Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[kingdombricks]

I've been selling Lego on Amazon since 2016 and am grandfathered in.  I'm taking a break from selling on Amazon indefinately (pursuing other things) but don't want to lose my ability to sell Lego on Amazon.  Has anyone had experience downgrading from a pro seller account to a regular one?  Are we still ungated for Lego in the future or is that lost?  Thanks much!

[Dark Helmet]

I have had no issues going between pro and reg but I continue to sell a few while not in pro. I don’t know what will happen if you don’t sell for long periods of time. 

[kingdombricks]

Thank you so much Dark Helmet, was pretty gun shy about going down to reg, didn't want to lose being ungated for Lego!

[marcandre]

I go long stretches without selling anything. Usually Feb-August. Never been pro, never had an issue. 

I do always leave a couple thing active (FBM) at a high price so it's not completely dormant.

Edited February 3, 2020 by marcandre

[brickolodon]

[Saruman]

Pause the video at 48:42 and you can see the top result is for baby yoda! As a seller on AMZ this is fun to watch.

Edited February 25, 2020 by Saruman
I forgot to add something

[gmpirate]

Ok, why is it when I use the Seller App a listing comes up, but it is not searchable?  i.e. The recent Obi Wan Anniversary GWP and the new Easter Banner 30550?  The App doesn't list the ASIN so I don't know how to have Amazon look into it.

[SpaceFan9]

8 minutes ago, gmpirate said:

Ok, why is it when I use the Seller App a listing comes up, but it is not searchable?  i.e. The recent Obi Wan Anniversary GWP and the new Easter Banner 30550?  The App doesn't list the ASIN so I don't know how to have Amazon look into it.

 

can you use the 'sell on amazon' button via the web page?

30550: https://amazon.com/LEGO-Creator-Easter-Bunny-Polybag/dp/B08548L9YN

[gmpirate]

Yes, I can use the button.  How did you get that to come up?  I hit your link, the listing comes up, and then I enter the search terms and nothing.

Same thing with ObI Wan Anniversary figure

[SpaceFan9]

10 hours ago, gmpirate said:

How did you get that to come up?

 

 

I think I just searched on 'lego easter bunny'.  But when I do that this morning, it doesn't come up.  It only shows up under 'lego creator easter bunny' for me.  Can't imagine it selling well, though, if it doesn't show up under 'lego bunny' or 'lego easter bunny'.

There are some funny bits on the listing, like the recommended age of '72', that may be limiting the search result.

Edited February 26, 2020 by SpaceFan9
bad grammer

[gmpirate]

I see "6 years and up"

[Darth_Raichu]

17 hours ago, gmpirate said:

Ok, why is it when I use the Seller App a listing comes up, but it is not searchable?  i.e. The recent Obi Wan Anniversary GWP and the new Easter Banner 30550?  The App doesn't list the ASIN so I don't know how to have Amazon look into it.

Most likely the dummy who created the original listing did not put the correct information in.

[asharerin]

On 2/25/2020 at 8:17 PM, gmpirate said:

Ok, why is it when I use the Seller App a listing comes up, but it is not searchable?  i.e. The recent Obi Wan Anniversary GWP and the new Easter Banner 30550?  The App doesn't list the ASIN so I don't know how to have Amazon look into it.

A new listing will take time to rank for keywords in Amazon search. You can always speed this up by using PPC advertising. In time it will start to rank on its own organically once more views start converting to sales. Amazon is all about pay to play product placement, it is not really a search engine.

[gmpirate]

Interesting.  Still seems strange though.  I can then something not being a top search result by that reasoning, but not to have it come up at all?  Or have items come up without any of the search words but Lego?  Why would Amazon allow a listing that cannot be searched?  How then can it gain rank?

I’m not arguing with you, I’m just perplexed about the logic of it.

[Phil B]

Sold a set on 1/11 via FBA and made $34.49. On 1/16 the customer files for a refund because “item not delivered”, so Amazon takes $39.10 out of my account. Yesterday, I receive the expected reimbursement, but it came in as $34.29.

I opened a case because, since the issue was with shipping, I have no blame in this, so I expected to be reimbursed for the full $39.10. Amazon came back and said I would only get $0.20 back to bring my total back to $34.49, because they always keep the referral fee.

Is this right? It doesn’t feel right to me.

[Bold-Arrow]

13 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Sold a set on 1/11 via FBA and made $34.49. On 1/16 the customer files for a refund because “item not delivered”, so Amazon takes $39.10 out of my account. Yesterday, I receive the expected reimbursement, but it came in as $34.29.

I opened a case because, since the issue was with shipping, I have no blame in this, so I expected to be reimbursed for the full $39.10. Amazon came back and said I would only get $0.20 back to bring my total back to $34.49, because they always keep the referral fee.

Is this right? It doesn’t feel right to me.

Yes , sounds about right . They also take a refund administrative fee . The don’t call it F’ed by Amazon for no reason 

[cladner]

1 hour ago, Phil B said:

Sold a set on 1/11 via FBA and made $34.49. On 1/16 the customer files for a refund because “item not delivered”, so Amazon takes $39.10 out of my account. Yesterday, I receive the expected reimbursement, but it came in as $34.29.

I opened a case because, since the issue was with shipping, I have no blame in this, so I expected to be reimbursed for the full $39.10. Amazon came back and said I would only get $0.20 back to bring my total back to $34.49, because they always keep the referral fee.

Is this right? It doesn’t feel right to me.

i'm going to say something pompous and all knowing like "its the cost of doing business on amazon."  

I agree with you it doesn't feel right which is why as an amazon 3p seller you really need to make sure to stock up.

https://www.amazon.com/LubeLife-Personal-Lubricant-Lube-Parabens/dp/B07FMGNV51

Edited February 28, 2020 by cladner

[Dark Helmet]

Ya unfortunately. They pulled that same scam on me last year stating we refund based on the new average sale price. It’s a scam and they know you can’t do anything about it. 

[Darth_Raichu]

2 hours ago, Phil B said:

Sold a set on 1/11 via FBA and made $34.49. On 1/16 the customer files for a refund because “item not delivered”, so Amazon takes $39.10 out of my account. Yesterday, I receive the expected reimbursement, but it came in as $34.29.

I opened a case because, since the issue was with shipping, I have no blame in this, so I expected to be reimbursed for the full $39.10. Amazon came back and said I would only get $0.20 back to bring my total back to $34.49, because they always keep the referral fee.

Is this right? It doesn’t feel right to me.

This is how I know people who call eBay Feebay do not sell on Amazon

[Phil B]

This is how I know people who call eBay Feebay do not sell on Amazon

It is basically the same scam PayPal is going to pull soon, where they will keep their fee even if you refund. Especially fun when dealing with international orders.

[Darth_Raichu]

7 minutes ago, Phil B said:

52 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

This is how I know people who call eBay Feebay do not sell on Amazon

It is basically the same scam PayPal is going to pull soon, where they will keep their fee even if you refund. Especially fun when dealing with international orders.

Whaddaya mean soon?  PP is already doing that starting on 11/2019

[asharerin]

On 2/27/2020 at 8:45 AM, gmpirate said:

Why would Amazon allow a listing that cannot be searched?  How then can it gain rank?

This is how the Amazon retail platform makes money. You have to pay for advertising to rank listings these days. Create an advertising campaign if the listing has a buy box and bid a very low amount for some good keywords. This will index the listing in search for the keywords you choose for the campaign even if you don't get many clicks. Of course this helps out your competition too if they are also on the listing, and if there is no buy box then the campaign won't be active.

[Darth_Raichu]

54 minutes ago, asharerin said:

This is how the Amazon retail platform makes money. You have to pay for advertising to rank listings these days. Create an advertising campaign if the listing has a buy box and bid a very low amount for some good keywords. This will index the listing in search for the keywords you choose for the campaign even if you don't get many clicks. Of course this helps out your competition too if they are also on the listing, and if there is no buy box then the campaign won't be active.

Interesting. Someone apparently paid for that Obi Wan GWP listing to show up.  Now when you search for LEGO 30624 it shows up with "Sponsored" tag.  I have been doing the search for a few nights and this was the first time the listing came up on the result page

[Foreman Porgy]

ASIN for Steam Engine Promo 40370: B085CMYZ6B

[river41]

On 2/28/2020 at 6:00 AM, Phil B said:

Sold a set on 1/11 via FBA and made $34.49. On 1/16 the customer files for a refund because “item not delivered”, so Amazon takes $39.10 out of my account. Yesterday, I receive the expected reimbursement, but it came in as $34.29.

I opened a case because, since the issue was with shipping, I have no blame in this, so I expected to be reimbursed for the full $39.10. Amazon came back and said I would only get $0.20 back to bring my total back to $34.49, because they always keep the referral fee.

Is this right? It doesn’t feel right to me.

that is incorrect they refund the referral fee however they deduct a administrative fee ( 5 percent max 5 dollars)plus they refund you minus what they would charge to ship the item out.

Your item must have been a small sized so the shipping was not that expensive. It's more upsetting when they refund the buyer and when the buyer doesn't return the item they still take the shipping cost out of the refund so you can be out 15 dollars on a decent sized item for no reason.