Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[jbacunn]

11 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

now were just grasping at straws here

I was just kidding. My original point was that it makes sense for authorized sellers on Amazon to be very upset about the state of the marketplace and do whatever they have to do to reduce the number of sellers. 

[yyyybird]

I remembered I read somewhere, authorized seller still can not sell on Amazon or ebay?


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[jbacunn]

9 minutes ago, redcell said:

You seem to be assuming that just because these C&D letters are targeting Amazon sellers that Lego isn't doing anything with regards to Bricklink.  I suspect that Bricklink will be a part of whatever strategy they are pursuing.  In fact, I think that Bricklink will be the real canary in the coal mine that will provide early insights on what exactly they're up to given that they have control over Bricklink.

This doesn't make sense. Lego could shut down BL in 2 seconds. No need to pay a law firm to go after sellers. 

[redcell]

1 minute ago, jbacunn said:

This doesn't make sense. Lego could shut down BL in 2 seconds. No need to pay a law firm to go after sellers. 

Right...that's exactly my point.  LEGO has control over BL and doesn't have to rely on lawyers so if we start seeing sellers blocked from selling certain products on BL or certain products disappearing altogether on BL, that will give us some idea of what LEGO is concerned about and what it is targeting because it's a lot easier to walk down the hall and have Thomas the IT guy flip a few switches on BL than it is to get Amazon to do anything.

[gmpirate]

6 minutes ago, yyyybird said:

I remembered I read somewhere, authorized seller still can not sell on Amazon or ebay?


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I believe you are correct

[jbacunn]

Just now, redcell said:

Right...that's exactly my point.  LEGO has control over BL and doesn't have to rely on lawyers so if we start seeing sellers blocked from selling certain products on BL or certain products disappearing altogether on BL, that will give us some idea of what LEGO is concerned about and what it is targeting because it's a lot easier to walk down the hall and have Thomas the IT guy flip a few switches on BL than it is to get Amazon to do anything.

Got it. But wouldn't they do that first before going after Amazon sellers? 

[redcell]

1 minute ago, jbacunn said:

Got it. But wouldn't they do that first before going after Amazon sellers? 

It would make sense to do, but I've never known large organizations to make sense in how they go about doing things.

[Migration]

4 minutes ago, redcell said:

Right...that's exactly my point.  LEGO has control over BL and doesn't have to rely on lawyers so if we start seeing sellers blocked from selling certain products on BL or certain products disappearing altogether on BL, that will give us some idea of what LEGO is concerned about and what it is targeting because it's a lot easier to walk down the hall and have Thomas the IT guy flip a few switches on BL than it is to get Amazon to do anything.

You give Thomas the IT guy far ToO much credit. 

[pharmjod]

4 minutes ago, redcell said:

Right...that's exactly my point.  LEGO has control over BL and doesn't have to rely on lawyers so if we start seeing sellers blocked from selling certain products on BL or certain products disappearing altogether on BL, that will give us some idea of what LEGO is concerned about and what it is targeting because it's a lot easier to walk down the hall and have Thomas the IT guy flip a few switches on BL than it is to get Amazon to do anything.

Thomas the LEGO IT guy...

[Darth_Raichu]

4 minutes ago, Migration said:

You give Thomas the IT guy far ToO much credit. 

I don't know, the last Black Friday was pretty smooth compared to previous years.  Perhaps Thomas finally figured out which switch to flip

[Mark Twain]

15 minutes ago, redcell said:

You seem to be assuming that just because these C&D letters are targeting Amazon sellers that Lego isn't doing anything with regards to Bricklink.  I suspect that Bricklink will be a part of whatever strategy they are pursuing.  In fact, I think that Bricklink will be the real canary in the coal mine that will provide early insights on what exactly they're up to given that they have control over Bricklink.

LEGO's acquisition AMA of BL confirmed they had no intention to ban or restrict reseller stores less than two years ago and the amount of ill will a move like that would create among the AFOL community would be a PR and financial disaster. I've copied the specific Q&A below. Vorys likely has no clue what BL is or how it functions as a marketplace, otherwise, they would have chosen their language much more carefully.

Quote

 

10. Can store exclusive items that were never released to the general public be sold on the platform?

We often create exclusive building sets for special occasions. Of course, we don't do this with profit in mind. If sets or elements have been acquired legally, they can be resold on BrickLink.

12. Is the LEGO Group considering taking any action against profit-seeking resellers who deal in regional or event exclusive LEGO sets (e.g. Comic Con)?

This was one of the first questions I was asked after announcing the acquisition! We aren't going to interfere with resale of legitimate LEGO elements. We are also going to continue to produce exclusives for events and special occasions as it's fun and helps create a bit of buzz. Of course it's always disappointing when people exploit these good intentions for personal gain.

16. Will the LEGO Group be regulating the prices of old/retired LEGO sets in any way? This also includes fees associated with the BrickLink platform today?

We do not have an interest in influencing prices on discontinued sets and there are no plans to change transaction fees. We will maintain the marketplace in a way that is competitively robust and we will continue to allow sellers to operate as they are doing already.

 

 

[ravenb99]

16 minutes ago, pharmjod said:

Thomas the LEGO IT guy...

wait now I'm confuse, thought there were nomoremonkeys???

[LegoBro]

44 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

I should do a reveal stream on twitch .... if you can't laugh you will cry 

Do it!

[Darth_Raichu]

Just now, LegoBro said:

Do it!

 

FTFY

[brickology101]

 

For 12. Lego replied Lego “elements” not “sets”. But Nonetheless this is a good find.


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[Bold-Arrow]

I need to check my insurance policy and see what’s covered in it 

[Migration]

42 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

I don't know, the last Black Friday was pretty smooth compared to previous years.  Perhaps Thomas finally figured out which switch to flip

Because there was nothing worth buying. 

[joesnow2005]

1 minute ago, Migration said:

Because there was nothing worth buying. 

That is exactly their solution.

[BrickLover80]

6 hours ago, brickology101 said:

For 12. Lego replied Lego “elements” not “sets”. But Nonetheless this is a good find.


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Indeed. And in 16. they explicitly refer to sets. So reading this, reselling old sets is fine. From which you could infer that flipping current releases is not.

[Foreman Porgy]

I’m a relatively small seller compared to most, but I do agree with the idea that if Lego is truly trying to go after third party sellers, they surely wouldn’t own the biggest reseller website for their own product (Bricklink.) Why would they, when they are making profits on both sides? I’ve had issues where customers complain on Amazon about prices being too high on certain items (when they are only 2x MSRP,) to the point that it causes my voice of the customer rating to go down. At that point I will just drop the price to around break even and move on from the item. Unless you get a letter from Lego themselves, I would completely ignore it. 

[Bold-Arrow]

I cashed out my VP points at Lego last night just in case  and placed an order that already shipped . 

[I am Niko]

Got a "This package never arrived" message from an Amazon Marketplace buyer today, on an order placed 11/27 and shipped out the same day.  It was out for delivery on 11/30, then the tracking on Amazon has this:

Quote

Fri, Dec 10, 2021, 1:17 AM PST		Package delivered.
Fri, Dec 10, 2021, 1:04 AM PST		Customer refused delivery.
Wed, Dec 1, 2021, 2:34 AM PST	Astoria NY US	Delivery attempted.
Tue, Nov 30, 2021, 11:37 PM PST	Astoria NY US	Package is out for delivery.

The tracking through the USPS site states:

Quote

December 10, 2021, 9:17 am
Delivered, Individual Picked Up at Post Office
ASTORIA, NY 11105 
Your item was picked up at the post office at 9:17 am on December 10, 2021 in ASTORIA, NY 11105.

---

December 10, 2021, 9:04 am
Unclaimed/Being Returned to Sender
ASTORIA, NY 11105

---

Reminder to Schedule Redelivery of your item

---

December 1, 2021, 10:34 am
Notice Left (No Secure Location Available)
ASTORIA, NY 11105 

 

---

 

December 1, 2021, 7:37 am
Out for Delivery
ASTORIA, NY 11105 

I simply replied saying what the tracking said.  Can anybody decode what in the world is going on with the tracking?  And no, I haven't gotten the package back.

[Phil B]

2 minutes ago, I am Niko said:

Got a "This package never arrived" message from an Amazon Marketplace buyer today, on an order placed 11/27 and shipped out the same day.  It was out for delivery on 11/30, then the tracking on Amazon has this:

The tracking through the USPS site states:

I simply replied saying what the tracking said.  Can anybody decode what in the world is going on with the tracking?  And no, I haven't gotten the package back.

Sounds like they had a mail hold in place, and then picked it up 9 days later at the PO.

[I am Niko]

2 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Sounds like they had a mail hold in place, and then picked it up 9 days later at the PO.

Seems plausible, but I still don't get the "Unclaimed/Being Returned to Sender" (USPS version) or "Customer refused delivery." (Amazon version), 13 minutes before the supposed pickup, unless the worker picked the wrong status or something.

[gmpirate]

This 4th quarter is the most I have received "did not receive" & "refused delivery" and I have had bigger 4ths.