Selling Lego on Amazon.com

[Brickson]

Thanks Bold, what you said makes sense. Somebody put up a listing a lot cheaper, so I thought it's a good opportunity to cancel it for the customer. So, that's it then. Now all I can do is just wait and see.

[micbelt]

I have been reviewed 3 times in the 3 months I have been selling on Amazon. Like Bold said, they review to make sure you are not scamming and will review new sellers very often. Did they take away your ability to sell or just the ability to receive funds while they are reviewing? Usually, they will review and tell you to operate as usual, just without access to funds until they are done. I had a weekend in which I sold roughly 100 items (2 for $6 Kaos Traps for the win) and they placed my account in review to make sure I fulfilled the orders on time and, after a week or so, lifted the review.

Edited May 18, 2015 by micbelt

[DadsAFOL]

Cancelling would be a huge red flag - not fulfilling your first order.  If there is a cheaper listing, you could message your buyer and suggest that they look at that option.  If they cancel, you don't take the hit on your metrics.  But if they don't cancel, you need to ship.  Just add signature delivery tracking, and take photos of the item(s) in the box as well as with the box sealed and labeled.   You will have to wait a while for your funds, but you can always contact support in a couple weeks with your signature delivery confirmation (or positive feedback from buyer) and ask them to manually review releasing the hold.

[marcandre]

I got banned right after starting. Accused of selling fake lego sets. They sorted it out pretty quickly. If your on the up and up amazon will do you right.

[micbelt]

Cancelling would be a huge red flag - not fulfilling your first order.  If there is a cheaper listing, you could message your buyer and suggest that they look at that option.  If they cancel, you don't take the hit on your metrics.  But if they don't cancel, you need to ship.  Just add signature delivery tracking, and take photos of the item(s) in the box as well as with the box sealed and labeled.   You will have to wait a while for your funds, but you can always contact support in a couple weeks with your signature delivery confirmation (or positive feedback from buyer) and ask them to manually review releasing the hold.

​I definitely second this. Amazon has seller matrices and cancelling your first order will be a big red flag to them.

[Brickson]

Cancelling would be a huge red flag - not fulfilling your first order.  If there is a cheaper listing, you could message your buyer and suggest that they look at that option.  If they cancel, you don't take the hit on your metrics.  But if they don't cancel, you need to ship.  Just add signature delivery tracking, and take photos of the item(s) in the box as well as with the box sealed and labeled.   You will have to wait a while for your funds, but you can always contact support in a couple weeks with your signature delivery confirmation (or positive feedback from buyer) and ask them to manually review releasing the hold.

​That was my gut reaction too. I should send it or it's a red flag. In this case I decided not take the risk. Thanks for your thoughts anyway! We'll see what happens...

Edited May 18, 2015 by Brickson

[Brickson]

​I definitely second this. Amazon has seller matrices and cancelling your first order will be a big red flag to them.

​Dammmmit, I didn't know about this. I should have gotten him to cancel. I didn't know that was an option. Ugh. Going to go pour a drink and try and forget about this.

[micbelt]

​Dammmmit, I didn't know about this. I should have gotten him to cancel. I didn't know that was an option. Ugh. Going to go pour a drink and try and forget about this.

​It is ok if the buyer cancels, not if you cancel.

[DadsAFOL]

Logged into Seller Central and see a new "Pricing Dashboard".  It shows the top items in your inventory (probably by sales rank) that are priced > 10% above the buy box.  I already know my prices are above, they are set to wait until the market price appreciates.  So the "action" from this page isn't any different than just managing items from your inventory page.

However, there is one cool thing - it shows a graph of how many of my listings are within 10% of the buy box (the inverse of the action list).  A month ago it was 29% and now its at 36%.  That shows me that Amazon's prices are increasing nicely towards my sell points.

 

[marcandre]

Seller terms for Holiday 2015 are already out

Hello from Amazon Services,

To maintain a great customer experience this holiday season, we are announcing the holiday selling guidelines for the Toys & Games store.

Effective November 17, 2015, only sellers who meet the following criteria will be eligible to sell in the Toys & Games category fromNovember 17, 2015 through January 5, 2016.

•       Your first sale on Amazon.com must occur prior to September 18, 2015; the sale does not need to be specific to the Toys & Games store
•       You must process and ship at least 25 orders from September 1 through October 31, 2015; the orders do not need to be specific to the Toys & Games store
•       Your pre-fulfillment cancel rate for the period from October 1 through October 31, 2015 must be no greater than 1.75%
•       Your late shipment rate for the period from October 1 through October 31, 2015 must be no greater than 4%
•       Your order defect rate must be no greater than 1% short term as of November 1, 2015

Orders that use Fulfillment by Amazon will not be subject to the above criteria provided your account is in good standing.

You can find your cancel rate, late shipment rate, and order defect rate in the Performance section of your seller account. If your account does not meet the above criteria, we encourage you to take corrective action now to help ensure your eligibility to sell in the Toys & Games category this holiday season.

Eligibility for selling in the Toys & Games store is determined separately for each country. If you sell in multiple marketplaces, your accounts will be evaluated for each country.

We will provide final notification about your eligibility to sell in the Toys & Games store by November 11, 2015. Beginning November 17, 2015, we will monitor the performance and listings of sellers who are approved to sell in Toys & Games during the holiday season.

Amazon Services reserves the right to cancel listings, remove selling privileges, and prohibit the sale of specific products to maintain a great customer shopping experience.

Here are some steps you can take to remain eligible to sell in Toys & Games throughout the holiday season:

•       Monitor performance metrics and take corrective action when necessary
•       Utilize Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) to ship products to customers
•       Check your orders frequently in the Manage Orders section of your account
•       Minimize order cancellations; only show inventory for sale that you have available to ship
•       Ship orders and confirm shipment in a timely manner
•       Ensure your seller policies are up to date
•       If you work with outside drop-shippers, solidify their SLA commitments for providing prompt shipping confirmation

Thank you for selling on Amazon.

Regards,
Amazon Services

[pete411]

Hmm. Isn't Amazon's return policy extremely liberal? The buyer can state "item is not as described" and return just about anything and in turn, this would count against your order defect rate, right? I guess it's FBA or bust for the holidays if you want to sell on Amazon.

[zobel0022]

Can you even use FBA for Toys during the holidays if you don't sell 25 items in the month of September?  

[SpaceFan9]

If you use FBA, you don't need to meet the 25 items in 8 weeks (Sept + Oct) requirement.  (this is stated on the clause just below the itemized list.)

And yes, the Amazon return policy is very buyer friendly.   Amazon is not ebay.  I've sold on amazon during the holiday's for 4 years now, and have never used FBA.  I've only had a few issues, less than 1% of total orders, and at a much lower rate than I've experienced on ebay.

To each his own, but don't let the holiday seller rules detract from selling on Amazon.

[cornstiffy]

Hmm. Isn't Amazon's return policy extremely liberal? The buyer can state "item is not as described" and return just about anything and in turn, this would count against your order defect rate, right? I guess it's FBA or bust for the holidays if you want to sell on Amazon.

The numbers amazon expects you to hit to be eligible are extremely easy to do.  If you are doing things the right way and are competent at selling stuff online then you will have no problems.  Yes you will get your share of returns but it is in inline with ebay numbers and the reason is usually no longer needed/wanted, not item not as described.  A rather large percentage of return requests never actually get mailed back to you when your doing seller fulfilled.  

[binici]

Finally sold my first item, which was a Gungan Sub on Amazon this past Sunday! I'm so excited! Seems like it was cheaper (fees wise) and everything else to process was smooth. Here's hoping for a good feedback and more sales!

[tabolton314]

Does Ebay have holiday seller requirements?  I remember a thread about it, but can't find it...maybe someone with better google fu can link it for me?  Appreciate it.

[binici]

Does Ebay have holiday seller requirements?  I remember a thread about it, but can't find it...maybe someone with better google fu can link it for me?  Appreciate it.

Oops, nvm. That's for Amazon. I think with eBay, anything sells? :p

[dcdfan]

Does Ebay have holiday seller requirements?  I remember a thread about it, but can't find it...maybe someone with better google fu can link it for me?  Appreciate it.

no requirements (that I recall). very simple.

[tabolton314]

Oops, nvm. That's for Amazon. I think with eBay, anything sells? :p

no requirements (that I recall). very simple.

Must've been confusing the two.  Thanks!

[zskid00]

Ok, so I just sold my first few LEGO sets and here are a few of my observations:

1) My selling price was 17% higher than my selling price on eBay for the same set.  

2) After fees and shipping I am netting almost the exact same amount through Amazon or eBay.  I do have Top Rated Seller status on eBay which qualifies me for a final value fee discount.

3) I hate the flat rate shipping for Amazon.  Shipping is going to cost me twice as much as Amazon collected for shipping.  If the buyers were within a state or two it would be possible but these packages are going from Ohio to Florida and Ohio to Nebraska.  There are very few items that I offer free shipping for on eBay since the postage can sometimes be double or triple if it's going across the country vs. shipping within a few zones of me.

I know sales volume can be higher at times on Amazon compared to eBay but now I can see why there is usually a price difference between the two - the fees are much, much higher on Amazon.  

Edited July 29, 2015 by zskid00

[biking_tiger]

Ok, so I just sold my first few LEGO sets and here are a few of my observations:

1) My selling price was 17% higher than my selling price on eBay for the same set.  

2) After fees and shipping I am netting almost the exact same amount through Amazon or eBay.  I do have Top Rated Seller status on eBay which qualifies me for a final value fee discount.

3) I hate the flat rate shipping for Amazon.  Shipping is going to cost me twice as much as Amazon collected for shipping.  If the buyers were within a state or two it would be possible but these packages are going from Ohio to Florida and Ohio to Nebraska.  There are very few items that I offer free shipping for on eBay since the postage can sometimes be double or triple if it's going across the country vs. shipping within a few zones of me.

I know sales volume can be higher at times on Amazon compared to eBay but now I can see why there is usually a price difference between the two - the fees are much, much higher on Amazon.  

1. yes

2. yes

3. yes

I think the real benefit for Amazon is the holiday season. Once something sells out at retail price, the secondary market skyrockets. 

[exciter1]

Ok, so I just sold my first few LEGO sets and here are a few of my observations:

1) My selling price was 17% higher than my selling price on eBay for the same set.  

2) After fees and shipping I am netting almost the exact same amount through Amazon or eBay.  I do have Top Rated Seller status on eBay which qualifies me for a final value fee discount.

3) I hate the flat rate shipping for Amazon.  Shipping is going to cost me twice as much as Amazon collected for shipping.  If the buyers were within a state or two it would be possible but these packages are going from Ohio to Florida and Ohio to Nebraska.  There are very few items that I offer free shipping for on eBay since the postage can sometimes be double or triple if it's going across the country vs. shipping within a few zones of me.

I know sales volume can be higher at times on Amazon compared to eBay but now I can see why there is usually a price difference between the two - the fees are much, much higher on Amazon.  

I'm giving Amazon a fair shake now as well.  I think it's a balancing act, but it's nice to have 2 large marketplaces to sell from.  They are comparable and for established sellers, one could work better, depending on the sales methods.  Some stuff sells higher in different instances on both EBay and Amazon, so it may or may not balance out in the end.  If you have large quantities and volume on Amazon, it's advantageous during price spikes.  For the casual seller, there may not be much difference.

For FBA, I can definitely see how it's nice when Amazon starts fulfilling orders and you can just see the money rolling in, as long as there isn't too many returns to stifle progress.  It's not a quick and dirty process to send stuff off to FBA, but I'm sure seasoned FBA'ers have a pretty good system put together to make it as efficient as they can.

Edited July 29, 2015 by exciter1

[belljohn]

Ok, so I just sold my first few LEGO sets and here are a few of my observations:

1) My selling price was 17% higher than my selling price on eBay for the same set.  

2) After fees and shipping I am netting almost the exact same amount through Amazon or eBay.  I do have Top Rated Seller status on eBay which qualifies me for a final value fee discount.

3) I hate the flat rate shipping for Amazon.  Shipping is going to cost me twice as much as Amazon collected for shipping.  If the buyers were within a state or two it would be possible but these packages are going from Ohio to Florida and Ohio to Nebraska.  There are very few items that I offer free shipping for on eBay since the postage can sometimes be double or triple if it's going across the country vs. shipping within a few zones of me.

I know sales volume can be higher at times on Amazon compared to eBay but now I can see why there is usually a price difference between the two - the fees are much, much higher on Amazon.  

I personally find the reason to sell on Amazon is For sale By Amazon (FBA) program.  The fees might be a little higher, but shipping to Amazon is dirt cheap, and then you don't pay for shipping on the buyers end.  I mainly use the FBA program for the middle sized sets that are larger than USPS first class and smaller than the large exclusives.  These sized sets kill me on shipping as a percentage of sale price.  For example on Dragon Mountain 70403 I will pay $17 in fees with a sale price of $79.95 and my shipping will is about $1 since it will share a box with other sets going to Amazon.  I will pay at least $10 to offer free shipping plus $5-7 in fees to eBay and Paypal on a sale $65-70.  

When I add the fees including my shipping cost, I find that self shipping a sale on eBay and a FBA sale are about the same for the middle sized sets, but the Amazon price is almost always higher.  Of course there are other risks with the FBA program, but I don't think increased fees in one of them.  I don't send them large exclusives because I prefer to pack them myself to the buyer.

[Deadfraggle]

I personally find the reason to sell on Amazon is For sale By Amazon (FBA) program.  The fees might be a little higher, but shipping to Amazon is dirt cheap, and then you don't pay for shipping on the buyers end.  I mainly use the FBA program for the middle sized sets that are larger than USPS first class and smaller than the large exclusives.  These sized sets kill me on shipping as a percentage of sale price.  For example on Dragon Mountain 70403 I will pay $17 in fees with a sale price of $79.95 and my shipping will is about $1 since it will share a box with other sets going to Amazon.  I will pay at least $10 to offer free shipping plus $5-7 in fees to eBay and Paypal on a sale $65-70.  

When I add the fees including my shipping cost, I find that self shipping a sale on eBay and a FBA sale are about the same for the middle sized sets, but the Amazon price is almost always higher.  Of course there are other risks with the FBA program, but I don't think increased fees in one of them.  I don't send them large exclusives because I prefer to pack them myself to the buyer.

I am currently selling on Amazon a little, but shipping myself. Can you give me the easy version of how the FBA program works and the costs associated with program?

As i understand it, I PAY to ship Amazon my inventory initially, then pay them a monthly storage fee, then a slightly higher sales commission %, but then AMAZON ships the item out to the customer free? or low-cost to me? and it's almost always 2-day PRIME shipping?

If I am low volume seller, say 5-10 sets a month, is FBA even worth doing, or am I going to get killed by storage fees?

Thanks!

[zskid00]

I am currently selling on Amazon a little, but shipping myself. Can you give me the easy version of how the FBA program works and the costs associated with program?

You may want to check out this thread for more info on the FBA program:

http://community.brickpicker.com/topic/5327-selling-through-amazon-fba/?page=1