Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[fossilrock]

I'm seeing a minor uptick in some areas.  One thing I noticed is that there does seem to be a lot less sellers on certain items.  Raptor Escape for example has dropped to 76 sellers, which was at one point over 150 sellers.  For it to drop that quickly means it is either selling rapidly, or some sellers got cut.  I've noticed some other sets having a lot less sellers as well.  But, I have noticed a drop in prices on many items, which I think is due to sellers just trying to drop or match prices to get their 25 for the holiday season.  Overall, it seems a slight bit better than it was last year at this time. 

I'm not going to make full judgement until January.  The holiday selling season is barely beginning, and really doesn't start until mid-october.  At this point it's sales seem to gear towards school rewards, or AFOL extravagance.

[Sfcommando14]

6 minutes ago, fossilrock said:

I'm seeing a minor uptick in some areas.  One thing I noticed is that there does seem to be a lot less sellers on certain items.  Raptor Escape for example has dropped to 76 sellers, which was at one point over 150 sellers.  For it to drop that quickly means it is either selling rapidly, or some sellers got cut.  I've noticed some other sets having a lot less sellers as well.  But, I have noticed a drop in prices on many items, which I think is due to sellers just trying to drop or match prices to get their 25 for the holiday season.  Overall, it seems a slight bit better than it was last year at this time. 

I'm not going to make full judgement until January.  The holiday selling season is barely beginning, and really doesn't start until mid-october.  At this point it's sales seem to gear towards school rewards, or AFOL extravagance.

The 25 number is only for FBM, correct?

[exciter1]

18 minutes ago, Sfcommando14 said:

The 25 number is only for FBM, correct?

Both, but most have no problems hitting it.

[Sfcommando14]

1 minute ago, exciter1 said:

Both, but most have no problems hitting it.

Not to be a bother, but what was the date range?  I might need to dump some polys real quick.  My sales in Aug/Sep have been slow since I've been prepping for Oct-Dec.

[exciter1]

9/1 - 10/31

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200505340

[Sfcommando14]

10 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

9/1 - 10/31

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200505340

You're the best!  This is the line I remember seeing in the email that made me think I didn't have to meet the quota for FBA:

"Your orders that use Fulfillment by Amazon will not be subject to the holiday season restrictions provided your account is in good standing."

[exciter1]

Just now, Sfcommando14 said:

You're the best!  This is the line I remember seeing in the email that made me think I didn't have to meet the quota for FBA:

"Your orders that use Fulfillment by Amazon will not be subject to the holiday season restrictions provided your account is in good standing."

You will still get messages congratulating you on the approval.

[jaxman]

I did not get approval last year (my first sale was one day after the cutoff) and was able to sell via FBA.

[Migration]

1 hour ago, asharerin said:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way"

It was a dark and stormy night...

[jaxman]

55 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

9/1 - 10/31

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200505340

This is last years letter.  Here's what I got this year.  My question is, if you sell 25 units but they are all FBA, does that qualify you for FBM during the holiday period?

[exciter1]

This is last years letter.  Here's what I got this year.  My question is, if you sell 25 units but they are all FBA, does that qualify you for FBM during the holiday period?

Yes, I do believe so.

[Sfcommando14]

I believe yes, that is what@exciter1 was answering to my question. To sell FBM you must meet the quota. To sell FBA, it is not necessary.

[Bold-Arrow]

4 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

Yes, I do believe so.

Confirmed . 

[jaxman]

It's just confusing because I'm assuming the intent of the policy is to identify sellers who can fulfill and ship FBM orders to Amazon's standard.  All others are gated from FBM selling during the holiday season.  I just don't see how 25 sales via FBA is going to demonstrate a seller's ability to fulfill FBM orders to the expected standards.

[biking_tiger]

5 minutes ago, jaxman said:

It's just confusing because I'm assuming the intent of the policy is to identify sellers who can fulfill and ship FBM orders to Amazon's standard.  All others are gated from FBM selling during the holiday season.  I just don't see how 25 sales via FBA is going to demonstrate a seller's ability to fulfill FBM orders to the expected standards.

It has never made sense to me either. Hoops are hoops. 

[landphieran]

5 minutes ago, biking_tiger said:

It has never made sense to me either. Hoops are hoops. 

The intention is to make sure the seller is remotely interested in selling. What they don't want is mom, dad, or college kid, flipping a toy or two during Christmas and failing to fulfill the order.

 

 

[biking_tiger]

5 minutes ago, landphieran said:

The intention is to make sure the seller is remotely interested in selling. What they don't want is mom, dad, or college kid, flipping a toy or two during Christmas and failing to fulfill the order.

 

 

I understand, it just seems like a pretty low bar. Sending one box full of goodies to Amazon isn't the same as being slammed with twenty merchant fulfilled orders in one day while juggling another full-time job. 

[fossilrock]

6 minutes ago, biking_tiger said:

I understand, it just seems like a pretty low bar. Sending one box full of goodies to Amazon isn't the same as being slammed with twenty merchant fulfilled orders in one day while juggling another full-time job. 

Last year it was very much like that for me, and this year is already showing signs it could be the same way.  I will admit, last year was my first year on amazon after finally deciding to move away from ebay, and it was rather enlightening.  From black friday to about December 18th, I spent most of my evenings packing and prepping stock.  It was a lot of work, but very rewarding.  Then about a week untill christmas, until about a week past new years, stock was still selling, but just not at the same rate.  Then by mid january things were flat as a pancake, and have somewhat stayed that way throughout the summer.  Finally, things are showing an uptick again...

I've learned, that from September 1st to January 7th, if one wants to create a rolling inventory stream on amazon, it's very possible, if you play your cards right and buy decent stuff throughout the year. 

I always use the early part of september to blow out stuff that is either slacking, or no longer making any more gains, and use those to get my 25, then i'll start raising prices once i'm "in".   This year, i'll wait until the second week of december to blow out all my items that I want to get at a premium, since that is the period when most of the prices tend to inflate, albeit temporarily until Christmas arrives.
 

[newbie77]

1 hour ago, fossilrock said:

Last year it was very much like that for me, and this year is already showing signs it could be the same way.  I will admit, last year was my first year on amazon after finally deciding to move away from ebay, and it was rather enlightening.  From black friday to about December 18th, I spent most of my evenings packing and prepping stock.  It was a lot of work, but very rewarding.  Then about a week untill christmas, until about a week past new years, stock was still selling, but just not at the same rate.  Then by mid january things were flat as a pancake, and have somewhat stayed that way throughout the summer.  Finally, things are showing an uptick again...

I've learned, that from September 1st to January 7th, if one wants to create a rolling inventory stream on amazon, it's very possible, if you play your cards right and buy decent stuff throughout the year. 

I always use the early part of september to blow out stuff that is either slacking, or no longer making any more gains, and use those to get my 25, then i'll start raising prices once i'm "in".   This year, i'll wait until the second week of december to blow out all my items that I want to get at a premium, since that is the period when most of the prices tend to inflate, albeit temporarily until Christmas arrives.
 

great post.

remember that you will be very very busy from jan 07 to jan 31 as well :). Accepting all the returns and processing refunds. 

 

[dougts]

4 hours ago, pzyluke said:

I am so glad I decided to list a Lego Heroica set on Amazon a few months ago, my first and only set for sale on FBA haha.

and I'm so annoyed at myself for not ever having listed any LEGO on Amazon, despite thinking about it for years.

[fossilrock]

1 hour ago, newbie77 said:

great post.

remember that you will be very very busy from jan 07 to jan 31 as well :). Accepting all the returns and processing refunds. 

 

I didn't have a single return last holiday season.  In all my years on fleabay, I have yet to have a return, and I started on there in the 90s.

[newbie77]

9 minutes ago, fossilrock said:

I didn't have a single return last holiday season.  In all my years on fleabay, I have yet to have a return, and I started on there in the 90s.

congratulations. 

although return rate was low it was about 5% of my sales. amongst notable returns about 6 of 75920 . in addition to other sales.

 

[belljohn]

The Great Wall of Amazon update:

After 45 minutes of charismatic discussion with a seller support rep, 6 finely crafted argumentative emails, and 3 weeks of tearful despair, I have broken through the Amazon wall and can list Lego for sale again.  I don't know if any of my persuasion did anything, or if it was just blind luck, but something worked.

My main arguments:

• 3 seasonal years of 100% 5 star ratings
• Their arbitrary determination of who could sell and who couldn't based on listings on Aug 23rd.
• Pointing out that Amazon's requirements to sell were impossible for a small seller to fulfill.
• The wall kept saying I wasn't approved in the "used and refurbished for this item".  How could that be, I am selling new.
• I would be taking my business account to Walmart for tax exempt purchasing.

The seller rep commiserated with me, sent an email to higher up explaining my situation, and told me how to email higher ups.

I was clicking around today and suddenly found I could list again.  I was shocked.  I quickly created a 60 unit shipment with no problems.  One problem.  I still can't list Merida's Highland Games.  It is the only set I found that wouldn't work.  I also cannot list any Used or Refurbished sets, only new or collectible ones.  Weird.

Another note from 8 days ago.  I could only list items from my 33 inactive inventory listings, so I decided to switch one to seller fulfilled from FBA.  I priced it low, sold it in a few hours, and shipped it out 8 days ago.  Did that matter?  Who knows.

So, to all you who have some history selling on Amazon, don't give up.  Keep pestering them with strong clear arguments.  You never know.  I had no active listings on Aug 23rd, but I will soon.

 

[SpaceFan9]

Congrats.  Unless you received an email stating "welcome back to Amazon", I suspect that this action is what did it:

Quote

... decided to switch one [from FBA] to seller fulfilled ...

 

[TacoCat]

I also was ungated tonight!

I had never sold a set on Amazon before but I did manage to list a few different sets before the gate dropped. But after that I was gated from pretty much all new listings of LEGO, including relisting the sets I already had listed. So I figured what the hell, I'll drop the price on my sets that are still listed, show them that I can make sales and ship quickly, then email them an appeal. It wasn't necessary though. I sold a couple sets in the last few weeks and then tonight I am able to list across the board in LEGO.

With all the doom and gloom, a little hope...