Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[chinothegeeko]

Ups all the way on anything over a pound.

[Bold-Arrow]

12 minutes ago, chinothegeeko said:

Ups all the way on anything over a pound.

Over and under here. doesn't matter. cuts into profits, but worth the piece of mind 

2 hours ago, nick625 said:

If you purchased the shipping through amazon you should be covered. 
Just let the buyer know to file and A-to-Z claim.

are you covered if it is "lost in transit" ?

[pharmjod]

Speaking of UPS, is anyone having issues at the moment trying to print shipping from UPS via seller central? My only options are usps and FedEx.

[landphieran]

10813 was the most disappointing set I sent in this year. I had high expectations for it and it definitely didn't deliver. I cleared some at 138 and the price drop to the bottom was swift.

I really missed a great opportunity this year to sell my stuff early. @Darth_Raichu made a good call. There was a massive increase in pre black friday shopping. Prices were increasing at incredibly rapid rates because the massive toy sellers inventory hadn't arrived yet. I sold off small portions of my listings (not nearly enough) and ended up having to wait nearly a month for the prices to recover. At the time I had wrongfully assumed the big sellers had sent their stuff in already but most of it arrived after black friday through early December. I got greedy and ended up having to pay the storage fairy way too many teeth.

I'd recommend people to have a better plan than i did. It will work out pretty good as prices have more than recovered now and I'm the sole seller on some lucrative listings but it will mostly be a wash.

FBM has been clutch this year. I wouldn't do it as a sole selling strategy, but will definitely explore it as a stronger option next year.

[redcell]

3 hours ago, landphieran said:

10813 was the most disappointing set I sent in this year. I had high expectations for it and it definitely didn't deliver. I cleared some at 138 and the price drop to the bottom was swift.

 

You've certainly got some high expectations or are an absolute wiz at picking only the most profitable sets if 10813 was the most disappointing set for you this year.  I cleared a 220% return on that set even selling at what I guess you're considering the bottom (~$108).

[cladner]

toy mine must be pretty happy being the only FBA seller on bhz boba fett - $84.95.  ya know they're gittin' it.

 

[cladner]

5 hours ago, landphieran said:

10813 was the most disappointing set I sent in this year. I had high expectations for it and it definitely didn't deliver. I cleared some at 138 and the price drop to the bottom was swift.

I really missed a great opportunity this year to sell my stuff early. @Darth_Raichu made a good call. There was a massive increase in pre black friday shopping. Prices were increasing at incredibly rapid rates because the massive toy sellers inventory hadn't arrived yet. I sold off small portions of my listings (not nearly enough) and ended up having to wait nearly a month for the prices to recover. At the time I had wrongfully assumed the big sellers had sent their stuff in already but most of it arrived after black friday through early December. I got greedy and ended up having to pay the storage fairy way too many teeth.

I'd recommend people to have a better plan than i did. It will work out pretty good as prices have more than recovered now and I'm the sole seller on some lucrative listings but it will mostly be a wash.

FBM has been clutch this year. I wouldn't do it as a sole selling strategy, but will definitely explore it as a stronger option next year.

my biggest turd that i had to unload is juniors batman 10753.  i thought this set would be $50-60 by now.  still stuck in low $40s. not worth my time to sell them for that price didn't move 1.  donated a few yesterday.   if i'd been doing fba i probably would have sent in 50.

i'd still say your plan worked out pretty well judging by your sales totals .  agree that there is a perfect time to sell and that waiting until the end, especially this year when transport is stretched and restocking commences, has not been the right plan for me as well.  last weekend price action was much better.  FBM has been arduous but rewarding especially when you see strength on some listings, you have all the inventory at your disposal you need to unload but was hoping to see better FBM price action on others which did not materialize.  my sales totals for nov and december are still higher than last year when i was 100% fba.  i did 100% fbm out of concern amazon would not be able to fulfill with pandemic and demand but that was a major erroneous assumption.   cie la vie.

Edited December 13, 2020 by cladner

[Darth_Raichu]

6 hours ago, landphieran said:

I really missed a great opportunity this year to sell my stuff early. @Darth_Raichu made a good call. There was a massive increase in pre black friday shopping. Prices were increasing at incredibly rapid rates because the massive toy sellers inventory hadn't arrived yet. I sold off small portions of my listings (not nearly enough) and ended up having to wait nearly a month for the prices to recover. At the time I had wrongfully assumed the big sellers had sent their stuff in already but most of it arrived after black friday through early December. I got greedy and ended up having to pay the storage fairy way too many teeth.

Not entirely true.  I held off some stuffs too, hoping to get more money out of my FBM listings.  My mistake was I was too busy fulfilling FBM orders I did not pay attention to the massive size of incoming FBA stock.  Too many people sending stuffs in after 12/5 

53 minutes ago, cladner said:

i did 100% fbm out of concern amazon would not be able to fulfill with pandemic and demand but that was a major erroneous assumption.   cie la vie.

Yep. It was a mistake to underestimate Bezos when it comes to end of the year logistics

[redcell]

You guys are killing me.  What are you aiming for if you're viewing 10813 and 10753 as losers, and how often are you hitting that target?    I guess I could view 10753 as a loser since it only gave me a profit margin of 103%.  It was no Pet Center, Whack, or Emma's Art Cafe, but if you're viewing sets like those as losers, you're working from a very skewed perspective.  If I didn't know you'd been around long enough to know what you're doing, I'd say that you'll be in a rude awakening in the years ahead when the market calms down from COVID.

[JOEBRICK376]

2 hours ago, cladner said:

my biggest turd that i had to unload is juniors batman 10753.  i thought this set would be $50-60 by now.  still stuck in low $40s. not worth my time to sell them for that price didn't move 1.  donated a few yesterday.   if i'd been doing fba i probably would have sent in 50.

i'd still say your plan worked out pretty well judging by your sales totals .  agree that there is a perfect time to sell and that waiting until the end, especially this year when transport is stretched and restocking commences, has not been the right plan for me as well.  last weekend price action was much better.  FBM has been arduous but rewarding especially when you see strength on some listings, you have all the inventory at your disposal you need to unload but was hoping to see better FBM price action on others which did not materialize.  my sales totals for nov and december are still higher than last year when i was 100% fba.  i did 100% fbm out of concern amazon would not be able to fulfill with pandemic and demand but that was a major erroneous assumption.   cie la vie.

If you ever wanna donate turds like that I'll pay you for them and make sure they make it into a loving childs arms. 

[cobrakai]

48 minutes ago, redcell said:

You guys are killing me.  What are you aiming for if you're viewing 10813 and 10753 as losers, and how often are you hitting that target?    I guess I could view 10753 as a loser since it only gave me a profit margin of 103%.  It was no Pet Center, Whack, or Emma's Art Cafe, but if you're viewing sets like those as losers, you're working from a very skewed perspective.  If I didn't know you'd been around long enough to know what you're doing, I'd say that you'll be in a rude awakening in the years ahead when the market calms down from COVID.

Agreed.  My profit this year is triple last years profit and I think we will look back on this year as a bit of an outlier for comparisons.  Finding that "sweet spot" for pricing and demand is always a challenge.  As items get older and the price rises, the demand and sales rank also starts to decline (and likelihood of scams/refunds might also rise.)   It's always a delicate balance.

[Bricklectic]

I'm new at selling battery included sets on FBA. For example the Lunar Space Station comes with batteries. Is the correct answer yes to this Q:

If it is, where can I find the info it then prompts me to enter:

TIA

[cladner]

4 hours ago, redcell said:

You guys are killing me.  What are you aiming for if you're viewing 10813 and 10753 as losers, and how often are you hitting that target?    I guess I could view 10753 as a loser since it only gave me a profit margin of 103%.  It was no Pet Center, Whack, or Emma's Art Cafe, but if you're viewing sets like those as losers, you're working from a very skewed perspective.  If I didn't know you'd been around long enough to know what you're doing, I'd say that you'll be in a rude awakening in the years ahead when the market calms down from COVID.

boba fett bhz going for $70 is what i'm going for.  10813 i am very happy with .  10753 hasn't even made it to 2x $24.99 msrp.  pretty weak relative to other retired 2019 junior sets - the lower msrp juniors spiderman and jw raptor sets are both clobbering 10753.  i think batman is slipping popularity thanks to resurgent star wars.

Edited December 13, 2020 by cladner

[landphieran]

5 hours ago, redcell said:

You guys are killing me.  What are you aiming for if you're viewing 10813 and 10753 as losers, and how often are you hitting that target?    I guess I could view 10753 as a loser since it only gave me a profit margin of 103%.  

I got the majority of my 10813 inventory at 40$. With fees being 28$. It's a 100% increase which is fine. When I purchase inventory, there are certain sets I expect 50-100%. High volume small sets, give me 100% all day to the bank.

This is a large set, terrible to store, fits 9 to a box. Essentially required palletizing it to make it economical to send in. I bought it with better selling expectations.

I've been selling the small speed champions from last year at 40$ and the Ferrari's as high as 55. Both ranging from 200-300% in profit after fees. You can fit 108 in a box. Takes 10 boxes to send in 12-13k of inventory. The numbers for 10813 are laughable in comparison.

Edited December 13, 2020 by landphieran

[Darth_Raichu]

1 hour ago, cladner said:

boba fett bhz going for $70 is what i'm going for.

That one has the potential to go even higher if people just stopped undercutting each other for 2 weeks 

[cladner]

20 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

That one has the potential to go even higher if people just stopped undercutting each other for 2 weeks 

already gone up $30 in the last 2 weeks can't be greedy now.  painful paying UPS 3 day on one of these badboyz when ur used to first class.

Edited December 13, 2020 by cladner

[Darth_Raichu]

1 minute ago, cladner said:

already gone up $30 in the last 2 weeks can't be greedy now.  painful paying UPS 3 day on one of these badboyz.

I got no volume, being greedy is my only play

[cladner]

Just now, Darth_Raichu said:

I got no volume, being greedy is my only play

that's alright, i'm greedy too and bumped my price to $89.

[gmpirate]

Are Tree House moving through FBA if undercutting Amazon's price?

[FM]

Are Tree House moving through FBA if undercutting Amazon's price?

Yep, in the 275-300 range. I sold through the last of my FBA stock a few days ago.

[Darth_Raichu]

As much as people making fun of eBay, at least they made moves to give some protections to their sellers vs mailing slowdowns.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/Helping-buyers-understand-shipping-delays-and-what-you-need-to/ba-p/31412134

FBM responds by saying: screw you 3PS.  If you are destroyed, we have more lining up to take your places

 

[Brick625]

5 hours ago, Darth_Raichu said:

As much as people making fun of eBay, at least they made moves to give some protections to their sellers vs mailing slowdowns.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/Helping-buyers-understand-shipping-delays-and-what-you-need-to/ba-p/31412134

FBM responds by saying: screw you 3PS.  If you are destroyed, we have more lining up to take your places

 

If you buy shipping through Amazon, you are protected against INR claims. 

Isn't that great? That was the greatest thing amazon did for 3rd party sellers. 

[Jackson]

So what is the best course of action these days for an "item not received but tracking shows delivered" complaint?

Should I tell the buyer to specifically open an A-to-z claim?

Or just tell her to contact Amazon customer service?

Or just tell her there's nothing I can do since tracking shows delivered, and I'll open a theft report with the US Postal Inspector for her?

[Brystheguy]

9 minutes ago, Jackson said:

So what is the best course of action these days for an "item not received but tracking shows delivered" complaint?

Should I tell the buyer to specifically open an A-to-z claim?

Or just tell her to contact Amazon customer service?

Or just tell her there's nothing I can do since tracking shows delivered, and I'll open a theft report with the US Postal Inspector for her?

I wouldn't open a theft return for them. Everything on your end shows it was delivered. They are the ones claiming it was stolen - they can file the report.

[redcell]

9 minutes ago, Jackson said:

So what is the best course of action these days for an "item not received but tracking shows delivered" complaint?

Should I tell the buyer to specifically open an A-to-z claim?

Or just tell her to contact Amazon customer service?

Or just tell her there's nothing I can do since tracking shows delivered, and I'll open a theft report with the US Postal Inspector for her?

I know others will disagree, but my view is that if you want to be selling on Amazon for the long term, the safest course of action is to take them at their word, refund them, and eat the loss.