Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[redcell]

1 hour ago, nick625 said:

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.

The way I originally read the email, you wouldn't even need a DBA...your business name would appear and whatever address you had in as your business address.  Asharerin pointed out that they expressed an intent to rationalize the practice with Mexico and EU where they apparently display the tax name.  Don't quote me on that actually being the case...I don't know.

[Darth_Raichu]

3 hours 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.

A solution that I hope I do not need to take.  I was looking into multimember LLC for tax purposes and that is a lot of hassle for anonymity 

[skinsfan0521]

13 hours 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.

Could you accomplish the same thing by choosing to be taxed as an S corp but keep the single member LLC? Honestly, I'm a little confused when it gets into this type of detail (which is why I have an accountant), but that's how I'm set up and I don't actually have my name listed anywhere in my Amazon account. I'm not saying that I never provided it, but if I go and look through all of the settings now, I don't actually see it. I see my business name and my business address (which is my home address).

 

Edited July 10, 2020 by skinsfan0521

[cobrakai]

45 minutes ago, skinsfan0521 said:

Could you accomplish the same thing by choosing to be taxed as an S corp but keep the single member LLC? Honestly, I'm a little confused when it gets into this type of detail (which is why I have an accountant), but that's how I'm set up and I don't actually have my name listed anywhere in my Amazon account. I'm not saying that I never provided it, but if I go and look through all of the settings now, I don't actually see it. I see my business name and my business address (which is my home address).

 

The options for LLC type are S-corp, C-corp, or partnership.  If you are not one of those, then it treats you the same as a sole prop.  It should show your name as the Legal business entity if you are a single member LLC/Sole prop.  I have a federal EIN and LLC, but I cannot use those in my Amazon tax interview.  If you switch to an S-corp filing, I believe that will allow you to use your business name and EIN.  If you are an S-corp, I believe you have to pay yourself a reasonable salary every month and it will likely have some tax savings also.  I'm too scared to change mine and have issues with my account afterwards.  I see all the horror stories about people changing bank, address, etc and having problems.

[Phil B]

I think you're all looking at this wrong. I have already enlisted the help of my wife and kids to be able to address all the fan mail I will get once my happy buyers will finally have an address to send all those Thank You cards to ....

Edited July 10, 2020 by Phil B

[cladner]

15 minutes ago, cobrakai said:

I'm too scared to change mine and have issues with my account afterwards.  I see all the horror stories about people changing bank, address, etc and having problems.

Il meglio è l'inimico del bene.

[odysea11]

54 minutes ago, Phil B said:

I think you're all looking at this wrong. I have already enlisted the help of my wife and kids to be able to address all the fan mail I will get once my happy buyers will finally have an address to send all those Thank You cards to ....

If those pour in as fast as AMZ Feedback.....you may find yourself over-staffed!

[Darth_Raichu]

 

4 hours ago, skinsfan0521 said:

Could you accomplish the same thing by choosing to be taxed as an S corp but keep the single member LLC? Honestly, I'm a little confused when it gets into this type of detail (which is why I have an accountant), but that's how I'm set up and I don't actually have my name listed anywhere in my Amazon account. I'm not saying that I never provided it, but if I go and look through all of the settings now, I don't actually see it. I see my business name and my business address (which is my home address).

 

With that setup, wouldn't you need to file your tax (as a business) separately from your individual tax? 

[Bold-Arrow]

So Amazon removes the order widget from the main screen ? WT-flying--F

[joch29]

4 hours ago, Bold-Arrow said:

So Amazon removes the order widget from the main screen ? WT-flying--F

crazy...so annoying.

Looks like they are changing the format to boxes. Something that gonna take getting use to visually.

 

[skinsfan0521]

4 hours ago, Bold-Arrow said:

So Amazon removes the order widget from the main screen ? WT-flying--F

What do you mean? I'm not sure I understand what you're saying has changed. 

[Bold-Arrow]

9 hours ago, skinsfan0521 said:

What do you mean? I'm not sure I understand what you're saying has changed. 

the sales summary box and the box that showed how many orders ( returns )  you have for the day have been moved from the main page which is crazy considering all you do on the site is sell .. smh 

[redcell]

At least we still have the "Sell Globally" box.

[Darth_Raichu]

13 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

the sales summary box and the box that showed how many orders ( returns )  you have for the day have been moved from the main page which is crazy considering all you do on the site is sell .. smh 

I have been using the front page less and less since 2 or 3 updates ago when they introduced a bunch of useless boxes and moved them up to the top of the page.

To me, this is what happens when a bunch of software engineers change a tool / webpage without consulting the users / sellers.  eBay did this a few years ago too, forcing everyone to adapt to the new page format.  Just like eBay, I expect Amzn will keep tweaking the page for at least 2 years

[SpaceFan9]

So, what's the over/under for the time between amazon revealing names and addresses to being banned from lego dot com?  2 weeks?  Or am I just trending negative again here?   I'm thinking of clearing my points balance, just in case.  (and redcell's llc suggestion has boosted its priority level, for me)

[Phil B]

Anyone ever seen this? I've checked my selling price and it is definitely not $0.00:

[skinsfan0521]

12 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Anyone ever seen this? I've checked my selling price and it is definitely not $0.00:

I've seen it when they send a replacement to a customer.

[Bold-Arrow]

13 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Anyone ever seen this? I've checked my selling price and it is definitely not $0.00:

It is a replacement . If you give it a day or two it will show up under that tab with a code to show the reason . Usually customer return the original , if not u get reimbursed . 

[Phil B]

2 minutes ago, skinsfan0521 said:

I've seen it when they send a replacement to a customer.

So do you then get a credit? Or not dinged? or am I paying for this replacement?

NEVERMIND, saw BA's answer just now.

Edited July 16, 2020 by Phil B

[skinsfan0521]

6 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

It is a replacement . If you give it a day or two it will show up under that tab with a code to show the reason . Usually customer return the original , if not u get reimbursed . 

I think when I've seen this before, the customer didn't return the original and I didn't get credit either. It's one of those things where Amazon determines that it is not worth sending the item back and just sends a replacement out to the customer.

I may be wrong about that because I've only had this happen a couple times and the last time was a long time ago, but that's how I remember it working.

[gmpirate]

Can anyone get Corner Garage 10264 to come up in a search?

[joch29]

2 minutes ago, gmpirate said:

Can anyone get Corner Garage 10264 to come up in a search?

just tried ..nope

[SpaceFan9]

13 minutes ago, gmpirate said:

Can anyone get Corner Garage 10264 to come up in a search?

 

Weird.  It's listed under two ASINs: B07JM13DVC  and B07NDVHWWL, but it's unsearchable.

[gmpirate]

I somehow got a listed to show up in the app yesterday that had foreign language in the title but I don't remember what I did.  Normally someone has to contact a CR to have corrected, but that's normally when I can at least find it somehow.

[skinsfan0521]

18 minutes ago, SpaceFan9 said:

Weird.  It's listed under two ASINs: B07JM13DVC  and B07NDVHWWL, but it's unsearchable.

I have a listing under under B07NDVHWWL because that's the one that Amazon is listed on when they get stock.