Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[landphieran]

4 minutes ago, redcell said:

What milestone?

1M in sales, at this point i'm going to need some help from Amazon as some of my flips aren't panning out. If it doesn't happen this year it probably wont happen for a while down the road. I've come to the realization that the volume necessary is way more then I can handle given my current infrastructure and processes.

I was looking at this year vs last years metrics and i've seen an 80% increase in average selling price per item. I'm curious if anyone else has noticed similar jumps in average selling price?

[brickvoyeur]

3 minutes ago, skinsfan0521 said:

Those aren't bad sellers! I sold probably 100 of them in the last month with another 40 on the way to FBA.

No doubt they move. Should have said moving them for what they should be going for. I thought the set was great. The vehicle is good looking, it has great play value... but it has stagnated due to the massive supply and ultra low buy ins. It's barely above RRP on Amazon... and below RRP everywhere else. 

I still have hopes that before the next city mining wave this will be at least double RRP

 

[skinsfan0521]

1 minute ago, brickvoyeur said:

No doubt they move. Should have said moving them for what they should be going for. I thought the set was great. The vehicle is good looking, it has great play value... but it has stagnated due to the massive supply and ultra low buy ins. It's barely above RRP on Amazon... and below RRP everywhere else. 

I still have hopes that before the next city mining wave this will be at least double RRP

 

Yeah, I bought all of mine for 50% off, so I was happy moving them this season and not holding and waiting that they may double in the next year. I'd rather lock in a nice profit and then use that money to buy something else.

[cobrakai]

1 hour ago, landphieran said:

1M in sales, at this point i'm going to need some help from Amazon as some of my flips aren't panning out. If it doesn't happen this year it probably wont happen for a while down the road. I've come to the realization that the volume necessary is way more then I can handle given my current infrastructure and processes.

I was looking at this year vs last years metrics and i've seen an 80% increase in average selling price per item. I'm curious if anyone else has noticed similar jumps in average selling price?

Good luck.  I just crossed 1M for the 4th year in a row (no employees, no warehouse) and it is tough work.  Profit margin per sale is definitely way up this year compared to the previous couple years.  This will probably not be my highest sales year, but will be my highest profit year by a long shot.  Hopefully the inventory limits will be more intelligently rolled out by next Q4.  Some of this Mandalorian/Baby Yoda stuff is selling 200 units a day and they are not increasing the limits above 200 until it will be too late.  

[Sozial]

As I see I have a long way to go. Keep it up!

[brickology101]

Good luck.  I just crossed 1M for the 4th year in a row (no employees, no warehouse) and it is tough work.  Profit margin per sale is definitely way up this year compared to the previous couple years.  This will probably not be my highest sales year, but will be my highest profit year by a long shot.  Hopefully the inventory limits will be more intelligently rolled out by next Q4.  Some of this Mandalorian/Baby Yoda stuff is selling 200 units a day and they are not increasing the limits above 200 until it will be too late.  

Wow, I reached 140 k$ in FBA sales this year and that’s a milestone for me. Honestly, I cannot do much more than that doing this as a side job and out of my home basement. May be I should consider quitting my main job and doing it full time out of a warehouse. But given how Amazon has been recently and how stores are locking up sourcing Legos for resellers I am okay with where I am.

[gmpirate]

So, was about to list this tonight but saw the listing is "suppressed" by Amazon.  Looks like for "missing information".  Have no clue what its missing, I didn't create it.  Supposedly suppressed means it cannot be searched except by ASIN, but it comes up right at the top for the set number and then on top of second page for "lego pirate ship".  Should I worry about it?  seems not.  FBA, btw

[SpaceFan9]

@gmpirate, if you click on the "Inventory" page, there is a "suppressed" link on the second row of menu items.  If you click there, it should list the field that is missing for all suppressed listings.  I've modified some of mine---some of stuck, others have been released.  Like much of Amazon, there appears to be no rhyme or reason as to why.

Your suppressed items will still be sellable, but harder (but not impossible) to find while 'suppressed'.

[gmpirate]

8 minutes ago, SpaceFan9 said:

@gmpirate, if you click on the "Inventory" page, there is a "suppressed" link on the second row of menu items.  If you click there, it should list the field that is missing for all suppressed listings.  I've modified some of mine---some of stuck, others have been released.  Like much of Amazon, there appears to be no rhyme or reason as to why.

Your suppressed items will still be sellable, but harder (but not impossible) to find while 'suppressed'.

Thanks, but just figured out it wasn't the right listing to sell under (some fake from Hong Kong).  I scanned using the seller app and that was the listing it brought me 🙎‍♂️

[yyyybird]

I just found out my real name and home address was on my amazon seller profile page. I do not like it!

 by doing some research, it proabably has been this way since Sep. I amam a small seller compared to those big sharks with 1M volumes. I am practicing as sole proprietorship so business name is my real name.  I am wondering if there is a easy way to hide those informations.   It seems I need to convert from sole proprietorship to SMLLC.  Anyone has done this recently? will register for a DBA work as well?

[landphieran]

1 hour ago, yyyybird said:

Anyone has done this recently? will register for a DBA work as well?

From my understanding DBA will not work either because your tax declaration is still a sole proprietorship. Essentially, when you file your taxes, your name is at the top of the taxes. 

I posted something related to this in the open ban discussion. Essentially corporations can easily tie your name or address to you if you are a reseller. I'd ensure your business address and name are completely unassociated with your buying accounts name/address.

Once the holiday season is over I'm going to work on getting everything separated. I'll probably get an LLC. Amazon technically requires one.

[cobrakai]

6 hours ago, landphieran said:

From my understanding DBA will not work either because your tax declaration is still a sole proprietorship. Essentially, when you file your taxes, your name is at the top of the taxes. 

I posted something related to this in the open ban discussion. Essentially corporations can easily tie your name or address to you if you are a reseller. I'd ensure your business address and name are completely unassociated with your buying accounts name/address.

Once the holiday season is over I'm going to work on getting everything separated. I'll probably get an LLC. Amazon technically requires one.

Unless you have a partner in the business, I think you have to do the LLC as an S-corp to get it around this.  Amazon specifically says that single member LLCs are recognized as sole proprietorships and they require you to register that way.  I've never taken the time to change mine, but have thought of adding my wife to the LLC to make it a partnership.  I hate rocking the boat with Amazon on stuff like this for fear of triggering something with their "bots", but maybe after the holidays.  

[Bold-Arrow]

I just switched all my shipments  to UPS since there is a huge backlog with USPS . Seems UPS Ground cutoff for guaranteed delivery by Christmas is the 15th, I was hoping to keep it going till the 18th though without being the guy who ruined the entire Christmas for Timmy 

[minicoopers11]

2 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

I just switched all my shipments  to UPS since there is a huge backlog with USPS . Seems UPS Ground cutoff for guaranteed delivery by Christmas is the 15th, I was hoping to keep it going till the 18th though being the buy who ruined the entire Christmas for Timmy 

Anecdotally, it seems like Walmart is relying heavily on USPS right now...getting most big boxes from USPS and not Ontrac, at the moment.

[cobrakai]

7 minutes ago, minicoopers11 said:

Anecdotally, it seems like Walmart is relying heavily on USPS right now...getting most big boxes from USPS and not Ontrac, at the moment.

Getting most of my Walmart deliveries delivered in plastic shopping bags by someone in their personal car.

[Huskers1236]

Just now, cobrakai said:

Getting most of my Walmart deliveries delivered in plastic shopping bags by someone in their personal car.

Yep, really weird.  I bought a new xbox controller for my son and it was dropped off in a bag by a rando in a personal car.  Kind of freaked out my wife.  

Maybe they can get them a little sign for the top of their car like Domino's.

[minicoopers11]

16 minutes ago, cobrakai said:

Getting most of my Walmart deliveries delivered in plastic shopping bags by someone in their personal car.

Oh, that's interesting. Walmart said they were going to do that months ago, but I just haven't seen it personally yet (thought I have for Amazon of course, and also DHL).

[jeff_14]

Here in Canada it has become quite common to see a rented van (ie Budget) dropping off parcels the last few months.

[yyyybird]

1 hour ago, cobrakai said:

Unless you have a partner in the business, I think you have to do the LLC as an S-corp to get it around this.  Amazon specifically says that single member LLCs are recognized as sole proprietorships and they require you to register that way.  I've never taken the time to change mine, but have thought of adding my wife to the LLC to make it a partnership.  I hate rocking the boat with Amazon on stuff like this for fear of triggering something with their "bots", but maybe after the holidays.  

it seems someone reported on amazon seller forum he can get around of it use SMLLC. it will be listed as individual, but in the business name you put the LLC name.... I am not quite sure it will work either. I do not want to walk a long way to set up a SMLLC then found it is not working..

[cobrakai]

1 minute ago, yyyybird said:

it seems someone reported on amazon seller forum he can get around of it use SMLLC. it will be listed as individual, but in the business name you put the LLC name.... I am not quite sure it will work either. I do not want to walk a long way to set up a SMLLC then found it is not working..

It might work at first, but I think they verify the tax ID # of the LLC with the IRS and they can't get it to match as a partnership or corporation and they ask you to change it.  I'm sure there are people out there who have figured out technical glitches/workarounds to make it stick.  Amazon states: "Individual" includes Sole Proprietors or Single-Member LLCs where the owner is an individual.  When you do the tax interview, the LLC choices are S-corp, C-corp, or partnership, so I guess you would technically be lying if you picked an incorrect one.

[yyyybird]

12 minutes ago, cobrakai said:

It might work at first, but I think they verify the tax ID # of the LLC with the IRS and they can't get it to match as a partnership or corporation and they ask you to change it.  I'm sure there are people out there who have figured out technical glitches/workarounds to make it stick.  Amazon states: "Individual" includes Sole Proprietors or Single-Member LLCs where the owner is an individual.  When you do the tax interview, the LLC choices are S-corp, C-corp, or partnership, so I guess you would technically be lying if you picked an incorrect one.

LLC with husband/wife will not work either.......

[redcell]

The easiest way is to set up as an LLC and elect to be taxed as an S-Corp.  This sets the LLC up to file its own taxes and be the taxing entity identified to Amazon during the tax interview.  I haven't gone down that road yet because I didn't want to fool with things right before Q4, but plan to do so after the first of the year.

[landphieran]

4 minutes ago, redcell said:

The easiest way is to set up as an LLC and elect to be taxed as an S-Corp.  This sets the LLC up to file its own taxes and be the taxing entity identified to Amazon during the tax interview.  I haven't gone down that road yet because I didn't want to fool with things right before Q4, but plan to do so after the first of the year.

Anyone know of any good CPA's that deal with Amazon sellers please PM me. The people around my area are rather oblivious.

[gmpirate]

7 hours ago, landphieran said:

Anyone know of any good CPA's that deal with Amazon sellers please PM me. The people around my area are rather oblivious.

What's the issue?  There's nothing special about doing books or taxes for a seller on Amazon.  It's about as straight forward as it gets.

[gmpirate]

Who is the seller "Solati".  I just found them popping up in listings selling at RRP and below -- killing some qf's