LEGO Events

[justafrog]

Yes it is until they buy something from you.   Not saying they are going out and doing this but if they really wanted to go after the biggest resellers, all they have to do is buy something from them on ebay...

 

 

And, all the biggest resellers have to do is have multiple VIP accounts and they can "go after" the known eBay address all they want, it's completely useless.

 

Edited to add: Furthermore, should any big reseller decide to buy from Lego without using a VIP account it becomes even easier - a small hit to the bottom line when the $200 exclusive costs $200 and sells a few years later at $400 instead of costing $190 and selling for $400, but perfectly doable.

 

Lego is silly to think that anyone with deep enough pockets and an interest in reselling is really going to be thwarted by their bans. Mildly inconvenienced at times? Sure. But, as my sig line used to say, "You can close your eyes to the swirl and sway, but you cannot stop the dance."

[lowillsw]

I hope someone with big bucks sues the pants off Lego and/or a large class action lawsuit follows.

 

The perfect candidate is Mark Cuban.  Anybody know him to get him into Lego?"

[pickleboy]

Yeah, there are certainly ways around it.  It is impossible to catch everyone.  Certainly not worth their effort. 

I am just laughing at those who are posting about how they stayed within limits etc and are shocked they got banned and how they came up on LEGO radar when they are posting on a lego investing website with a link to their store/website/whatever.  Just found it funny...

[justafrog]

Yeah, there are certainly ways around it.  It is impossible to catch everyone.  Certainly not worth their effort. 

I am just laughing at those who are posting about how they stayed within limits etc and are shocked they got banned and how they came up on LEGO radar when they are posting on a lego investing website with a link to their store/website/whatever.  Just found it funny...

 

 

There is absolutely no evidence thus far to suggest that posting on this site with an eBay link to a store has caused any ban. At this moment in time, that behavior is not any kind of known risk and is not the way any of them came up on LEGO radar.

[pickleboy]

And, all the biggest resellers have to do is have multiple VIP accounts and they can "go after" the known eBay address all they want, it's completely useless.

I actually work with Big Data for retailers and it amazing to me how little info consumers think companies actually have on them. 

You do know your phone company sells all your tracking data, your banks/credit cards selll all your purchasing pattens, most major retailers are using in-store tracking to align all of this along with VIP info to figure out exactly who you are.

I am not saying LEGO is doing all of this but if they wanted to do the ban hammer and attack resellers they easily could.  I am not sure exactly why they are singling out these few people we hear about but I don;t think it is b/c LEGO is on some all out war on resellers.  Who knows though, they have never invited me to a LEGO board meeting...

 

[pickleboy]

There is absolutely no evidence thus far to suggest that posting on this site with an eBay link to a store has caused any ban. At this moment in time, that behavior is not any kind of known risk and is not the way any of them came up on LEGO radar.

Relax...I never said there was.  I am not talking about you.  I am just saying it's not that hard to figure out who we are if they want.

[justafrog]

Relax...I never said there was.  I am not talking about you.  I am just saying it's not that hard to figure out who we are if they want.

 

I'm completely relaxed, I expect the person you're jabbing at is DoNot, and I'm just pointing out the fallacy of your argument with what we know at this time. Relax. 

[sadowsk1]

It's always nice to hear that people who abuse the buying limits of Lego getting banned.  It justifies the action.

[pickleboy]

I'm completely relaxed, I expect the person you're jabbing at is DoNot, and I'm just pointing out the fallacy of your argument with what we know at this time. Relax. 

I am not jabbing anyone.  I know a lot of people besides him who have been banned.   If you think I am singling anyone out, the problem is yours.

[justafrog]

I am not jabbing anyone.  I know a lot of people besides him who have been banned.   If you think I am singling anyone out, the problem is yours.

 

Sure. Find me one of those people with an eBay store link here and I'll happily apologize.

[StarCityBrickCompany]

Relax...I never said there was.  I am not talking about you.  I am just saying it's not that hard to figure out who we are if they want.

No need for concern - The mob has already spoken up regarding Lego doing anything questionable in an effort to identify resellers. I mean its not like they are banning people suspected of doing this.

[BrickHouse]

Has anyone who is not a VIP member been banned? Did Lego ban someone just by multiple purchases to the same delivery address?

[justafrog]

Has anyone who is not a VIP member been banned? Did Lego ban someone just by multiple purchases to the same delivery address?

 

Not as far as I know. It would be odd for someone to order enough to get banned from Lego without signing up for VIP at some point - even if they didn't want the regular 5% off, you'd think the freebies would be too tempting to any actual reseller.

[MartinP]

Has anyone who is not a VIP member been banned? Did Lego ban someone just by multiple purchases to the same delivery address?

That is a really good question. The VIP program makes it easy for TLG to track purchases for certain people. A non-VIP member is harder to ban because you cannot track their purchases as easily, but I think it can be done.

[Mos_Eisley]

This little argument is silly. All Pickleboy did was point out that it's potentially very easy to figure out who the ebay store owners are if TLG really wants to know. It's not really a point that needs to be argued because it would be very easy to figure out if they wanted to do it. Are they going to catch everyone? Of course not.

[Ed Mack]

I agree with most of the above points.  I am sure there are ways to find out if people are reselling, but the logistics of massive spying and bans is not worth the trouble.  My original point(question) still remains...where does it really say you cannot resell a LEGO set?  I'm just a dumb small business operator, but for the life of me, I cannot see where LEGO has the right to discriminate against a person because they "believe" they are reselling.  Maybe a little more clarity from LEGO is needed.

[Ed Mack]

Also, there is a large company called eBay that might have something to say about companies "researching" their associates that make money off of...

[justafrog]

This little argument is silly. All Pickleboy did was point out that it's potentially very easy to figure out who the ebay store owners are if TLG really wants to know. It's not really a point that needs to be argued because it would be very easy to figure out if they wanted to do it. Are they going to catch everyone? Of course not.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree (not about the silliness, but about the "all"). I don't think that was "all" that Pickleboy was doing, but targeting specific posters with "subtle" jabs is common on this as on every other site.

 

Me, when I have a disagreement with someone, I have the ovaries to just say so without pretending I wasn't talking about them at all.

 

(And now anyone who would like the last word can have it.   )

[segreto]

I know this discussion is just the tip of the iceberg.  It will get worse.  More people will get banned.  The question I have is where does it say that you can't resell LEGO sets?  On the sets?  On their site?  How do they know a person is a reseller?  I have over 5000 sets and never SOLD one.  Not one.  I am a collector first and foremost.  Maybe I'm addicted to LEGO and need help.  Banning customers is risky business if you don't give customers clear rules to adhere to.  All it takes is one person with time and money to fight and...well...you know the rest.

4. Failure to meet or observe any of the above terms and conditions, or intentional misuse of this program, may result in membership termination with immediate effect at the sole discretion of the LEGO Group.

5. Misuse of the program includes, but is not limited to, excessive and unnecessary returns or refunding and excessive variations to purchasing or ship to locations. The LEGO Group reserves the right to cancel or remove points which have been issued to a members account by mistake or due to a system or human error. The LEGO Group will not tolerate knowing misuse of the system when/if an error in the number of points occurs, and such misuse can lead to termination of the members account and a ban from future use. Members who refuse requests to return illegitimate product purchases may face legal action.

 

I think the rule is simply:  Lego makes the rules and decides on cases when and how they choose to. Variations to purchasing covers pretty much anything they wish it to.  

[chuckis]

I hope I didn't screw up by dumbing 3 grands yesterday S&****. I tired not to order more than 4 of any one item to play it safe, so I guess we'll see. There are ways to work around and problem.

[justafrog]

Also, there is a large company called eBay that might have something to say about companies "researching" their associates that make money off of...

 

I wonder if this would fall under their malicious bidding rules? It's an interesting thought.

[MartinP]

I hope I didn't screw up by dumbing 3 grands yesterday S&****. I tired not to order more than 4 of any one item to play it safe, so I guess we'll see. There are ways to work around and problem.

Depends on what you ordered. If it was mostly non-exclusive set, then you should be fine. If there were some exclusive set, you should be fine. If it was mostly exclusive set, I would be worried.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

I have no problem with anything Pickleboy said - even if he is jabbing at me - because he does have a point. If Lego reads these forums it wouldn't be too hard at all. And I agree it is kind of ironic.

 

Now I just got my Ebay link in my posting, so I am sure that my issue was something else. And I am not banned yet from my own research of people who have been. I bought something yesterday in store which included an exclusive, but it was one I have never bought before.

 

Honestly I am fine if Ebay figures that out and bans me. I think it would make me feel pretty good about my Ebay store if it was even close to on TLG's radar. lol. I very much doubt it is though.

[Ed Mack]

4. Failure to meet or observe any of the above terms and conditions, or intentional misuse of this program, may result in membership termination with immediate effect at the sole discretion of the LEGO Group.

5. Misuse of the program includes, but is not limited to, excessive and unnecessary returns or refunding and excessive variations to purchasing or ship to locations. The LEGO Group reserves the right to cancel or remove points which have been issued to a members account by mistake or due to a system or human error. The LEGO Group will not tolerate knowing misuse of the system when/if an error in the number of points occurs, and such misuse can lead to termination of the members account and a ban from future use. Members who refuse requests to return illegitimate product purchases may face legal action.

 

I think the rule is simply:  Lego makes the rules and decides on cases when and how they choose to. Variations to purchasing covers pretty much anything they wish it to.  

Without whipping out my LEGO Terms and Conditions, I assume they are talking about the VIP program?

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

You would think in all of this, they could just set actual limits and enforce them. Then the ones that get around them, they would take care of in the back ground. Maybe they aren't doing that because they want to find out who these people are.

 

To me it seems like it would be way easier to just enforce limits than to investigate people and make guesses, etc.