Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[cory730]

32 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

It appears to be ok for me.

I see it now. It was gone and just the japan stuff was there. Thats good news

[joch29]

4 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

I was chatting with Amazon CSR last night about it.  They were putting a ticket in to review the issue. They probably just fixed it.

[zskid00]

1 hour ago, exciter1 said:

It appears to be ok for me.

Same for me.  I did sell some Raptor Escape and Indominus Rex sets at the end of 2015, so I wonder if that allowed me to list all of the Jurassic World sets.

[cobrakai]

What's up with all the Toys R Us comic con exclusive stuff showing up as "under hazmat review" and not eligible for FBA right now?

[redcell]

3 minutes ago, cobrakai said:

What's up with all the Toys R Us comic con exclusive stuff showing up as "under hazmat review" and not eligible for FBA right now?

Perhaps making sure they're not contaminated with nerd cooties?

[landphieran]

22 hours ago, cobrakai said:

What's up with all the Toys R Us comic con exclusive stuff showing up as "under hazmat review" and not eligible for FBA right now?

I believe Amazon was tweaking some of there restrictions around Hazmat. I had a couple of my Toy listings brought down after being active for 2 years. Flagged as Hazmat risks. Then got sent an email saying if i didn't contest it in three days my items would be destroyed.

I contested all of the issues and upon successfully fending off the toxic selling environment. I was rewarded with Amazon flagging the majority of my inventory as defective for no reason.

[asharerin]

2 hours ago, landphieran said:

I contested all of the issues and upon successfully fending off the toxic selling environment. I was rewarded with Amazon flagging the majority of my inventory as defective for no reason.

Sorry to hear that. I know most don't want to hear it but Amazon is not our business partner and our sole purpose to them is to build their catalog and get supplier information so they can then contact those suppliers and sell directly. They do not care about your business and the fees they generate off us is less than a drop in the bucket over their entire operation. Don't ever rely soley on Amazon or expect to be able to sell on their platform forever. The trend over the past 18 months should be heeded and their will be more changes, gating and restrictions in the future.

[Migration]

3 minutes ago, asharerin said:

Sorry to hear that. I know most don't want to hear it but Amazon is not our business partner and our sole purpose to them is to build their catalog and get supplier information so they can then contact those suppliers and sell directly. They do not care about your business and the fees they generate off us is less than a drop in the bucket over their entire operation. Don't ever rely soley on Amazon or expect to be able to sell on their platform forever. The trend over the past 18 months should be heeded and their will be more changes, gating and restrictions in the future.

Did tabby hack Asharerins account?

[landphieran]

5 minutes ago, asharerin said:

Sorry to hear that. I know most don't want to hear it but Amazon is not our business partner and our sole purpose to them is to build their catalog and get supplier information so they can then contact those suppliers and sell directly. They do not care about your business and the fees they generate off us is less than a drop in the bucket over their entire operation. Don't ever rely soley on Amazon or expect to be able to sell on their platform forever. The trend over the past 18 months should be heeded and their will be more changes, gating and restrictions in the future.

It is very apparent that Amazon is looking to automate pretty much everything. With the increase of bot related handling of cases, feedback removal, and gating restrictions/gating approval. 

I don't think they are looking to "get rid of us" with the promotions they are running and there business model of 100% availability, but they definitely don't care about our selling woes. Amazon's version of "dealing with customer service for us" has turned to automated bots and fulfillment/return processes. I was reading earlier that someone was trying to get a price match for an item they bought a couple weeks prior and they were refused a refund from Amazon customer service so they had to return the old item and buy a new one.

I have been trying to remove product reviews on a couple of my listings from people who didn't even buy the item, which link to external sites. I have not been successful and it has been demoralizing. I can't imagine starting my own brand to be nuked by competition or people being jerks without any defense.

[Jackson]

1 hour ago, asharerin said:

Don't ever rely soley on Amazon or expect to be able to sell on their platform forever.

I agree, but where would one sell? eBay is too slow.

[asharerin]

1 hour ago, Migration said:

Did tabby hack Asharerins account?

LOL no I just want Amazon sellers to pay attention to how Amazon's policies are trending and how quickly they move.

[Jackson]

In an email from Amazon:

"Amazon is simplifying the returns process on items fulfilled by sellers. Starting October 2, 2017, returns of items that you fulfill and that fall within the Amazon returns policy will be automatically authorized. Customers will be able to print a prepaid return shipping label via the Online Return Center instantly."

[asharerin]

16 hours ago, Jackson said:

In an email from Amazon:

"Amazon is simplifying the returns process on items fulfilled by sellers. Starting October 2, 2017, returns of items that you fulfill and that fall within the Amazon returns policy will be automatically authorized. Customers will be able to print a prepaid return shipping label via the Online Return Center instantly."

I like the new policy. I will finally start making purchases from FBM sellers. As sellers on their platform they expect us to at least match (but ideally exceed) Amazon's own customer service standards. This will finally make that happen and improve the customer experience dramatically. No need to read feedback or send messages to get a return label, just print and move straight onto the next purchase.

[Brick625]

1 hour ago, asharerin said:

I like the new policy. I will finally start making purchases from FBM sellers. As sellers on their platform they expect us to at least match (but ideally exceed) Amazon's own customer service standards. This will finally make that happen and improve the customer experience dramatically. No need to read feedback or send messages to get a return label, just print and move straight onto the next purchase.

the reason why this policy sucks is that buyers will abuse it in claiming free return shipping. 

[asharerin]

7 minutes ago, nick625 said:

the reason why this policy sucks is that buyers will abuse it in claiming free return shipping. 

If you don't want to deal with abusive buyers then you are limited to local cash sales. Fraud is a fact of life when selling online or operating a store. I would like to see instant refunds for the buyers like they do with FBA so the buyers can then move onto the next purchase without waiting (and hopefully that purchase is one of our items).

[landphieran]

I think its important to identify the person in business. I think there is a fair number of people who value every sale and really take joy in packing it up and ensuring Billy gets that item. To them its very very annoying when customers abuse there hard work.   

Then there are the  @asharerin who have removed themselves from that investment and the sale is a drop in the hat.

It has taken me a while to get to that point but I am there as well. Its a rather cold feeling sometimes. I miss the warm fuzzies of a great sale :/

Edited August 2, 2017 by landphieran

[Brick625]

16 minutes ago, asharerin said:

If you don't want to deal with abusive buyers then you are limited to local cash sales. Fraud is a fact of life when selling online or operating a store. I would like to see instant refunds for the buyers like they do with FBA so the buyers can then move onto the next purchase without waiting (and hopefully that purchase is one of our items).

Will you give an instant refund on a $200 item? don't forget buyer will not take responsibility if the item during return gets damaged or lost. So what happens when you receive a bogus return? This process just simplifies the scamming 

[marcandre]

10 minutes ago, nick625 said:

 This process just simplifies the scamming 

My first thought too but if someone wants to scam you on amazon they will, simple returns or not. Amazon does not care. Selling expensive sets FBM is a gamble right now. No way around it except using FBA.

[newbie77]

6 minutes ago, marcandre said:

My first thought too but if someone wants to scam you on amazon they will, simple returns or not. Amazon does not care. Selling expensive sets FBM is a gamble right now. No way around it except using FBA.

doesn't matter FBA or FBM. larger expensive sets have same probability of getting scammed.

with FBA one might be able to get AMZ to foot the bill once in a while but that's about it.

[asharerin]

34 minutes ago, nick625 said:

Will you give an instant refund on a $200 item? don't forget buyer will not take responsibility if the item during return gets damaged or lost. So what happens when you receive a bogus return? This process just simplifies the scamming 

It all comes down to the business model. We would not be selling expensive one offs on Amazon. All I can see is upside to this new program and reviews from those who have been in the beta are all very positive. If this does not work out then it is going to be mandatory FBA so I am glad for the FBM merchants that they are at least getting a chance.

[BrickLegacy]

Automatic returns might cripple some small Amazon FBM sellers.  The forums are lighting up over this.  

I still think the elephant in the room is the Nexus situation for FBA sellers...states are losing out big time on this.

[river41]

3 hours ago, BrickLegacy said:

Automatic returns might cripple some small Amazon FBM sellers.  The forums are lighting up over this.  

I still think the elephant in the room is the Nexus situation for FBA sellers...states are losing out big time on this.

excuse my ignorance but what is the nexus situation? do you mean that in reality a fba seller should have to charge sales tax on a purchase in every state that amazon has a warehouse containing his inventory?

[BrickLegacy]

excuse my ignorance but what is the nexus situation? do you mean that in reality a fba seller should have to charge sales tax on a purchase in every state that amazon has a warehouse containing his inventory?

I'm not a tax advisor and I don't sell on Amazon FBA so I can't comment. It's certainly more complicated than my pay grade...I've read enough to be completely confused on the whole topic tbh.

[redcell]

2 hours ago, river41 said:

excuse my ignorance but what is the nexus situation? do you mean that in reality a fba seller should have to charge sales tax on a purchase in every state that amazon has a warehouse containing his inventory?

When you hear folks talking about the issue of a "nexus" in relation to sales tax, they're talking about the factual circumstances that have to exist in order for a state's tax authority to exercise personal jurisdiction consistent with the due process clauses in the U.S. constitution over you or your business in order to require you to collect and remit sales tax to the state.  The easiest way to establish a nexus is actual presence within a state.  So if you live in a state, that state has the legal right to require you to collect and remit sales tax.  On the other end of the spectrum, if you have no contact with a state whatsoever, there is no nexus and that state cannot exercise jurisdiction over you for the purpose of dragging you into its courts in order to enforce its sales tax laws.  The tricky part is the in between and the question of how much contact (or "nexus") does one have to have with a particular state for that state to have the ability to enforce its tax laws against you consistent with the constitutional due process protections.

Personally, I don't buy the argument that inventory stored in an FBA warehouse in a distant state is enough to give that state the right to enforce its tax laws against me.  I don't think that is enough standing alone to create a nexus for tax purposes.  Some states have passed laws that say that it is enough, but those state laws are not the last word on the subject because they remain subject to restrictions that flow from the constitution.  The people who I primarily see arguing that those laws are enough and that the presence of inventory in an FBA warehouse does create a nexus tend to be people who have a vested financial interest in convincing people that a nexus exists so that they can sell those people some type of tax preparation, calculation, or submission service (e.g., Taxjar).

That's probably more than you want to know, but is how I understand the nexus issue.

[tballw32]

I've looked through this thread and see that there have been a lot of requirement changes to sell Lego on FBA. Is there any one-stop guide to getting approval to sell Lego on Amazon with the current rules?