Selling through Amazon FBA

[Battrax]

5 minutes ago, meowsmeowsmeows said:

Ha, I can't imagine the cost of shipping cat litter

 

Someone called "meowsmeowsmeows" asking about cat litter? Hmm.

[asharerin]

16 minutes ago, Achilles said:

This certainly leads to overstuffed warehouses of items that aren't moving. If you have 200 people selling item X via FBA, most like 195 of them aren't going to be moving any units for a while. It's a very interesting time to be in this game, I am very interested to see how the coming holiday season plays out.

This is why we changed strategy to making our own listings and bring new products/combos to FBA. They are not very fast moving but when you are the only seller they do not have to be. Our goal for 2015 was to bring 50 new products that sell an average of once per week or better and make $20+ net profit and at least 100% ROI. So far so good. A few of the items we have people hop on but they just price match and even then it is still only 2-3 sellers. Not as exciting as sending in 20 lego exclusives and selling through them all in a few days but it is good and steady semi-passive income.

[Bold-Arrow]

Amazon already limited the quantity of  slow moving items  of that can be sent in to their warehouses They are bursting at the seams . They kept advertising for fba and now they can't handle the influx . 

February and August inv assestemnr  , long term fees, higher referral fees, restrictions on quantities, restriction on when u can send back removed items are all attempts to curb the explosion of fba  sellers .

[Battrax]

Maybe it is for the best, then,  that the need to deal with multiple sales tax agencies scared me out of using FBA. So perhaps their plans for market domination are going too well, eh?

[biking_tiger]

Growing pains are bound to happen. Retail arbitrage is much more than LEGO. The greater horde will soon move on to the next gold rush.

[redcell]

2 hours ago, Battrax said:

Maybe it is for the best, then,  that the need to deal with multiple sales tax agencies scared me out of using FBA. So perhaps their plans for market domination are going too well, eh?

Were you listening to Taxjar?  Despite what some people say, you really don't have to pay taxes to every state in which an Amazon warehouse is located.  Most people saying that are peddling some type of solution to that problem.

[Battrax]

1 hour ago, redcell said:

Were you listening to Taxjar?  Despite what some people say, you really don't have to pay taxes to every state in which an Amazon warehouse is located.  Most people saying that are peddling some type of solution to that problem.

Not familiar with Taxjar. Hmm. Maybe I should look in to it again. Thanks.

[pcaster]

Maybe the number of sellers for SW will finally drop.  There are 24 pages (234 total) of FBA sellers - at current sell rates just the first 2 pages account for 3.5 months worth of inventory in Amazon warehouses.  

[exciter1]

I received a message from an unhappy customer who bought a Raptor Escape recently.

Hi,
I just received the Lego set for my son. He was anxious to put it together, of course, so he opened all of the packages. I noticed it had much less pieces than a Jurassic set we just bought this week from Target so I looked up this item and found it for $39.95! I realize there are fluctuations in price, but less than half?? I am so disappointed that a company would hike up the price so significantly. I could have bought him two different sets if I would have realized this before I purchased or opened it so it could be returned.....

[Phil B]

3 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

I received a message from an unhappy customer who bought a Raptor Escape recently.

Hi,
I just received the Lego set for my son. He was anxious to put it together, of course, so he opened all of the packages. I noticed it had much less pieces than a Jurassic set we just bought this week from Target so I looked up this item and found it for $39.95! I realize there are fluctuations in price, but less than half?? I am so disappointed that a company would hike up the price so significantly. I could have bought him two different sets if I would have realized this before I purchased or opened it so it could be returned.....

Sounds like a confirmation of an earlier statement I made somewhere here on this forum. Savvy buyers who price-check and shop around typically buy on Ebay, impulse buyers go to Amazon.

[midbenne]

6 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

I received a message from an unhappy customer who bought a Raptor Escape recently.

Hi,
I just received the Lego set for my son. He was anxious to put it together, of course, so he opened all of the packages. I noticed it had much less pieces than a Jurassic set we just bought this week from Target so I looked up this item and found it for $39.95! I realize there are fluctuations in price, but less than half?? I am so disappointed that a company would hike up the price so significantly. I could have bought him two different sets if I would have realized this before I purchased or opened it so it could be returned.....

Yeah, sounds like a real brain child. I mean good luck finding a RE on the shelf clown. How about supply and demand? Ever heard of the reason you're on amazon buying is b/c you can't find it in the store...people make me tired. 

[exciter1]

2 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Sounds like a confirmation of an earlier statement I made somewhere here on this forum. Savvy buyers who price-check and shop around typically buy on Ebay, impulse buyers go to Amazon.

Yep, and I suffer the flip-side of this from time-to-time when items are returned and customer damaged, which I can nothing about in most cases.  I just have to offload the remainder of them through other channels.

[Darth_Raichu]

8 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

I received a message from an unhappy customer who bought a Raptor Escape recently.

Hi,
I just received the Lego set for my son. He was anxious to put it together, of course, so he opened all of the packages. I noticed it had much less pieces than a Jurassic set we just bought this week from Target so I looked up this item and found it for $39.95! I realize there are fluctuations in price, but less than half?? I am so disappointed that a company would hike up the price so significantly. I could have bought him two different sets if I would have realized this before I purchased or opened it so it could be returned.....

Thanks for the info.  Btw, those dot dot dots at the end of your email were great. Very suspenseful  

[dcdfan]

I received a message from an unhappy customer who bought a Raptor Escape recently.

Hi,I just received the Lego set for my son. He was anxious to put it together, of course, so he opened all of the packages. I noticed it had much less pieces than a Jurassic set we just bought this week from Target so I looked up this item and found it for $39.95! I realize there are fluctuations in price, but less than half?? I am so disappointed that a company would hike up the price so significantly. I could have bought him two different sets if I would have realized this before I purchased or opened it so it could be returned.....

So typical. It's the kids fault and your company's fault, not hers...

[exciter1]

Just now, dcdfan said:

So typical. It's the kids fault and your companies fault, not hers...

I did respond, not sure if I should share?

[Bold-Arrow]

12 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Sounds like a confirmation of an earlier statement I made somewhere here on this forum. Savvy buyers who price-check and shop around typically buy on Ebay, impulse buyers go to Amazon.

Granny doesn't buy on eBay . The demographic is totally different . 

[ISO8T0]

18 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

I received a message from an unhappy customer who bought a Raptor Escape recently.

Hi,
I just received the Lego set for my son. He was anxious to put it together, of course, so he opened all of the packages. I noticed it had much less pieces than a Jurassic set we just bought this week from Target so I looked up this item and found it for $39.95! I realize there are fluctuations in price, but less than half?? I am so disappointed that a company would hike up the price so significantly. I could have bought him two different sets if I would have realized this before I purchased or opened it so it could be returned.....

Love that reply. I would have had a lot of fun with that one. Did you ask for a link?

[Achilles]

Even better on these are when people leave negative feedback or negative REVIEWS of the product. "Smaller than I thought it would be."

It's not the product's fault you didn't know what you were buying, folks.

In the past when I've received a couple similar e-mails (it's rare) I just explain to them the item is rare and hard to find, no longer available on shelves, comparing it to an old record or baseball card - thus the price increase. 

 

[Darth_Raichu]

3 minutes ago, Achilles said:

Even better on these are when people leave negative feedback or negative REVIEWS of the product. "Smaller than I thought it would be."

It's not the product's fault you didn't know what you were buying, folks.

In the past when I've received a couple similar e-mails (it's rare) I just explain to them the item is rare and hard to find, no longer available on shelves, comparing it to an old record or baseball card - thus the price increase. 

 

Lol the best thing about Amazon is also the worst thing about Amazon.  Although, technically the way images are displayed on Amazon can be very misleading.  

[exciter1]

11 minutes ago, pstebbing said:

Love that reply. I would have had a lot of fun with that one. Did you ask for a link?

OK, here was my reply.

"We are sorry you feel this way. The set is now retired and no longer available, so the prices for this set have risen over the past 6 months. It was offered for the market price offered on Amazon and other various reseller outlets. Amazon may like to hear from you in regards to their 3rd Party Marketplace products, so you may want to reach out Amazon Support to provide feedback. Thank you again for taking the time to write us."

I hope I don't have to fight eventual negative feedback.  I still haven't been able to get the feedback removed where someone left 1-star for a Hulk Polybag and put NA for the feedback.

[Bold-Arrow]

1 minute ago, exciter1 said:

OK, here was my reply.

"We are sorry you feel this way. The set is now retired and no longer available, so the prices for this set have risen over the past 6 months. It was offered for the market price offered on Amazon and other various reseller outlets. Amazon may like to hear from you in regards to their 3rd Party Marketplace products, so you may want to reach out Amazon Support to provide feedback. Thank you again for taking the time to write us."

I hope I don't have to fight eventual negative feedback.  I still haven't been able to get the feedback removed where someone left 1-star for a Hulk Polybag and put NA for the feedback.

A negative for pricing is 100% removable . If they returned it open due to price , u have a decent chance of getting reimbursed by Amazon . 

[Phil B]

4 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

[snip]

  I still haven't been able to get the feedback removed where someone left 1-star for a Hulk Polybag and put NA for the feedback.

Maybe NA for them means Never Arrived?

[dcdfan]

4 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

OK, here was my reply.

"We are sorry you feel this way. The set is now retired and no longer available, so the prices for this set have risen over the past 6 months. It was offered for the market price offered on Amazon and other various reseller outlets. Amazon may like to hear from you in regards to their 3rd Party Marketplace products, so you may want to reach out Amazon Support to provide feedback. Thank you again for taking the time to write us."

I hope I don't have to fight eventual negative feedback.  I still haven't been able to get the feedback removed where someone left 1-star for a Hulk Polybag and put NA for the feedback.

I would be leery mentioning the word feedback at all, especially that last bit " I hope I don't have to fight eventual negative feedback.  I still haven't been able to get the feedback removed where someone left 1-star for a Hulk Polybag and put NA for the feedback."

[exciter1]

3 minutes ago, dcdfan said:

I would be leery mentioning the word feedback at all, especially that last bit " I hope I don't have to fight eventual negative feedback.  I still haven't been able to get the feedback removed where someone left 1-star for a Hulk Polybag and put NA for the feedback."

That wasn't in my reply.  That was another instance.

 

[cobrakai]

When the Gingerbread houses shot up to $70/$80/$90 last year, I wondered if people realized how small they were.  I was always happy when the buyer address and the shipping address were different because it was probably a gift and the buyer would never see how small it was.