Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[belljohn]

An update for all you seasonal sellers out there.  I am a seasonal Amazon seller for the past 3 years.  I am now gated out of selling Lego since I was not on a pro account with active listings when the wall went up.  I sell about 500 sets a season all FBA.  I can list under the 50 or sets still in my inventory screen, but I haven't followed the chain all the way creating UPS labels.  So don't know if I can actually sell or not.

I had to upgrade my account to a Pro account to be officially told I needed 3 invoices, 1 authorization letter from Lego, and $1000 to be approved.

I am escalating the issue as far as I can with Amazon without much hope of a reversal.  I am basing my argument on the fact that an authorization letter from Lego is an impossible task.  Does anyone here have one?  My second side of attack is how ridiculous it is for them to require an authorization and an invoice to sell one used vintage Lego set?  I have a used 10030 as an example.  I really can't list this, I ask?  Not that I would sell it through Amazon, but as a point of argument.

One can only hope.  This holiday season may be a bust for me as I reestablish my eBay presence.

Congrats to all those who made it.  Price arbitrage may be the low risk profit approach for those of you who can sell.

Bat cave 6860

Bricklink - $80 + ship

Ebay - $90 + free ship

BrickClassifies - $100 + ship

Amazon FBA - $143

 

[Deadfraggle]

23 minutes ago, belljohn said:

 I can list under the 50 or sets still in my inventory screen, but I haven't followed the chain all the way creating UPS labels.  So don't know if I can actually sell or not.

Has the printing of shipping labels been a decisive point for anyone? Are there sellers out there who have created a listing, made a sale, and then been kicked back when printing a shipping label? Or do you mean printing shipping labels to send product to FBA warehouses?

I had active listings when the gates when up, but had not made a sale since about March. I received no notice. I've since been able to create new listings, across a multitude of LEGO set numbers without error message. I assume I am good to go?

Edited September 6, 2016 by Deadfraggle
Also, I didn't have a "pro"'account either. Is that a deal breaker?

[belljohn]

3 minutes ago, Deadfraggle said:

Has the printing of shipping labels been a decisive point for anyone? Are there sellers out there who have created a listing, made a sale, and then been kicked back when printing a shipping label? Or do you mean printing shipping labels to send product to FBA warehouses?

I had active listings when the gates when up, but had not made a sale since about March. I received no notice. I've since been able to create new listings, across a multitude of LEGO set numbers without error message. I assume I am good to go?

If you can create a new listing you should be all set.

[brickelements]

With all the unannounced gating issues I am so happy I started FBM in late April then adding FBA in late July.  What a difference in sales numbers compared to the Bay.

I see to be "in".  This is my first foray into Amazon selling.  So far so good.  Thanks all for contributions in various forums explaining some of the finer details.

Thanks to sfcommando....he has helped to motivate my move into Amazon selling.

[newbie77]

1 hour ago, brickelements said:

With all the unannounced gating issues I am so happy I started FBM in late April then adding FBA in late July.  What a difference in sales numbers compared to the Bay.

I see to be "in".  This is my first foray into Amazon selling.  So far so good.  Thanks all for contributions in various forums explaining some of the finer details.

Thanks to sfcommando....he has helped to motivate my move into Amazon selling.

don't be so thrilled yet. amazon is a beast. and its not as straight forward and/or kosher.

although you may have not been asked but sell enough @ amazon you will be asked to produce invoices for random ASINs. 

i. personally, have been asked to produce at least 3 times before for different ASINs within LEGO.

last year may it was for 76031; this year 10702 and 75916. are they targeting me ? could be? but i am going to say that it happens to all the sellers. once you start to increase volume yup it happens by default.

 

[Bold-Arrow]

2 minutes ago, newbie77 said:

don't be so thrilled yet. amazon is a beast. and its not as straight forward and/or kosher.

although you may have not been asked but sell enough @ amazon you will be asked to produce invoices for random ASINs. 

i. personally, have been asked to produce at least 3 times before for different ASINs within LEGO.

last year may it was for 76031; this year 10702 and 75916. are they targeting me ? could be? but i am going to say that it happens to all the sellers. once you start to increase volume yup it happens by default.

 

So you are  in a position to provide Amazon with invoices when it comes to Lego ? 

[brickelements]

Bold Arrow....

The question I have for you.  Were you trying to sell Lego that is still in production and offered by The Lego Group or other Major Retailers (Target, Amazon, TRU etc) for sale?

I know I am small-time in terms of volume and dollar amounts to the big guys selling more than just Lego but I am not selling anything that is still being sold by Lego.

I never plan too.  I wonder if that is were some of the issues are coming from.  Lego is basically trying to put out a non-compete on their currently available products unless you are authorized.

 

Pure speculation on my part.

[Bold-Arrow]

I never had or have any issues selling sets that are in production . I was never asked to provide any invoices and I do sell ALOT . ( over 10k units a year ) 

only thing I had to show was receipts - that was acceptable then - for Disney Frozen and invoices - none Lego - for TFA .  

[brickelements]

5 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

I never had or have any issues selling sets that are in production . I was never asked to provide any invoices and I do sell ALOT . ( over 10k units a year ) 

only thing I had to show was receipts - that was acceptable then - for Disney Frozen and invoices - none Lego - for TFA .  

Bowing...praying to one of my masters.  10K units...holy cow! 

I am still a padawan in comparison.

I might hit 400 this year which is 4 times my sales compared to last calendar year.  Sheesh. 

[Migration]

2 minutes ago, brickelements said:

Bowing...praying to one of my masters.  10K units...holy cow! 

I am still a padawan in comparison.

I might hit 400 this year which is 4 times my sales compared to last calendar year.  Sheesh. 

Quick question, do you have a pro account?

[brickelements]

I do not.

[Bold-Arrow]

5 minutes ago, brickelements said:

Bowing...praying to one of my masters.  10K units...holy cow! 

I am still a padawan in comparison.

I might hit 400 this year which is 4 times my sales compared to last calendar year.  Sheesh. 

I don't usually post my numbers but since there is a lot of back and forth going on , figured putting some figures out would keep things in perspective . 

[newbie77]

20 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

I never had or have any issues selling sets that are in production . I was never asked to provide any invoices and I do sell ALOT . ( over 10k units a year ) 

only thing I had to show was receipts - that was acceptable then - for Disney Frozen and invoices - none Lego - for TFA .  

B-A you know that my volume is no where close to yours  . me very very small time but even then when one starts to increase volume there are tons of stuffs one has to take care of  for too many compliances.

based on your volume there are lot of things that are granted to you vs. other smaller sellers like me. 

Edited September 6, 2016 by newbie77

[redcell]

4 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

I don't usually post my numbers but since there is a lot of back and forth going on , figured putting some figures out would keep things in perspective . 

How many of those units were those individual Shopkins baskets?  I seem to remember you (or maybe it was someone else) talking about stickering something like 3000 of those for FBA.

[Migration]

5 minutes ago, brickelements said:

I do not.

So I guess having a pro account wasn't one of the retirements after all  you just had to have recent sales and be in good standing.

[Bold-Arrow]

Just now, redcell said:

How many of those units were those individual Shopkins baskets?  I seem to remember you (or maybe it was someone else) talking about stickering something like 3000 of those for FBA.

Lol... Not me . I think I sold about 60 of those last Christmas . I never really got into that 

[jaxman]

No pro account here either

[landphieran]

12 minutes ago, jaxman said:

No pro account here either

From my understanding and maybe BA can weigh in on this, but the only cost savings (to my knowledge) is the .99c per item fee. So unless you are selling over forty items a month consistently it's not worth it.

Ive considered juggling a subscription during the holidays but I'm not sure if Amazon would like that.

Edited September 6, 2016 by landphieran
Clarity

[marcandre]

I now need a pro account in order to list new lego sets. I usually just sell on amz in the fall and just had a few sets up for sale (HH, SSD, R2) when lego was gated. I tried to add Birds and Slave just to test it, both prompted me to upgrade to pro. I don't sell enough to pay the $40 month. 

Kinda bummed to be out but won't really be a problem. Not buying much these days, no more qfll, just hoarding my big sets from 2012-14. I'll just have to use ebay/CL/BC. I did do well on amz the past 3 years but it gave me many more headaches than ebay.  

[newbie77]

14 minutes ago, landphieran said:

From my understanding and maybe BA can weigh in on this, but the only cost savings (to my knowledge) is the .99c per item fee. So unless you are selling over forty items a month consistently it's not worth it.

Ive considered juggling a subscription during the holidays but I'm not sure if Amazon would like that.

you can juggle during holidays but you have a waiting period to be BuyBox eligible hence if you really are thinking of going pro during holiday its worth to ramp up other volumes as well... B-A can shed more light... 

[RogerWilco]

Just chiming in on my own findings.

I'm not a big player, but I've previously sold LEGO on Amazon. My last sale was in May. It looks like all of my existing inventory listings can still be sold (about 100 or so, with probably 30 or more being individual minifigures or poly bags).

I can't create any new listings on items that are "by LEGO", but I can against "by LEGO Movie" or "by LEGO Galaxy Squad". I assume I have been restricted from selling based on the "by LEGO" designation, and LEGO Movie and LEGO Galaxy Squad are currently oversights that may be "corrected" soon.

 

[cladner]

Here's my story.

I sold 327 LEGO items on amazon, all FBM, between Jan- end of June this year when I decided to take a break from selling for the rest of the summer (both to enjoy the summer and also let prices continue to rise on the sets I have).

I have been selling on amazon since 2013 though volumes in 2013 were less than 100.  2014 I sold 487 items.  2015 786.

Rather than switching my listings inactive to take a break, I instead opted to increase my prices to a point where nothing sells.  

I had a pro account for the first half of the year and then downgraded at the end of June.

 haven't sold anything since June 27.  What do you mean you aren't paying $499 for a grand emporium (yet)?

All my listings are active.  I can add sets I have never sold including 75916 .

Since these events have unfolded, I have gone through and made sure to list ALL the sets I have in my possession that I intend to sell on amazon one day - even ones that haven't retired yet.  Pet Shop.  Palace Cinema.   TB.  EV,   Irex and all JW sets.   Of course, I have an untenable price beyond what any sensible person would pay now, but I wanted to make sure that I had my foot in the door.  

I am thinking about listing sets that I haven't even begun stocking yet with unrealistic sales prices to discourage any actual sales but to make sure I have a presence in the listing.

 

Edited September 7, 2016 by cladner

[junkrigger]

From a game theory standpoint every time you up the ante it gets upped on both sides so amazon has started its our move choose wisely. I suggest pensivity. I only list sets that are retired and retired collectible "new" minifigs, never listed as "collectible" and now can not.

[DadsAFOL]

1 hour ago, cladner said:

Since these events have unfolded, I have gone through and made sure to list ALL the sets I have in my possession that I intend to sell on amazon one day - even ones that haven't retired yet.  Pet Shop.  Palace Cinema.   TB.  EV,   Irex and all JW sets.   Of course, I have an untenable price beyond what any sensible person would pay now, but I wanted to make sure that I had my foot in the door.  

I have done this for a couple of years.  The nice thing is that you can check your inventory page every month or so and scan the spread between your price and the buy box price (or low price).  You can see which products are inching closer to your initial sales price and might start selling in the near term.  You can also see which ones are not appreciating (damn you 6860) and decide whether you want to lower your price to drive some turnover.

[Sharkeye]

First time posting. Long time lurker.

I am curious about invoices/retail receipts. How is one supposed to produce an invoice (not a retail receipt) for a retired set showing you purchased them within the last 6 months from Lego? That is an impossible task even from someone who actually acquires their product directly from Lego. Does Amazon accept retail receipts? Is the rule different for retired sets?

If anyone knows the answer to this please chime in.