Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[zskid00]

29 minutes ago, donbee said:

Do you vets think marvel and Disney are the blame? They pushing Lego to have lots sets with every movie in order to keep the license. The super heroes line is ridiculously redundant. I don't know what they did in previous years, but all these batman and Spider-Man sets look exactly the same to me.

I'm not sure how much Disney has to do with it, but the Super Heroes sets have always struggled to meet expectations.  When they came back in 2011 many were looking for a repeat of the Batman line which was very short lived and disappeared rather quickly when the license expired.  There have been some winners in the group and I like the effort the LEGO design team has put into the 2016 lineup so far.  They offer great minifigure selection and solid sets like the Spider-man Bridge Battle.  Having said that the theme does feel a bit redundant at times with all of the Quinjets and Batmobiles.

 

 

[ISO8T0]

Concerning Out of stock Inventory.

If you have an item that you run out of stock on (and know you won't get any more of) is it better to leave it in your inventory or delete it?

[Bold-Arrow]

3 minutes ago, pstebbing said:

Concerning Out of stock Inventory.

If you have an item that you run out of stock on (and know you won't get any more of) is it better to leave it in your inventory or delete it?

Delete .. 

[DadsAFOL]

27 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

Delete .. 

Unless you like beating yourself up about selling too early, since it will show you the current buy box price compared to your last selling price.

[asharerin]

These days we like to convert to FBM, add quantity 1, jack up the price so it does not sell to keep it active. You just never know if that brand or ASIN will become gated in the future.

[Bold-Arrow]

OP asked if he will never ever sell that particular ASIN .. it is always better to delete as Amazon might change the listing's category , classification ,  ect and you will end up with some violation notice . Lots of stories regarding that . 

[Serejai]

Personally, I'm looking forward to this holiday season. I know I will have no trouble selling through my stock, but I also feel like sales as a whole will be lower this year (not just LEGO, but all products). That means lots of clearance after Christmas, which means lots of things for me to scoop up and sell over the spring and summer.

[newbie77]

13 minutes ago, Serejai said:

Personally, I'm looking forward to this holiday season. I know I will have no trouble selling through my stock, but I also feel like sales as a whole will be lower this year (not just LEGO, but all products). That means lots of clearance after Christmas, which means lots of things for me to scoop up and sell over the spring and summer.

not trying to discourage but be careful if you haven't sold prior summer & spring. [ sales in spring and summer are not that encouraging either. its usually oct, nov & dec. but this year oct has been dismal. hope is pent-up demand in nov&dec might cover it.

we will see what happens later.. 

not that i am being downer but based on trend and everything its pointing to dismal nov & dec which does mean that there will be great deals after but will we have funds to buy them.

[ISO8T0]

1 hour ago, DadsAFOL said:

Unless you like beating yourself up about selling too early, since it will show you the current buy box price compared to your last selling price.

No I don't. ;-)

[fossilrock]

1 hour ago, newbie77 said:

not trying to discourage but be careful if you haven't sold prior summer & spring. [ sales in spring and summer are not that encouraging either. its usually oct, nov & dec. but this year oct has been dismal. hope is pent-up demand in nov&dec might cover it.

we will see what happens later.. 

not that i am being downer but based on trend and everything its pointing to dismal nov & dec which does mean that there will be great deals after but will we have funds to buy them.

I think the trends are pointing to not many sets rising, and prices even stagnating to some degree over november and december.  I could be wrong, but this year while we do have a new star wars film, it's not exactly going to create an influx of as many fans looking for merchandise like last year.  Each year from here on out will be diminishing in terms of new fans coming into the theme and buying retired sets to add to their collection.  Add in that there is no Jurassic World type film tie-in this year, and that is another factor.  This year was a DUD.  Sure, there were a few sets here and there that are great, but there was not a great lineup of new themes, or new tie-ins to get excited about.  Angry Birds just did not cut it as an interesting line, and the Disney minifgures aren't going to net you a profit to where it's worth it for the time invested, even though those are kinda new and fun.  Overall, I'm thinking that the phase out of new retirees will be a slow process. So, I almost don't expect any sets like last years AT-AT which rose to around 200.00 by December making a flip an almost easy doubling of money without effort.

Sure, you have large sets like the Disney Castle being a potential QFLL set, but who in their right state of mind would run out and buy those just to roll the dice that they might make 20 to 30 in profit after fees for a set that large. 

Also, last year it seemed I was starting to stock up on many sets that I felt were leaving (many of which I predicted correctly)...  This year, when you go into the stores too many sets are lingering on the shelves.  The lack of movement is creating a jam of potential retirees, which makes me less inclined to buy up these potential sets since so many are available, and I think instead of mid-November it will be late into December before we start seeing some sets become scarce.  I wouldn't doubt if themes like Jurassic World, the Force Awakens, and even Scooby Doo remain on the shelves into next spring.  What I find interesting is walmart recently clearanced JW in my area, but now they are back on the shelves again.  So, they obviously have many cases in their warehouses.
 

Edited October 12, 2016 by fossilrock

[jerryherb]

when are the "Just Launched" newbie undercutters falling off the table? i got an email last night that im free and clear for the season. was the cut off last night? this should get rid of some of the competentition. guess not, still see one of those on one of my listings.... november 1st?

Edited October 12, 2016 by jerryherb

[fossilrock]

17 minutes ago, jerryherb said:

when are the "Just Launched" newbie undercutters falling off the table? i got an email last night that im free and clear for the season. was the cut off last night? this should get rid of some of the competentition. guess not, still see one of those on one of my listings.... november 1st?

I believe it's the 17th of November, like last year.  They usually start a week before black friday, although if I recall we didn't really see the drop in sellers on items until around December. 

[Bold-Arrow]

1 minute ago, fossilrock said:

I believe it's the 17th of November, like last year.  They usually start a week before black friday, although if I recall we didn't really see the drop in sellers on items until around December. 

I still have nightmares on the 420+ sellers on Santa's Workshop 

[jerryherb]

1 minute ago, Bold-Arrow said:

I still have nightmares on the 420+ sellers on Santa's Workshop 

down to 315, bezos being one of them.... ho ho ho

Edited October 12, 2016 by jerryherb

[Bold-Arrow]

2 minutes ago, jerryherb said:

down to 315, bezos being one of them.... ho ho ho

Slightly less than the number of sellers on SW advent during the same time period . Ok , im depressing my own self here . 

[fossilrock]

And the new advent calendar is up to 185 sellers...  I take it many didn't learn their lesson.

[newbie77]

1 hour ago, fossilrock said:

And the new advent calendar is up to 185 sellers...  I take it many didn't learn their lesson.

there are still 165 for last year.  i don't have any investment in/for this year's calendar. 

i have tapped myself out buying liquidation lots and inventories. 

[newbie77]

2 hours ago, fossilrock said:

I think the trends are pointing to not many sets rising, and prices even stagnating to some degree over november and december.  I could be wrong, but this year while we do have a new star wars film, it's not exactly going to create an influx of as many fans looking for merchandise like last year.  Each year from here on out will be diminishing in terms of new fans coming into the theme and buying retired sets to add to their collection.  Add in that there is no Jurassic World type film tie-in this year, and that is another factor.  This year was a DUD.  Sure, there were a few sets here and there that are great, but there was not a great lineup of new themes, or new tie-ins to get excited about.  Angry Birds just did not cut it as an interesting line, and the Disney minifgures aren't going to net you a profit to where it's worth it for the time invested, even though those are kinda new and fun.  Overall, I'm thinking that the phase out of new retirees will be a slow process. So, I almost don't expect any sets like last years AT-AT which rose to around 200.00 by December making a flip an almost easy doubling of money without effort.

Sure, you have large sets like the Disney Castle being a potential QFLL set, but who in their right state of mind would run out and buy those just to roll the dice that they might make 20 to 30 in profit after fees for a set that large. 

Also, last year it seemed I was starting to stock up on many sets that I felt were leaving (many of which I predicted correctly)...  This year, when you go into the stores too many sets are lingering on the shelves.  The lack of movement is creating a jam of potential retirees, which makes me less inclined to buy up these potential sets since so many are available, and I think instead of mid-November it will be late into December before we start seeing some sets become scarce.  I wouldn't doubt if themes like Jurassic World, the Force Awakens, and even Scooby Doo remain on the shelves into next spring.  What I find interesting is walmart recently clearanced JW in my area, but now they are back on the shelves again.  So, they obviously have many cases in their warehouses.
 

there will always be some sets that will move and we all hope that we have plenty of those and less of duds.

its good that you are one of the lucky ones with better protfolio.

 

[newbie77]

new rules :

 

Dear Seller,

Beginning November 14, the response time to an A-to-z Guarantee claim notification will decrease from 7 calendar days to 3 calendar days. This means that you will have 3 days to respond to Amazon via Seller Central to any claim filed against you by the buyer. Failure to respond to a claim in this timeframe will result in the claim being decided in favor of the buyer. Responding directly to the buyer or calling Seller Support does not qualify as an official response to the claim.

In order to provide a fair and consistent claims experience for you, we also implemented changes to encourage buyers to first contact a seller regarding an order issue, prior to filing a claim. This will limit claims being filed before you have a chance to address the buyer’s issue.

We have made these changes to provide a better claims experience for both the buyer and you, the seller. Buyers respond positively to a quick response from the sellers. The changes should result in fewer claims, but if claims are necessary they will be resolved quickly forward.

Be sure to check your seller account regularly for Claims Notifications.

Learn more about A-z Guarantee claims: http://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/1781

 

[jerryherb]

rule of thumb, ALWAYS respond to everything as quickly as possible when dealing with amazon and its customer's base. sometimes its just easier to eat a small item just not to get dinged. however, it does not mean you have to let them take advantage of you, but be polite and offer to figure out how to make it all better from the get-go. works for me. im not a big time seller (only 500-1000 sales a year), so it will vary depending on your turn-over. generally, the more you sell, the more youll have to suck it up..

Edited October 13, 2016 by jerryherb

[kahuka]

Are there any rules of thumb for when Amazon pays the seller? I recall that in the past, the value shown in the "Transfer amount scheduled to initiate" section of the payments summary was a good way to plan. Lately, it has shown the full value owed to me, but then they don't pay or pay some far lesser amount.

Is there a typical waiting period after the sale?

[ISO8T0]

25 minutes ago, kahuka said:

Are there any rules of thumb for when Amazon pays the seller? I recall that in the past, the value shown in the "Transfer amount scheduled to initiate" section of the payments summary was a good way to plan. Lately, it has shown the full value owed to me, but then they don't pay or pay some far lesser amount.

Is there a typical waiting period after the sale?

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/14911

[Sfcommando14]

Free FBA inventory removal from 24 Oct - 31 Oct for any interested.

[kahuka]

32 minutes ago, pstebbing said:

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/14911

Thanks--this says my account should be settled every 14 days, but I am finding that it is settled every seven days. At least I have had deposits almost every week for the past 8 or so weeks (mostly inactive before that).

[ISO8T0]

4 minutes ago, kahuka said:

Thanks--this says my account should be settled every 14 days, but I am finding that it is settled every seven days. At least I have had deposits almost every week for the past 8 or so weeks (mostly inactive before that).

Well then you're doing a good job getting your shipments out quickly then. :-)