Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[biking_tiger]

2 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

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

And in other news, Amazon's stock is trading higher before the bell...

[exciter1]

4 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

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

Done

[Darth_Raichu]

5 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

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

People in knock off thread are going to be so happy about this.....

[Val-E]

I think absolutely all threads can now be merged into the doomsday thread.

[exciter1]

4 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

People in knock off thread are going to be so happy about this.....

I wondered if we contributed to this decision.

[Val-E]

2 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

I wondered if we contributed to this decision.

[Darth_Raichu]

1 minute ago, exciter1 said:

I wondered if we contributed to this decision.

Highly doubt it.  Brickenstock leaving Amzn with an embarasing (to Amazn) public good bye letter would, just saying

[ravenb99]

Amazon returns are always fun, partially built modulars wrapped in paper and shoved back in boxes are all the rage.

[jaisonline]

1 minute ago, ravenb99 said:

Amazon returns are always fun, partially built modulars wrapped in paper and shoved back in boxes are all the rage.

 

 

does amazon pay some $ % for products that are returned damaged?

[newbie77]

7 minutes ago, ravenb99 said:

Amazon returns are always fun, partially built modulars wrapped in paper and shoved back in boxes are all the rage.

looks like FBA [ based on the tag on top ]....

or was that returned to you directly? what was the reason for return? hope that you would be able to salvage something out of that... 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2016 by newbie77

[ravenb99]

6 minutes ago, jaisonline said:

does amazon pay some $ % for products that are returned damaged?

Amazon items sold by Amazon get inspected and either put on warehouse deals or liquidated out to people like me.  FBA returns will show up assuming if seller does not want back.  Some FBA damages or FBA lost items from FC facilities will also show up on liquidation loads along with normal warehouse damage of Amazon items.  So basically have 2 types of returns loads, regular and FC.  FC is usually a lot cleaner as a whole these days.  Used to not be much difference at all but Amazon has pillaged most of the normal returns loads the last few years hence the higher amounts of warehouse deals LEGO we have seen.

I've seen pretty much all of it.  Those are normal Amazon returns that they did not want most likely from being built then returned.  A lot of what I get is FC damaged box though so much better just crushed boxes sometimes missing a bag or something to that effect.  Sometimes nothing wrong at all other than an ugly box.

It all goes full circle eventually.  

The FC loads do see a higher amount of counterfeit product as well though as what do you think they do when they realize its counterfeit on there site.  They liquidate it to others.  Go figure...

Edited August 29, 2016 by ravenb99

[jaisonline]

Some Amazon "suit" prob read the post below, thought about it in a vacuum, invited manufactures that loved the idea since they don't make money off resellers anyway (nothing to lose), and decided to make their program far, far WORSE than VERO.  d'oh.

 

On 8/5/2016 at 0:04 PM, jaisonline said:

all i know is that i see far less fake auctions for companies enrolled in their "so-so" vero program and it's not perfect. . yeah, i know most sellers dislike that program.

list of ebay vero partners. : http://vero.ebay.com/

btw, each time people report fake auctions, include this URL for "hits and giggles"

http://pages.ebay.com/againstcounterfeits/

 

[Ed Mack]

Some disturbing discussion...

Let's not kid ourselves here...Inside the gate, outside the gate...it won't matter at some point because the increasing fees and requirements are going to outweigh the advantages of selling on Amazon for many resellers.  Amazon is going to squeeze small resellers to death like a Boa Constrictor...slow and steady until you are dead.  It looks to me like they are using counterfeits as a new revenue stream.  They tell people they need to do this to stop knockoffs, yet at the same time, sticking it to the small guy who made Amazon what it is today.  At some point most will be outside the gate because they won't need the small reseller to remain operational and will make it difficult to meet their demands.  

Do they really need hundreds of people selling the same products?  No, especially if the main manufacturer is still currently selling the product.  This is a devious way to weed out dilettante resellers and purify their product lines.  eBay could help pick up some slack (unless they follow suit), but eventually, other e-commerce sites will have to develop to cater to the Mom and Pop shops.  Maybe now that Walmart has bought Jet.com, they can compete with Amazon and be less demanding in requirements.  Regardless, this is bad news for most small time or novice resellers.  

 

[newbie77]

25 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

Some disturbing discussion...

Let's not kid ourselves here...Inside the gate, outside the gate...it won't matter at some point because the increasing fees and requirements are going to outweigh the advantages of selling on Amazon for many resellers.  Amazon is going to squeeze small resellers to death like a Boa Constrictor...slow and steady until you are dead.  It looks to me like they are using counterfeits as a new revenue stream.  They tell people they need to do this to stop knockoffs, yet at the same time, sticking it to the small guy who made Amazon what it is today.  At some point most will be outside the gate because they won't need the small reseller to remain operational and will make it difficult to meet their demands.  

Do they really need hundreds of people selling the same products?  No, especially if the main manufacturer is still currently selling the product.  This is a devious way to weed out dilettante resellers and purify their product lines.  eBay could help pick up some slack (unless they follow suit), but eventually, other e-commerce sites will have to develop to cater to the Mom and Pop shops.  Maybe now that Walmart has bought Jet.com, they can compete with Amazon and be less demanding in requirements.  Regardless, this is bad news for most small time or novice resellers.  

 

well said and to the point. sooner than later we have to look for other venues

basically ASIN level requirement are exactly that. and sooner or later either they will enforce that for the entire ASINs and/or keep having to select few so that they can gate further. 

Edited August 29, 2016 by newbie77

[redghostx]

I do not sell on Amazon.com so it does not immediately impact me, but this seems to be a far more significant development (Chaos?) to the well-being of many resellers and with greater long term implications, than the 75159 Death Star.

[TargetZero]

where is the free market in this???

 

[redcell]

where is the free market in this???

 

Right where it has always been. Amazon is a private corporation (i.e., non-governmental) and is free to choose who it allows to access the sales platform and brand that it has spent billions of dollars to develop.

[zskid00]

eBay, Bricklink, Craigs List, yard sale. Take your pick.

[redcell]

I do not sell on Amazon.com so it does not immediately impact me, but this seems to be a far more significant development (Chaos?) to the well-being of many resellers and with greater long term implications, than the 75159 Death Star.

Losing access to Amazon would be far more significant to me than eating the s*** sandwich that 10188 has turned into.

[TargetZero]

5 minutes ago, redcell said:

 

Right where it has always been. Amazon is a private corporation (i.e., non-governmental) and is free to choose who it allows to access the sales platform and brand that it has spent billions of dollars to develop.

 

that seller in fees yeah.. how much you think they made a year? WEll, with that kind of mentality, and rules like this, they will only be big compagnies, I know, we are going that way. In 20-30 years, they wont be much compagnie they will be own by the same...

who here have invoince from manufacturer or distributor? walmarts invoice wont work, let the big be big, and you small dude, go to hell.

Edited August 29, 2016 by TargetZero

[Darth_Raichu]

13 minutes ago, zskid00 said:

eBay , Bricklink, Craigs List, yard sale. Take your pick.

Missing the obligatory mention of TRU parking lot

[Migration]

2 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

Missing the obligatory mention of TRU parking lot

Hotcakes, man, hotcakes.

 

[fossilrock]

Eventually this "golden age" of amazon will erode. I would expect that to happen, then something else will pop up.  Those of us that started at the foundation of the ebay era, saw it go through the same thing.  Remember the days when people used to send you freaking checks in the mail before paypal?  I remember when I was using ebay to support my beer money in college.  My parents used to get a kick out of it when i'd receive 4 to 5 checks in the freaking mail every day.   Those were the DAYS!  Then ebay got all serious because too many scammers were afoot.   Then paypal came in and boy things changed.  Eventaully Amazon came in and that helped create a new sales platform with alot of eyeballs and traffic globally.  But, I see even Amazon eventually eroding. 

Eventually they will collapse to something else.  That's the way of the system.

Edited August 29, 2016 by fossilrock

[dcdfan]

Eventually this "golden age" of amazon will erode. I would expect that to happen, then something else will pop up.  Those of us that started at the foundation of the ebay era, saw it go through the same thing.  Remember the days when people used to send you freaking checks in the mail before paypal.  Those were the DAYS!  Then ebay got all serious because too many scammers were afoot.   Then paypal came in and boy things changed.

Remember when you didn't have to give it to Uncle Sam.

[Bold-Arrow]

3 minutes ago, fossilrock said:

Eventually this "golden age" of amazon will erode. I would expect that to happen, then something else will pop up.  Those of us that started at the foundation of the ebay era, saw it go through the same thing.  Remember the days when people used to send you freaking checks in the mail before paypal.  Those were the DAYS!  Then ebay got all serious because too many scammers were afoot.   Then paypal came in and boy things changed.  Amazon then popped up, and now they kind of rule the roost.  Eventually they will collapse to something else.  That's the way of the system.

While I fully support what you said , it will take a long time for anyone to mimic or hopefully improve upon the FBA model . By the time it happens I would be too old to care and would be posting one of those "how do I sell my lot" topics and leave you young fellas to duke it out .