Selling through Amazon FBA

[colossus]

Thanks for the tips about the stickers.  I am still curious though, on the scenario above will it give me 37 (20 for phantom and 17 for interceptor) unique sticker codes or just 2 codes and I use one code for each set type?

Yeah I read up on the storage feed.  Fortunately these are small sets that would be under 2 cubic feet for all of them.  The only reason I wanted to send them all in was because even when I decreased the shipment size to just 5, it was having me send 2 items here, 1 item there, and another somewhere else.  That's a lot of silly splitting.  Sending 7 here, 8 there, and 5 somewhere else sounded reasonable and would decrease the inbound shipping per set - but I guess it would increase storage costs over time.

Perhaps I should wait a little longer for some other retired stuff to appreciate more and then send a few of every set.

[Bold-Arrow]

For Each  listing u create , the same code will be assigned to any item for that lisitng  So in this case you will have 37 stickers with two different codes . Each sticker will have the item name , a unique code, Barcode , and the item condition ( new, like-new, ect...) 

[exciter1]

11 minutes ago, colossus said:

Thanks for the tips about the stickers.  I am still curious though, on the scenario above will it give me 37 (20 for phantom and 17 for interceptor) unique sticker codes or just 2 codes and I use one code for each set type?

Yeah I read up on the storage feed.  Fortunately these are small sets that would be under 2 cubic feet for all of them.  The only reason I wanted to send them all in was because even when I decreased the shipment size to just 5, it was having me send 2 items here, 1 item there, and another somewhere else.  That's a lot of silly splitting.  Sending 7 here, 8 there, and 5 somewhere else sounded reasonable and would decrease the inbound shipping per set - but I guess it would increase storage costs over time.

Perhaps I should wait a little longer for some other retired stuff to appreciate more and then send a few of every set.

They will be labeled with names and bar codes tied to each item.  You will have 20 phantom and 17 interceptor bar codes.  It all depends on what you want to get out of them.

[redcell]

Has anyone shipped in to FBA using the freight option? If so, how did the pricing work out? I'm starting to look at pallet shipping as I watch the number of boxes I have in storage stack up.

[meganr]

As far as I know, labels are required unless you co-mingle or pay Amazon to label for you. Amazon also requires that the labels be removable. If you are concerned about the labels, one option is to wrap the box in small bubble wrap and put the label on that or you can poly bag the item and then put the label on the bag.

I have not had any complaints about labels as a seller, but as a buyer there have been a couple of times where the label would not come off easily and I was a little perturbed.

[meganr]

So I have a question about the Star Wars TFA restrictions on Amazon. I get the message that I cannot sell TFA sets as new. Do you all have that restriction as well? If not, how did you get approved to sell? Do you think they will lift the restriction any time soon? 

I tried searching for this question and did not find an answer  (although I am trying to do it from my phone so maybe that's the problem).

[redcell]

7 minutes ago, meganr said:

So I have a question about the Star Wars TFA restrictions on Amazon. I get the message that I cannot sell TFA sets as new. Do you all have that restriction as well? If not, how did you get approved to sell? Do you think they will lift the restriction any time soon? 

I tried searching for this question and did not find an answer  (although I am trying to do it from my phone so maybe that's the problem).

A wide range of TFA products are gated by Amazon.  It is unlikely that this will change and the number of products subject to the gate will likely expand each year.  Basically, we are looking at a future where almost every new SW toy will be subject to the gate and can only be sold on Amazon by authorized resellers.  In order to get past the gate, you have to submit information to Amazon to show that you have authority to sell SW products.  You can do this through a letter of authorization from the manufacturer or through invoices from a wholesale distributor (retail receipts are insufficient).  However, I have been told that the wholesale invoices must reflect purchases of a variety of different gated products in "significant quantities."  So, there is no easy way to slip under the gate.  

[biking_tiger]

So, in effect, unless authorized, selling future SW LEGO on Amazon is a big no-go for most of us.

[Achilles]

Basically prices will be low/stagnant until mid/late summer when they should start to creep up. Feb-May is basically the worst time of year to sell. People aren't really buying toys, and sellers who have leftover inventory continue to markdown against eachother, as well as running into LOTS of QFLL who hit up the Feb Target/Walmart clearance sales.

If you don't have to, avoid selling during this time of year.

 

[redcell]

8 minutes ago, biking_tiger said:

So, in effect, unless authorized, selling future SW LEGO on Amazon is a big no-go for most of us.

Yes.  The rich get richer and everyone else gets left out.

[meganr]

5 hours ago, redcell said:

A wide range of TFA products are gated by Amazon.  It is unlikely that this will change and the number of products subject to the gate will likely expand each year.  Basically, we are looking at a future where almost every new SW toy will be subject to the gate and can only be sold on Amazon by authorized resellers.  In order to get past the gate, you have to submit information to Amazon to show that you have authority to sell SW products.  You can do this through a letter of authorization from the manufacturer or through invoices from a wholesale distributor (retail receipts are insufficient).  However, I have been told that the wholesale invoices must reflect purchases of a variety of different gated products in "significant quantities."  So, there is no easy way to slip under the gate.  

Well that sucks, but at least I know not to plan on selling that stuff on Amazon. Thanks for the reply!

[KShine]

Edited February 25, 2016 by KShine

[redcell]

17 minutes ago, KShine said:

You'd think, but it's a double-edged sword for Amazon.  They get larger fees on 3P sales of gated products, but don't sell as many because of the higher prices.  If TLG ever makes a concerted effort to get Amazon to gate Lego, that will be a hard decision for them because it will basically wipe out most 3P sellers and cause secondary market prices to skyrocket, which will limit the number of sales that occur.  It works out best for the sellers that manage to make it past the gate.  I'm working on it now for SW toys and it ain't easy.

[exciter1]

17 hours ago, Achilles said:

Basically prices will be low/stagnant until mid/late summer when they should start to creep up. Feb-May is basically the worst time of year to sell. People aren't really buying toys, and sellers who have leftover inventory continue to markdown against eachother, as well as running into LOTS of QFLL who hit up the Feb Target/Walmart clearance sales.

If you don't have to, avoid selling during this time of year.

 

[chrisynd]

Hoping someone can provide a definitive answer to my quandary. Here's the case:

• Purchased sets from an FBA 3P seller.
• Purchased with a Prime account, but opted for no-rush shipping.
• Would like to sell these sets through FBA towards Christmas.

My general understanding is that FBA sellers should not source their inventory through Amazon. The caveat I usually hear about this is that it's related to Prime. My question is:

Is it the case that, generally speaking, FBA sellers should not sell any inventory through FBA which was sourced from Amazon (whether from 3P or Amazon itself, whether using Prime 2-day shipping or no-rush shipping)? Or is it more nuanced such as no problem if reselling from a 3P, or no problem when reselling purchases using no-rush shipping?

I'm a longtime FBA seller with somewhat significant inventory that I wouldn't want to put at risk. I very rarely make purchases through Amazon so I've not run into this issue before and haven't been able to find a clear answer. Thanks!

[Bold-Arrow]

As long as u don't use prime shipping u should be fine 

[exciter1]

So, what does it mean again when inventory disappears and there are no open orders, they are not reserved, and also aren't listed in inventory adjustments?

[Kenxxx]

12 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

So, what does it mean again when inventory disappears and there are no open orders, they are not reserved, and also aren't listed in inventory adjustments?

It means they lost your shiit  .

Seriously, I'd like to know the correct procedure for handling this, cuz it's happened to me a couple times. And not just the "you need to open a case" advice... I need my hand held: i.e., go to this window, pull down drop down menu "A", click on "B", then from that window, select reason "C"... etc.  I spent a long time the other day trying to "open a case" about one of these lost items. Amazon FBA doesn't give a lot of help/instruction when you need to make a claim.

[redcell]

It means they lost your shiit  .

Seriously, I'd like to know the correct procedure for handling this, cuz it's happened to me a couple times. And not just the "you need to open a case" advice... I need my hand held: i.e., go to this window, pull down drop down menu "A", click on "B", then from that window, select reason "C"... etc.  I spent a long time the other day trying to "open a case" about one of these lost items. Amazon FBA doesn't give a lot of help/instruction when you need to make a claim.

Go to Help and navigate to FBA issues. I can't remember the right option to choose, but you need to look for the Contact Us By Email option. Give them the details on what's missing and they'll investigate.

[exciter1]

I'm giving it a couple days, but it's frustrating when you have the buy box and your entire inventory for an item disappears.

[Kenxxx]

For example... I start at the Amazon Seller Central Page.

1. Go to upper right hand corner, and click on "Help", and a "search" field opens up.

2. I type in "fba issues contact us", and a link pops up for "Contact Us", I click on that, and am taken to a "Contact Us" page with 5 options.

3. I click on "Fulfillment by Amazon", sub-item "FBA Issue", and a window pops open "What is your FBA issue? Missing FBA inventory... Enter Shipment ID", I enter the 10 digit shipment ID.

4. This opens up a "Send / Replenish Inventory" page, to the current tab "Reconcile". Item 1 says "View discrepancies and request research". That sounds like what I want to do, but there's no option to click anything here. Directly below this it says, "Your shipment has been received in full to your inventory, and no discrepancies have been noted."  Yeah, but what happened to it after that?  Then there's item 2 "upload documents" ... I have no documents to upload.

5. Then there's Item 3: "Provide additional Information", with a blank field to fill in. Here I enter detail about the shipment number, the SKU that is missing, etc, click "Preview your request", and immediately get a pop-up window, "Confirm your selections. No units were selected for research. To request research, you must select an action from the drop-down menu for each affected product. <Close>"

... What? Where? What "actions" from what "drop-down menu" ... huh?  I click around everything on the page... it's a dead-end.  I can't figure out what to do from here.  In the end, I went back to step 3 above, and instead of following the obvious path ("Missing FBA Inventory....") I click on "Other FBA Issue". Now I get a more generic field asking basically, "What's your issue...?" Here I typed in all the info on shipment number, missing items, etc.  And in the end I got a message, "Thank you opening a case... your case number is.xxxx.."

Maybe it's not the right procedure... maybe it won't go to the right department, right away... but I have a case open, and should get it resolved.  Anyone know a better way?

 

[Bold-Arrow]

If you are missing an item during recieving you have to reconcile your shipment from the shipping queue and that will automatically open a case .

if an item goes missing after it was recieved by amazon u can select other Amazon issues and make your case. Some screens shots or details about the item movement will tremendously help your case . It is almost a guaranteed reimbursement if you have the facts right. 

[cobrakai]

3 hours ago, exciter1 said:

So, what does it mean again when inventory disappears and there are no open orders, they are not reserved, and also aren't listed in inventory adjustments?

Did you check your "stranded inventory" to see if it was warehouse damaged? Also try running your daily inventory report for that item under the fulfillment reports and see when it dropped off.

[exciter1]

1 hour ago, gregbaynes said:

Did you check your "stranded inventory" to see if it was warehouse damaged? Also try running your daily inventory report for that item under the fulfillment reports and see when it dropped off.

I did open a case and they are back.  They provided no explanation.  Oh well...

[Kenxxx]

On ‎3‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 1:07 PM, exciter1 said:

I did open a case and they are back.  They provided no explanation.  Oh well...

That happened to me once, with a Santa's Workshop.  The price was going around $105 - $110 on Amazon, and they lost mine.  Then they found it right about the time their inventory was replenished and the price dropped to $69.95.   The price never went back up so, after Christmas I decided I wasn't gonna sell it, and I didn't want to pay storage on it anymore, so I "recalled" the inventory, and guess what? "Warehouse damaged"  I bet it was 'damaged' when they found it 3 months ago! In the end, I got reimbursed, I don't know, $52 bucks or so. grrrr.