Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Turnover Tuesdays - Some Companies Try to Bully!


For those who are not familiar, I started a series a while back called Turnover Tuesdays. Every Tuesday I like to highlight one item that I have resold. This will include profitable and non profitable sales. I hope that there is always something to learn.

Week 1 - First attempt at reselling
Week 2 - My second straight fail
Week 3 - My iPad mini collection
Week 4 - Bed Bath and Beyond
Week 5 - An iPad Idea for Your Staples Gift Card Collection









The Item - Tablet Stand

Best Buy was selling two versions of a similar products in one day for very cheap.  I was a little unsure whether to buy due to rank but I went for it assuming that it would sell because of the holidays.  Thankfully it sold very quickly and with good profit but that is only half the story.

One product was selling for $48 and I bought 3.  The other product was selling for $60 and I bought 3 of those as well.

I spent a total of $346.62 on the 6 products including tax.




Credit Card Points 
I paid with my Discover Card because of Discover Deals so I earned 1% now and 1% in 13 months.  Let's call that $3.40 since that is why I earned now


Shopping Portal

I earned 5% cashback from Discover Deals which is $16.20 now and $16.20 in 13 months
Loyalty Points - Best Buy Rewards



I earned another 2.5% in Best Buy Rewards due to Elite Plus status which is worth about $8 in Best Buy Rewards.



Fulfillment by Amazon Fees


I sold the cheaper item for $78.99 and the more expensive item for $98.99.  The same price for all three of each type.

The more expensive unit had fees of $18.48 and the cheaper unit had fees of $15.87.

That's $103.05 in fees.  Shipping was about $7 for the 6 units.  Let's call that $110.



The Haul  

All six units were sold for $533.94.  Fees were $110.  I paid $346.62.  That's a gain of $77 or 22% just on the sale!



Here is how the numbers work
Cash = $77
Credit Card Points = $3
Portal Points = $16
Loyalty points = $8 in Best Buy Rewards


When you combine the credit card cash, Best Buy and portal cash, I earned an additional $27.

My return on investment became about 30% or so.  I was very happy with that.






Bully Tactics

Some companies on Amazon apparently don't like it when you sell their products without their authorization and this was one of those companies.  I received the following communication through Amazon from the company:

You are currently selling our products on Amazon without authorization. We maintain an authorized reseller program for this purpose. Please let us know from whom you are purchasing this product. Without authorization, we cannot allow you to continue selling this product.
You can folllow up with me at [e-mail address removed], or by calling
I knew about this from other companies (notably NetGear and others) but it is always a little bit of a shock when it happens to you.   I chatted with Amazon about it and I was told that I can either comply or ignore the message.  Meaning it was an unauthorized message and I didn't have to comply.

Another day went by and I received this message.


Dear Seller,
You are currently selling products without authorization.
**** is a trademarked and registered brand that maintains an authorized reseller program.  Because your storefront did not purchase directly from **** or from one of our authorized distributors, it is in violation of Amazon’s policies for you to list these items as “new.”
All **** products come with a one year warranty when sold by an authorized reseller.  As you are not an authorized reseller, per Amazon’s policy, your listings include void warranties and must be listed as “used."
Please remove your listing or change the status to “used” immediately.  Otherwise, we will be required to report this violation to Amazon Seller Services.
If you believe this notification to be in error, please response with any parent companies under whose name you may make purchases, or any other DBA information, as well as the name of the distributor from who you are purchasing.  We will be happy to re-examine our records.
If you’d like to become an authorized reseller, please email [e-mail address removed].
I found it amusing this time that they were going to report me to Amazon considering I didn't violate any Amazon policy.  I quickly chatted with Amazon again to confirm (and make sure I had something in writing) and Amazon confirmed that I can once again ignore this message.

I had originally listed my items for $79.99 and $99.99.  Instead, I decided to lower my price to $78.99 and $98.99 to undercut them (and maybe upset them a little bit).  It worked.  A day later I received this message:



You are currently selling ****s products without authorization.
In addition, you are selling our products below MAP.  The correct retail price for this product is $99.99.
**** is a trademarked and registered brand that maintains an authorized reseller program.  Because your storefront did not purchase directly from *** or from one of our authorized distributors, it is in violation of Amazon’s policies for you to list these items as “new.”
All **** products come with a one year warranty when sold by an authorized reseller.  As you are not an authorized reseller, per Amazon’s policy, your listings include void warranties and must be listed as “used."
Please remove your listing or change the status to “used” immediately.  Otherwise, we will be required to report this violation to Amazon Seller Services.
If you believe this notification to be in error, please response with any parent companies under whose name you may make purchases, or any other DBA information, as well as the name of the distributor from who you are purchasing.  We will be happy to re-examine our records.
If you’d like to become an authorized reseller, please email [e-mail address removed].
I kept my prices just the same and sold all 6 within about a week at good profit margins.  As a smart friend told me, the best revenge is profits.

I didn't name the seller since I don't need a lawsuit on my hands.  I don't think that would happen but you never know.  If anyone would like to know who it is, you can email me orensmoneysaver@gmail.com and I will be glad to tell you.t
Posted by Oren at 8:00 AM
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