Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[thedingman5]

3 minutes ago, asharerin said:

I have decided not to mess with buying from ebay sellers to resell on Amazon. I wan't this ride to last as long as possible so I am only going to send into Amazon what I have bought directly from authorized retailers. All it is going to take is a few complaints about fraud or minifigs missing and you are toast on Amazon. Not going to send in items from retail shelves either, just online, and only after inspecting seals and weighing everything. 

Sorry if I'm being dense...since you are grandfathered in, it means a.) you don't have to apply or pay the fee AND b.) retail receipts are still "good enough" for you to sell on Amazon?  Is there a risk that the grandfathered sellers have to move to having paperwork from distributors? 

[Bold-Arrow]

Just that everyone is clear, Amazon didn't post any messages on the seller platform  nor send did they send memos. This is all speculation although most of it seemto be on point .

 

[weitzel78]

I've sold on eBay for 16 years and don't mind selling on there. My complaint is I had no idea this was going to happen- and the risk reward has changed because I can't ship in bulk. I know others have been grandfathered in - but let's review.

1) You can't sell on Amazon unless you have invoices

2) The only way to get invoices is by buying from TLG (no distributors are available)

3) Amazon will always get better pricing than SMEs buying from TLG and Amazon does not have to incurre all there selling fees (they get it all at cost).

So what is the point of having 3rd party sellers on Amazon (excluding those grandfathered)?

[exciter1]

In light of the recent extension of seller restrictions on Amazon, I'll sticky this:

http://selleressentials.com/amazon-restricted-brands

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/29/amazons-plan-to-fight-counterfeiters-will-cost-legit-sellers-a-ton.html?__source=yahoo|finance|headline|headline|story&par=yahoo&doc=103896179&yptr=yahoo

[Phil B]

3 minutes ago, weitzel78 said:

I've sold on eBay for 16 years and don't mind selling on there. My complaint is I had no idea this was going to happen- and the risk reward has changed because I can't ship in bulk. I know others have been grandfathered in - but let's review.

1) You can't sell on Amazon unless you have invoices

2) The only way to get invoices is by buying from TLG (no distributors are available)

3) Amazon will always get better pricing than SMEs buying from TLG and Amazon does not have to incurre all there selling fees (they get it all at cost).

So what is the point of having 3rd party sellers on Amazon (excluding those grandfathered)?

Amazon still incurs costs for storage, handling etc. on their own stock. We pay Amazon for part of this for our stock. The scales might not be in balance but also not as unbalanced as your 3) makes it seem.

[newbie77]

20 minutes ago, thedingman5 said:

Sorry if I'm being dense...since you are grandfathered in, it means a.) you don't have to apply or pay the fee AND b.) retail receipts are still "good enough" for you to sell on Amazon?  Is there a risk that the grandfathered sellers have to move to having paperwork from distributors? 

rule is same for everyone @ AMAZON unless you have $500k and over sales then i am sure you will be treated with red carpet.

everyone grandfathered or not need to submit invoices/paperwork if they want to list for 75916 and 75135..

[weitzel78]

16 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Amazon still incurs costs for storage, handling etc. on their own stock. We pay Amazon for part of this for our stock. The scales might not be in balance but also not as unbalanced as your 3) makes it seem.

Amazon incurs cost, we incur cost +. This may be close or not depending on how much the margin is going to all the fees. It all adds up better pricing, more efficient delivery from the manufacturer, and the ability decide who will be allowed to sell on the marketplace. I really don't see how retail arbitrage can continue on Amazon with these restrictions (baring those grandfathered in).

This does not go after the copyright infringements, those are all listed under non lego ASNs, as "building blocks". 

Edited August 29, 2016 by weitzel78

[cobrakai]

2 minutes ago, newbie77 said:

rule is same for everyone @ AMAZON unless you have $500k and over sales then i am sure you will be treated with red carpet.

everyone grandfathered or not need to submit invoices/paperwork if they want to list for 75916 and 75135..

I think most grandfathered are good on 75916, but not 75135.  I can still sell 75916 (sold 48 units of it in the last year,) but I can't sell 75135.  I have not sold any 75135.  Can anyone that has sold it alreayd still list 75135? 

[asharerin]

24 minutes ago, thedingman5 said:

Sorry if I'm being dense...since you are grandfathered in, it means a.) you don't have to apply or pay the fee AND b.) retail receipts are still "good enough" for you to sell on Amazon?  Is there a risk that the grandfathered sellers have to move to having paperwork from distributors? 

Yes if there are multiple buyer complaints for items you sell then Amazon will suspend you and ask you to send in manufacturer invoices to prove your stock was legit. If you don't have those (as most of us don't) you will get canned.

I am aslo steering clear of the items blocked at the ASIN level as those are obviously the most complained about items. This is going to be a game of last man standing, and those at the end are going to make a fortune.

[fossilrock]

I don't know what to tell you guys.  I can go in and list Obi's interceptor and a lot of the other sets that I have never listed on before.  I don't even have an obi wan's interceptor in my possession, but I can sell it on amazon, if I wanted to. From what I gather here, some sellers that seem to sell in much higher volume than I are locked out on these items.  Everything from this years 2016 star wars winter and summer waves I can list my inventory on the main listing.  The only items I can't list on are the original 7 sets from the Force Awakens Force Friday event, but those were gated.

To me this makes little sense.  I guess, it could come strictly down to your historical performance.  While I have sold close to 300 some items in almost 2 years of selling on amazon, i'd still consider myself a low volume seller, but I do have a mostly unblemished record with only 1 return.  I also ship out within a 24 hour period after purchasing so most times I exceed Amazon's recommended shipping and receiving period.  The question I have to those that are locked out, do you have feedback blemishes or have a higher rate of returns? 

I'm with Asharerin that I only like to sell perfect condition boxes and sets that are mostly in a pristine condition on that site.  I don't screw around with sets that I think were pilfered or with boxes that were crushed.  If I have those, they go to fleabay.  This is also why I don't use FBA because I want control of the shipping.  I want the seller to receive a perfect condition set, the same way I would want to.   I don't want slouches at amazon warehouses messing things up. So, i'm kind of anal in making sure the buyers get what they paid for, and in many cases when they are paying 2 to 3 times for a set, I make sure it's packaged very well. 

I guess, i'm feeling a bit lucky i'm not being affected by this just yet.  But, I have no idea why some are getting locked out, while others are not.  This is what makes little sense as it doesn't seem to have any rhyme or reason.

Edited August 29, 2016 by fossilrock

[SpaceFan9]

8 minutes ago, weitzel78 said:

 I really don't see how retail arbitrage can continue on Amazon with these restrictions (baring those grandfathered in).

I think that this is Amazon's goal.  On 3 or 4 occasions in the past year, I've bought "new" items on Amazon and received beat-up and abused items instead... some with target security stickers on them.  They got sent back, because I ordered "New" not "target salvage"... particularly as some were intended as a gift.

I've long thought this was a weakness of Amazon's co-mingling policy.  For the fraudster, co-mingling is great as they have good odds that their customer gets the non-fraudent amazon stock, while amazon or other big sellers get the fraud stock.  The gate closing seems to me a heavy-handed mechanism to solve this problem, but it will solve it if sellers need to produce authentic invoices in order to sell.

[biking_tiger]

7 minutes ago, SpaceFan9 said:

I think that this is Amazon's goal.  On 3 or 4 occasions in the past year, I've bought "new" items on Amazon and received beat-up and abused items instead... some with target security stickers on them.  They got sent back, because I ordered "New" not "target salvage"... particularly as some were intended as a gift.

I've long thought this was a weakness of Amazon's co-mingling policy.  For the fraudster, co-mingling is great as they have good odds that their customer gets the non-fraudent amazon stock, while amazon or other big sellers get the fraud stock.  The gate closing seems to me a heavy-handed mechanism to solve this problem, but it will solve it if sellers need to produce authentic invoices in order to sell.

That's just it... we don't know that anyone grandfathered in (if such a thing has indeed happened) will have to produce invoices. And as someone said, good luck getting those for LEGO. If everyone had to produce a LEGO invoice as a bona-fide seller with LEGO's permission, the number of LEGO sellers on Amazon would drop to about a max of two on any item... and Amazon would be one of those two. 

[weitzel78]

8 minutes ago, SpaceFan9 said:

I think that this is Amazon's goal.  On 3 or 4 occasions in the past year, I've bought "new" items on Amazon and received beat-up and abused items instead... some with target security stickers on them.  They got sent back, because I ordered "New" not "target salvage"... particularly as some were intended as a gift.

I've long thought this was a weakness of Amazon's co-mingling policy.  For the fraudster, co-mingling is great as they have good odds that their customer gets the non-fraudent amazon stock, while amazon or other big sellers get the fraud stock.  The gate closing seems to me a heavy-handed mechanism to solve this problem, but it will solve it if sellers need to produce authentic invoices in order to sell.

I thought you barcoded everything you sent to them. So if your item gets returned, you take a hit. If that's the case it would seem that this is a bad process. I also thought you knew who you were buying from- sold by...

[biking_tiger]

2 minutes ago, weitzel78 said:

I thought you barcoded everything you sent to them. So if your item gets returned, you take a hit. If that's the case it would seem that this is a bad process. I also thought you knew who you were buying from- sold by...

It depends if the seller co-mingles his/her inventory or not. 

[amtrak23]

6 minutes ago, biking_tiger said:

That's just it... we don't know that anyone grandfathered in (if such a thing has indeed happened) will have to produce invoices. And as someone said, good luck getting those for LEGO. If everyone had to produce a LEGO invoice as a bona-fide seller with LEGO's permission, the number of LEGO sellers on Amazon would drop to about a max of two on any item... and Amazon would be one of those two. 

Quidsi, yoyo, Amazon...

They might even bury the hatchet with TRU and invite them back

[biking_tiger]

Just now, amtrak23 said:

Quidsi, yoyo, Amazon...

They might even bury the hatchet with TRU and invite them back

I was being a little facetious... aren't Quidsi and Yoyo owned by Amazon? 

[smittypop2]

Just now, biking_tiger said:

I was being a little facetious... aren't Quidsi and Yoyo owned by Amazon? 

yes

[biking_tiger]

This thread is headed toward shadow government/illuminati territory. I think the scientologists are at my office door. 

[lodibricks]

Let me start off by saying I'm clueless to Amazon selling, so have mercy.

@asharerin You said in the "bailing" thread that the counterfeit issue on Amazon is completely gone. I'm assuming you mean over time with the gating changes as I can currently find a bajillion knockoffs.

I'm trying to understand how this hurts counterfeits more than genuine sellers.
I'm also assuming that current counterfeit sellers can also be grandfathered in and continue selling counterfeits.

So, LEGO is on the list, but not Lepin, but those selling Lepin would struggle because it's listed under a LEGO category and couldn't put it elsewhere?
Under the brand filter of Amazon, there's a choice generically called "Building Toys." Can't knockoffs just list under that and be clear?

[asharerin]

8 minutes ago, biking_tiger said:

That's just it... we don't know that anyone grandfathered in (if such a thing has indeed happened) will have to produce invoices. And as someone said, good luck getting those for LEGO. If everyone had to produce a LEGO invoice as a bona-fide seller with LEGO's permission, the number of LEGO sellers on Amazon would drop to about a max of two on any item... and Amazon would be one of those two. 

Anyone with listings in the newly restricted brands that was not grandfathered in got the email on 8/23 giving them 1 week to either provide invoices or create removal orders. If you had listings in those brands but did not receive the letter you are good to go. If you had no listings then you were not grandfathered in and you won't be able to list now without getting approval. There were also some items that were gated on 8/23 at the ASIN level due to numerous complaints of fraud. By now we all know which ones those are. My advice is to avoid them but to each his own.

There will be tinfoilers for the rest of all time claiming waves, server rotations, step 2 etc. It is what it is, there will be no official announcement, and Lego has forever joined the restricted brand list on Amazon. If you were grandfathered in you won;t have to show invoices UNLESS you mess up in the future.

1 minute ago, lodibricks said:

Let me start off by saying I'm clueless to Amazon selling, so have mercy.

@asharerin You said in the "bailing" thread that the counterfeit issue on Amazon is completely gone. I'm assuming you mean over time with the gating changes as I can currently find a bajillion knockoffs.

Plenty of unscrupulous sellers would commingle garbage. They would eventually get suspended, and then sign up for a new account the next day. Now they need invoices and $1k - $5k per turn. You now what the effect will be on them  

[kahuka]

15 minutes ago, biking_tiger said:

It depends if the seller co-mingles his/her inventory or not. 

On a few occasions, I have had my labeled products returned to me (FBA returns or removal requests) with different barcodes than my own. The ones with the removal requests really baffle me--if FBA can't return the right item to me, how do I know they are sending the right stuff to my customers?

[Bold-Arrow]

4 minutes ago, kahuka said:

On a few occasions, I have had my labeled products returned to me (FBA returns or removal requests) with different barcodes than my own. The ones with the removal requests really baffle me--if FBA can't return the right item to me, how do I know they are sending the right stuff to my customers?

I stopped using commingled for 2 main reasons :

- receiving became a nightmare , it was all over the place with tens of units recieved incorrectly per shipment 

- I recalled a customer damaged item and it had a Kohl's sticker on the box . I've never shopped at Kohl's for anything. 

[Darth_Raichu]

4 minutes ago, kahuka said:

On a few occasions, I have had my labeled products returned to me (FBA returns or removal requests) with different barcodes than my own. The ones with the removal requests really baffle me--if FBA can't return the right item to me, how do I know they are sending the right stuff to my customers?

You don't 

[Bold-Arrow]

1 hour ago, exciter1 said:

In light of the recent extension of seller restrictions on Amazon, I'll sticky this:

selleressentials.com/amazon-restricted-brands

Sticky this too : http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/29/amazons-plan-to-fight-counterfeiters-will-cost-legit-sellers-a-ton.html?__source=yahoo|finance|headline|headline|story&par=yahoo&doc=103896179&yptr=yahoo

[biking_tiger]

10 minutes ago, asharerin said:

Anyone with listings in the newly restricted brands that was not grandfathered in got the email on 8/23 giving them 1 week to either provide invoices or create removal orders. If you had listings in those brands but did not receive the letter you are good to go. If you had no listings then you were not grandfathered in and you won't be able to list now without getting approval. There were also some items that were gated on 8/23 at the ASIN level due to numerous complaints of fraud. By now we all know which ones those are. My advice is to avoid them but to each his own.

There will be tinfoilers for the rest of all time claiming waves, server rotations, step 2 etc. It is what it is, there will be no official announcement, and Lego has forever joined the restricted brand list on Amazon. If you were grandfathered in you won;t have to show invoices UNLESS you mess up in the future.

Plenty of unscrupulous sellers would commingle garbage. They would eventually get suspended, and then sign up for a new account the next day. Now they need invoices and $1k - $5k per turn. You now what the effect will be on them  

Thanks for helping me understand. There are a lot of tinfoilers out there, and sometimes separating reality from fantasy is a full time job in the wild west of the interweb. I'm just happy to be inside the gate and I will play as nice as I can to stay here.