Redisplay Messages: Compact | Brief | All | Full Show Messages: All | Without Replies| Author: | calsbricks  | | Posted: | Sep 10, 2016 13:32 | | Subject: | Re: Please add to My Inventory page | | Viewed: | 29 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, RobErNat writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | If you do it in a store it works fine but in the My Inventory area, not at all.
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Type color + partnumber in the search box...
That is, if I understood what you where trying to get 
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You did and it works but how many people would know that. It certainly isn't
in the help section. It would be much easier if the colour filter was added to
the page. Simple amendment to the page and code. It is nothing more than an 'AND'
clause as CCBricks has added to Goatleg to help find heads and torso's.
So easy to do and would be so helpful
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Sep 10, 2016 13:16 | | Subject: | Re: Please add to My Inventory page | | Viewed: | 29 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Brickwilbo writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | Please add a colour filter to the my inventory page either below or above condition.
This will allow an easy way to find a specific piece in a specified colour. At
present the only way that we know of to do this is by knowing the element ID
(PCC) and that is not known to most, without looking it up.
It might also be useful when you choose a part no say 3001 to get not only a
lot count but a summary of the total no of items (broken into new and used).
Again the only way this can be done now is to manually add these up. (That is
what we have computers for, especially ones with SQL databases)
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Sorry that doesn't work. It just lists the items by colour. If you then tick
one say black and go the filters on the right hand side it ignores the black
choice.
We want to be able to define on the right hand side of the screen what colour
and part number and condition as you can do within a store and what you have
shown does not work that way. The screen shots below show what happens when you
do it that way, and that is not what we want.
If you do it in a store it works fine but in the My Inventory area, not at all.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Sep 10, 2016 12:45 | | Subject: | Re: Quote improvements | | Viewed: | 23 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, miskox writes:
| | I see that Quote function does not reserve or in any other way prevents an item
from the quote to be purchased from other buyer*.
I would like to suggest a way of preventing this. Maybe we can have an option
to ENABLE/DISABLE buying an item from other people:
[ ] reserve items in a quote to be reserved for that specific buyer
Maybe this options should be ENABLED for everyone by default (new and existing
stores).
Saso
* or am I missing something?
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Voted no as well. Not enabled quotes, not necessary - all orders are processed
before advising buyer what their shipping costs will be. Tying up inventory or
'rszerving it for a quote' would not work - no one gets 10-0% of their
quotes to orders so stock would be 'tied up' rather than being available.
First come, first serve.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Sep 10, 2016 11:05 | | Subject: | Please add to My Inventory page | | Viewed: | 99 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
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| Please add a colour filter to the my inventory page either below or above condition.
This will allow an easy way to find a specific piece in a specified colour. At
present the only way that we know of to do this is by knowing the element ID
(PCC) and that is not known to most, without looking it up.
It might also be useful when you choose a part no say 3001 to get not only a
lot count but a summary of the total no of items (broken into new and used).
Again the only way this can be done now is to manually add these up. (That is
what we have computers for, especially ones with SQL databases)
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Sep 2, 2016 09:55 | | Subject: | Inventory Change Request for Set 75037-1 | | Viewed: | 22 times | | Topic: | Inventories Requests (Entry) | | Status: | Open | |
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| Please make changes to the following inventory:
* Add 2 Part 13591 Black Minifig, Weapon Spear Gun with Squared Trigger and Thick Spear Base (Alternate)
Comments from Submitter:
2 Sets parted out both had the above variant
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Sep 1, 2016 14:12 | | Subject: | Re: Please add an Echeck Pending order status | | Viewed: | 41 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, qwertyboy writes:
Whilst it is a good idea to have more options available for 'status'
- we do not allow echeques to be used (stated in our terms and conditions) as
they add complications to what should be a simple transaction. Holding on to
items and parcels for up to 7 days is not for us - some stores might not have
a problem with it but we do - hence the statement in our terms.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Sep 1, 2016 14:07 | | Subject: | Re: Suggestion for layaway option! | | Viewed: | 41 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Noobface80 writes:
| | Hello! I am currently placing an order with one of the coolest store owners I've
come across, and he let me pay layaway for about 2 weeks when it hit me:
Why isn't there a layaway option? Obviously, this can benefit the seller,
and the lower-income buyers together, but before I continue, Let me explain
the concept of layaway:
Layaway is an option where you pay weekly, biweekly or monthly a set amount (agreed
on by both parties: buyer and seller) until the item is paid off.
For the seller, this means once the price is agreed on/the first payment is made,
they have to put the item aside (regardless on other buyers' offers after
an agreement is made between the first two parties)
For the buyer: This means the once the price is agreed on, you stick to the price
and stay faithful to the deal 'till the end. This also means communicating
with the seller for anything that should be noted such as change of payment account,
or change of address, etc. Missing your payment by one day could void the whole
transaction leaving the buyer at the mercy of the seller.
Both parties should remain as transparent as possible for the smoothest possible
transaction.
Due to people filing chargebacks on other people, it would be fair to give refund
permissions ONLY to the seller. This way, if the buyer breeches the contract,
or simply wants their money back, the seller could then decide if a refund is
warranted.
It's like a regular BL order, except its just broken up over time.
What do you guys think?
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Voted no as this would mean tying up inventory until the process was finished
and in the UK you would have to have a credit brokers license to offer 'credit'
(which is basically what a layaway is)
Our inventory turns over far too quickly to tie up elements with this type of
idea. Not sure it would work anyway - People might get tempted to buy 'bigger'
than they can really afford - you then have 'credit control problems'.
If this were to be implemented it would have to be optional as circumstances
are different everywhere.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Aug 31, 2016 14:12 | | Subject: | Inventory Change Request for Set 75024-1 | | Viewed: | 20 times | | Topic: | Inventories Requests (Entry) | | Status: | Open | |
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| Please make changes to the following inventory:
* Add 1 Part 4497 Pearl Dark Gray Minifig, Weapon Pike / Spear - Round End (Alternate)
* Add 1 Part 3794 Reddish Brown Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with 1 Stud (Jumper) (Alternate)
Comments from Submitter:
2 Sets parted out today - both had the above as variants to the current inventory
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Aug 28, 2016 09:18 | | Subject: | Re: Part or set search suggestions | | Viewed: | 29 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, C0lsanders_ writes:
| | *This is the second time I've posted this two-part suggestion, and I want
to post it again now, due to the current threads about the lacking of the system
search, especially "ngdere's" search for the cuusoo tiles. I don't understand
that one. If they are in the catalog, the system should easily find the tile
with "cuu", just like I can easily find the tile with "ba" (3068bpb0821). Anyway,
read on, vote yes or no (or yes...).
I've always found the part (or set) input within "sell a part" lacking. Let's
say I look under a part, find the number, and put it in. I click "show catalog
info" (for price, etc), but it shows "page not found". Why? Because that number
that I input was not the number bricklink chose as the "main" number. Once I
track down the piece, I will often see that first number on that item's page,
as "alternate item no."
Take 42023. That has 41763 as an alternate number, but if I put that in, "page
not found".
Suggestion #1:
If there is an alternate number for an item, it will auto-redirect to the correct
page, with the correct number. A small note at the top saying it was redirected
would be nice. Also, if the number "form" spot (in add a part/set) would auto
change to the correct number, that could also be nice. No more looking right
at the item and number, but having it do no good, because there is an unknown
2nd, 3rd, etc. number.
Suggestion #2:
I find it rather annoying to put in a number, and have it not find the item,
just because I get 1 of the 4 or 5 wrong. I think BL should maybe add a number
suggestion page. Let's say I have a 3004 (you know what that is), but let's
say I can't tell the number, and I think it's 8004. That is another item
entirely. If I put that in parts, it will show "page not found". I think it could
be massively helpful if it instead said something like "no part with that
number found. One set with "8004" matches (shows set) and one part with 75% number
match, "3004" (shows part)" You can then clearly see, "oh yeah, it IS 3004" or,
"oops, I'm on add part, not add set."
It would speed some things up greatly, or at least, resolve some search issues.
You don't have to have 100% match, or even the "correct" number. Partials
and alternates are accepted, at least to show the user a suggestion, "Is this
what you are looking for?"
Thanks for reading,
Miles (C0lsanders_)
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Voted yes but I believe there are better options available. As this is a SQL
database using full text search is available and should be put in place. This
would cure many of the ills in trying to find things, especially where you have
1 or more of the numbers wrong. In addition those who use Goatleg for helping
with minifigi torso and head id's know that by using more parameters in the
search you often narrow the options down considerably. Try doing a search for
Minifig heads in yellow with recessed stud - you get pages of items, but if you
use Goatleg you have options to use additional key words.
Development need to think this one through thoroughly as the search is absolutely
vital to the entire site - sellers as well as buyers.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Aug 10, 2016 11:25 | | Subject: | Inventory Change Request for Set 75012-1 | | Viewed: | 41 times | | Topic: | Inventories Requests (Entry) | | Status: | Open | |
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| Please make changes to the following inventory:
* Add 4 Part 13591 Black Minifig, Weapon Spear Gun with Squared Trigger and Thick Spear Base (Alternate)
Comments from Submitter:
2 sets parted out today both had the newer version of this item rather than the 30088
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Aug 5, 2016 09:26 | | Subject: | Inventory Change Request for Set 79017-1 | | Viewed: | 22 times | | Topic: | Inventories Requests (Entry) | | Status: | Open | |
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| Please make changes to the following inventory:
* Add 1 Part 95673 Pearl Gold Minifig, Weapon Sword, Roman Gladius with Thin Crossguard (Alternate)
Comments from Submitter:
Two 79017's parted out today and both had this sword rather than the 18034 as currently listed
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Aug 4, 2016 09:23 | | Subject: | Re: Are you sure? This is not a known color. | | Viewed: | 47 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | In Suggestions, garbanzo writes:
| | The catalog is littered with parts that have very likely been uploaded under
the wrong color. Look at 4495 for example, I would guess that 6 of those colors
with lots under them are just listed incorrectly (bright pink, dark blue-violet,
dark purple, Maersk blue, pink, rust).
* | | 4495 Flag 4 x 1 Wave Undetermined (Undetermined Type)
Parts: Flag
Marked for Deletion |
This shouldn't happen when parting out new sets, but when listing used parts,
it seems some sellers don't check against current listings or against the
"known colors" data for the part they are listing, and they end up picking whatever
they want.
I would like to suggest that a control mechanism be put in place to help address
this. Maybe if a seller is adding a part to their store that is not a known color,
there can be a popup saying "this is not a known color for this part - are you
sure?". Maybe the pop-up can contain a list of the known colors to choose from.
If the seller is confident they have a "new" color, they can click "this part
is not a known color" to proceed with the listing.
Ideally, this would flag the entry with a tag that can be used in searches and
wanted list notifications. I would love to pick a part and ask to be notified
when one is listed in a "new color", or to be able to search within categories
for parts in new colors.
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I guess they are using other software then uploading to bricklink, so the software
they use wold also need to know about known colours.
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This is something we have asked Patrick Brans (Brickstock) for as well as the
only way you can tell if it is an unknown colour is if there is no small image
available (and that isn't entirely accurate).
So yes would like to see some sort of control mechanism which at least warns
'it isn't a known colour'.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Aug 4, 2016 07:58 | | Subject: | Making the order audit trail more complete | | Viewed: | 120 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
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| We are aware of many stores who use the order audit trail for a 'history'
of the total transaction. We do this as well, except there are currently some
holes that could be filled with a few simple changes.
1. Provide the option for the seller to attach the drive-thru message to the
order
2. Provide a 'link' to the invoice (not just a date invoiced)
3. Allow sellers to 'attach' any PM's that have been sent
4. Maintain transactions dates for the order rather than simply changing the
date when an event takes place. If someone adds a batch - that is a separate
date from the original order date. In the same way if there is a item removal
done etc., etc.
Sellers could then have a completed audit trail of events surrounding the order
(if they wished).
In reality this would help not only the seller but the buyer as well.
Please consider.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Aug 4, 2016 02:54 | | Subject: | Re: Make coupons more visible within a store | | Viewed: | 37 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, tEoS writes:
| | I wondered why a buyer of mine had trouble using a coupon, so I checked on the
selection process using one of the coupons offered to me.
Seriously, nothing needs to be said beyond it was terribly incorporated into
the checkout process. Please fix this.
P.S. I was under the impression that the upgrade would move BL steps forward.
It seems for every step forward another 2 were made backward. We lost in-store
settings that were in place for, as long as, I can recall and that's just
one of many missteps. Why?
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Voted yes for this - they are almost invisible unless you know what and when
to look for them.
As for 1 step forward and 2 back - couldn't agree more. We believe it shows
a lack of understanding of how people use the site and its functionality. This
was also apparent with the new wanted lists. Possibly all caused by using a 'click
monitor' to determine which pages/functions were most clicked, instead of
understanding the application.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 31, 2016 10:48 | | Subject: | Re: Prior orders placed counter is gone | | Viewed: | 30 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, matejo writes:
| | Hi,
The upper-right counter in stores that indicated whether or not, and how many
times I had ordered from a particular store is gone.
This was helpful, and the informative bit of information is now absent in the
"improving the shopping experience" new storefront.
Not an improvement.
Please bring it back, Matthew
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Unfortunately hover is not supported on most touchscreens - this is a design
element and the BL team obviously did not realise that a lot of us use touch
screens especially with tablets on the move. Sometimes you can try double tapping
that often works on IOS devices (but not always)and some times holding down your
;touch; for a few seconds will result in something like a hover (but again not
always). The only real way around it is of course for the development team to
re-design it - but to be honest I wouldn't 't hold my breath for that.
They seem to be entrenched with this new design - popular or not.
Your suggestion is totally valid but without a design change to the software
not likely to be implemented.
Here is an article from one of the quality tech sites
"As you know, :hover behaviour doesn’t exist on touch screen devices. So when
you design a responsive website, you should carefully plan when and where to
use :hover interactions. Simple links that open some URL will loose their :hover
effect on some touch screen devices. On iOS :hover is triggered before the click
event, so you will see the hover style for a brief moment before the page changes.
Those are minor things, they don’t affect the functionality of the site. The
real problem is a :hover that either hides or shows another element using display
or visibility CSS properties. This type of :hover will transform into the double
tap behaviour on iOS touch screens."
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 30, 2016 10:53 | | Subject: | Re: Best Offer Feature | | Viewed: | 30 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, BrickItYourself writes:
| | | |
Voted no - wouldn't really like to see Bricklink become an auction site.
Far to many problems associated with that - if people wish to auction their inventory
there are lots of sites both on this side of the pond and that side to deal with
it.
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It wouldn't make it an auction site, it would allow buyers to put in binding
offers
Those auction sites also charge a lot more in fees, one of the tenants of creating
this site was to NOT sell lego on those sites and to reduce fees for sellers
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Understand your point - but still feel it would be too much like auctioning your
items. Appreciate you wanted it to be optional but in all honesty it just adds
more complications to the way the site runs at present (and not all that confident
that the development team would get this right).
Good luck with the idea
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 30, 2016 09:30 | | Subject: | Re: Best Offer Feature | | Viewed: | 33 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, BrickItYourself writes:
| | How would buyers and sellers feel about a best offer feature?
Of course I know no suggestions are ever implemented, but let's have fund
discussing the topic.
First the concept in general:
Buyers could submit offers to sellers for items they have on sale.
Quick example: Seller has set A, set A sits on the shelf for a while and buyer
comes along and offers 10% under the asking price for Set A and will see if the
seller will part for that price knowing it sells right then and there. When
seller accepts offer, it is a binding sale.
Of course there are all kinds of problems from offers, spam, lowballers etc.
So some obvious programming features to include or consider:
Make Best Offer optional
Make it only allowed for sets, minifigures or some combination and leave out
parts or include all
Limit the number of offers a seller can make per hour/day/week, etc, throttle
them
Allow sellers to report buyers abusing the new feature
I think BL admin should be implementing any features that can increase buying
or selling.
I would like a feature like this instead of messaging, which can be a total waste
of time.
Buyers could enter in shipping prices in their offer helping buyers know what
they will pay ahead of time.
So what does the community think?
Good idea/bad idea?
Any other programming/implementation features to be including for buyer/seller
protection?
Would you use the feature?
Thanks,
Happy Weekend,
Ken
Brick It Yourself
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Voted no - wouldn't really like to see Bricklink become an auction site.
Far to many problems associated with that - if people wish to auction their inventory
there are lots of sites both on this side of the pond and that side to deal with
it.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 14, 2016 00:30 | | Subject: | Re: Please bring back highlighted categories | | Viewed: | 37 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, viejos writes:
| | So I was browsing in a store today and realized that we've lost yet another
feature in this new design, that is the ability to see which categories of parts
or colors one has already clicked on.
So now instead of being able to work my way through a store, I have no method
of making sure I didn't miss something, unless I am expected to write down
by hand every category or color as I click on it.
The way it used to be was that categories would be highlighted as they were clicked,
just like Forum posts. This is a necessary tool for any serious buyer - please
bring it back.
Russell
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Absolutely - most experience buyers use this and it was very difficult to find.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 13, 2016 10:44 | | Subject: | Inventory Change Request for Set 10226-1 | | Viewed: | 20 times | | Topic: | Inventories Requests (Entry) | | Status: | Open | |
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| Please make changes to the following inventory:
* Add 2 Part x127c41 Black String with End Studs 41L Overall (Extra)
Comments from Submitter:
2 Sets parted out both had 2 extra of this item.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 5, 2016 09:34 | | Subject: | Re: Lego v Bricklink colours | | Viewed: | 43 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, WoutR writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | I am aware that this has been suggested many times before by various people and
unfortunately nothing has ever been done about it but perhaps now is the time
to bring it back up.
When a new used comes to Bricklink they are faced with lots of hurdles - they
will not recognise the Bricklink part numbering system; and in lots of cases
the colours as many of them have totally different names.
The Lego stores also call colours differently e.g. Dark Blue to them is their
standard blue brick and if you ask for Earth Blue - they often look at you with
a puzzled look, even though that is an official Lego Colour name. The same with
Green etc.
So, with that in mind could the Bricklink developers not come up with a better
idea than the current colour chart for the catalogue. Perhaps similar to the
very old and outdated Peeron one.
It would help the new buyers - and after all we give them the option to key in
the number at the back of the Lego instructions to find a part (and little do
they know by using that number they get the part in the correct colour).
Bricklink want to encourage new buyers and as a store we want that as well -
but let us give them the tools do make it easier for them not more complicated.
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See http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=635575
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We voted yes for that as well but, as you are aware nothing has been done about
it - that is why we brought it back to the fore. It really would be helpful.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 5, 2016 03:59 | | Subject: | Re: Lego v Bricklink colours | | Viewed: | 35 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | I don't think most new users know the official Lego colours any more than
they know BL colours. BL colour names are used widely outside of BL too. Changing
would probably cause more pain than benefit.
|
You have misinterpreted my suggestion. I did not suggest changing I asked to
have the Lego colour names added to the colour charts.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 5, 2016 03:21 | | Subject: | Lego v Bricklink colours | | Viewed: | 188 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Discarded | |
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| I am aware that this has been suggested many times before by various people and
unfortunately nothing has ever been done about it but perhaps now is the time
to bring it back up.
When a new used comes to Bricklink they are faced with lots of hurdles - they
will not recognise the Bricklink part numbering system; and in lots of cases
the colours as many of them have totally different names.
The Lego stores also call colours differently e.g. Dark Blue to them is their
standard blue brick and if you ask for Earth Blue - they often look at you with
a puzzled look, even though that is an official Lego Colour name. The same with
Green etc.
So, with that in mind could the Bricklink developers not come up with a better
idea than the current colour chart for the catalogue. Perhaps similar to the
very old and outdated Peeron one.
It would help the new buyers - and after all we give them the option to key in
the number at the back of the Lego instructions to find a part (and little do
they know by using that number they get the part in the correct colour).
Bricklink want to encourage new buyers and as a store we want that as well -
but let us give them the tools do make it easier for them not more complicated.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 5, 2016 02:21 | | Subject: | Inventory Change Request for Set 7188-1 | | Viewed: | 21 times | | Topic: | Inventories Requests (Entry) | | Status: | Open | |
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| Please make changes to the following inventory:
* Add 2 Part 89522 Flat Silver Horn (Unicorn) (Alternate)
Comments from Submitter:
Lego and Brickset inventory show this item to be Flat Silver, not Pearl Light Gary. Visual inspection of items also confirms Flat Silver.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 23, 2016 02:29 | | Subject: | Re: Add a button to allow fixes before final part | | Viewed: | 25 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, renhoffman writes:
| | When parting out a set, if I notice mistakes on the "Verify Items" page, there
currently is no way to fix them. Please add a button that returns to the "Edit
Items" page, without deleting the changes that have already been made. As far
as I know, this not currently possible.
Thanks so much,
Darren
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Voted yes on this but we have used the back arrow key on IE and it takes us back
a page where we can edit (that, of course isn't the best way - your idea/suggestion
is better).
We have also asked for a report off this page so we can hang on to the detail
of the part out.
Maybe these things will be in the next update when they try and sort out the
sellers side.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 16, 2016 12:12 | | Subject: | Re: Shipping cost suggestion: PayPal Fees | | Viewed: | 34 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | | | We will watch how the development goes as for auto-checkout and make up our minds
after a very thorough examination - we don't want it forced down our throats
as they have done wit this new storefront idea (which is taking people a lot
longer to get used to than what they mush have thought, and has met with an overwhelming
disapproval rating)
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Only from people that disapprove of it. It has an overwhelming approval rating
if you consider only those that approve of it. If you consider all BL members,
it is likely to be a mixed approval rating.
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If you believe the forum there are not many of those. The number of disapprovals
is far higher than approvals, overall.
| |
There are a number of good features in the updates as well as some that probably
need more work on.
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There will always be a couple of things in any major release like this that appeal
to people - we, personally can't find any.
| |
However, I thought the other and really major point of the update that most people
seem to ignore is that it is now based on THEIR code not the original code, so
that they know how to change the code for future updates. Not based on the ancient
code written by others that was always blamed when ideas could not be implemented
and thus blocked progress as it could not be changed simply. Now these developers
OWN the code (as in written and documented by this team), then there should no
longer be excuses that simple changes cannot be made due to the code being too
difficult to change. Even though that may be invisible to us (or only seen when
things break or are different to the original), it should make future updates
much more likely to happen.
|
If it is based on their code then someone needs to help us here - this is supposed
to be a 'world class development team' and there have been more bugs/problems
in this release than I have ever seen in a software update (and that covers over
40 years - and includes Microsoft). They did not do enough testing either internally
nor via the sandbox and many of the issues show a lack of thorough understanding
of how Bricklink works for its members. They made a total mess of the catalogue
approval tools (and we are still hearing there are problems with that) and there
is nothing really in this release for stores/sellers (in our opinion)
We have noticed a sharp fall in orders and an even larger drop in average order
value (and after 5 years of being a store we know where we should normally be
at this time of year). In addition there has been, for us, a large influx of
very high lot, low value orders from 0 feedback buyers some of who we are already
chasing for payment. Yes we know Auto-checkout, if and when, could put an end
to that but in the meantime we have to process an order to determine accurate
shipping costs (we do not guess and due to the problems with 'gremlins'
in BL inventory we have to ensure the items ordered are there before we quote
shipping.
This update has had an effect on orders (there isn't any doubt on that),
but there is some doubt on how much effect is down to the update and how much
is down to June being not such a good month. Only time will tell. Perhaps if
they feel it in their pocket books when the June fees are calculated the message
might come home a bit stronger. A lot of forum comments suggesting the larger
stores are being preferred - somehow I cannot see that unless as on of the UK's
largest stores, we are not one of the larger stores they are referring to.
Marc's stats seem to conflict with the idea that orders are down but at the
moment it is any thing but normal.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 16, 2016 00:11 | | Subject: | One last thought | | Viewed: | 178 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Discarded | |
|
| Improvements to the invoicing capabilities from within Bricklink. When the development
team are evaluating the things they wish to include in their next release e.g.
tools for the stores, inventory management etc, please do not ignore the invoice.
We need the ability to include graphics (e.g. store logo) and provide the ability
to use attachments as well as design our own. Almost all modern systems allow
for this.
It is a marketing tool and needs to be used as such - not what we currently have.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 15, 2016 23:18 | | Subject: | Re: Shipping cost suggestion: PayPal Fees | | Viewed: | 24 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, FigBits writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, FigBits writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | If all this works so wonderfully well at BO why is it that all the stores who
wanted auto-checkout haven't moved there?
|
There's no need to "move" there -- we sell on both. And the autocheckout
there is exactly what we need here.
--
Marc.
|
Morning Marc
Don't agree - it is what some stores want - (not need). Bricklink has operated
for many years with consistent growth in each and all of those without it and
doesn't need it now - it is a nicety not a mandatory requirement.
|
You may have misunderstood my statement. You asked about the people who want
auto-checkout. When I replied with "we" I was referring to that group (which
I am a part of). The checkout system at BO is what we (the people who want autocheckout
here) need.
I am not saying that everyone on BL wants or needs it. I know there are plenty
who don't.
--
Marc.
|
Agreed it should be an option and those who want it and know it works for their
particular store/country can choose to use it or not. Fine we have no problem
with that at all. The problem lies with Bricklink's approach to all of this
- they seem to think it is a take it only situation denying people the flexibility/option
of choice. That is not good customer service nor is it the right way to do things.
We will watch how the development goes as for auto-checkout and make up our minds
after a very thorough examination - we don't want it forced down our throats
as they have done wit this new storefront idea (which is taking people a lot
longer to get used to than what they mush have thought, and has met with an overwhelming
disapproval rating)
I know you enjoy stats. The ones you produce at the end of each month are an
indicator of what has taken place - they would, of course be better if there
was a value associated with them, but that is not possible, They would also be
better if they were broken down by region (may be possible, may not be). This
kind of analysis should come from a Sales Analysis dashboard provided by Bricklink
to allow serious professional stores to look closely at their operations (Most
of us try and do this for our own stores off line with in-house systems) - but
an overall view would be much more helpful. Questions like what is selling in
the UK at the moment - Where does the UK fit in this months order totals, Which
stores are the most active (that is a tricky one but also needed).
All of the above plus proper inventory management tools should have been a much
higher priority than what they have just done. 7 of the top 10 stores in the
UK wanted that rather than a new storefront, but and it is a big but Bricklink
do not listen, despite what you say. They have a business to run and wish to
run it in their own way, almost despite their paying customers.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 15, 2016 22:52 | | Subject: | Re: Shipping cost suggestion: PayPal Fees | | Viewed: | 19 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, FigBits writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | If all this works so wonderfully well at BO why is it that all the stores who
wanted auto-checkout haven't moved there?
|
There's no need to "move" there -- we sell on both. And the autocheckout
there is exactly what we need here.
--
Marc.
|
Morning Marc
Don't agree - it is what some stores want - (not need). Bricklink has operated
for many years with consistent growth in each and all of those without it and
doesn't need it now - it is a nicety not a mandatory requirement.
If they bring it in like they have brought in this latest set of changes Bricklink
could disappear.
I don't wish to start a debate on this uplift (as it isn't helpful anymore)
but this update has been overshadowed by the myriad of problems it has brought
with it as well as the lack of overall support for it. Bricklink, or their development
team, whichever are not going to do anything about that other than fix the bugs
that they can fix (and hopefully without introducing others). When the site settles
down and the slow period ends we shall see if there really is an improvement
from this change.
Personally I cannot see that happening. People are prone to lasting impressions
from first glance and most of the experienced people on here do not care for
the current set of changes (us included).
Our web designer has looked at and isn't as critical as we are but thinks
they could have done much much better with less disruption to the old methodology.
(Unfortunately he isn't as big a Lego fan as we are)
We have never felt the need to open our store on BO - early reports from some
of our colleagues who did were not all that favourable - but we will continue
to monitor that especially if this site update continues to denigrate Bricklink.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 15, 2016 13:33 | | Subject: | Re: Shipping cost suggestion: PayPal Fees | | Viewed: | 33 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Teup writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | | | Try this one as an alternate problem area in the UK. Small parcels are limited
to 2Kg - anything over that immediately moves to a medium parcel, The minimum
cost of a medium parcel is £15.85 (between 2Kg and 5Kg) but if the seller ships
it as 2 x small parcels the cost is £11. Not really sure how their proposed system
is going to cope with this and the fact that a seller may not wish to ship two
parcels rather than 1.
|
|
Well, sellers can draw on predefined tables but they can also create their own.
I understand your dilemma, but in the end it's a personal decision yes, but
all the same a decision that can be reduced to numbers of weight and size. You
could create an intermediate step in your shipping table (for 2x small parcel),
which an order will qualify for when it's in a certain weight window. I guess
it won't be possible to specify individual parcel dimensions per tier...
but there's quite alot you can do and finetune already as it is. It will
never be 100% accurate. The important part is that a buyer can see the costs
before they check out, and agree on it. If it turns out overcharged, it's
not really a crime like it is in case the buyer doesn't know and has to trust
the seller blindly.
| | | | Auto-checkout might not be the panacea everyone thinks it is going to be. It
would be a nicety if it worked but if it doesn't get it right there are going
to be costs to pick up, refunds to issue and additional admin and problems.
|
|
I don't really need it either. But I trust BL will decide what's best
for their revenue, and if it is the way to go, well, then that's just the
way the mop flops I guess.
| | Oops forgot to add this:
No one has yet come up with any answers on multiple batch orders (we get a lot
of these). I certainly do not want to pick multiple paypal fees for the same
order and I am sure no-one else does either - so how will that work ?
|
Well, the system can just calculate that.. in the end, this is all a numbers
game. And if a batch for example increases shipping costs, the system can simply
look at how much it had already charged for shipping, how much the new package
will cost, and then end up charging the difference for the second payment. BrickOwl
does it that way. Separate (PayPal)fees could also be added for the extra batch.
The system will need to know if a first payment has already been sent or not,
and it will anyway, in order for this system to work at all. It works quite well
on BO.
|
If it doesn't allow dimensions per tier then it will fail in the UK, Large
letters/small parcels and medium parcels all have their own min/max dimensions
as well as weights and without the ability to define that no system can work
out the correct shipping costs - it can only guess and that is not what is wanted.
It looks like you are implying we are going to have to charge paypal fees - which
is not likely - they have to come up with a better way of dealing with this little
issue. Suggestions have been to no longer allow multiple batches (which I do
not believe will go down well).
If all this works so wonderfully well at BO why is it that all the stores who
wanted auto-checkout haven't moved there? Bricklink is still the premier
site for Lego and we are sure they will try and stay that way, but that won't
be done by introducing illogical operating procedures.
If it all were just a numbers game life would be far easier than it is - but
unfortunately it isn't. Yes we can tell the weight of an order (approximate)
but at present we cannot tell in any way what style parcel it is going to go
into. That has to be solved first. And perhaps one of the first steps is getting
the catalogue database updated to reflect the requirements. e.g. Height, weight
etc etc.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 15, 2016 11:58 | | Subject: | Re: Shipping cost suggestion: PayPal Fees | | Viewed: | 20 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, qwertyboy writes:
| | In Suggestions, Cob writes:
| | 2 pounds of Lego can be shipped anywhere in the USA for $6.80 in a flat rate
envelope or around $12 for self packaging. Pretty big difference in cost.
|
1 ounce of Lego can be shipped all across Canada for CAD 1.89 in a padded envelope,
or for CAD 10-15 for parcel service if the dimensions require it. Pretty big
difference in cost.
Niek.
|
Try this one as an alternate problem area in the UK. Small parcels are limited
to 2Kg - anything over that immediately moves to a medium parcel, The minimum
cost of a medium parcel is £15.85 (between 2Kg and 5Kg) but if the seller ships
it as 2 x small parcels the cost is £11. Not really sure how their proposed system
is going to cope with this and the fact that a seller may not wish to ship two
parcels rather than 1.
Auto-checkout might not be the panacea everyone thinks it is going to be. It
would be a nicety if it worked but if it doesn't get it right there are going
to be costs to pick up, refunds to issue and additional admin and problems.
It would also eliminate (possibly) the NPB scenario. We will always prefer to
process the order and notify the buyer of the real shipping costs rather than
a system trying to work all the possibilities at checkout - but of course that
is just our opinion. Our customers seem to be happy/comfortable with that - really
why would we want to change it?
It doesn't mean an order is going to ship any quicker, nor does it mean the
system will get it right e.g. dimensions and volume calculations are not going
to be easy. I believe this new Lego design product that Bricklink have got will
possibly offer a route to get the dimensions and weights - they claim they can
get the majority of this from LDD - but Lego have announced they are not going
to update LDD nor move it forward. So more interesting times lay ahead.
|
Oops forgot to add this:
No one has yet come up with any answers on multiple batch orders (we get a lot
of these). I certainly do not want to pick multiple paypal fees for the same
order and I am sure no-one else does either - so how will that work ?
Lots to get sorted before this can become a reality and based on the site update
I am not really sure anyone is brimming with confidence over development getting
it right.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 15, 2016 11:53 | | Subject: | Re: Shipping cost suggestion: PayPal Fees | | Viewed: | 26 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, qwertyboy writes:
| | In Suggestions, Cob writes:
| | 2 pounds of Lego can be shipped anywhere in the USA for $6.80 in a flat rate
envelope or around $12 for self packaging. Pretty big difference in cost.
|
1 ounce of Lego can be shipped all across Canada for CAD 1.89 in a padded envelope,
or for CAD 10-15 for parcel service if the dimensions require it. Pretty big
difference in cost.
Niek.
|
Try this one as an alternate problem area in the UK. Small parcels are limited
to 2Kg - anything over that immediately moves to a medium parcel, The minimum
cost of a medium parcel is £15.85 (between 2Kg and 5Kg) but if the seller ships
it as 2 x small parcels the cost is £11. Not really sure how their proposed system
is going to cope with this and the fact that a seller may not wish to ship two
parcels rather than 1.
Auto-checkout might not be the panacea everyone thinks it is going to be. It
would be a nicety if it worked but if it doesn't get it right there are going
to be costs to pick up, refunds to issue and additional admin and problems.
It would also eliminate (possibly) the NPB scenario. We will always prefer to
process the order and notify the buyer of the real shipping costs rather than
a system trying to work all the possibilities at checkout - but of course that
is just our opinion. Our customers seem to be happy/comfortable with that - really
why would we want to change it?
It doesn't mean an order is going to ship any quicker, nor does it mean the
system will get it right e.g. dimensions and volume calculations are not going
to be easy. I believe this new Lego design product that Bricklink have got will
possibly offer a route to get the dimensions and weights - they claim they can
get the majority of this from LDD - but Lego have announced they are not going
to update LDD nor move it forward. So more interesting times lay ahead.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 6, 2016 11:07 | | Subject: | Re: Improvements to Search Stores feataure | | Viewed: | 22 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | | | Unfortunately I think you have misunderstood our purpose. We are not interested
in this as criteria for buying - we want to compare how stores are doing. Where
we buy from is never down to this - it is a business assessment of a stores
activity not an assessment of whether we buy from them or not.
Again its is not as complicated as you want to make it. It is simply another
view how stores are doing compared to our store.
|
But you cannot get that from feedback data. All you can get is a number of (dis)satisfied
customers willing to leave feedback. You might be able to extrapolate that to
numbers of orders (which you can get already anyway) but it doesn't really
tell you how a store is doing.
If you want to monitor other people's order numbers, why not just grab their
data on the 1st every month (or more frequently) for all stores that you are
interested in monitoring.
Also, I'm not sure BL should be providing tools for the purpose of monitoring
other people's businesses. If they did this then why not start including
order values in feedback too (like on ebay). Or also include number of parts
and number of lots. Customers may even find it useful, so they know what type
of orders and values the seller has got feedback for. That way you could really
start comparing sales volumes between stores. Although I'd imagine some sellers
wouldn't want that sort of data released.
|
Sorry cannot really agree with your analysis and comments. We are going to have
to agree to disagree. I think you are trying to make far too much of this request,
which will fall on deaf ears anyway. It is not about stores order levels (values
etc) - that information is private to any business and we would not be happy
divulging that. (Another very good reason why we avoid ebay like the plague).
We have done a series of correlations of orders to feedback for the top 50 stores
in the UK and have found broadly similar figures - it is giving us a better idea
than the way Bricklink presents the data - all we asked for was another sort
option.
Bricklink already provides data on orders - yes you are right - it is the correlation
of that figure to feedback that we are interested in - we believe that gives
us an indication of store activity and that is what we wanted to asses/compare.
As I said we will have to agree to disagree - we don't share your views and
you don't share ours. Lets leave it at that.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 6, 2016 08:01 | | Subject: | Re: Improvements to Search Stores feataure | | Viewed: | 26 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | I don't really see how it helps.
If you were buying before Christmas and there are the following two stores, which
is the better store?
A: Jan(100), Feb(100), Mar(100), Apr(100), May(0), June(0), Jul(0), Aug(0), Sep(100),
Oct(100).
B: Jan(50), Feb(50), Mar(50), Apr(50), May(50), June(50), Jul(50), Aug(50), Sep(50),
Oct(50).
Assume all positive feedback (numbers in brackets). Obviously A takes the summer
off. Would having the extra breakdown of historical data really help, or is it
just data for the sake of data?
If they have no recent sales history, I can see it is helpful but that is already
covered in the existing feedback system.
|
I presume your comments are relating to weekly feedback rather than weekly/monthly
and annually. By looking at all three figures the level of activity is clearer
- if someone takes the summer off - they are probably a hobbyist (nothing wrong
with that) but their activity levels may or may not even them out with another
store over the rolling 12 month period.
From your example above - one store has 600 feedbacks in the 10 month period
and the other has 500 - so the no feedback months is obscured somewhat. In addition
Bricklink does not present the data in that way - they use a rolling weekly/monthly
and annual basis.
Please do not forget we are not asking for new data simply additional sort features.
Those that choose to use that fine - those who don't - also fine. There are
sorts for other ways of looking at the data so why not this way?
|
But the question then is why would you want to know this? What does it tell you
extra about the seller that is necessary to know before buying from them? Does
it actually matter to a buyer that a store has some self-chosen down time or
slower sales at some periods of the year. So long as they have consistently good
feedback, I don't really see why it matters.
It then gets complicated further by feedback doesn't have to be left right
away. I reckon I could easily manipulate when buyers leave feedback for me. I
often find buyers don't leave feedback if I don't leave it first. So
if I don't leave it, then leave it later on, there is a good chance I can
get the buyer to leave feedback when I want it and so manipulate the data if
I so wanted.
|
Unfortunately I think you have misunderstood our purpose. We are not interested
in this as criteria for buying - we want to compare how stores are doing. Where
we buy from is never down to this - it is a business assessment of a stores
activity not an assessment of whether we buy from them or not.
Again its is not as complicated as you want to make it. It is simply another
view how stores are doing compared to our store.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 6, 2016 06:27 | | Subject: | Re: Improvements to Search Stores feataure | | Viewed: | 22 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | I don't really see how it helps.
If you were buying before Christmas and there are the following two stores, which
is the better store?
A: Jan(100), Feb(100), Mar(100), Apr(100), May(0), June(0), Jul(0), Aug(0), Sep(100),
Oct(100).
B: Jan(50), Feb(50), Mar(50), Apr(50), May(50), June(50), Jul(50), Aug(50), Sep(50),
Oct(50).
Assume all positive feedback (numbers in brackets). Obviously A takes the summer
off. Would having the extra breakdown of historical data really help, or is it
just data for the sake of data?
If they have no recent sales history, I can see it is helpful but that is already
covered in the existing feedback system.
|
I presume your comments are relating to weekly feedback rather than weekly/monthly
and annually. By looking at all three figures the level of activity is clearer
- if someone takes the summer off - they are probably a hobbyist (nothing wrong
with that) but their activity levels may or may not even them out with another
store over the rolling 12 month period.
From your example above - one store has 600 feedbacks in the 10 month period
and the other has 500 - so the no feedback months is obscured somewhat. In addition
Bricklink does not present the data in that way - they use a rolling weekly/monthly
and annual basis.
Please do not forget we are not asking for new data simply additional sort features.
Those that choose to use that fine - those who don't - also fine. There are
sorts for other ways of looking at the data so why not this way?
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 6, 2016 06:03 | | Subject: | Re: Improvements to Search Stores feataure | | Viewed: | 25 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | One of the ways to see where your store is in regards to others is to compare
the weekly/monthly and yearly feedback figures. Currently this is a long winded
process of clicking on each stores feedback and looking at the summary table.
We would think it would be far easier to add a sort method which reflects either
the weekly/monthly or annual feedback figures. This way you could easily see
where your store sits in the overall scheme of things.
Whilst this may not be an urgent development requirement with all the other things
that are going on in development, this might be a useful addition to the stores
update which has been mentioned as 'coming' by the Bricklink admin.
Just a thought .....
|
What does this tell you? How much feedback you get in relation to another store.
But what does that actually mean "in the overall scheme of things"? It tells
you nothing about the size / value of orders, for example.
What data do you want the sort method to work on? Just to see who is getting
most feedback recently, or as a sort when people are viewing items?
|
Good morning and thank you for commenting
What it tell us is the approximate level of orders each store is getting on a
weekly/monthly and annual basis. Feedback seems to have a fairly consistent correlation
between no of orders received and no of feedback (the percentage ranges from
50% to 80%. The relationship is different on orders placed )feedback to orders
is much higher as lots and lots of stores respond to feedback given by a buyer.
Our feedback given to stores where we have purchased from is well over 95%.
If someone has figures like weekly 2 monthly 10 and annually 150 - their levels
of activity are not as high as someone who has figures of weekly 70 monthly 300
and annually 1210.
It is a much more accurate way of defining a stores activity than looking at
no of lots, items or total feedback. The feedback system is and always has been
flawed at Bricklink - it is subjective not objective - but there are some things
we can glean from it and therefore it is important as a guide to who you and
don't do business with.
Hope that explains it better - sorry for the confusion
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 6, 2016 03:47 | | Subject: | Improvements to Search Stores feataure | | Viewed: | 103 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
|
| One of the ways to see where your store is in regards to others is to compare
the weekly/monthly and yearly feedback figures. Currently this is a long winded
process of clicking on each stores feedback and looking at the summary table.
We would think it would be far easier to add a sort method which reflects either
the weekly/monthly or annual feedback figures. This way you could easily see
where your store sits in the overall scheme of things.
Whilst this may not be an urgent development requirement with all the other things
that are going on in development, this might be a useful addition to the stores
update which has been mentioned as 'coming' by the Bricklink admin.
Just a thought .....
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | May 27, 2016 05:50 | | Subject: | Re: Following on from 'A Preview Update' | | Viewed: | 38 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | As the topic has now done it's usual - off on a tangent' we would like
to pick up on one of admin's comments early on the discussion. They said
their next project was to help the sellers (why that is lower in priority than
the buyers - I am not sure)
We would like to ensure the following items are addressed in this next development
and would like to gauge the reaction of other stores to this:
1. Inventory management tools
2. Sales analysis tools
3. Multi-user logins to stores with security permissions
4. Significant improvements to the NPB process which is currently too long winded
5. Improvements to the Bricklink messaging system to allow graphics as well as
attachments
6. Multi level minimum values e.g. 1 for Domestic and 1 for non-domestic for
example
7. Shipping policies per country as appropriate. We only shipped on a tracked
basis to some countries.
8. Much more flexibility in how we deal with orders from the printing/downloading
etc point of view. Stores organise their parts differently. It is unlikely that
any two stores are identical and we now have over 10000 live ones.
9. Quicker turnarounds on new inventories/parts and colours.
10. A much more up to date forum capability - bring it into the 21st/22nd century.
Please feel absolutely free to comment or add to this list if you have other
points as well.
|
Sorry should have also added
11. Full audit trail capabilities for parting out sets as well as mass uploading
parts (we do this through Brickstock at the moment, but it would be much better
if Bricklink did it.
12. Audit trails for adding inventory (should be part of Inventory management
tools)
The list actually does go on and on .......
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | May 27, 2016 05:35 | | Subject: | Following on from 'A Preview Update' | | Viewed: | 126 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Discarded | |
|
| As the topic has now done it's usual - off on a tangent' we would like
to pick up on one of admin's comments early on the discussion. They said
their next project was to help the sellers (why that is lower in priority than
the buyers - I am not sure)
We would like to ensure the following items are addressed in this next development
and would like to gauge the reaction of other stores to this:
1. Inventory management tools
2. Sales analysis tools
3. Multi-user logins to stores with security permissions
4. Significant improvements to the NPB process which is currently too long winded
5. Improvements to the Bricklink messaging system to allow graphics as well as
attachments
6. Multi level minimum values e.g. 1 for Domestic and 1 for non-domestic for
example
7. Shipping policies per country as appropriate. We only shipped on a tracked
basis to some countries.
8. Much more flexibility in how we deal with orders from the printing/downloading
etc point of view. Stores organise their parts differently. It is unlikely that
any two stores are identical and we now have over 10000 live ones.
9. Quicker turnarounds on new inventories/parts and colours.
10. A much more up to date forum capability - bring it into the 21st/22nd century.
Please feel absolutely free to comment or add to this list if you have other
points as well.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Apr 26, 2016 23:53 | | Subject: | Re: Price guide and average pricing | | Viewed: | 29 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, FigBits writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, FigBits writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, axaday writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, axaday writes:
| | Bricklink tracks the average price of pieces sold. That's a much better
guide than what is basically the average price of pieces NOT sold.
|
Sorry Bricklink tracks both prices that is why you see two columns one for sold
and one for current inventory. Our suggestion is to also show the total value
so we can eliminate the prices which are not what they should be.
Which set of figures yo9u use is up to you and your store policy/philosophy.
We don't use either,
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I don't understand what the total value is.
|
In order to work out the average value what Bricklink does is take the sum of
the value of those items and divides by the number of items - this give the
system an average value so if there were 10000 of an item and the total value
on Bricklink was £20,000 then the average value would be £2.00 They give us a
total no of items but not the value. In order to determine that you have to manually
add all those up.
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Just multiply the average value by the total number of items.
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--or they could add 2 lines of code and do it for us
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They could, but the benefit would be minimal and the Price Guide pages are already
jam-packed with data.
Also, your method already involves subtracting the items that you want to remove,
and then dividing the new sum by the number of listings. With that amount of
math already invested, it should be nearly nothing more to add in one multiplication.
--
Marc.
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Or they could simply provide the mean/median as a calculation. The price guide,
as mentioned needs re-thinking.
Yes it is one more small step for us to add the extra calculation but what are
developers for if they cannot make it easier/better for their customers. We,
as well as others, do not feel that is being achieved at the present and it looks
like that is going to be continued with the enforced release of the new store
front in May. Do we really need that? I don't think so. We need a lot more
done for the stores than what they have proposed. Better inventory management,
a tool set for the stores to analyse inventory, sales, etc., and we didn't
see any of that mentioned in the pre-release notes.
So much for the Bricklink community.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Apr 26, 2016 15:22 | | Subject: | Re: Price guide and average pricing | | Viewed: | 39 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, FigBits writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, axaday writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, axaday writes:
| | Bricklink tracks the average price of pieces sold. That's a much better
guide than what is basically the average price of pieces NOT sold.
|
Sorry Bricklink tracks both prices that is why you see two columns one for sold
and one for current inventory. Our suggestion is to also show the total value
so we can eliminate the prices which are not what they should be.
Which set of figures yo9u use is up to you and your store policy/philosophy.
We don't use either,
|
I don't understand what the total value is.
|
In order to work out the average value what Bricklink does is take the sum of
the value of those items and divides by the number of items - this give the
system an average value so if there were 10000 of an item and the total value
on Bricklink was £20,000 then the average value would be £2.00 They give us a
total no of items but not the value. In order to determine that you have to manually
add all those up.
|
Just multiply the average value by the total number of items.
--or they could add 2 lines of code and do it for us
|
|
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Apr 26, 2016 13:37 | | Subject: | Re: Price guide and average pricing | | Viewed: | 34 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, axaday writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, axaday writes:
| | Bricklink tracks the average price of pieces sold. That's a much better
guide than what is basically the average price of pieces NOT sold.
|
Sorry Bricklink tracks both prices that is why you see two columns one for sold
and one for current inventory. Our suggestion is to also show the total value
so we can eliminate the prices which are not what they should be.
Which set of figures yo9u use is up to you and your store policy/philosophy.
We don't use either,
|
I don't understand what the total value is.
|
In order to work out the average value what Bricklink does is take the sum of
the value of those items and divides by the number of items - this give the
system an average value so if there were 10000 of an item and the total value
on Bricklink was £20,000 then the average value would be £2.00 They give us a
total no of items but not the value. In order to determine that you have to manually
add all those up. Our suggestion just tells them to print that total on the price
guide so it can be viewed without a lot of manual work and then used or not used
by the people looking at it.
Hope that makes it easier to understand.
|
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Apr 26, 2016 10:38 | | Subject: | Re: Price guide and average pricing | | Viewed: | 48 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, axaday writes:
| | Bricklink tracks the average price of pieces sold. That's a much better
guide than what is basically the average price of pieces NOT sold.
|
Sorry Bricklink tracks both prices that is why you see two columns one for sold
and one for current inventory. Our suggestion is to also show the total value
so we can eliminate the prices which are not what they should be.
Which set of figures yo9u use is up to you and your store policy/philosophy.
We don't use either,
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Apr 26, 2016 04:17 | | Subject: | Price guide and average pricing | | Viewed: | 179 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
|
| Something simple that the developers could add quite quickly to the price guide
which would help those who use it and are shocked when someone has a non-appropriate
price against an item. In the totals column they could put a total value as well
as total lots and total quantity. If that figure was there, you could easily
subtract the non appropriate value and work your own average price (if that is
how you set your pricing).
There was an example of this this morning. part number 11477 in Dark Purple.
According to the price guide the average price for a used piece should be 1.09,
but when you look at the list of prices for each country this cannot be right.
Then you see an entry for a seller in the USA who has obviously made a mistake
at £45+ which sways the actual average from around 9p to the 1.09. Knowing what
the total value is you could subtract the high value (and quantity, of course)
and easily calculate the real average.
Whilst we believe the entire price guide needs rethinking this could help in
the short term and quite honestly producing the total figure in the query that
brings back the results is less than two lines of code.
Comments?
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Apr 22, 2016 14:10 | | Subject: | Re: Disable automatic quote cancellation | | Viewed: | 32 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Brickwilbo writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, enig writes:
| | Well known problem
http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=983078
solution
* If some item(s) get removed/sold/etc generate an automatic Item Removal Request
(IRR), stating what has happened. At the same time, give the buyer a singe click
solution to cancel the quote request all together, in case the missing item poses
an issue.
OR
* just create an action item for both buyer and seller, leave it for them to
solve it but DO NOT auto-cancel the whole thing. Make is so the invoicing is
impossible if the item(s) were not removed from the quote via IRR (I guess it
would require to create an item removal request process from a QUOTE)
OR
AUTO-CANCEL the quote, but give the buyer a single-click solution to place the
same quote request again, where the missing items are excluded.
OR
* whatever else.. just do it quick, please. Whatever it will be, please keep
in mind that new buyers often use the quote-request thing without having a slightest
clue what it's for. Whatever will happen after *items are now missing form
the quote request*, MAKE SURE that it is, first and foremost, new-user friendly.
|
Voted no on this as we feel the entire quote feature should be scrapped. It is
flawed throughout, not least of which are the points raised in this suggestion.
For stores that process orders first before invoicing the quote is not required.
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You only have to estimate the postage. There's no need to pick and pack.
Sometimes you loose, but mostly it's accurate to estimate.
|
Not sure we can agree with that. We are not in the business to 'lose'
as you mention, especially with margins the way they are. We are very happy not
using the quote system and cannot see any justification in turning it on. We
don't estimate shipping we process our orders and quote shipping, normally
within 24 - 48 hours - the number of orders in 5 years which have cancelled due
to high shipping costs is in single digits and that is on over 3000 orders, so
why should we bother? On top of that the quote feature is flawed. Why would you
have a quote cancelled when a single item goes out of stock against that quote?
Potentially costing you a reasonable order.
If someone wants a pre-order quote they can always ask for it and we will look
at that. Again the number of times someone has asked for a shipping quote can
be counted on two hands at most.
Someone in the forum has suggested they are getting a 50% hit rate against quotes.
I do not think that figure really has any true meaning. How many of those people
would have bought anyway without getting a quote, especially if the store has
just the items they want/need?
We, along with many others, think that Bricklink development have not got it
right with this and they need to go back to the drawing board. But then that
is just our collective opinion but we know that isn't going to happen. Development
have a mind of their own and are not really that communicative. Since Ryan's
departure development news is no news.
The quote system is there as an option and we are comfortable with not being
forced to turn it on and as long as it stays like that we do not have a real
problem. It may suit some and not others but it really was a gesture by Bricklink
to the German market place where total value of an order must be known before
it becomes a binding order. We do not have that requirement in the UK and hopefully
never will. So we do not really need a quote system. Some use it and some don't.
With nearly 10,000 stores working through Bricklink, I wonder how many have actually
turned it on and are using it. Not sure we will ever know that. So the story
really ends here until the next chapter from Bricklink development.
|
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Apr 21, 2016 10:10 | | Subject: | Re: Disable automatic quote cancellation | | Viewed: | 35 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | | | For stores that process orders first before invoicing the quote is not required.
|
Why not? If I wanted to place an order and wanted to know the full price before
committing, would you be willing to cancel an order after having done all the
processing of the order?
The quote feature is there to let buyers know the total price of an order before
they commit, not after they commit. Unless sellers are willing to restock cancelled
orders if the buyer decides against buying after they have been told the postage
costs.
|
Interesting point of view but not one we share. The quote system has been flawed
since its launch and that has been well documented. We are not going to process
a 100+ lot order (and we get a lot of these) to offer a quote and then have the
quote rejected or cancelled by the system as something has gone out of stock
during the quote process.
We provide a shipping options/costs message between 24 and 48 hours after receiving
an order. That provides the individual with a choice of shipping options and
their associated costs. Once they choose from that we invoice them and send the
order immediately upon receiving payment.
Our view is shared by many of the stores in the UK - we have made that point
clear to Bricklink - the quote system was really brought in for the German market
where the buyer is required to know the total value of an order before it becomes
an order. We do not have that problem in the UK.
|
I understand that. You give the buyer a choice of what they can pay for shipping,
but do you give them the choice of cancelling? Some buyers do want to know the
total price including shipping, before they commit.
|
Whilst we do not openly provide that information in our shipping message the
few orders that we have had in the 5 years we have been a store where the buyer
found the pricing of shipping too expensive were mutually cancelled or compromised
on with no problems whatsoever. We don't really need to get into the technicalities
of distance selling laws to be practical or in some case helpful.
The flaws in the quote system have prevented most of the UK's main stores
from adopting this feature. Bricklink did not get it right and I believe they
are aware of that. The original suggestion was a little like putting the finger
in the dyke rather than looking for a rethink from the BL development team on
how best to approach this.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Apr 21, 2016 07:06 | | Subject: | Re: Disable automatic quote cancellation | | Viewed: | 35 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | | | For stores that process orders first before invoicing the quote is not required.
|
Why not? If I wanted to place an order and wanted to know the full price before
committing, would you be willing to cancel an order after having done all the
processing of the order?
The quote feature is there to let buyers know the total price of an order before
they commit, not after they commit. Unless sellers are willing to restock cancelled
orders if the buyer decides against buying after they have been told the postage
costs.
|
Interesting point of view but not one we share. The quote system has been flawed
since its launch and that has been well documented. We are not going to process
a 100+ lot order (and we get a lot of these) to offer a quote and then have the
quote rejected or cancelled by the system as something has gone out of stock
during the quote process.
We provide a shipping options/costs message between 24 and 48 hours after receiving
an order. That provides the individual with a choice of shipping options and
their associated costs. Once they choose from that we invoice them and send the
order immediately upon receiving payment.
Our view is shared by many of the stores in the UK - we have made that point
clear to Bricklink - the quote system was really brought in for the German market
where the buyer is required to know the total value of an order before it becomes
an order. We do not have that problem in the UK.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Apr 21, 2016 03:19 | | Subject: | Re: Disable automatic quote cancellation | | Viewed: | 38 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, enig writes:
| | Well known problem
http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=983078
solution
* If some item(s) get removed/sold/etc generate an automatic Item Removal Request
(IRR), stating what has happened. At the same time, give the buyer a singe click
solution to cancel the quote request all together, in case the missing item poses
an issue.
OR
* just create an action item for both buyer and seller, leave it for them to
solve it but DO NOT auto-cancel the whole thing. Make is so the invoicing is
impossible if the item(s) were not removed from the quote via IRR (I guess it
would require to create an item removal request process from a QUOTE)
OR
AUTO-CANCEL the quote, but give the buyer a single-click solution to place the
same quote request again, where the missing items are excluded.
OR
* whatever else.. just do it quick, please. Whatever it will be, please keep
in mind that new buyers often use the quote-request thing without having a slightest
clue what it's for. Whatever will happen after *items are now missing form
the quote request*, MAKE SURE that it is, first and foremost, new-user friendly.
|
Voted no on this as we feel the entire quote feature should be scrapped. It is
flawed throughout, not least of which are the points raised in this suggestion.
For stores that process orders first before invoicing the quote is not required.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Apr 10, 2016 07:15 | | Subject: | Anyone elses think this might be useful | | Viewed: | 159 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
|
| We think this might be a helpful way to use the price guide feature (for those
that use it)
It would allow stores to look at pricing across their range of items and it would
allow buyers to choose a cost factor on a part where colour isn't too important.
You would choose the part no and then from a drop down or combo box, you could
choose one or more elements that you wanted to compare or look at.
It is, of course just another way of looking at the data in the system.
|
|
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Mar 8, 2016 11:35 | | Subject: | Inventory Change Request for Set 75096-1 | | Viewed: | 31 times | | Topic: | Inventories Requests (Entry) | | Status: | Open | |
|
| Please make changes to the following inventory:
* Add 1 Part 95747pb02 Black Minifig, Headgear Head Top, SW Zabrak Horns, Darth Maul Pattern (Extra)
Comments from Submitter:
Two sets parted out both with 'extras' of the above part - in addition to the pieces for the minifigure
|
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Feb 11, 2016 12:04 | | Subject: | Re: Notes | | Viewed: | 17 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, ou_sooners_1 writes:
| | We would love to have a 4000 characters collapsible notes box above the received
orders... A Virtual "whiteboard"
This box would allow me to communicate with my staff on things not specific to
orders when I'm away. For Example...
Daily tasks
Goals/Achievements
Orders with outstanding issues
This is something super simple an I know any store with a staff would benefit.
Mike @ ACEofBRICKS
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Voted yes, cause we think it is a good idea, however we do this by using Android
tablets, pdf's of the orders and a 'notes app' on the tablet. Notes
can be order specific, staff specific or global. That works for us. No whiteboards
here 
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