Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[asharerin]

This should stamp out the issues Amazon was having on sets at the ASIN level. Nobody is going to come in with manufacturer invoices and pony up thousands just to send in some fake sets or sets with the minfigs pulled. Those days are over.

I would not expect much change in the market at the beginning as most were grandfathered in. There will be a noticeable effect in 3-5 years time when future resellers who haven't even bought their first brick yet will be locked out and the current counterfeiters and poor sellers are weeded out over time. I do expect amazon premium pricing over ebay to be restablished over the next year or two as all of the new resellers are going to be stuck using ebay now.

[KShine]

3 minutes ago, asharerin said:

This should stamp out the issues Amazon was having on sets at the ASIN level. Nobody is going to come in with manufacturer invoices and pony up thousands just to send in some fake sets or sets with the minfigs pulled. Those days are over.

I would not expect much change in the market at the beginning as most were grandfathered in. There will be a noticeable effect in 3-5 years time when future resellers who haven't even bought their first brick yet will be locked out and the current counterfeiters and poor sellers are weeded out over time. I do expect amazon premium pricing over ebay to be restablished over the next year or two as all of the new resellers are going to be stuck using ebay now.

And if this is just step 1, and step 2 is to remove the grandfather exception? 

[Bold-Arrow]

2 minutes ago, KShine said:

And if this is just step 1, and step 2 is to remove the grandfather exception? 

Buy corn that point , there will be a price crash and a huge exodus 

[pcaster]

Just another data point - I have two seller accounts, one that I only sell LEGO on and another that I haven't sold a LEGO set on since late 2013.  The old account is gated:

 

While the main LEGO account is not:

 

 

[redcell]

6 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

Buy corn that point , there will be a price crash and a huge exodus 

And anyone who can stay on the other side of the gate will be able to ca$h in big time.

[asharerin]

5 minutes ago, KShine said:

And if this is just step 1, and step 2 is to remove the grandfather exception? 

If Amazon had history of proceeding to step 2 I would be worried. Since they never have I am not worried.

I am just wondering if this means Amazon is going to clean up their catalog otherwise we are just going to see multiple listings for gate brands with the brand set as "UNKNOWN" and a fake UPC.

[donbee]

I already don't like selling on eBay. If all the schmuck from Amazon moves over... Maybe I'll have more confidence buying from Amazon now.

[jaisonline]

11 minutes ago, donbee said:

I already don't like selling on eBay. If all the schmuck from Amazon moves over... Maybe I'll have more confidence buying from Amazon now.

I've sold on both. eBay isn't bad.  Maybe we'll hear about FBE soon  however, I'm not sure if eBay wants to do fulfillment work since it will be  a huge investment,

[Bold-Arrow]

4 minutes ago, jaisonline said:

I've sold on both. eBay isn't bad.  Maybe we'll hear about FBE soon  however, I'm not sure if eBay wants to do fulfillment work since it will be  a huge investment,

They have floated something similar not that long time ago 

Regarding Amazon , an interesting read : http://onlinesalesstepbystep.com/brandapproval/

 

[asharerin]

1 minute ago, jaisonline said:

I've sold on both. eBay isn't bad.  Maybe we'll hear about FBE soon  however, I'm not sure if eBay wants to do fulfillment work since it will be  a huge investment,

Like GSP but for domestic? That would be nice. I know they rolled that out for their Chinese sellers. Now that Paypal is gone I don't think they have the capital or borrowing power to get their own warehouses across the USA. That costs ridiculous money so the only players in that space are Amazon and your retailers like Walmart and Target who already have warehouses.

[redcell]

I've sold on both. eBay isn't bad.  Maybe we'll hear about FBE soon  however, I'm not sure if eBay wants to do fulfillment work since it will be  a huge investment,

I haven't sold seriously on ebay for years., and I doubt they could justify creating an FBE service unless it was tied to some larger strategic play. That is huge infrastructure cost for what it would be used for. FBA makes more sense because Amazon has all of the infrastructure for its primary business and then just a separate pipeline for 3p sellers.

Had anyone who is currently ungated for Lego gotten a letter saying they would have to prove up authenticity by 8/30? I haven't.

[asharerin]

12 minutes ago, redcell said:

Had anyone who is currently ungated for Lego gotten a letter saying they would have to prove up authenticity by 8/30? I haven't.

We haven't either. I think alot of the info posted in BA's link is speculation and not reality.

[Migration]

I've sold on both. eBay isn't bad.  Maybe we'll hear about FBE soon  however, I'm not sure if eBay wants to do fulfillment work since it will be  a huge investment,

They already have eBay concierge.

[newbie77]

1 hour ago, redcell said:

 

I haven't sold seriously on ebay for years., and I doubt they could justify creating an FBE service unless it was tied to some larger strategic play. That is huge infrastructure cost for what it would be used for. FBA makes more sense because Amazon has all of the infrastructure for its primary business and then just a separate pipeline for 3p sellers.

 

Had anyone who is currently ungated for Lego gotten a letter saying they would have to prove up authenticity by 8/30? I haven't.

this is what they were doing with me i.e. they removed listings for both 10702 and 75916 and have required me to send in proof of purchase/invoices.

attached below is the excerpt of message for 10702. very same for 75916 as well only difference is the ASIN and the listing price and SKU information. interesting fact is i have only listed under those ASIN haven't made any sales for that matter. 

this is my speculative inference: 

they are doing this to test water with regard to overhead and how many sellers are actually able to provide those information. i believe if they find its reasonably within their threshold they are going to enforce this to all LEGO products. if they do that then i personally won't be able to provide invoices within 180 days for each and every LEGO sets listed hence will have to find alternate marketplace. 

****************************======================*********************

We removed some your listings because they may infringe intellectual property rights. The listings we removed are at the bottom of this message.

To maintain a trusted marketplace for buyers and sellers, we take immediate action to address intellectual property rights infringement.

If this problem continues, we may not allow you to sell on Amazon.com.


What you can do

Refrain from listing these items.

If you disagree with the decision to remove your listings, please let us know. You can contact us at seller-listing-policy@amazon.com. Please include copies of receipts or invoices which meet the following criteria:

-- Identify the specific item(s) under review
-- Demonstrate purchase and listing quantities
-- Are authentic and unaltered
-- Display required information, including supplier and buyer information, invoice date, and item(s) descriptions and quantities
-- Were issued in the last 180 days

You may also include any additional details you would like us to know.

You can remove pricing information, but please make sure the rest of document is visible. You can send us a pdf, jpg, png, or gif file.

Please be assured that your distributor’s or supplier’s contact information will remain confidential - Amazon puts great effort in maintaining the confidentiality of our customer's information.


What happens next

We will review your information and let you know our decision as soon as possible.


Learn more

To learn more about this policy, search for "Intellectual Property Violations" and "Prohibited Content" in Seller Central Help.

Still have questions? You can ask our Seller Support team to contact you (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/hz/contact-us).


Sincerely,

Seller Performance Team
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com

-------------------------------------
Listings Removed
-------------------------------------
B013GYB3O8      *****          ******   LEGO Classic Creative 10702

Edited August 27, 2016 by newbie77

[asharerin]

5 minutes ago, newbie77 said:

this is what they were doing with me i.e. they removed listings for both 10702 and 75916 and have required me to send in proof of purchase/invoices.

Newbie can you try add ASIN B00NHQFMKM?

Are you allowed to sell that or is that blocked for you?

[newbie77]

6 minutes ago, asharerin said:

Newbie can you try add ASIN B00NHQFMKM?

Are you allowed to sell that or is that blocked for you?

i can sell under that ASIN B00NHQFMKM for 76042. not blocked. just listed some

Edited August 27, 2016 by newbie77

[jaxman]

7 minutes ago, asharerin said:

Newbie can you try add ASIN B00NHQFMKM?

Are you allowed to sell that or is that blocked for you?

I can sell that one new too.

[asharerin]

24 minutes ago, jaxman said:

I can sell that one new too.

 

26 minutes ago, newbie77 said:

i can sell under that ASIN B00NHQFMKM for 76042. not blocked. just listed some

OK so it appears you guys are ungated for the Lego brand, but you did not meet the metrics for approval on the sets that are blocked at the ASIN level. 

I don't think this is a trial, I think this is how it is going to go. Luckily there are only a few lego sets blocked at the ASIN level, and with the entire brand gated now there will be no more going forward.

So there will be 3 classes of seller:

1) Those who need approval to sell Lego at the brand level.

2) Those who have been grandfathered in to sell Lego at the brand level but did not meet the metrics to sell the few lego sets that are restricted at the ASIN level (in this case if you have inventory in those ASIN restricted listings you get the letter for removal or provide proof)

3) Those who have been grandfathered in to sell Lego and did meet metrics to sell the few sets restricted at the ASIN level.

 

This then leaves the question will the upcoming Rogue One lego sets need Lego AND Star Wars approval, or just one, and if so which one lol. 

Edited August 27, 2016 by asharerin

[newbie77]

38 minutes ago, asharerin said:

 

OK so it appears you guys are ungated for the Lego brand, but you did not meet the metrics for approval on the sets that are blocked at the ASIN level. 

I don't think this is a trial, I think this is how it is going to go. Luckily there are only a few lego sets blocked at the ASIN level, and with the entire brand gated now there will be no more going forward.

So there will be 3 classes of seller:

1) Those who need approval to sell Lego at the brand level.

2) Those who have been grandfathered in to sell Lego at the brand level but did not meet the metrics to sell the few lego sets that are restricted at the ASIN level (in this case if you have inventory in those ASIN restricted listings you get the letter for removal or provide proof)

3) Those who have been grandfathered in to sell Lego and did meet metrics to sell the few sets restricted at the ASIN level.

 

This then leaves the question will the upcoming Rogue One lego sets need Lego AND Star Wars approval, or just one, and if so which one lol. 

understood thanks @asharerin

(2) yes at this point there are few ASIN but there is no guarantee that they can't expand that. if they don't then its all good but if they do then it becomes a nightmare

[exciter1]

OK so it appears you guys are ungated for the Lego brand, but you did not meet the metrics for approval on the sets that are blocked at the ASIN level. 

I don't think this is a trial, I think this is how it is going to go. Luckily there are only a few lego sets blocked at the ASIN level, and with the entire brand gated now there will be no more going forward.

So there will be 3 classes of seller:

1) Those who need approval to sell Lego at the brand level.

2) Those who have been grandfathered in to sell Lego at the brand level but did not meet the metrics to sell the few lego sets that are restricted at the ASIN level (in this case if you have inventory in those ASIN restricted listings you get the letter for removal or provide proof)

3) Those who have been grandfathered in to sell Lego and did meet metrics to sell the few sets restricted at the ASIN level.

 

This then leaves the question will the upcoming Rogue One lego sets need Lego AND Star Wars approval, or just one, and if so which one lol. 

Might need Rogue One approval, like the restricted TFA sets from last year.

[asharerin]

3 minutes ago, newbie77 said:

(2) yes at this point there are few ASIN but there is no guarantee that they can't expand that. if they don't then its all good but if they do then it becomes a nightmare

That is the whole point of gating the brand, so they don't have to spend time to block individual listings at the ASIN level that are high risk. Should be smooth sailing ahead.

[Sauromosis]

2 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

Might need Rogue One approval, like the restricted TFA sets from last year.

Yeah, I'm dreading the requirements for that and subsequent Star Wars movies.  If they require a letter from Disney, yikes.

[fossilrock]

it doesn't seem like all the Force Awakens sets were gated.  Just the original sets that came out on force friday were locked out. Most of the sets that recently came out this year did not seem to fall under the gate.  It will be interesting to see once they get the "discontinued by manufacturer" tag in the title if they become open to anyone.  

[Bold-Arrow]

Highly doubt that "tag" would affect anything 

[fossilrock]

7 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

Highly doubt that "tag" would affect anything 

If something is discontinued by the manufacturer, in theory that could trigger amazon to unlock it.  I doubt the Force Awakens sets will be gated once lego no longer supplies it.  Amazon's not going to leave money on the table.  And those sort of locks barring certain resellers that don't meet a set group of criteria to be released by having an expiration date placed on any inventory within the inventory management system. 

Edited August 27, 2016 by fossilrock