Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[zskid00]

https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/19/18140799/amazon-marketplace-scams-seller-court-appeal-reinstatement

 

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the only way back from suspension is to “confess and repent,” she says, even if you don’t think you’ve done anything wrong. “Amazon doesn’t like to see finger-pointing.”

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Amazon calls them “appeals,” which suggests that there’s a possibility of having the verdict overturned. In reality, they’re more like a plea bargain crossed with a business memo, the core of which is a “plan of action” — an explanation of how you’ll make things right.

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The suspension usually has nothing to do with the item being used, but with something like a peeling label on the box. “The thing Amazon wants you to fix is the buyer perception,” Stine says. “Just proving to Amazon that your goods are new is not good enough because Amazon wants you to address why the buyers thought they were used.” One seller described the typical process as Amazon saying, “I’m putting you in jail but not telling you what you did, now give me a justification for why I should let you out and you won’t do it again.”

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The secrecy can be so frustrating that sellers have traveled to Seattle or Amazon’s London office to try to find a human, to no avail. One seller flew to Seattle from Shengzhou, China, and lived out of a Honda Pilot he bought on Craigslist while he wandered around Amazon’s offices trying to find someone to hear his case. The receptionist gave him the same phone number for Seller Support he’d been trying for weeks.

 

Edited December 20, 2018 by zskid00

[Lego_Monsters]

2 minutes ago, zskid00 said:

https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/19/18140799/amazon-marketplace-scams-seller-court-appeal-reinstatement

 

Too long to read at the moment...what was the outcome?

[zskid00]

6 minutes ago, Lego_Monsters said:

Too long to read at the moment...what was the outcome?

I would recommend reading it later when you're on the John or get a few minutes.  It's about more than one specific case, but it's very interesting for anyone who sells on Amazon.

[Darth_Raichu]

11 minutes ago, Lego_Monsters said:

Too long to read at the moment...what was the outcome?

People who make money off of 3PS (legitimately or not) are doing better than most 3PS on Amzn

[Phil B]

24 minutes ago, zskid00 said:

https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/19/18140799/amazon-marketplace-scams-seller-court-appeal-reinstatement

 

 

Repost?

 

[marcandre]

Just read it. The amount of seller on seller sabotage is mind blowing. I knew about the fake review attacks. Stealing user names and brands? Wow. 

 

[zskid00]

15 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Repost?

 

Shows you how often I check the prior page ?

[redcell]

3 hours ago, Jackson said:

Were they able to explain why they were asking for safety certificates for items that amazon.com had been previously selling?  

No, I pushed them on it, but they said that it was proprietary so I dropped it.

[cladner]

just a friendly reminder for everyone to go through and reset the prices on any of your ASIN that have sold out to a healthy higher amount.

last thing you want to be is an accidental undercutter/lowballer when an item you sold a month ago is returned and you miss out on the additional price appreciation that may have occurred since your intital sale and your stock becomes available and your old low price suddenly goes active.

or just be that seller who is inexplicably  selling an item for 25% less than everyone else for a few hours .

Edited December 20, 2018 by cladner

[Phil B]

just a friendly reminder for everyone to go through and reset the prices on any of your ASIN that have sold out to a healthy higher amount.
last thing you want to be is an accidental undercutter/lowballer when an item you sold a month ago is returned and you miss out on the additional price appreciation that may have occurred since your intital sale and your stock becomes available and your old low price suddenly goes active.
or just be that seller who is inexplicably  selling an item for 25% less than everyone else for a few hours .

You mean like ToyBurg who just undercut the lowest price on the 41124 by $25?

[$20 on joe vs dan]

3 hours ago, marcandre said:

Just read it. The amount of seller on seller sabotage is mind blowing. I knew about the fake review attacks. Stealing user names and brands? Wow. 

 

wow...and I thought google was getting too powerful

by using tech that do not apply to most antiquated anti-trust laws...these tech companies remind us how subsceptible we are to real monopolies

 

...much like the boardgame...once someone has a monopoly...the game is over 

[cladner]

2 hours ago, Phil B said:

You mean like ToyBurg who just undercut the lowest price on the 41124 by $25?

a few hours later and they're gaaahn.

congrats to those still holding 41124 - real and spectacular.

Edited December 21, 2018 by cladner

[landphieran]

On 12/20/2018 at 6:44 PM, cladner said:

a few hours later and they're gaaahn.

congrats to those still holding 41124 - real and spectacular.

I have 44 laying around, I had planned to save them for next year. Guessing around 150-160 by next christmas?

41126 (Heartlake Stables) was going WAY too cheap most of the year. Can't believe people blew that out at 90$. I kept the 30 I had locked up for that travesty of a price. Should hit 200+ next year. ...I probably should have bought them up ?

Edited December 22, 2018 by landphieran

[LegoBro]

I have 44 laying around, I had planned to save them for next year. Guessing around 150-160 by next christmas?
41126 (Heartlake Stables) was going WAY too cheap most of the year. Can't believe people blew that out at 90$. I kept the 30 I had locked up for that travesty of a price. Should hit 200+ next year. ...I probably should have bought them up

41126 was held back with seller AAA Games sending in a boatload a few months prior to xmas. I think it was close to 200 units. The set is now at $139. He/she held back a few other sets as well. What could have been this xmas....but yeah should be getting some nice appreciation now.

[Bold-Arrow]

Amazon will be automatically collecting tax for Alabama and Iowa starting 1/1/19

[landphieran]

Looked at my returns for the holidays. Sitting at around 2-3% returns for my December sales so far, which is pretty reasonable.

The return reasons are infuriating as always. Most were "Not as described", "Opened Missing Lego Bags", and anything else you can imagine to get a free item. Sold a few Indominous Rex's which were all scammers. One left negative feedback without a return (yet). 

Not completely sure how to approach the negative feedback. I assume a return will be coming with some fake crap or a stolen Indominous Rex. Any recommendations?

[exciter1]

25 minutes ago, landphieran said:

Looked at my returns for the holidays. Sitting at around 2-3% returns for my December sales so far, which is pretty reasonable.

The return reasons are infuriating as always. Most were "Not as described", "Opened Missing Lego Bags", and anything else you can imagine to get a free item. Sold a few Indominous Rex's which were all scammers. One left negative feedback without a return (yet). 

Not completely sure how to approach the negative feedback. I assume a return will be coming with some fake crap or a stolen Indominous Rex. Any recommendations?

It depends on what the negative was for?  Was it a fake item or not as described type of feedback, or something more general like fulfillment, didn't arrive on time, damaged, etc?

 

[landphieran]

1 hour ago, exciter1 said:

It depends on what the negative was for?  Was it a fake item or not as described type of feedback, or something more general like fulfillment, didn't arrive on time, damaged, etc?

 

It was "missing pieces open bags". Crap for 450$!

[exciter1]

44 minutes ago, landphieran said:

It was "missing pieces open bags". Crap for 450$!

I'm not sure what you can do in that case. 

[My_own_2_bricks]

I have a couple of tax questions about Amazon ....

1. For the 1099-K that is generated, in what year do they report sales in 2018 that get payments deposited in 2019? 

2. Has anyone every had issues with accounts being suspended/closed when changing the SSN in the "tax information interview" that generates the W-9 from one spouse's SSN to another's EIN?

Thanks for the advice.

[asharerin]

1 hour ago, My_own_2_bricks said:

I have a couple of tax questions about Amazon ....

1. For the 1099-K that is generated, in what year do they report sales in 2018 that get payments deposited in 2019? 

2. Has anyone every had issues with accounts being suspended/closed when changing the SSN in the "tax information interview" that generates the W-9 from one spouse's SSN to another's EIN?

Thanks for the advice.

1) The date of deposit to your bank account is meaningless. 1099-K shows sales (i.e. when funds hit your Amazon account AKA when an item gets shipped to your customer) from 12:01am 1/1/18 - 11:59pm 12/31/18 PST.

2) Changing the SSN on your account will not retroactively change what SSN is generated for the 1099-K. If you change it during the year you will get two 1099-K forms with sales numbers on each up until the date the change was made. Personally we have not changed the tax identification number on any of our accounts but have read plenty of posts from sellers who have done it with no issues (e.g. plenty of sellers start out as sole proprietors but then change their business structure to S-Corps to minimize taxes). I would contact seller support and ask them the step by step process to do this to avoid any complications. 

[legopocalypse]

6 hours ago, asharerin said:

1) The date of deposit to your bank account is meaningless. 1099-K shows sales (i.e. when funds hit your Amazon account AKA when an item gets shipped to your customer) from 12:01am 1/1/18 - 11:59pm 12/31/18 PST.

2) Changing the SSN on your account will not retroactively change what SSN is generated for the 1099-K. If you change it during the year you will get two 1099-K forms with sales numbers on each up until the date the change was made. Personally we have not changed the tax identification number on any of our accounts but have read plenty of posts from sellers who have done it with no issues (e.g. plenty of sellers start out as sole proprietors but then change their business structure to S-Corps to minimize taxes). I would contact seller support and ask them the step by step process to do this to avoid any complications. 

You said Best Buy would be closing all its stores by the end of 2018? #fakenews

Edited January 4, 2019 by legopocalypse

[4cs]

Not feeling the love from AMZ right now. This was a $320 set the customer returned because they changed their mind. AMZ refunded their money and sent me this box back with NO OUTER SHIPPING box. Just slapped the labels on the set and sent it from AZ to MI. And to think I carefully wrapped this set in bubble wrap to make sure they customer got it minty fresh. 

I think I’m done with anything over $50 on AMZ. My last big set (Temple of Airjutzu) was stolen by the customer and they returned a box of misc LEGO parts and filed a claim I was selling Inauthentic Product. What a pain the a$$. 

[LegoBro]

I had a return on a sub 100 dollar set. Also returned to me from Amazon without an outer shipping box. First time that way. All other times came in an Amazon shipping box. Is this something new?

[exciter1]

49 minutes ago, LegoBro said:

I had a return on a sub 100 dollar set. Also returned to me from Amazon without an outer shipping box. First time that way. All other times came in an Amazon shipping box. Is this something new?

I've opened cases and received reimbursement for these pracitices before.