Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[gmpirate]

9 minutes ago, 33Lego said:

Just got a FBA return, box was perfect but feels funny.

Opened it up and it was filled with trash.

curious how this gets resolved as well.

[Emvisawthatswho]

Just got a FBA return, box was perfect but feels funny.
Opened it up and it was filled with trash.

I once had a ninjago dragon forge set returned. Claim “missing pieces”. I opened it since it felt light. Well. They basically stole the dragon and the Minifigures, and put the opened bags into ziploc bags.

I immediately contacted seller support. After several back and forth communications, along with pictures of what was returned (they tell you exactly what to take pictures of so pay attention to the request).

I had my money back in 2 days. DO NOT let this buyer get away with this $hit. Open a case, and follow up quickly. Doesn’t matter the value of the set it’s not letting these lowlife buyers continue to abuse the system.

Another time someone claimed my FBA item was “not as pictured”. It was a $15 Funko Pop. They returned a completely different item. I followed the same process as above with the same results.

Good luck to you. Keep us posted .

[Serejai]

2 hours ago, Brystheguy said:

I don't sell on Amazon so curious what the process is from here for this situation? Do you report it and if the user gets too many of those types of returns, is there any consequence? I'm pretty sure that Amazon doesn’t care though and nothing happens.

Your last sentence is practically their official policy towards sellers.

[joch29]

4 hours ago, Emvisawthatswho said:

I once had a ninjago dragon forge set returned. Claim “missing pieces”. I opened it since it felt light. Well. They basically stole the dragon and the Minifigures, and put the opened bags into ziploc bags.

I immediately contacted seller support. After several back and forth communications, along with pictures of what was returned (they tell you exactly what to take pictures of so pay attention to the request).

I had my money back in 2 days. DO NOT let this buyer get away with this $hit. Open a case, and follow up quickly. Doesn’t matter the value of the set it’s not letting these lowlife buyers continue to abuse the system.

Another time someone claimed my FBA item was “not as pictured”. It was a $15 Funko Pop. They returned a completely different item. I followed the same process as above with the same results.

Good luck to you. Keep us posted .

I agree with all of the advise above. Don't let these scum buyers get away with this.  I had someone return a $100 figuarts figure. They replaced it with a $10 figure of the same character..amazon via FBA did not notice.  I had to take photos.  Most importantly you need that receipt/ slip that comes with Amazon returns. They will ask for it. 

The figuarts was an easy one for me..I can see it through the clear packaging. I have not been as diligent with LEGO.  Recently opened several small lego sets that were returns via FBA and found a few sets missing minifigs.

 

[Emvisawthatswho]

Has anyone recently (past 3 months) upgrades to a Pro Seller Plan on Amazon? If so, how was the process? I’m grandfathered In selling some brands, Lego being the main one. How much more storage did you get? What documents did they request? Did they ask for invoices? Looking to scale up our inventory, individual I’m replenishing every few days when sales are high (normally Q4 but lately been Q1 and Q2). Thanks in advance, a PM would be great also.

[Phil B]

Has anyone recently (past 3 months) upgrades to a Pro Seller Plan on Amazon? If so, how was the process? I’m grandfathered In selling some brands, Lego being the main one. How much more storage did you get? What documents did they request? Did they ask for invoices? Looking to scale up our inventory, individual I’m replenishing every few days when sales are high (normally Q4 but lately been Q1 and Q2). Thanks in advance, a PM would be great also.

Yes, upgraded 2 weeks ago after downgrading in Feb. There is a page that threatens with documentation requirements and your inventory being locked for weeks, but it was instantaneous for me. It was showing unlimited storage even while I was on a personal plan, though I expect that would have changed to 10 cu ft as soon as I replenished inventory.

[Emvisawthatswho]

Has anyone recently (past 3 months) upgrades to a Pro Seller Plan on Amazon? If so, how was the process? I’m grandfathered In selling some brands, Lego being the main one. How much more storage did you get? What documents did they request? Did they ask for invoices? Looking to scale up our inventory, individual I’m replenishing every few days when sales are high (normally Q4 but lately been Q1 and Q2). Thanks in advance, a PM would be great also.

[Serejai]

1 hour ago, Emvisawthatswho said:

Has anyone recently (past 3 months) upgrades to a Pro Seller Plan on Amazon? If so, how was the process? I’m grandfathered In selling some brands, Lego being the main one. How much more storage did you get? What documents did they request? Did they ask for invoices? Looking to scale up our inventory, individual I’m replenishing every few days when sales are high (normally Q4 but lately been Q1 and Q2). Thanks in advance, a PM would be great also.

I just upgraded one of my Amazon accounts to professional about three weeks ago. My account was put on hold when I upgraded and I had to send them a picture of a recent bank statement for my checking account. Once they approved it my account was unlocked and everything was working fine. The entire process took less than a day and 99% of that time was just waiting for them to review it. My storage on that account went from 10 cubic feet to unlimited, and aside from a cellphone picture of my bank statement they didn't ask for any other documentation.

I can't say for certain that the process is the same for everyone, but I run multiple accounts and never had any trouble setting any of them up as a professional plan. Honestly, if you're selling more than 30 items per month you should be on a professional plan anyway even if you don't use any of the extra features it adds, simply because at that point it's cheaper than the non-professional plan is. I would say the only reason NOT to be on it is if you only sell two or three items a month, so in my opinion there's no downside to upgrading.

[Emvisawthatswho]

I just upgraded one of my Amazon accounts to professional about three weeks ago. My account was put on hold when I upgraded and I had to send them a picture of a recent bank statement for my checking account. Once they approved it my account was unlocked and everything was working fine. The entire process took less than a day and 99% of that time was just waiting for them to review it. My storage on that account went from 10 cubic feet to unlimited, and aside from a cellphone picture of my bank statement they didn't ask for any other documentation.
I can't say for certain that the process is the same for everyone, but I run multiple accounts and never had any trouble setting any of them up as a professional plan. Honestly, if you're selling more than 30 items per month you should be on a professional plan anyway even if you don't use any of the extra features it adds, simply because at that point it's cheaper than the non-professional plan is. I would say the only reason NOT to be on it is if you only sell two or three items a month, so in my opinion there's no downside to upgrading.

Great insight. Thanks. Things have slowed enough that I can start the upgrade process. Will update if any major stumbling blocks.

[Foreman Porgy]

Do any other sellers get the message of a potential high pricing error? I’m matching the buy box, and for some reason certain sets become stranded. If anyone has any insight on how to get past this, I’d greatly appreciate it. 

[pharmjod]

16 minutes ago, Foreman Porgy said:

Do any other sellers get the message of a potential high pricing error? I’m matching the buy box, and for some reason certain sets become stranded. If anyone has any insight on how to get past this, I’d greatly appreciate it. 

Yes and it sucks. I've had to just recall several sets because I don't know what else to do. I've tried setting max and min prices all over the place. Didn't work. I've tried changing to FBM then back to FBA, didn't work. It happens on FBM items as well, but I have that inventory so I can just delete the listing or zero out inventory. 

Edited July 8, 2020 by pharmjod

[SpaceFan9]

Quote

 

July 8, 2020
Advance notice: Business name and address to be displayed on the seller profile page starting September 1, 2020
Beginning on September 1, 2020, we will display a seller’s business name and address on their Amazon.com Seller Profile page. For individuals, we will display the individual name and address. This is consistent with Seller Profile pages across Amazon stores in Europe, Japan, and Mexico.

Why are we making this change?

Over the years, we have developed many ways for sellers to share more about their business, including through features like the Seller Profile page, Store pages for brand owners, and Handmade Maker Profile pages. These features help customers learn more about the businesses of a seller and the products that they are selling. We are making this change to ensure there is a consistent baseline of seller information to help customers make informed shopping decisions.

 

 

Ugggh.

[cobrakai]

Yikes.  So single member LLCs that have to register on Amazon as sole-prop with their own name will have their name easily accessible to everyone?

[brickvoyeur]

1 minute ago, SpaceFan9 said:

Ugggh.

When ToyCentric makes his 700th return and starts dropshipping/negdropping on eBay...  it just means the victims can visit him in person.

[zskid00]

1 hour ago, Foreman Porgy said:

Do any other sellers get the message of a potential high pricing error? I’m matching the buy box, and for some reason certain sets become stranded. If anyone has any insight on how to get past this, I’d greatly appreciate it. 

I've received quite a few of these where the original MSRP was very small dollars and I'm asking about 6-7x that amount because that's the current market price.  My items became unavailable for purchase even when I tried to reactivate the listings.  I just ended up listing them as "collectible-like new" and added a description of "brand new in the package" and that didn't trigger any pricing errors.  These were all FBM listings, so that may not help with FBA.

[redcell]

19 minutes ago, cobrakai said:

Yikes.  So single member LLCs that have to register on Amazon as sole-prop with their own name will have their name easily accessible to everyone?

I don't think so.  I was just looking at this and it appears that they are only going to show your "Display Name" and business address, which can be separate from the name and address that you enter for tax purposes.  So, as long as you have a separate business address, you can set that up to display instead of your home address.

[joch29]

How do I ensure my information is up to date?

You can view and update your contact information by following the steps below:

 

1. Login to your Amazon seller account.
2. In the Settings menu at the top right corner of Seller Central, click Account Info to view the Seller Account Information page.
3. In the Business Information section, click the links for the information that you want to view.
4. To change your business name, click Display Name and to change the address, click Business Address. Enter the new information or edit the current information.
5. Once completed, click Submit to save.

[asharerin]

On 7/8/2020 at 7:58 AM, redcell said:

I don't think so.  I was just looking at this and it appears that they are only going to show your "Display Name" and business address, which can be separate from the name and address that you enter for tax purposes.  So, as long as you have a separate business address, you can set that up to display instead of your home address.

If they are following MX and EU (which they state they are) they will be displaying the "legal business name" and the "place of establishment address". This is why we quit selling in Mexico about a year ago. Hopefully they make an exception for the USA and only show the "display name" but I am not hopeful given that they state there will be uniformity of this policy across the USA, EU and MX.

As an example that is relevant to most sellers on this board who RA lego, toys, etc see amazon seller Magnum Marketplace. The "Display Name" is Magnum Marketplace. If you visit this sellers offerings on Amazon MX they display the person's name and home address. This is why we quit on MX as brand owners were using this information to file cease and desist/lawsuits etc. I imagine once Amazon starts displaying this information competitors will be mailing fake cease and desist letters etc to knock their competitors off listings. I can see why Amazon is giving this information to buyers but unfortunately it is sellers who are going to abuse it.

[redcell]

44 minutes ago, asharerin said:

If they are following MX and EU (which they state they are) they will be displaying the "legal business name" and the "place of establishment address". This is why we quit selling in Mexico about a year ago. Hopefully they make an exception for the USA and only show the "display name" but I am not hopeful given that they state there will be uniformity of this policy across the USA, EU and MX.

As an example that is relevant to most sellers on this board who RA lego, toys, etc see amazon seller Magnum Marketplace. The "Display Name" is Magnum Marketplace. If you visit this sellers offerings on Amazon MX they display the person's name and home address. This is why we quit on MX as brand owners were using this information to file cease and desist/lawsuits etc. I imagine once Amazon starts displaying this information competitors will be mailing fake cease and desist letters etc to knock their competitors off listings. I can see why Amazon is giving this information to buyers but unfortunately it is sellers who are going to abuse it.

If they base it on the information input during the tax questionnaire, it would end up being that.  Their email was a bit confusing because if that's how they do it in MX and they are wanting to align US to MX, I'm not sure why they pointed people to the display name and business address in the email.  Regardless, I guess it's time to shift everything under a legal entity that will allow me to avoid having my name and home address displayed.

[cobrakai]

44 minutes ago, redcell said:

If they base it on the information input during the tax questionnaire, it would end up being that.  Their email was a bit confusing because if that's how they do it in MX and they are wanting to align US to MX, I'm not sure why they pointed people to the display name and business address in the email.  Regardless, I guess it's time to shift everything under a legal entity that will allow me to avoid having my name and home address displayed.

That opens up a can of worms sometimes with account verification or suspension after changing stuff.  Also gets confusing having business address, mailing address, ship from address etc being different.  It is easier to have everything streamlined with one address matching your Amazon storefront and business name, especially to make sure all invoices match.  I'm have a single member LLC (non S-corp) The IRS doesn't recognize single member LLCs, so Amazon forced me into registering as a sole-prop using my personal name as tax entity.  I'm not as concerned about having my address displayed, but I don't want my name displayed.

[Brick625]

1 minute ago, cobrakai said:

That opens up a can of worms sometimes with account verification or suspension after changing stuff.  Also gets confusing having business address, mailing address, ship from address etc being different.  It is easier to have everything streamlined with one address matching your Amazon storefront and business name, especially to make sure all invoices match.  I'm have a single member LLC (non S-corp) The IRS doesn't recognize single member LLCs, so Amazon forced me into registering as a sole-prop using my personal name as tax entity.  I'm not as concerned about having my address displayed, but I don't want my name displayed.

I'm in the same boat as you are. I'm adding a DBA to my sole proprietorship. Hopefully i will be able to change my real name with a DBA name.

I will also purchase a PO Box from USPS so i could change my business address. You can get a small box for 13 months for $128. 

If anyone has a better idea please share your thoughts. 

[skinsfan0521]

11 minutes ago, nick625 said:

I'm in the same boat as you are. I'm adding a DBA to my sole proprietorship. Hopefully i will be able to change my real name with a DBA name.

I will also purchase a PO Box from USPS so i could change my business address. You can get a small box for 13 months for $128. 

If anyone has a better idea please share your thoughts. 

I was thinking of going the PO Box route as well, but I'm all ears on a better option too. For me, I am set up as a business so my name won't show, but my address would. I'd prefer that not be the case since it is my home address.

[Emvisawthatswho]

I just upgraded one of my Amazon accounts to professional about three weeks ago. My account was put on hold when I upgraded and I had to send them a picture of a recent bank statement for my checking account. Once they approved it my account was unlocked and everything was working fine. The entire process took less than a day and 99% of that time was just waiting for them to review it. My storage on that account went from 10 cubic feet to unlimited, and aside from a cellphone picture of my bank statement they didn't ask for any other documentation.
I can't say for certain that the process is the same for everyone, but I run multiple accounts and never had any trouble setting any of them up as a professional plan. Honestly, if you're selling more than 30 items per month you should be on a professional plan anyway even if you don't use any of the extra features it adds, simply because at that point it's cheaper than the non-professional plan is. I would say the only reason NOT to be on it is if you only sell two or three items a month, so in my opinion there's no downside to upgrading.

Quick update. I just upgraded to professional selling plan. Updated CC info, verified bank account to use for deposit and charges. Didn’t ask for any documentation, just verification, and instantly, I’m set to go. 1st billing already taken for the monthly plan price.
Unlimited storage available now. This is a major relief. Thanks for all the feedback and input.

[redcell]

I was thinking of going the PO Box route as well, but I'm all ears on a better option too. For me, I am set up as a business so my name won't show, but my address would. I'd prefer that not be the case since it is my home address.

If Asharerin is correct and they will display based on the taxpayer's name and address, a DBA won't help because you still have to disclose your name on the tax questionnaire.

The way to get around is to set up a LLC with two members(owners). That gets taxed as a partnership and has to file its own tax return even though it is still a pass through entity. That will let you answer the tax questionnaire with the LLC's name and address, and completely dissociate your name from the account. A bit of a pain, but more of a foolproof way to maintain some level of anonymity. It works best if you're married because you can set you and your spouse up as the owners. Then you just have to go through the hassle of setting the LLC up and preparing a separate tax return for it.

[Brick625]

8 minutes ago, redcell said:

If Asharerin is correct and they will display based on the taxpayer's name and address, a DBA won't help because you still have to disclose your name on the tax questionnaire.

The way to get around is to set up a LLC with two members(owners). That gets taxed as a partnership and has to file its own tax return even though it is still a pass through entity. That will let you answer the tax questionnaire with the LLC's name and address, and completely dissociate your name from the account. A bit of a pain, but more of a foolproof way to maintain some level of anonymity. It works best if you're married because you can set you and your spouse up as the owners. Then you just have to go through the hassle of setting the LLC up and preparing a separate tax return for it.

You are correct sir, DBA will not replace the Legal Entity. But Amazon didnt mention the legal entity, they said the business address. So im hoping to add the DBA name to the business address. The Business information and the Legal entity name does not have to match. Or maybe i misread something.