Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[ISO8T0]

1 minute ago, Phil B said:

@jeff_14 of course ....

[Ciglione]

Supposedly, amazon is coming to the Netherlands as well.

[Phil B]

Posting this here for reference:

 

Dear Seller,

Beginning October 12, 2016, Amazon’s package tracking requirement will extend to small and light items that are priced over $10 USD (including shipping). Please note that this is a change from the previous policy that tracking would not be required for any items that fit in a USPS Standard Mail envelope or First Class Mail envelope. Small and light items under $10 in price (including shipping) can still be shipped in USPS Standard Mail envelopes or First Class Mail envelopes without tracking; however, starting on the date listed above, we will require tracking for small and light items over $10, just as we do for the catalog in general.

Amazon displays package tracking information buyers because we find that being able to check an order’s shipment status and not worry about its whereabouts creates a better experience for buyers. This peace of mind is especially important for higher-priced orders. 

In addition to an improved customer experience, providing valid tracking numbers for all of your shipments has several benefits:

1.	Decreased order defects and better seller feedback ratings 
2.	Fewer buyer messages
3.	Reduced lost shipment costs
4.	Improved conversion

If you choose to fulfill the tracking requirement by shipping your item as a parcel, there may be a $1-2 increase in base shipping cost but you will receive complimentary tracking on the parcel. You can access parcel rates while using the same packaging that you typically use by wrapping your item lightly in bubble wrap before putting it in the packaging, such that the thickness is more than 3/4” thick.

Small and light packages that are shipped before October 12 will not be counted toward the valid tracking requirement. After October 12, if you aren't providing tracking on 95% of your items in a given category (including small and light items over $10), you risk losing your ability to sell non-FBA items within that category. 

You can view your current Valid Tracking Rate by category by going to Seller Central > Performance > Customer Satisfaction > Account Health. Tracked packages will count toward your Valid Tracking Rate when there is at least one carrier scan recorded. If you purchase postage through Amazon’s Buy Shipping service, tracking will be automatically applied to the shipment at the time of purchase. 

Learn more about :
•	The new Valid Tracking Rate: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/201817070 
•	Premium Shipping options: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/201503640
•	Amazon’s Buy Shipping services: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/200472530


Thank you for selling on Amazon,
Amazon Seller Performance Team

[DadsAFOL]

If anyone was shipping any Lego FBM without tracking, they were doing it wrong...

[exciter1]

OK, time for me to share.  I actually contacted Amazon late last week, since we were in the middle of the shake-up.  Here's is what they had to say about the TFA gate. This was before the sets were ungated earlier this week. This definitely points to the counterfeiting problem, as we discussed earlier in this thread.

Greetings from Amazon.

Thank you for writing to us. I am CSR from Catalog team. I understand the concern about the gating on the product ' Star Wars - The Force Awakens LEGO sets'.

Gating has nothing to with the movie release. Usually when movie releases and if there are products related to the movie are getting sold, that's when the problem arises. Let me explain how doe this work

1. When movies get released, interest around the products related to movies will trigger the sales of products and sellers try to sell products which are of low quality for the lowest price which will affect the healthy competition in the market and it will affect the buyers.
2.. Gating is on products where we feel the possibility of counterfeit products getting sold on Amazon website. We at Amazon, to keep the catalog genuine and provide authentic products to our buyers, we gate the products.

However, I see that you are approved to sell these products for now. You can go ahead and list the products. We at seller support cannot really assure the decision our business team makes for the future because of the above factor. Gating is based on real time and not on forecasted results.

If you have any other question in this regard, please write back to us. I will personally assist you.

[tacsniper]

2 hours ago, Phil B said:

• Amazon’s Buy Shipping services: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/200472530 Thank you for selling on Amazon, Amazon Seller Performance Team

I really wish Amazon can extend their crazy discounts for its sellers using this service. I bet you Amazon is charging us full retail price, while on the back end, they are paying USPS their negotiated price.

Edited September 2, 2016 by tacsniper

[Kevink24]

Not sure where to post this, however, It seems everyone is focused on being able to/or unable to sell on Amazon...I am more intrigued at this...http://www.wsj.com/articles/hyundai-ships-take-cargo-delayed-by-rival-hanjins-bankruptcy-protection-filing-1472747412. Seems like the recent bankruptcy filing of one of the largest cargo carriers could potentially disrupt the holiday season. The article in the Wall Street Journal gave a brief statement about the "25 Billion dollar toy industry", and that the ripple affect could be tremendous depending on how long the turmoil lasts. Supply chains for many companies (including the long list of gated product on Amazon) could be disrupted for a quite a while.

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't there port/cargo issues a year or two ago? Strikes at the ports in California or something, which kept LEGO (as well as other product) off the shelves and created good opportunities for resellers?

 

Edited September 2, 2016 by Kevink24

[Bold-Arrow]

Yes , Christmas of 2014 . Good times , although Timmy's mom would disagree with me 

[Kevink24]

Supply chain schedules tend to be pretty tight. I would imagine if this has a large ripple effect and product becomes scarce, Amazon may reverse course on their recent decisions. They may need those 3p sellers (and their product) at least through the holidays. 

Sorry to derail (at least I mentioned "Amazon" in my posts). 

[dcdfan]

OK, time for me to share.  I actually contacted Amazon late last week, since we were in the middle of the shake-up.  Here's is what they had to say about the TFA gate. This was before the sets were ungated earlier this week. This definitely points to the counterfeiting problem, as we discussed earlier in this thread.

Greetings from Amazon.

Thank you for writing to us. I am CSR from Catalog team. I understand the concern about the gating on the product ' Star Wars - The Force Awakens LEGO sets'.

Gating has nothing to with the movie release. Usually when movie releases and if there are products related to the movie are getting sold, that's when the problem arises. Let me explain how doe this work

1. When movies get released, interest around the products related to movies will trigger the sales of products and sellers try to sell products which are of low quality for the lowest price which will affect the healthy competition in the market and it will affect the buyers.
2.. Gating is on products where we feel the possibility of counterfeit products getting sold on Amazon website. We at Amazon, to keep the catalog genuine and provide authentic products to our buyers, we gate the products.

However, I see that you are approved to sell these products for now. You can go ahead and list the products. We at seller support cannot really assure the decision our business team makes for the future because of the above factor. Gating is based on real time and not on forecasted results.

If you have any other question in this regard, please write back to us. I will personally assist you.

You can barely tell English is not their first language.

[jaisonline]

not sure if this is authentic but it was posted on an amazon reseller facebook group.  note: nothing was mentioned about the non-refundable fees ($1,000 for Lego).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEWS ON BRAND RESTRICTONS:

We received a reply from my letter to Jeff Bezo. While the content of the letter is REALLY great news for many- remember they can always change this. So never invest more in inventory than you are prepared to lose. Cash flow is incredibly important this time of year. Watch how much inventory is tied up at warehouses until the dust finishes selling.

_____ Greetings from Amazon.com!

Dear (name removed),

My name is **** and I am a member of the Amazon Executive Seller Relations Team. Jeff Bezos received your email and requested that I research this issue and respond on his behalf.

Thanks for your kind words, we are happy that you enjoy selling in Amazon.com. I understand that you are concerned regarding the new rules for specific Brand selling.

Your concern is more than understandable as every major change comes with a period of adaptation from all stakeholders, we know that not all the info is well known so far and rumors provide different versions.

The fact is that Amazon is actually restricting the selling of specific brands and the main idea is to benefit those third party sellers that are actually authorized and sell authentic merchandise. This will provide an even field for authorized merchants and will reinforce the confidence of our customers.

We have confirmation that sellers who have been previously selling brands that have since been restricted will be grandfathered in as brand sellers.

We are working in providing clarity to this process and I hope this helps to clarify your concern, we will be glad to address any other you may have.

________

I will be replying asking him about retail receipts.

[asharerin]

As expected. They did this the same way for the previously restricted brands, and also the category gates for dvd, grocery, health an beauty etc. There are still a few sets that are incorrectly branded as Star Wars, Disney etc that hopefully they will correct in the future and be open to all of those ungated for the Lego brand.

[asharerin]

Plenty of statements from Amazon coming out now:

Amazon is now trying to provide some clarity on what's known as "brand gating."

The Seattle-based company is telling existing sellers that they're being grandfathered into the system and that the charges, which typically range from $1,000 to $1,500 per brand, only apply to new merchants. In other words, if you've been selling Nike shoes or Hasbro toys for several years, it's business as usual.

Here's what Amazon spokesman Erik Fairleigh said in an e-mailed statement to CNBC.com:

"If a seller is already selling brands on Amazon that are now subject to a fee, they are not required to pay the fee to continue selling those brands. The fee only applies to new sellers of particular brands. Sellers can see whether a product requires a fee to sell when they search for that product using the "Add a Product" tool on Seller Central."

[dcdfan]

I see things are better now. Seriously, this kind of behavior is acceptable at Amazon? These appear as 4 separate SKUs on mobile.

[jaisonline]

Plenty of statements from Amazon coming out now:

Amazon is now trying to provide some clarity on what's known as "brand gating."

The Seattle-based company is telling existing sellers that they're being grandfathered into the system and that the charges, which typically range from $1,000 to $1,500 per brand, only apply to new merchants. In other words, if you've been selling Nike shoes or Hasbro toys for several years, it's business as usual.

Here's what Amazon spokesman Erik Fairleigh said in an e-mailed statement to CNBC.com:

"If a seller is already selling brands on Amazon that are now subject to a fee, they are not required to pay the fee to continue selling those brands. The fee only applies to new sellers of particular brands. Sellers can see whether a product requires a fee to sell when they search for that product using the "Add a Product" tool on Seller Central."

Let's see if they grandfather most of us on here...

[asharerin]

11 minutes ago, jaisonline said:

 

Let's see if they grandfather most of us on here...

 

Sellers were either grandfathered or booted on 8/23. Nothing left to see.

[jaisonline]

Sellers were either grandfathered or booted on 8/23. Nothing left to see.

I thought amazon is taking another look because there seems to be many sellers like me who have sold brands (such as Lego) weren't grandfathered in.

[tacsniper]

1 hour ago, dcdfan said:

I see things are better now. Seriously, this kind of behavior is acceptable at Amazon? These appear as 4 separate SKUs on mobile.

These listings drive me nuts! They create extra SKUs just because they are selling from over seas even though it is the exact same set minus maybe a bit variation of legal disclaimers on the boxes.

[dcdfan]

Just now, tacsniper said:

These listings drive me nuts! They create extra SKUs just because they are selling from over seas even though it is the exact same set minus maybe a bit variation of legal disclaimers on the boxes.

These are just the ones from this seller. I didn't post all of the listings.

[asharerin]

42 minutes ago, jaisonline said:

 

I thought amazon is taking another look because there seems to be many sellers like me who have sold brands (such as Lego) weren't grandfathered in.

 

That's news to me. Source?

[Peteparker]

Forgive me, I'm typically a day late and a dollar short in life.

I sold LEGO one year and not the next and would like to sell again this year. How do I know if I qualify to have my account reviewed to add additional sets? It looks like any set I previously sold is not restricted, but adding new sets requires upgrading to a $40/mo professional account fee, (if it will even let me do it then).

All I want to do is sell the extra sets I have using FBA. Is that going to be at all possible for me this season?

 

[Undercover Boss]

43 minutes ago, Peteparker said:

Forgive me, I'm typically a day late and a dollar short in life.

I sold LEGO one year and not the next and would like to sell again this year. How do I know if I qualify to have my account reviewed to add additional sets? It looks like any set I previously sold is not restricted, but adding new sets requires upgrading to a $40/mo professional account fee, (if it will even let me do it then).

All I want to do is sell the extra sets I have using FBA. Is that going to be at all possible for me this season?

 

I for one find the game that Amazon keeps playing a bit disturbing.  I found out that I am allowed to sell Lego components (mini figures and parts) and the very next day I am gated out of components.  How can this be that it allowed me to join the list, prep the package, but when it gets to the part of approving the shipment, I get the nasty surprise.  Not allowed.

[dcdfan]

I for one find the game that Amazon keeps playing a bit disturbing.  I found out that I am allowed to sell Lego components (mini figures and parts) and the very next day I am gated out of components.  How can this be that it allowed me to join the list, prep the package, but when it gets to the part of approving the shipment, I get the nasty surprise.  Not allowed.

Because this guy is a clown.

[redcell]

Forgive me, I'm typically a day late and a dollar short in life.

I sold LEGO one year and not the next and would like to sell again this year. How do I know if I qualify to have my account reviewed to add additional sets? It looks like any set I previously sold is not restricted, but adding new sets requires upgrading to a $40/mo professional account fee, (if it will even let me do it then).

All I want to do is sell the extra sets I have using FBA. Is that going to be at all possible for me this season?

 

If you are being required to upgrade to a pro account, then you are most likely gated. The folks who tested it reported that once they signed up for a pro account in that scenario, they were then required to meet the substantive ungating requirements (i.e., invoices or letter of authorization).

So, you can still list individual Lego sets that you previously sold, but none that you hadn't sold previously? That's a new twist that I hadn't heard before.

[DadsAFOL]

12 hours ago, Undercover Boss said:

I for one find the game that Amazon keeps playing a bit disturbing.  I found out that I am allowed to sell Lego components (mini figures and parts) and the very next day I am gated out of components.  How can this be that it allowed me to join the list, prep the package, but when it gets to the part of approving the shipment, I get the nasty surprise.  Not allowed.

Sounds like the listings for your figures and parts were either under a non-Lego brand and some catalog admin is going through and changing everything with "LEGO" in the title to brand Lego, which then applies the gate.  Or similarly, some catalog admin is going through and validating "real" Lego products and flagging ones that aren't true Lego retail products.  You should be able to click "edit" on one of your ASINs and get more details about how its cataloged.