Selling through Amazon FBA

[Bricklectic]

another tip for cheap ups pickups - pirate ship costs 3.80 for me. vs ups direct costs 13.60

[SleepingGiant]

CUSTOMER WARNING: Anyone else selling on Amazon or Walmart having issues with a customer from Wilkes Barre, PA?  On Sept 26th a customer by the name "rod" (no last name) reached out to me on Amazon asking if our Minifigs were sealed.  I responded "yes, all of our Minifigs are sealed".  Then starting Oct 1st we started getting FBA orders from this person.  All good so far...

Until, I started getting my customer damaged minifigs back about 2 weeks ago.  All of them are opened and sometimes missing parts.  And we're not talking 1 or 2 minifigs ... since Oct 1st they've placed 9 orders and usually 5-6 of the same minifig (about 45 total for $587) and ALL have been refunded and the ones that do arrive back to me are in unsellable condition.  I've looked for ways to report this customer and even put in a case and as you can imagine, I wasted my time.

However, today I got a Walmart return back with 3 minifigs in a similar condition so I started to do a little digging.  The customer that returned these were from a little known place in Wilkes Barre Township, PA ... coincidence ... no chance!  Since November 15th they've placed 7 orders (multiples of the same minifig in each) and all but 1 order has been refunded to them and that's because it was just shipped today (Kicking myself - Seller Fulfilled 18 minifigs for $207).  I have no doubt this one will fall victim to whatever scam this person is doing.  If it's product laundering then I can't imagine I'm the only seller getting orders from this gal ... if it's another seller trying to torpedo our operation then I might be in the boat alone.  Either way, the damages are over $1000 in less than 2 months and I now have this customers real name, address and phone number and I intend to contact my lawyer tomorrow and put a stop to this.  

If you are experiencing this issue let me know... I'd love to compare notes.

[brickolodon]

7 hours ago, Bricklectic said:

another tip for cheap ups pickups - pirate ship costs 3.80 for me. vs ups direct costs 13.60

to good to be true? how its that cheap? 

[gmpirate]

I sent a package that was delivered on the 11/22/22 by UPS.  On the 24th the customer sent a message saying they did not receive it and they will "issue a report and file a claim if they don't get their money back".  My response was to check their neighbors and sometimes deliveries get marked as delivered before they actually are (just happened to me a couple weeks ago).

On the 26th they said they "check their surroundings, didn't find it, please help them out, very disappointed".

I then sent the standard boiler plate explaining the wait periods and how to file their claim.

On the 28th I received an email from Amazon of their claim being denied.

Then this morning the buyer sent me another message asking me to refund their money "they are waiting!".

Ignore it? or report the buyer?

[Bold-Arrow]

3 minutes ago, gmpirate said:

I sent a package that was delivered on the 11/22/22 by UPS.  On the 24th the customer sent a message saying they did not receive it and they will "issue a report and file a claim if they don't get their money back".  My response was to check their neighbors and sometimes deliveries get marked as delivered before they actually are (just happened to me a couple weeks ago).

On the 26th they said they "check their surroundings, didn't find it, please help them out, very disappointed".

I then sent the standard boiler plate explaining the wait periods and how to file their claim.

On the 28th I received an email from Amazon of their claim being denied.

Then this morning the buyer sent me another message asking me to refund their money "they are waiting!".

Ignore it? or report the buyer?

mark as no response needed, report buyer for scamming. Rinse repeat for every message. Amazon doesnt deny those claims unless the buyer has a history of abuse. Do not reply to buyer 

[Bricklectic]

8 hours ago, brickolodon said:

to good to be true? how its that cheap? 

Agreed but i tried yesterday and it worked just like regular ups pickup same guy same time. just extra $10 in my pocket. 

Pirate ship for the win! 

Just scheduled another for today. $4 same day instead of $18 on UPS. Arrrr Arrrr!

[exciter1]

10 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

Agreed but i tried yesterday and it worked just like regular ups pickup same guy same time. just extra $10 in my pocket. 

Pirate ship for the win! 

Just scheduled another for today. $4 same day instead of $18 on UPS. Arrrr Arrrr!

I've been dropping at CVS, no complaints yet.

[gmpirate]

33 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

Agreed but i tried yesterday and it worked just like regular ups pickup same guy same time. just extra $10 in my pocket. 

Pirate ship for the win! 

Just scheduled another for today. $4 same day instead of $18 on UPS. Arrrr Arrrr!

Not following.  You are scheduling UPS pickups through Amazon, not UPS website?

 

23 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

I've been dropping at CVS, no complaints yet.

??

[Bricklectic]

1 minute ago, gmpirate said:

Not following.  You are scheduling UPS pickups through Amazon, not UPS website?

 

??

pirate ship. its an easy to use website and their ups pickups are much cheaper then going through ups directly. i use it for my large fba shipments.

[Bricklectic]

What schedule are you guys on with amazon payments? I get paid every 2 weeks which is annoying, on the other hand I have no reserve which is great. My friend tells me he uses the pay me option on the app to get paid whenever he wants, but for me I see the words pay me on bottom of the payment screen on the app but it doesnt do anything. Im thinking there are different payment options for different people depending on when you signed up to sell on amazon, can anyone confirm. My friend does have a reserve so perhaps they are linked.

[gmpirate]

2 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

What schedule are you guys on with amazon payments? I get paid every 2 weeks which is annoying, on the other hand I have no reserve which is great. My friend tells me he uses the pay me option on the app to get paid whenever he wants, but for me I see the words pay me on bottom of the payment screen on the app but it doesnt do anything. Im thinking there are different payment options for different people depending on when you signed up to sell on amazon, can anyone confirm. My friend does have a reserve so perhaps they are linked.

What is annoying about it?

[Bricklectic]

Just now, gmpirate said:

What is annoying about it?

cash flow. ebay/mercari pay a lot quicker. amazon used to be daily also

[Bold-Arrow]

3 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

What schedule are you guys on with amazon payments? I get paid every 2 weeks which is annoying, on the other hand I have no reserve which is great. My friend tells me he uses the pay me option on the app to get paid whenever he wants, but for me I see the words pay me on bottom of the payment screen on the app but it doesnt do anything. Im thinking there are different payment options for different people depending on when you signed up to sell on amazon, can anyone confirm. My friend does have a reserve so perhaps they are linked.

old account had a pay me option. then after that it was two weeks without the pay me option had mostly little to no reserve. newer accounts has the pay me option with high reserves and even when they get paid every 2 weeks  that reserve is still there. that's my understanding anyways 

[redcell]

3 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

What schedule are you guys on with amazon payments? I get paid every 2 weeks which is annoying, on the other hand I have no reserve which is great. My friend tells me he uses the pay me option on the app to get paid whenever he wants, but for me I see the words pay me on bottom of the payment screen on the app but it doesnt do anything. Im thinking there are different payment options for different people depending on when you signed up to sell on amazon, can anyone confirm. My friend does have a reserve so perhaps they are linked.

How often you can get paid depends on when you first signed up.  I'm sure someone out there has tracked it over time, but there is certain Seller Central functionality that essentially gets locked in when you sign up and doesn't change over time.  I have no idea the reason.  I'm on a two-week schedule, but I can request a payout whenever I want, although I am limited to a single payout per day.

[gmpirate]

3 minutes ago, redcell said:

How often you can get paid depends on when you first signed up.  I'm sure someone out there has tracked it over time, but there is certain Seller Central functionality that essentially gets locked in when you sign up and doesn't change over time.  I have no idea the reason.  I'm on a two-week schedule, but I can request a payout whenever I want, although I am limited to a single payout per day.

Same here, I can change to whatever but I prefer two weeks.  I think on Ebay I have it at one month (lower volume).  Less frequent payments is easier on the books.

[Bricklectic]

1 minute ago, gmpirate said:

Same here, I can change to whatever but I prefer two weeks.  I think on Ebay I have it at one month (lower volume).  Less frequent payments is easier on the books.

with amazon there is another reason also besides for cashflow. if you look through the forums there are endless horror stories of unjustified suspensions. When that happens all funds are frozen and sometimes inventory confiscated. true we dont expect or think that will happen to any of us, but point is that the less of our money in amazons hands the better. Its bad enough they have total control of the inventory we have.

[Darth_Raichu]

10 minutes ago, redcell said:

How often you can get paid depends on when you first signed up.  I'm sure someone out there has tracked it over time, but there is certain Seller Central functionality that essentially gets locked in when you sign up and doesn't change over time.  I have no idea the reason.  I'm on a two-week schedule, but I can request a payout whenever I want, although I am limited to a single payout per day.

I assume this is different from the Express Payout (free until 9/23) ?  I kept getting the email to enroll to it.

6 minutes ago, gmpirate said:

Same here, I can change to whatever but I prefer two weeks.  I think on Ebay I have it at one month (lower volume).  Less frequent payments is easier on the books.

You can set eBay to daily payout.  A good way to see how little I make on Ebay on days with sales

[exciter1]

37 minutes ago, gmpirate said:

Not following.  You are scheduling UPS pickups through Amazon, not UPS website?

 

??

My CVS (maybe most) are a UPS drop off point. We don't have a UPS Store and the depot is across town.

[redcell]

17 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

I assume this is different from the Express Payout (free until 9/23) ?  I kept getting the email to enroll to it.

 

I think that's something different.  My understanding is that the "Express Payouts" relates to the way in which they send the money to you and not the frequency with which they will send it.  It's basically the same as the optionality on Paypal that lets you get money instantly for a fee or in a few days for free.  I've always viewed it as something akin to the paid express lanes that some highways have...if you want to get it faster, you can, but you have to pay.

[Bold-Arrow]

Express is a different animal and they take a %

[Bricklectic]

From my quick skimming it seems express is free till end of 2023 and then only 50 cents a payment.

[landphieran]

I have an old account and I can adhoc request withdrawals daily. No limits. No restrictions.

I request my money whenever I remember. Even if I don't need it in my bank account, I would prefer it to be secured with me (potentially earning interest) in my bank. Not sitting with Amazon earning them interest.

[Phil B]

Sent in a shipment last month. I have a screenshot showing everything was received, before they started doing FC Transfers. Looks like my inventory got transferred to 2 different warehouses. Warehouse 1 received and checked in my inventory, no problems. Warehouse 2 has been in "receiving" state for the last 3 weeks, and today it flipped to "action required" and they ask me to provide proof of ownership. Going to be a pain in the butt to find all the receipts, and not even sure if that is acceptable.

Since I have the screenshot of them having received all my inventory when I sent it in - should I just send that in? Any advice?

[Mark Twain]

37 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Sent in a shipment last month. I have a screenshot showing everything was received, before they started doing FC Transfers. Looks like my inventory got transferred to 2 different warehouses. Warehouse 1 received and checked in my inventory, no problems. Warehouse 2 has been in "receiving" state for the last 3 weeks, and today it flipped to "action required" and they ask me to provide proof of ownership. Going to be a pain in the butt to find all the receipts, and not even sure if that is acceptable.

Since I have the screenshot of them having received all my inventory when I sent it in - should I just send that in? Any advice?

You can try, but I think it's likely a bot that does the initial review and you'll get a message to upload proof of ownership. They may also want a sales invoice vs. scanned receipts.  

[Phil B]

25 minutes ago, Mark Twain said:

You can try, but I think it's likely a bot that does the initial review and you'll get a message to upload proof of ownership. They may also want a sales invoice vs. scanned receipts.  

Quite difficult to get sales invoices for LEGO GWPs ....