Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[asharerin]

2 hours ago, biking_tiger said:

Speaking of gated, how long is the embargo going to last on Force Awakens items at Amazon? 

Anyone? Anyone? 

And can we expect the same on Rogue One?

I think the more important question is if Amazon will ever take down duplicate listings for gated items that all sellers can jump on. Unless negative reviews start pouring in about fakes then I imagine these listings will remain. Amazon has a long history of turning a blind eye as long as the selling community is able to police itself.

[exciter1]

1 minute ago, asharerin said:

I think the more important question is if Amazon will ever take down duplicate listings for gated items that all sellers can jump on. Unless negative reviews start pouring in about fakes then I imagine these listings will remain. Amazon has a long history of turning a blind eye as long as the selling community is able to police itself.

That was my plan, I just hope there's enough traffic driven to those other listings.

[msdontplay01]

This is my response:

I apologize for any inconvenience.

The Lego set was sealed when it left here, so there was no way for me to know that anything would be missing inside the box.

I did not intentionally send you a bad product.

I will be looking into the procedure for a return as this is actually my first return.

I understand that you are upset, but please know that this was not intentional.

 

This is her response:

I'm sorry but I'm not buying that.  The scotch tape on the outside of the box is a very clear indicator that this was already opened.  A real seller would have carefully inspected the box as it is obvious this was already opened.  If you are really saying you didn't know, then that only means you did not do your due diligence when selling.  I expect an immediate refund.  If not given I will be on the phone with Amazon first thing in the morning as I buy $1000s of dollars of stuff from amazon every month and have never run across this issue from a seller.  Shame on you....

 

This is my first return on Amazon, so I am not really sure how to proceed. It would be nice to get something back even if it is just the Lego's for my son without the figs, but I don't want a bad score from Amazon.

Personally, I think this is a scammer buyer that might have sensed you were a "novice" seller. Never tell a customer you are not familiar with the return procedures with this being your first return. Their eyes will light up wondering what other procedures you don't know about that they can possibly exploit.

Like others already suggested, approve the return and give her a prepaid return label to send the item back. At least you will get the set back, minus the figures she claims is missing. Do not refund before she returns the set. She is not entitled to keep the set AND get a full refund.

Of course this customer could have received an open set with the minifigures missing but by her response and threat of calling Amazon first thing in the morning if she does not receive an immediate refund, I highly doubt this is her first rodeo playing this game

[meowingthings]

1 minute ago, exciter1 said:

That was my plan, I just hope there's enough traffic driven to those other listings.

Same here. I am sitting on 5 First Order Transporters at a $21 buy in. The Duplicate listing is ranked 4021 in building sets, the main listing is 201. From my experience 4000+ ranking is selling about one a week. I am wondering how low I am going to have to go to get the attention.

[biking_tiger]

3 hours ago, biking_tiger said:

Speaking of gated, how long is the embargo going to last on Force Awakens items at Amazon? 

Anyone? Anyone? 

And can we expect the same on Rogue One?

Quoting myself... so meta. 

 

Anyway, I checked recently released Force Awakens sets on FBA (e.g., Encounter on Jakku), and it seems they can be listed without approval. There's more--Obi Wan figure or Commander Cody: gated. Resistance Transport: not gated. As far as I can tell, and I might be full of poo here, they've gated the ASINs from last fall's Force Friday and nothing else--regardless of involvement with TFA. 

(Mods: if I shouldn't have shared any top-secrety information, please slap me hard.)

Edited June 11, 2016 by biking_tiger

[exciter1]

Quoting myself... so meta. 

 

Anyway, I checked recently released Force Awakens sets on FBA (e.g., Encounter on Jakku), and it seems they can be listed without approval. There's more--Obi Wan figure or Commander Cody: gated. Resistance Transport: not gated. As far as I can tell, and I might be full of poo here, they've gated the ASINs from last fall's Force Friday and nothing else--regardless of involvement with TFA. 

(Mods: if I shouldn't have shared any top-secrety information, please slap me hard.)

I noticed that too, just original release stuff.

[newbie77]

1 hour ago, asharerin said:

I think the more important question is if Amazon will ever take down duplicate listings for gated items that all sellers can jump on. Unless negative reviews start pouring in about fakes then I imagine these listings will remain. Amazon has a long history of turning a blind eye as long as the selling community is able to police itself.

you are absolutely correct. amazon won't pull the whole listing ever they will investigate each buyer who receives a complaint. [ my original response was that.]  

16 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

I noticed that too, just original release stuff.

i believe the gated sets were also open at the very first but they become gated after about two-three weeks. not saying that would happen again but something to keep an eye out.

may be flock of investors are already bailing out of amazon  LOL

[biking_tiger]

1 minute ago, newbie77 said:

 

may be flock of investors are already bailing out of amazon  LOL

I can't imagine Amazon wants everything gated. They're making money hand-over-fist with FBA. Do some restrictions, make the suppliers happy, move along. 

[ichiroll]

4 hours ago, biking_tiger said:

I can't imagine Amazon wants everything gated. They're making money hand-over-fist with FBA. Do some restrictions, make the suppliers happy, move along. 

actually they are not, it's a well known fact that their FC's in general are grossly oversaturated with product that doesn't sell well.

thus their recent price hike on long-term FBA storage fees.

[meowingthings]

2 hours ago, ichiroll said:

actually they are not, it's a well known fact that their FC's in general are grossly oversaturated with product that doesn't sell well.

thus their recent price hike on long-term FBA storage fees.

40% of Amazon's sales are 3rd party merchants. Not sure how much of that is FBA but I would guess a majority. They may have stuffed warehouses but that doesn't mean they aren't profiting.

[biking_tiger]

4 minutes ago, meowingthings said:

40% of Amazon's sales are 3rd party merchants. Not sure how much of that is FBA but I would guess a majority. They may have stuffed warehouses but that doesn't mean they aren't profiting.

You beat me to it.  

I think Amazon's rate hike is aimed at two things:

1) to help pay for expanded warehouse/logistics as stated in their message to sellers

2) to help discourage "parking" inventory in their warehouses

Re #2, I don't understand why anyone would send an item to a FC and leave it with a price that lands them on page 10 of the listings. But then again, I'm only small potatoes and don't understand a whole lot. 

[ichiroll]

You beat me to it.  

I think Amazon's rate hike is aimed at two things:

1) to help pay for expanded warehouse/logistics as stated in their message to sellers

2) to help discourage "parking" inventory in their warehouses

Re #2, I don't understand why anyone would send an item to a FC and leave it with a price that lands them on page 10 of the listings. But then again, I'm only small potatoes and don't understand a whole lot. 

Quoting a rep from Amazon, they called it an "incentive" to sellers to send more productive inventory, lol.

[KShine]

It would think it is likely that once you go the FBA route, the number of sellers who who would (or could, because of space) ever take back their inventory is pretty low.

Amazon would know this - so a rate hike seems reasonable. Also, if the holiday rates encourage sellers to lower their prices (to move product), that's even better.

[biking_tiger]

47 minutes ago, KShine said:

It would think it is likely that once you go the FBA route, the number of sellers who who would (or could, because of space) ever take back their inventory is pretty low.

Amazon would know this - so a rate hike seems reasonable. Also, if the holiday rates encourage sellers to lower their prices (to move product), that's even better.

Someone posted a while back the three biggest mistakes in selling, and I believe they were:

1)Ebay

2)Auctions

3)Holidays

(Someone correct me if I'm wrong--I've tried to find the source.)

Yes, demand goes way up during the holiday season--but so does supply. I lowered prices on several items last year to sell, and I don't want to be in that position again. 

[donbee]

Why is eBay #1?

I think I get 2 & 3.

[biking_tiger]

2 minutes ago, donbee said:

Why is eBay #1?

I think I get 2 & 3.

I'm paraphrasing from another member--sorry I can't find the source--but he/she is evidently not an eBay fan. 

Honestly, I don't sell much small stuff via eBay anymore because Amazon has made it so easy. I pretty much do my large/exclusive business via eBay (I feel I have better seller protection versus Amazon) and the smaller quick sellers via FBA. The effort, shipping costs, and margin work out in my favor. Just me, of course. There are many roads up this mountain. 

[KShine]

5 minutes ago, biking_tiger said:

Someone posted a while back the three biggest mistakes in selling, and I believe they were:

1)Ebay

2)Auctions

3)Holidays

(Someone correct me if I'm wrong--I've tried to find the source.)

Yes, demand goes way up during the holiday season--but so does supply. I lowered prices on several items last year to sell, and I don't want to be in that position again. 

I meant better for Amazon, none of it is better for sellers.

2, and 3 are correct, but I am not convinced about 1 though.

Auctions will unquestionably get a lower price (unless a seller is so unsure of the correct value, that they would have sold their Sealed Cloud City for $50).

Holidays, while certainly high in sales isn't the best time for high prices on collectible LEGO. Flippers might be thrilled, but for non-flippers - not so much.

I think choosing between Ebay & Amazon is more questionable. A year or two back, switching to Amazon made a lot of sense (since there were less sellers on the marketplace). Nowadays, that isn't so much the case (and it is getting worse). While neither one of them is really on your side, I still have a harder time trusting Amazon (and giving up what little control we might have as sellers).

[biking_tiger]

1 minute ago, KShine said:

I meant better for Amazon, none of it is better for sellers.

2, and 3 are correct, but I am not convinced about 1 though.

Auctions will unquestionably get a lower price (unless a seller is so unsure of the correct value, that they would have sold their Sealed Cloud City for $50).

Holidays, while certainly high in sales isn't the best time for high prices on collectible LEGO. Flippers might be thrilled, but for non-flippers - not so much.

I think choosing between Ebay & Amazon is more questionable. A year or two back, switching to Amazon made a lot of sense (since there were less sellers on the marketplace). Nowadays, that isn't so much the case (and it is getting worse). While neither one of them is really on your side, I still have a harder time trusting Amazon (and giving up what little control we might have as sellers).

Agreed. Amazon will always operate in Amazon's best interest. It is a juggernaut and great ally if you're both on the same page. If not, prepare to be crushed. (I have trust issues with Amazon, too, but I can't beat their exposure and logistics.)

I'm not sure about eBay, either--but auctions aren't what they were years ago. I used to be able to manipulate auctions (timing, start price, etc.) in my favor. Years ago, I would routinely have auctions go for more than buy it now prices. Times have changed. 

 

[asharerin]

1 hour ago, biking_tiger said:

Someone posted a while back the three biggest mistakes in selling, and I believe they were:

1)Ebay

2)Auctions

3)Holidays

(Someone correct me if I'm wrong--I've tried to find the source.)

 

I am your source lol. But it was all three combined. If Amazon offered auctions I would list them there along with ebay as well. It was a warning to alot of new sellers who post how they are going to cash out big with newly retired sets during Christmas. Christmas is a great time to cash in on high priced collectibles if there are only a few sellers on the market, but when there are many hundreds it is a dumpster fire.

I do prefer reselling with Amazon FBA due to the reduced workload, profit potential if you choose to send in the right kind of items and you are deep on them, and the type of customer. Ebay I prefer for one off expensive items (actually I prefer ebay if I can't move it on craigslist, facebook group or local lego store first) or to move Amazon fraudulent returns.

When investing then we most certainly choose AMZN over EBAY all day, every day  

[glucapg]

2 hours ago, biking_tiger said:

Someone posted a while back the three biggest mistakes in selling, and I believe they were:

1)Ebay

2)Auctions

3)Holidays

(Someone correct me if I'm wrong--I've tried to find the source.)

Yes, demand goes way up during the holiday season--but so does supply. I lowered prices on several items last year to sell, and I don't want to be in that position again. 

holidays?? During christmas holidays, when amazon allows the sale only to some sellers, the number of them down a lot and you get amazing selling prices

[Bold-Arrow]

It really doesn't go down that much ... 400+ sellers on Satna Workshop . Enough said 

[biking_tiger]

52 minutes ago, asharerin said:

I am your source lol. But it was all three combined. If Amazon offered auctions I would list them there along with ebay as well. It was a warning to alot of new sellers who post how they are going to cash out big with newly retired sets during Christmas. Christmas is a great time to cash in on high priced collectibles if there are only a few sellers on the market, but when there are many hundreds it is a dumpster fire.

I do prefer reselling with Amazon FBA due to the reduced workload, profit potential if you choose to send in the right kind of items and you are deep on them, and the type of customer. Ebay I prefer for one off expensive items (actually I prefer ebay if I can't move it on craigslist, facebook group or local lego store first) or to move Amazon fraudulent returns.

When investing then we most certainly choose AMZN over EBAY all day, every day  

I'm glad you found me and sorry for the misinterpretation!  

4 minutes ago, glucapg said:

holidays?? During christmas holidays, when amazon allows the sale only to some sellers, the number of them down a lot and you get amazing selling prices

I didn't see a significant drop in sellers last year. Did anyone else? Prices sure dropped on some of my items* as sellers raced to the bottom. I think it really depends on what you're trying to sell.

*for example, Temple of Light is now selling for about $20 less than its high before Christmas last year. It might not be the case for everything, but...

 

[exciter1]

4 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

It really doesn't go down that much ... 400+ sellers on Satna Workshop . Enough said 

Money!

[glucapg]

It really doesn't go down that much ... 400+ sellers on Satna Workshop . Enough said 

I'm talking about the five Amazon EU marketplaces.

[themoose9]

So my FIRST SALE on Amazon came back with a negative review. Not because the shipment was late (which it wasn't), or packaged poorly (which it wasn't), or the item not being as described (which it was). I used the Amazon supplied pictures and information to list a Rapunzel's Market Visit (30116) and got a negative rating because in the buyer's words, "Item was smaller than showed." Not even considering the grammatical errors, what does that even mean? The dimensions were supplied BY AMAZON, including several pictures. That feedback is akin to "I didn't read the description before I boughted it"

 So whats the best way to go about getting that removed? Do I go with the "respond" or "resolve" option?