation File as soon as you dispatch an order. It is not sufficient to provide tracking information directly to the buyer. To learn more about this policy, search for “Confirm Shipments” in Seller Central Help.

You may contact the buyer to check if they received the merchandise after filing the claim. If so, please advise them to contact us at buyer-guarantee@amazon.com to confirm receipt of the merchandise and authorize a new charge. Please keep in mind that contact between parties must be respectful. We do not allow inappropriate or excessive contact between parties.

Sincerely --- Salma
Account Specialist
A-to-z Guarantee Program

I replied directly to that email:

There must be some mistake. Please review the facts below...

 

You wrote: "The maximum estimated delivery date or 30 days from the order date had passed and the buyer had not received the merchandise."

This is incorrect. The maximum order delivery date for this order is Feb 01, 2017.  That date has yet to arrive.

 

You wrote: "You are responsible for this claim because you had not submitted the tracking number to us when the claim was filed."

This is incorrect.  The item was shipped using Amazon Buy Shipping Services.  Amazon had instant access to the tracking information the moment the label was purchased.  I also offered this information in my original response to the claim.

 

You wrote: "In the future, please enter tracking information on the Confirm Shipments page or in your Shipping Confirmation File as soon as you dispatch an order."

Again, using Amazon's Buy Shipping Services, the tracking information was automatically entered in the Confirmation Shipments page.

 

I beg you to reconsider. Please review the facts of this case below. Amazon policy specifically states the opposite of this decision. That if I use Amazon Buy Shipping Services (with tracking) and a buyer files a claim for order not received "Amazon will cover the A-to-z claim and the claim won't be included into your Order Defect Rate." I have fully complied with all of the guidelines Amazon has provided.

 

 

... in this case, I won out.  (though still took a hit to my seller metrics). In a virtually identical case at the same time, I lost.  I replied to that email in much the same way and received this back:

 

Hello, We have reviewed the buyer’s claim and the information you provided for order 105-XXXXXXX-345XXXX.

Although we understand your position, we stand by our decision.

We cannot give you more information about this matter, and we may not reply to further emails about this claim.

Sincerely, --- Pavan K
Account Specialist
A-to-z Guarantee Program

 

Here they clearly wrote that any email reply will be ignored. In this case, one might still open a claim... but - being my third appeal - I just decided to let it go.

open as much as one want but there will be literally no response to the said case once its marked "no response" seems like bots just lock those base on order ID.

[stoltzjl77]

22 hours ago, dmc said:

Well, Kenxxx, your encouragement saved me. Even though I lost the appeal, and could not see any way to appeal again, after I read your post, I opened a case yet again, stated the facts again, and just now got this reply:

"We see that your account was debited for the claim on order 111-7018795-1985832 in error." The money they took is back in my account. The whole experience was maddening, but at least I got the money back.

Thanks for encouraging me to keep trying!

Well - double check, but you probably didn't get *all* your money back. No matter what, once an A-to-Z judgment goes against you Amazon will never refund the full amount back. They keep at least $5 and they do something screwy with the commissions so it doesn't work out to getting back everything you had before the A-to-Z claim.

I have had 100% success (so far) in reversing fraudulent A-to-Z claims that Amazon granted at my expense when I've spoken to seller support on the phone. Do whatever it takes to speak to an actual person. When you have them on the phone, being recorded, they are much less willing to violate their commitments to sellers. Also seller support is much more sympathetic than the A-to-Z team which I'm pretty sure is an algorithm, not actual people.

Edited July 5, 2017 by stoltzjl77

[stoltzjl77]

20 hours ago, Kenxxx said:

@dmc I'm glad it worked out (wish it happened this way more often).  FYI, you can appeal a rejected appeal, by just replying to their rejection email.  Here is one similar to yours that worked for me:

Amazon wrote:

Hello, We have reviewed the buyer’s claim and the information you provided for order 110-XXXXXXX-492XXXX.

The maximum estimated delivery date or 30 days from the order date had passed and the buyer had not received the merchandise. You are responsible for this claim because you had not submitted the tracking number to us when the claim was filed.

We understand you may not agree with our decision, but the A-to-z Guarantee claim will remain unchanged.

In the future, please enter tracking information on the Confirm Shipments page or in your Shipping Confirmation File as soon as you dispatch an order. It is not sufficient to provide tracking information directly to the buyer. To learn more about this policy, search for “Confirm Shipments” in Seller Central Help.

You may contact the buyer to check if they received the merchandise after filing the claim. If so, please advise them to contact us at buyer-guarantee@amazon.com to confirm receipt of the merchandise and authorize a new charge. Please keep in mind that contact between parties must be respectful. We do not allow inappropriate or excessive contact between parties.

Sincerely --- Salma
Account Specialist
A-to-z Guarantee Program

I replied directly to that email:

There must be some mistake. Please review the facts below...

 

You wrote: "The maximum estimated delivery date or 30 days from the order date had passed and the buyer had not received the merchandise."

This is incorrect. The maximum order delivery date for this order is Feb 01, 2017.  That date has yet to arrive.

 

You wrote: "You are responsible for this claim because you had not submitted the tracking number to us when the claim was filed."

This is incorrect.  The item was shipped using Amazon Buy Shipping Services.  Amazon had instant access to the tracking information the moment the label was purchased.  I also offered this information in my original response to the claim.

 

You wrote: "In the future, please enter tracking information on the Confirm Shipments page or in your Shipping Confirmation File as soon as you dispatch an order."

Again, using Amazon's Buy Shipping Services, the tracking information was automatically entered in the Confirmation Shipments page.

 

I beg you to reconsider. Please review the facts of this case below. Amazon policy specifically states the opposite of this decision. That if I use Amazon Buy Shipping Services (with tracking) and a buyer files a claim for order not received "Amazon will cover the A-to-z claim and the claim won't be included into your Order Defect Rate." I have fully complied with all of the guidelines Amazon has provided.

 

 

... in this case, I won out.  (though still took a hit to my seller metrics). In a virtually identical case at the same time, I lost.  I replied to that email in much the same way and received this back:

 

Hello, We have reviewed the buyer’s claim and the information you provided for order 105-XXXXXXX-345XXXX.

Although we understand your position, we stand by our decision.

We cannot give you more information about this matter, and we may not reply to further emails about this claim.

Sincerely, --- Pavan K
Account Specialist
A-to-z Guarantee Program

 

Here they clearly wrote that any email reply will be ignored. In this case, one might still open a claim... but - being my third appeal - I just decided to let it go.

Don't let the bad guys win!

[Bold-Arrow]

Anyone else got this email :

Dear Amazon Seller,

 

Amazon wants to know what we can do to improve how we communicate our policies to our Sellers.

 

We’d like to invite you to a 10-minute interview call to let us how we can serve you better. If you’d like to participate, please reply to me with 1) your selected day, 2) time window in which we can call you, and 3) the best number to reach you.

[exciter1]

Anyone else got this email :

Dear Amazon Seller,

 

Amazon wants to know what we can do to improve how we communicate our policies to our Sellers.

 

We’d like to invite you to a 10-minute interview call to let us how we can serve you better. If you’d like to participate, please reply to me with 1) your selected day, 2) time window in which we can call you, and 3) the best number to reach you.

Yes, let's have a conference call.

[ISO8T0]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I don't think Amazon would like what we have to say.

[newbie77]

1 hour ago, Bold-Arrow said:

Anyone else got this email :

Dear Amazon Seller,

 

Amazon wants to know what we can do to improve how we communicate our policies to our Sellers.

 

We’d like to invite you to a 10-minute interview call to let us how we can serve you better. If you’d like to participate, please reply to me with 1) your selected day, 2) time window in which we can call you, and 3) the best number to reach you.

you are special sir!.

[thombockerman]

This sounds like a unique opportunity to convey our frustrations, as long as we don't lose our cool (easy to do when you've been scammed and subsequently Amazon goes against their own written policy in the scammers favor) we can hopefully keep an open feedback dialogue with Amazon support to combat scammers. That may not be what their intention is, but I believe we can make an effort to emphasize the growing concern of third party sellers.

[Robb]

Anyone else got this email :

Dear Amazon Seller,

 

Amazon wants to know what we can do to improve how we communicate our policies to our Sellers.

 

We’d like to invite you to a 10-minute interview call to let us how we can serve you better. If you’d like to participate, please reply to me with 1) your selected day, 2) time window in which we can call you, and 3) the best number to reach you.

I think you need to insist that sellers are removed from and unaffected by the return/refund process unless Amazon through rigorous investigation is sure that the seller is at fault.

[Hosamov]

It's been a bit (like 3 years) since I've used Amazon.com for selling minifigs, etc. It's telling me I am not allowed to sell Toys and Games, but that I can submit an application to sell in that category, if I submit my supplier invoice and Children's Product Certification (CPC).

Submit required documents
At least 1 purchase invoice for products from a manufacturer or distributor

Make sure your invoices:
Dated on or after Jan 16, 2017 (within 180 days)
Include your name and address
Include the name and address of the manufacturer or distributor
Show the combined purchase of at least 10 units
Omit pricing information (optional)

Children's Product Certificate (CPC)
Children's Product Certificate (CPC) must meet the following requirements:
Include product name and description
Contain name of the manufacturer
Include date and location where product was manufactured
Include date and location where the product was tested
Include name, address of the lab that conducted the testing
Include the list of each consumer product safety regulation to which the product was certified f

I thought they just didn't allow hobbyist like myself to sell between October and Christmas, but that appears to have changed. Since I buy the majority of my sets discounted through Amz, I'm not sure how that would go. Does anyone have suggestions? I would like to sell on Amazon if possible, but don't know if I should list them as a distributor, and certainly don't have a CPC... Lol. This is all changed and new to me. How have others dealt with this, or am I unique case?

[cladner]

14 minutes ago, Hosamov said:

It's been a bit (like 3 years) since I've used Amazon.com for selling minifigs, etc. It's telling me I am not allowed to sell Toys and Games, but that I can submit an application to sell in that category, if I submit my supplier invoice and Children's Product Certification (CPC).

Submit required documents
At least 1 purchase invoice for products from a manufacturer or distributor

Make sure your invoices:
Dated on or after Jan 16, 2017 (within 180 days)
Include your name and address
Include the name and address of the manufacturer or distributor
Show the combined purchase of at least 10 units
Omit pricing information (optional)

Children's Product Certificate (CPC)
Children's Product Certificate (CPC) must meet the following requirements:
Include product name and description
Contain name of the manufacturer
Include date and location where product was manufactured
Include date and location where the product was tested
Include name, address of the lab that conducted the testing
Include the list of each consumer product safety regulation to which the product was certified f

I thought they just didn't allow hobbyist like myself to sell between October and Christmas, but that appears to have changed. Since I buy the majority of my sets discounted through Amz, I'm not sure how that would go. Does anyone have suggestions? I would like to sell on Amazon if possible, but don't know if I should list them as a distributor, and certainly don't have a CPC... Lol. This is all changed and new to me. How have others dealt with this, or am I unique case?

a gate came down last August (see sticky note at the top of every page of this thread) barring new sellers without invoices and a fee.  sellers who weren't active before a certain time were not grandfathered in. i am guessing the pause in your selling activity was enough that you didn't get grandfathered in.    this has been extensively discussed in this thread.

Edited July 15, 2017 by cladner

[Hosamov]

Quote

a gate came down last August (see sticky note at the top of every page of this thread) barring new sellers without invoices and a fee.  sellers who weren't active before a certain time were not grandfathered in. i am guessing the pause in your selling activity was enough that you didn't get grandfathered in.    

Ah, guess I missed out Thanks for the info.

Quote

this has been extensively discussed in this thread.

I figured it had. Did a quick search and was brought here, didn't have the time or patience to browse all 101+ pages though  lol

[Hosamov]

So, from what I'm reading online, it would be better to invest in Amazon, than LEGO. lol. That sucks, legit.

 

[DadsAFOL]

Updated process for feedback removal requests
Jul 27, 2017

 

In order to simplify the steps needed to respond to customers and manage negative feedback, starting July 27, 2017, all sellers must use the Feedback Manager page for all feedback interactions. As part of this change, you won't be able to request feedback removal through Contact Us, and Seller Support associates will no longer evaluate feedback requests. Learn more about Feedback Manager.

[cory730]

Dont know where to post this or if it has been talked about but looks like Amazon has now restricted Jurassic world Raptor rampage. I have like 50 of these to go along with 15 Tumbler now I cant sell on there. Anybody else notice this?

I guess the Amazon thread would have been place. Oh well

[exciter1]

3 hours ago, cory730 said:

Dont know where to post this or if it has been talked about but looks like Amazon has now restricted Jurassic world Raptor rampage. I have like 50 of these to go along with 15 Tumbler now I cant sell on there. Anybody else notice this?

I guess the Amazon thread would have been place. Oh well

It appears to be ok for me.