Selling through Amazon FBA

[Achilles]

I had quite a few cases that I shipped to Warehouse 4 weeks ago that JUST yesterday were showing as avail in my inventory... So frustrating.

[Bricklectic]

Oh boy.

So, my brother's friend got a letter over the weekend from Lego legal ordering him to cease and desist selling new lego items on amazon.com. "you are not authorized to sell....."  He's really upset. Is this the first occurrence of this that we know about and is it indicative of a future wave of letters? His business model is quick flipping like home alone, ATT etc... But he's really a small fish in the pond.. My only hope is that perhaps LEgo is only pursuing sellers of sets that are currently in production. But I am concerned. 

[redcell]

Oh boy.
So, my brother's friend got a letter over the weekend from Lego legal ordering him to cease and desist selling new lego items on amazon.com. "you are not authorized to sell....."  He's really upset. Is this the first occurrence of this that we know about and is it indicative of a future wave of letters? His business model is quick flipping like home alone, ATT etc... But he's really a small fish in the pond.. My only hope is that perhaps LEgo is only pursuing sellers of sets that are currently in production. But I am concerned. 

I've been selling for over a decade and this is the first time I can ever recall anyone talking about getting a cease and desist letter directly from Lego based simply on selling without authorization.

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[Bold-Arrow]

4 minutes ago, redcell said:

I've been selling for over a decade and this is the first time I can ever recall anyone talking about getting a cease and desist letter directly from Lego based simply on selling without authorization.

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk
 

I vaguely remember someone posting something similar few years ago , I might be wrong 

[Bricklectic]

7 minutes ago, redcell said:

I've been selling for over a decade and this is the first time I can ever recall anyone talking about getting a cease and desist letter directly from Lego based simply on selling without authorization.

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk
 

Maybe he pissed of a local lego store manager who reported him. Im just coming up with theories for myself as to why it would be an isolated incident. Like why would Lego legal care about one small random guy, seems super odd. 

[LegoBro]

Any chance he drastically priced his merchandise way below retail triggering Lego to step in? Just throwing junk at this.

[river41]

54 minutes ago, redcell said:

I've been selling for over a decade and this is the first time I can ever recall anyone talking about getting a cease and desist letter directly from Lego based simply on selling without authorization.

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk
 

is there a legal basis to send a cease and desist letter, doesn't the first sale doctrine give you the right to resell a product.

Now amazon or ebay or walmart is not required to allow you to sell the product and can shut you down on lego's request if they are so inclined  but what basis would lego have for ordering you to cease and desist

 

[Bricklectic]

So it turns out the letter came from a law firm called VORYS NOT from lego legal. So maybe it was instigated by a competitor?

IT seems this particular company specialized in harassing people.

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by Bricklectic

[Bold-Arrow]

20 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

So it turns out the letter came from a law firm called VORYS NOT from lego legal. So maybe it was instigated by a competitor?

IT seems this particular company specialized in harassing people.

 

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/vorys-contacting-through-personal-email-vs-amazon-messages/461008

[redcell]

So it turns out the letter came from a law firm called VORYS NOT from lego legal. So maybe it was instigated by a competitor?
IT seems this particular company specialized in harassing people.
 

I'm not so sure. I'm not familiar with Vorys, but they apparently have an entire practice group dedicated to online brand protection, which includes going after unauthorized sellers. They apparently recently won a case in Colorado for OtterBox against unauthorized sellers.

https://www.vorysecontrol.com/

Did the letter specifically say that the firm was representing Lego and writing on its behalf?

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[Bricklectic]

So my FBA shipment wants me to send to here: STL4
Edwardsville, IL

Something in the news made me google that warehouse and sure enough it seems the warehouse collapsed 2 days ago.

https://www.kmov.com/news/amazon-warehouse-collapses-in-edwardsville/article_4d5fae3e-5a32-11ec-8487-d76116b95256.html

Is there anyway to force another warehouse destination - something tells me its unwise to send there now.

[Bold-Arrow]

4 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

So my FBA shipment wants me to send to here: STL4
Edwardsville, IL

Something in the news made me google that warehouse and sure enough it seems the warehouse collapsed 2 days ago.

https://www.kmov.com/news/amazon-warehouse-collapses-in-edwardsville/article_4d5fae3e-5a32-11ec-8487-d76116b95256.html

Is there anyway to force another warehouse destination - something tells me its unwise to send there now.

That’s tragic 😞

[jgschmieg3]

11 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

So my FBA shipment wants me to send to here: STL4
Edwardsville, IL

Something in the news made me google that warehouse and sure enough it seems the warehouse collapsed 2 days ago.

https://www.kmov.com/news/amazon-warehouse-collapses-in-edwardsville/article_4d5fae3e-5a32-11ec-8487-d76116b95256.html

Is there anyway to force another warehouse destination - something tells me its unwise to send there now.

That warehouse doesn't exist as of 8:33 p.m. 12/10/21

[Bricklectic]

6 minutes ago, jgschmieg3 said:

That warehouse doesn't exist as of 8:33 p.m. 12/10/21

aaargh all of a sudden the last 3 shipments i created amazon wants sent there  

 

[joesnow2005]

33 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

aaargh all of a sudden the last 3 shipments i created amazon wants sent there  

 

Is this a warehouse for standard items or oversized items?

[Bricklectic]

Just now, joesnow2005 said:

Is this a warehouse for standard items or oversized items?

good question. seems oversized as i was sending in tantives and beetles. can i cancel shipment or does that ding me

[keymomachine]

1 hour ago, Bricklectic said:

So my FBA shipment wants me to send to here: STL4
Edwardsville, IL

Something in the news made me google that warehouse and sure enough it seems the warehouse collapsed 2 days ago.

https://www.kmov.com/news/amazon-warehouse-collapses-in-edwardsville/article_4d5fae3e-5a32-11ec-8487-d76116b95256.html

Is there anyway to force another warehouse destination - something tells me its unwise to send there now.

This was last night, one of the many tornadoes. I'm honestly surprised there wasn't a safer place for Amazon employees to shelter. Really sad.

[joesnow2005]

9 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

good question. seems oversized as i was sending in tantives and beetles. can i cancel shipment or does that ding me

I could be wrong, but I don't think it will affect you since Amazon allow you to cancel within 24 hours. 

[Bricklectic]

11 hours ago, jgschmieg3 said:

That warehouse doesn't exist as of 8:33 p.m. 12/10/21

In case this helps anyone. according to this news report apparently there are 2 amazon centers there and STL4 is still standing.

According to Edwardsville Police Department, a tornado struck western Edwardsville, Illinois at 8:33 p.m. local time, causing catastrophic damage to a significant portion of an Amazon warehouse at 3077 Gateway Commerce Center Drive South with confirmed fatalities. The address marks the location of the DLI4 Amazon Delivery Station. Initially there was some confusion on social media regarding which location was damaged, as there are several Amazon facilities in the area — Amazon STL4 (fulfillment center) and DLI5 (delivery station) in Pontoon Beach south of the other nearby Amazon facilities.

[Phil B]

Amazon really needs to fix their check in process for FBA shipments.

Sent in a bunch of valentines/Easter stuff late Jan. Was received and checked in within 2 days in the Greenfield, Indiana FC. Yay.

All items went to FC Transfer state (expected) with Detroit as destination, but items were Active on Amazon.com. Sold most of my Valentine's sets and some Easter sets.

Three weeks later items are still in FC Transfer state, but now all of them (except for 1) have gone to "Inactive (Out of Stock)". One item, which I sold out of completely, suddenly shows 20 copies in FC Transfer state.

Is this normal? How long do I need to wait before Detroit checks things in (3 weeks and counting)? Will my items become Active again before this check in?

[Mark Twain]

Amazon really needs to fix their check in process for FBA shipments.
Sent in a bunch of valentines/Easter stuff late Jan. Was received and checked in within 2 days in the Greenfield, Indiana FC. Yay.
All items went to FC Transfer state (expected) with Detroit as destination, but items were Active on Amazon.com. Sold most of my Valentine's sets and some Easter sets.
Three weeks later items are still in FC Transfer state, but now all of them (except for 1) have gone to "Inactive (Out of Stock)". One item, which I sold out of completely, suddenly shows 20 copies in FC Transfer state.
Is this normal? How long do I need to wait before Detroit checks things in (3 weeks and counting)? Will my items become Active again before this check in?

Same. Sent in 10 units mid January and all were checked in and went through FC transfer. All sold, then one by one each was canceled and now my inventory shows zero stock and my shipping inventory page also shows no units. It’s still listed as being in “receiving” and I cannot launch an investigation until 2/28. I’m guessing they’ve all been lost, but that’s super weird considering how many different FC warehouses they were sent to.


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[Phil B]

43 minutes ago, Mark Twain said:

Same. Sent in 10 units mid January and all were checked in and went through FC transfer. All sold, then one by one each was canceled and now my inventory shows zero stock and my shipping inventory page also shows no units. It’s still listed as being in “receiving” and I cannot launch an investigation until 2/28. I’m guessing they’ve all been lost, but that’s super weird considering how many different FC warehouses they were sent to.


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Sounds like your situation is worse. My orders from FC Transfer stock all went through and shipped to customers. 

[Darth_Raichu]

1 hour ago, Mark Twain said:

Same. Sent in 10 units mid January and all were checked in and went through FC transfer. All sold, then one by one each was canceled and now my inventory shows zero stock and my shipping inventory page also shows no units. It’s still listed as being in “receiving” and I cannot launch an investigation until 2/28. I’m guessing they’ve all been lost, but that’s super weird considering how many different FC warehouses they were sent to.


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I hope you have better luck than me.  They will ask invoices to proof that you are the owner of those "missing" items before they can open investigation.  They conveniently closed my cases without opening any investigation even after I sent those invoices.  I only sent 50 units back in August.  Maybe those were too small for them to bother.

Maybe I open yet another case with them to search for my missing shipments.  However, I cannot in good conscience endorse FBA to anyone after what happened to my shipments

[Mark Twain]

2 hours ago, Darth_Raichu said:

I hope you have better luck than me.  They will ask invoices to proof that you are the owner of those "missing" items before they can open investigation.  They conveniently closed my cases without opening any investigation even after I sent those invoices.  I only sent 50 units back in August.  Maybe those were too small for them to bother.

Maybe I open yet another case with them to search for my missing shipments.  However, I cannot in good conscience endorse FBA to anyone after what happened to my shipments

If the case closed, then I suggest opening up a new one. I think the window is 9 months. Invoices can be challenging with that number of units and you may have to hound them. 

[Darth_Raichu]

21 minutes ago, Mark Twain said:

If the case closed, then I suggest opening up a new one. I think the window is 9 months. Invoices can be challenging with that number of units and you may have to hound them. 

I did open another case 2 months after the original "problem with shipment" case was closed.  They closed that one too after I sent the invoices with all annotations they had asked.  50 units in 2 boxes were miniscule compared to the size of their operation but closing my cases without explanation was never good way of doing business.