BrickLink Discussion Forum

In Suggestions, chetzler writes:

I'm curious if BL will continue to offer the multitude other off-sites methods.
Anyone looked at what is still available? There's a bunch I've never
even heard of, and seriously, is a Western Union transfer a better option than
PayPal off-site?

Our Paypal account works for both Bricklink and our main company - there is absolutely
no way ever that we would allow Bricklink access to funds in that account or
details of transactions in that account - it is really none of their business.
I am sure that other people who have Paypal accounts and use them for Bricklink
also use those for other things and would not want any involvement with Bricklink
in their account.

This does not appear to be well thought through and even though it says you may
revoke the permissions you have given by signing up to this agreement what does
that mean - do you still have a paypal account for use on Bricklink or not? Is
it online or offline?

Are they going to go through 11,000 stores and remove the Paypal option from
their payment methods when the April date comes around? Stores will wake up to
a 'cannot receive orders as you have no payment methods available' (imagine
the tickets from that !!!!!) or are people going to set up other payment methods
but give Paypal offsite instructions in their invoices. How can they possibly
police this?

The mind boggles .....

All the clamour and yet no response from Bricklink. It is like they are saying
take-it or leave it (which is never a good idea in the best of environments.)

Such a real shame ........

Author:

chetzler

Posted:

Mar 19, 2018 02:05

Subject:

Re: Save Offsite Paypal!

Viewed:

66 times

Topic:

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

Mar 19, 2018 01:48

Subject:

Re: Save Offsite Paypal!

Viewed:

62 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, PurpleDave writes:

Bricklink famously ground to a halt, twice, because it got hacked. The site
may have been restored to working condition, but a lot of us want nothing to
do with risking exposure of our financial accounts to anyone who may be lurking
behind the scenes. Sellers don't want to give Bricklink the level of control
required to accept payments through Bricklink. Bricklink has announced that
in about a month, they plan to scuttle offsite Paypal as a payment option, without
even taking any input from their core membership. The reason stated was that
new, usually one-time buyers, can't figure out where the payment button is
when they select offsite Paypal as a payment option, so they plan to basically
cut off any buyers and sellers who refuse to use any other form of payment, and
who especially want nothing to do with any onsite Paypal options.

Make offsite Paypal an opt-in payment option. Sellers obviously have to select
up front which payment options they will accept. Make all _buyers_ voluntarily
choose to see offsite Paypal as a payment option when checking out. If a seller
does not accept any other payment options, have them flagged as "does not ship
to you", just like if they were from another country and didn't have your
country enabled for shipping options. If a new buyer signs up, they should be
required to read an explanation of how offsite Paypal works, and confirm that
they want to be able to choose that as a payment option before they even see
it appear in lists.

But seriously, don't chase away a bunch of your regular customers in the
hope that you might be able to "grow your business" on the bank accounts of people
who just get sent here to buy a replacement part that LEGO Consumer Affairs can't
provide, or who are looking for just one retired set, and will never log in again
after they receive their shipment.

Couldn't agree more. If they really are having so many tickets about the
Pay button, refer those tickets to the store(s). I am sure there are far more
tickets coming in over issues with other matters on the site than this. For a
payment method which has worked flawlessly for nearly 7 years (5000 orders received
and 1000 placed) it does not seem logical nor to their benefit to stop it. It
could, however be money driven - if you use Paypal onsite Bricklink must be getting
something out of it where as offsite is outside of their earning capability'.
But then so is every other payment method.

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 19, 2018 01:45

Subject:

Re: Save Offsite Paypal!

Viewed:

60 times

Topic:

So whatever simpler arrangement I had set up with BrickLink and PayPal --
onsite payment or instant payment or whatever it was called other than Instant
Checkout -- is now gone, courtesy of my stupidity in trusting BrickLink to
have a confirmation step before removing it.

Now that that arrangement has been disconnected, it is no longer an option and
I'll have to revert to offsite payments short of signing up for the more
risky PayPal Marketplace agreement. Purposely tricky on BrickLink's part
in my view; obviously by design.

The PayPal Marketplace includes all this stuff below. Sounds more like PayPal's
and BrickLink's account than mine. No thank you.

- Allow PayPal to connect your account with BrickLink Corporation.
- In order for PayPal to work properly on your site, you authorize BrickLink
Corporation. to: Use PayPal to process my customers' payments; Initiate steps
to authorize and capture my customers' payments; Initiate a refund for a
specific transaction; Deposit the PayPal funds I’ve received through BrickLink
Corporation. directly into the bank account I have linked to my BrickLink Corporation
account; Automatically deduct their fee from each PayPal transaction prior to
the remaining balance settling to your PayPal account. The amount of this fee,
is subject to your agreement with BrickLink Corporation; Hold and release funds
on my behalf in accordance with BrickLink Corporation's policy; Search through
and access corresponding transaction data.
- You can revoke these permissions at any time from within your PayPal account
settings.

I didn't close out the PayPal Marketplace process, so I don't know what
else it may entail. Again it appears I'm just handing control of my account
to BrickLink and PayPal, along with whatever personal data and funds are placed
at risk.

Sad to see the site going in these Take-it-or-leave-it directions.

I was getting used to my previous PayPal arrangement which as noted before didn't
appear to be much of a risk. Time to rework my invoice layout again. Bummer.

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 19, 2018 01:25

Subject:

Re: Save Offsite Paypal!

Viewed:

68 times

Topic:

I agree that flexible payment options should remain for both buyers and sellers
with regard to BrickLink. This among other considerations allows for a community-driven
village of small, large, national, and international selections and transactions
-- i.e. a more pleasant community. (For buyers with regard to sellers, I
acknowledge that I prefer PayPal.)

That said, the connection to PayPal I had (I just tried to look up its BrickLink
terminology and screwed up my connection ... so much for a confirmation step
to save changes ... we can't have that ... now the PayPal Marketplace is
my only option of two ... seconds ago I had three) ... ... anyway the connection
I had did not require much if anything beyond my email address, so I'm not
sure what the added risk is.

On to research whatever I just screwed up. For BrickLink administrators, confirming
changes is not a new concept. Arrgh.

Author:

Dalika

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 23:05

Subject:

Re: Save Offsite Paypal!

Viewed:

73 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, PurpleDave writes:

Yes, please. I really hope they continue to offer Off-site as a payment option.
I really don't want to close my store next month. That said, I will not be
linking my PayPal account with BrickLink. Fingers crossed here, for sure.

D

Author:

PurpleDave

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 21:52

Subject:

Save Offsite Paypal!

Viewed:

322 times

Topic:

Status:

Implemented

Author:

PurpleDave

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 21:36

Subject:

Re: Have all members pay BL $1 to buy and/or sell

Viewed:

74 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Brickwilbo writes:

Enable instant checkout in your store.

Enable instant checkout, and it won't stop anyone from selecting any other
payment option offered. Restrict payment to instant checkout, and you lose all
the customers that don't trust Bricklink to be secure enough to make exposing
their payment info to whoever might be watching.

Author:

PurpleDave

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 21:34

Subject:

Re: Have all members pay BL $1 to buy and/or sell

Viewed:

63 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, calebfishn writes:

Your suggestion will not screen out "false" buyers. But it will discourage and
dissuade all the first time people who come to Bricklink to look around. I get
very few orders that are not paid, and the ones that don't pay, are in my
opinion people who are experimenting with the order system.

Some people probably are dealing with people intentionally jerking their chain
when it comes to false orders. Either they said something here that ticked someone
off, or they did something in relation to a previous sale that had the same effect.
Creating fake accounts just to place false orders would be a way to pester someone.
You couldn't really take credit for it (not if you have a valid account
that you wanted to keep clean, at least, though if you'd already been banned
I guess it wouldn't really matter), so the victim would never know _why_
they kept getting bogus orders. But if someone is the sort to go through that
effort for such petty vengeance, I doubt logic and reason really factor into
their decisions.

Author:

calebfishn

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 19:16

Subject:

Re: Seller checkout approval for <X new buyers

Viewed:

29 times

Topic:

i can't support anything that makes it harder for someone to become a bricklink
customer.

Author:

calebfishn

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 19:14

Subject:

Re: Have all members pay BL $1 to buy and/or sell

Viewed:

71 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

Mentioned in other posts, I am submitting this as a separate suggestion.

The goal of the $1 payment is to preclude new members from making false orders
and thereby avoid time wasted on pulling order items, attaining packing supplies,
calculating shipping, etc.

Perhaps there is also a benefit with regard to new sellers. Not sure.

I recognize there will be process, payment, and accounting challenges for BrickLink
administrators, along with maybe an undesired initial action to become a member,
however this proposal would screen out false buyers, and benefit the integrity
and positive experiences of the entire new member, buyer, and seller community
-- which for my part is a key reason I'm here.

Just what we need, fewer buyers.

Your suggestion will not screen out "false" buyers. But it will discourage and
dissuade all the first time people who come to Bricklink to look around. I get
very few orders that are not paid, and the ones that don't pay, are in my
opinion people who are experimenting with the order system.

I say, let them experiment. It is a minor inconvenience.

Author:

yorbrick

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 19:09

Subject:

Re: Have all members pay BL $1 to buy and/or sell

Viewed:

65 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

I recognize there are problems with the idea.

And I should have highlighted that it is a one-time payment idea, for
life.

I am looking for ideas to dissuade false buyers, and I guess the "conform" notion
of instant checkout is all that's on the table.

Right or wrong, it's an eBay direction, and eBay is a customer-can-do-no-wrong
environment, which in the end does not support small sellers.

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

So, one $5 minifig will cost $7 + shipping, with $2 + 3% to BL (= ~30% fee).

Yeah, I can see that going very well indeed… not!

If someone wants to mess you about, $1 is nothing. Plus the majority of orders
I ever had go unpaid were from users with multiple hundreds of feedback or more.

Author:

Brick.Door

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 18:49

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

31 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

Order Stats: 333 placed / 33 cancelled *

* This seller had the audacity to use our very lengthy Non-Paying Buyer process
we built to deal with non-paying buyers, in lieu of growing-in-popularity unilateral
cancellations, and on top of that this seller displayed the patience and nerve
to better inform our community of problem buyers, 33 times!

The cancelled figure includes all cancelled orders - whether by NPB or not.

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 17:17

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

54 times

Topic:

Author:

WoutR

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 17:17

Subject:

Re: Have all members pay BL $1 to buy and/or sell

Viewed:

73 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

I would never have joined BrickLink if I had to pay first.

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 16:54

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

35 times

Topic:

I didn't know there was a cancelled order count. More "Look busy" corporateishness.
I have no idea what on earth it is intended to tell buyers, given the many unknowns
of cancellation circumstances.

I agree that, however much or however little, it can only come across as a negative
with regard to the seller. Weird that someone said, "Let's do it!".

Changing administration. I doubt the previous administrators would have given
a darn about displaying such an unknown.

In Suggestions, leon112 writes:

I agree that the time should be shortened. The rules were made when we weren't
as digitally connected as we are today. I would imagine that most people get
their emails on their phone or tablet.So unless they are hiding in a spam folder,
they got the message. They can pay from their phone or tablet. Chances are extremely
high that once it goes to NPB status it will stay that way.
Low feedback buyers have to start somewhere. I more than get that. I don't
do instant checkout so I attract these NPB buyers, much more than I did before
instant checkout. Not that I'm thrilled with it but it is part of doing business
the way I want to. My big complaint is that those NPBs are shown in the cancelled
order count. I don't mind if I mess up,but through no fault of my own my
count goes up by those NPBs. So right now I am sitting on 2 NPBs and more than
likely 2 more to come.
Deb

Author:

chetzler

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 16:52

Subject:

Re: Have all members pay BL $1 to buy and/or sell

Viewed:

77 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Brickwilbo writes:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

Don't pick and pack until you're paid.
Enable instant checkout in your store.

I've said this before: Instant Checkout does NOT prevent NPBs. I can tell
you this from personal experience.

This is not a bad idea. Perhaps the initial membership fee could even be refunded
after 10 positive feedback is reached. Unfortunately, I doubt BrickLink will
implement anything that might limit new customers even if it would be a steady
(but small source of income).

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 16:40

Subject:

Re: Have all members pay BL $1 to buy and/or sell

Viewed:

90 times

Topic:

So, one $5 minifig will cost $7 + shipping, with $2 + 3% to BL (= ~30% fee).

Yeah, I can see that going very well indeed… not!

Author:

Brickwilbo

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 16:34

Subject:

Re: Have all members pay BL $1 to buy and/or sell

Viewed:

91 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

Don't pick and pack until you're paid.
Enable instant checkout in your store.

Author:

Brickwilbo

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 16:31

Subject:

Re: Seller checkout approval for <X new buyers

Viewed:

25 times

Topic:

This site is for selling and buying.
The lesser restrictions the better.

Enable instant checkout in your store.
That will solve your problem.

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

Whether X = 0 or some short optional range between say -3 and +3, I suggest
that any seller be able to approve of new zero-or-low-feedback members before
they are allowed to check out.

As a heads-up courtesy, new buyers can be advised by BrickLink, via a notice
both near the cart symbol while shopping and in the cart, that checking out will
require the seller's approval.

Attaining approval would require a BrickLink message from the prospective buyer
to the seller requesting to check out. In lieu of a better indicator, this message,
or perhaps more importantly the simple effort to send it, would allow a seller
to make an approval or disapproval decision.

The seller makes a decision, with ideally everything being on the up & up, and
a bona fide order and purchase follow.

However the rule and process is set up, it can be deconflicted with the "Disallow
members with negative feedback" rule.

- - - -

A better solution that what's above, to minimize time-wasting
fake orders, is to have all buyers pay BrickLink a dollar or euro before being
allowed to order.

I for one am happy to pay a dollar, although I cannot speak for anyone else.

- - - -

I've welcomed several new buyers to BrickLink, and I hope to welcome more.

On the flip side, I spent an hour-and-a-half pulling eight sets last Thursday
night, in order to identify a good shipping box (which to free up involved shifting
around several more sets) and to attain an accurate overseas shipping quote on
behalf of the customer, assuming the best with regard to their intentions. I
did this promptly within three hours of order receipt, in order to set up a timely
invoice.

I almost took everything to the post office the next day, in order to get a better
weight since the big box covered my small scale. Thankfully the member's
first negative arrived before that, and I decided to estimate the weight.

This morning, I spent another hour getting these sets back to their storage places.

I did all this on behalf of someone who is playing a mean game with several BrickLink
sellers ... ... ... simply because he can as a new member. Furthermore,
he's now at -4 and has the BrickLink greenlight to order from unsuspecting
sellers. The wasted-time toll of this false buyer round remains TBD.

My sets are safely stored wherever they fit throughout my place; I do not have
a crystal ball to store them in some purchase and ease-of-access order; and I
do not have a warehouse facility.

In light of such service efforts, extensive or otherwise, sellers should be able
to screen new buyers, even if such an evaluation is limited to interpreting a
message.

Or have everyone pay BrickLink a token amount before receiving buyer privileges.
Probably not easy given payment means and currencies, but it would likely alleviate
an ongoing and possibly growing issue.

Author:

SylvainLS

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 16:18

Subject:

Re: Have all members pay BL $1 to buy and/or sell

Viewed:

104 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

So, one $5 minifig will cost $7 + shipping, with $2 + 3% to BL (= ~30% fee).

Yeah, I can see that going very well indeed… not!

Author:

Miro78

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 15:45

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

33 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Lauren_Luke writes:

Miro78:
I think the success of the minibuilds portion of the catalog would greatly hinge on an ease of browsing. ... The minibuilds catalog would greatly benefit if one could narrow down list of mini builds by narrowing down choices.
(example given)

Yes I agree, your example is spot-on.

Miro78:
This would clearly require a tag system for individual entries to allow for such narrowing down of options.

Yep, totally agree.

Miro78:
Obviously this can be implemented when the BL catalog system is updated. I think doing a pilot sub-catalog trial is still in everyone's best interest that would bring in a whole slew of new buyers.

Would the pilot trial still be within BL or a new external sister-site perhaps?

I think the pilot site needs to be incorporated along with the main site, so
as to gain as much exposure and assess demand and flush out errors and get feedback.

Miro78:
Initially it would be best to start with high profile minibuilds that buyers and sellers need to exist without having the inventory admins busy with minibuilds with low likely hood of being sold.

I think focusing on some key high in demand mini builds like the character based
ones that have always been discussed in the catalog would be a good start. The
admins can create a minibuild request page where people can request specific
minibuilds and if they reach a certain threshold of votes/requests then only
then admins would add those in, at least at the beginning, so as to control the
amount of work that would be needed, as well gauging demand/supply for them to
gauge success of the program. Spending time on bunch of minibuilds that would
not generate sales would not be very informative on the success of such an undertaking.

Obviously the catalog of minibuilds would not be complete from the get-go, but
it would need to start somewhere. I think sellers would be interested in it,
as it would generate sales and buyers will spend less time hunting for parts
for popular minibuilds.

If the goal is to take pressure of the Inventory Administrators then which is
more time -consuming/time-efficient: a few large-part-count minibuilds; or many
small-part-count minibuilds; or batches of a set-theme; or batches of a minibuild
category?

Miro78:
As far as sticker sheet problem, I have not found a good solution. Perhaps there can be 2 options: Without stickers and with stickers applied. The latter being a touchy topic on its-own, but at least it gives sellers and buyers options.

I checked on TLG website and does not seem to be any way to purchase replacement
sticker sheets for a set. Do you know is TLG do this? Purchasing an extra sticker
sheet for each minibuild would be another option, but it would be an extra expense
for the seller. Otherwise the minibuild sellers could buy bulk sticker sheets
from the part-out sellers.

Author:

bb680938

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 15:32

Subject:

Re: Seller checkout approval for <X new buyers

Viewed:

28 times

Topic:

Instant checkout pretty much solves this. You can force new buyers to only use
instant checkout in your store. Doing something as you suggested would only add
to complications and most likely deter new buyers. Buying/checkout is meant to
be as easy as possible, not difficult.

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 15:30

Subject:

Have all members pay BL $1 to buy and/or sell

Viewed:

343 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 15:08

Subject:

Re: Seller checkout approval for <X new buyers

Viewed:

18 times

Topic:

Oops, meant to write "A better solution than what's above..."

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 15:05

Subject:

Seller checkout approval for <X new buyers

Viewed:

115 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

leon112

Posted:

Mar 18, 2018 08:59

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

48 times

Topic:

Author:

axaday

Posted:

Mar 17, 2018 13:04

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

26 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Lauren_Luke writes:

Yes I agree, your example is spot-on.

Miro78:
This would clearly require a tag system for individual entries to allow for such narrowing down of options.

Yep, totally agree.

Would the pilot trial still be within BL or a new external sister-site perhaps?

Which are the high profile minibuilds? I would say they are the ‘new-incomplete’
and ‘used-incomplete’ sets that are already in the BL catalog. How do we know
which minibuilds have a low likelihood of being sold? Experience shows that there
is always something you think would not sell that someone is eager to purchase.

If the goal is to take pressure of the Inventory Administrators then which is
more time -consuming/time-efficient: a few large-part-count minibuilds; or many
small-part-count minibuilds; or batches of a set-theme; or batches of a minibuild
category?

I just cut the sticker sheets. Very often the stickers are laid to in a way
that is cooperative with this, but sometimes I just put a few separately cut
stickers together in a bag with a piece of cardboard.

Author:

axaday

Posted:

Mar 17, 2018 13:02

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

28 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Lauren_Luke writes:

leopard37:
I sold several [The Penguin's Duckmobiles] when [the set] first came out. I just sold another last night after quite a while without them selling. Still have one more.

So what about the two 'DUCK AND COVER' decals? How do the buyers react,
what do they expect?

Since it is an unusual thing, they expect what I put in the description. Unused
decals are included.

Author:

Lauren_Luke

Posted:

Mar 17, 2018 12:20

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

30 times

Topic:

leopard37:
I sold several [The Penguin's Duckmobiles] when [the set] first came out. I just sold another last night after quite a while without them selling. Still have one more.

So what about the two 'DUCK AND COVER' decals? How do the buyers react,
what do they expect?

Author:

Lauren_Luke

Posted:

Mar 17, 2018 12:15

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

26 times

Topic:

Yes I agree, your example is spot-on.

Miro78:
This would clearly require a tag system for individual entries to allow for such narrowing down of options.

Yep, totally agree.

Would the pilot trial still be within BL or a new external sister-site perhaps?

Author:

Miro78

Posted:

Mar 17, 2018 11:35

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

37 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, axaday writes:

In Suggestions, Miro78 writes:

There are some obvious builds like the characters from Cars, brickbuilt figures
like Groot, the giant Antman and such, train cars, but then it it's not so
clear on the smaller builds that are not attached to the main set build. There
are lots of little minibuilds across various themes/subthemes and I am not sure
how they will be easily cataloged in what would require a whole new branch of
the catalog. Would they be classified under their themes and subthemes. How will
they be easily found. If I just want a brickbuilt trashcan, how will one know
what theme and subtheme to find it under. The character ones would be fairly
simple to find by name, but some accessory minibuilds would seem to lurk in the
shadows of the catalog, to be never found or browsed.

If I were the king, I think I would put them on a new tree and not go by themes.
Use categories like "Vehicle - Land", "Vehicle - Space", "Animal", "Furniture".
It would be a whole new way for customers to shop Bricklink and a whole new
area for sellers to specialize.

I think the success of the minibuilds portion of the catalog would greatly hinge
on an ease of browsing. Currently the catalog is not dynamic enough besides either
browsing and narrowing down branch by branch or by specific searches. The mini
builds catalog would greatly benefit if one could narrow down list of mini builds
by narrowing down choices. Here are some examples:

Say for example I want to build a Star Wars battle scene, but I lack enough ground
based vehicles for the Rebels side. So I would like to narrow down the list of
minibuilds available by narrowing down. So a logical progression would be something
like this:

Minibuilds Star Wars Vehicles Ground Vehicles Rebels

but if I didn't care if they were ground vehicles, but still be Rebels then
it would be

Minibuilds Star Wars Vehicles Rebels

You get the idea. This same logic would be used for finding vehicles for my town
layout

Clearly the BL catalog does not have a dynamic catalog to handle this at the
moment, without specific searches. This would clearly require a tag system for
individual entries to allow for such narrowing down of options.

Obviously this can be implemented when the BL catalog system is updated. I think
doing a pilot sub-catalog trial is still in everyone's best interest that
would bring in a whole slew of new buyers. Initially it would be best to start
with high profile minibuilds that buyers and sellers need to exist without having
the inventory admins busy with minibuilds with low likely hood of being sold.

As far as sticker sheet problem, I have not found a good solution. Perhaps there
can be 2 options: Without stickers and with stickers applied. The latter being
a touchy topic on its-own, but at least it gives sellers and buyers options.
Any thoughts?

Miro

Author:

axaday

Posted:

Mar 17, 2018 10:35

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

29 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, leopard37 writes:
I've

also thought the duck from the batman cave would sell well.

Tyson.

I sold several when it first came out. I just sold another last night after
quite a while without them selling. Still have one more.

Author:

fegged

Posted:

Mar 17, 2018 10:01

Subject:

Picture recognition for searches

Viewed:

46 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

I don’t know how easy this would be to do, but picture recognition for searches.
Basically you would use a picture/ active camera on your device to search for
an item.

I had an issue trying to find a couple of bits recently because I can’t describe
the bit in a way that the search would show me similar items to what I was looking
for.

Author:

Lauren_Luke

Posted:

Mar 17, 2018 00:33

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

55 times

Topic:

StormChaser:

...[every possible minibuild listed is] .. what I'd like to avoid. Look, there are 14,400 sets in the catalog right now and something like 600-700 new ones added every year. I think it's perfectly fair to expect an average of 2-3 minibuilds per set.

So we're talking 28,000 to 43,000 new catalog entries which much be checked, approved, and then inventoried. I could never appreciate how much work that truly is and how long it would take to complete until I became an administrator.

Yes, I know this proposal is a huge addition to the catalog. I appreciate immensely
the work of administrators and member contributions.

StormChaser:

It would be far better to only add those minibuilds for which there is a demand, rather than just thrusting them in willy-nilly.

My suggestion of a voting system would identify demand and satisfy it instead of taking up everyone's time with pointless additions which no one really wants.

First, we can never really predict demand, and usually the instinct based on
experience is a better approach than doing an ongoing poll. For example: “I've
been wanting this for YEARS!” [wahiggin]; and, “...it sounds like some people
will be happy to buy and sell subsets...” [WoutR]; and, “...the case for selling
as assemblies grows very strong.” [Admin_Russell]; and, “I have commonly sold
minibuilds on the "other" auction site. I never bothered listing them here.”
[Pretty_Pieces]; and, “I think all the cars with/out drivers from speed champions
would sell really well. ... I've also thought the duck from the batman cave
would sell well.” [leopard37].

I am not saying no to a voting system to decide upon which minibuilds to catalog
first, I just think it is not needed. Since there are probably minibuilds within
sets that people don’t know about, when they find out about them, then they may
spontaneously want them. This impromptu demand will never come up in any voting
system.

Why not start with minibuilds that are already on the system as new-incomplete
sets. In effect these sellers have already voted for the minibuild because they
took the trouble to list them as new-incomplete sets _ sometimes adding their
own photo and/or writing a complex ‘liability-clause’ in the description.

The other point is that the true asset value for BL, in the long term, is not
how many times a catalog entry sells (that’s fee income cashflow not asset value),
but the actual entry in the catalog itself.

StormChaser:

... and, BTW, if you haven't been keeping up with things, here are some more numbers regarding the already-existing 14,400 sets…
...
I'm for adding minibuilds, but only those for which a reasonably high demand exists. I also think we should be more concerned about the fact that we are nowhere near completing work on the existing catalog entries.

Simplistically, a minibuild is just an inventory of a set, and that set has already
been ‘inventorised’. As an example, it took me a few minutes to go through the
newest sets and identify logical minibuilds. (see photo). I know this doesn’t
take into account images, dimensions, inventory checking etc., I'm not trying
to be blasé here, honestly.

I would volunteer my time to administer the minibuilds sub-catalog so other administrators
can carry on with the sets, minifigs, instructions, box, and, gear sub-catalogs.

Author:

axaday

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 23:30

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

31 times

Topic:

I finished the inventory on;

10753-1 (Inv) The Joker Batcave Attack
137 Parts, 3 Minifigures, 2018
Sets: Juniors: Super Heroes: Batman II

today. I'm reasonably certain no one will ever want a minibuild out of that
one.

In Suggestions, StormChaser writes:

In Suggestions, Lauren_Luke writes:

If the minibuild does not sell then fine, it will stay there in the catalog
until a demand is created.

Author:

StormChaser

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 23:22

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

39 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Lauren_Luke writes:

If the minibuild does not sell then fine, it will stay there in the catalog
until a demand is created.

That's what I'd like to avoid. Look, there are 14,400 sets in the catalog
right now and something like 600-700 new ones added every year. I think it's
perfectly fair to expect an average of 2-3 minibuilds per set.

So we're talking 28,000 to 43,000 new catalog entries which much be checked,
approved, and then inventoried. I could never appreciate how much work that
truly is and how long it would take to complete until I became an administrator.
It would be far better to only add those minibuilds for which there is a demand,
rather than just thrusting them in willy-nilly.

My suggestion of a voting system would identify demand and satisfy it instead
of taking up everyone's time with pointless additions which no one really
wants.

And, BTW, if you haven't been keeping up with things, here are some more
numbers regarding the already-existing 14,400 sets:

32 sets have no small image

73 sets have no large image

210 sets have no year of release

455 sets have no inventories

4,318 sets have no weight

5,692 sets have no dimensions

I'm for adding minibuilds, but only those for which a reasonably high demand
exists. I also think we should be more concerned about the fact that we are
nowhere near completing work on the existing catalog entries.

Author:

Brick.Door

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 20:41

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

38 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

I almost never use the NPB process and you don't have to either.

Every week or so I look back for orders that were placed and not paid. If it
has been 3 days or more I send a reminder note. If I see that I already sent
a reminder note and still no response, I just cancel the order. Done.

Almost always these are 0 feedback new members. I think it's unlikely they
will come back and leave negative feedback if they couldn't even be bothered
to answer an email.

Author:

speshy

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 20:29

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

29 times

Topic:

To me it seems like a very reasonable way to handle minibuilds and their parent
sets' price guides. Should also make it easier for those interested in parting
in minibuilds. Drawback - lots of work to bring sets up to speed. Surely that's
no good reason to prevent progress though.

K

Inuggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

In Suggestions, Lauren_Luke writes:

In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

Would you consider these to be "minibuilds"?

Minifig No: crs001 Name: Lightning McQueen - Dark Blue

crs001 (Inv) Lightning McQueen - Dark Blue
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

Minifig No: crs002 Name: Cruz Ramirez - DINOCO

crs002 (Inv) Cruz Ramirez - DINOCO
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

crs003 (Inv) Jackson Storm
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

Yes, and...

https://store.bricklink.com/graznador?itemID=135643140#/shop?o={"invID":"135643140"}

and,

https://store.bricklink.com/mnementh?itemID=23666356#/shop?o={"invID":"23666356"}

and,

https://store.bricklink.com/Jonnycatland87?itemID=138038853#/shop?o={"invID":"138038853"}

and so on.

That is just vehicles, but you seem to get the idea. So is that the first 'Yes'
vote Admin_Russell?

The 18 Juniors Cars "minifigs" are an experiment. You are correct that another
type of item would ultimately need to be created, but for the time being we are
using the minifig type because the different partout values (assembled/broken)
can easily be seen.

I would like to hear from people who are interested in listing larger assemblies
like this. I would also appreciate hearing from those who think it's not
a good direction for the site to take.

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 19:54

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

39 times

Topic:

I don't understand parts of your post. I guess in response I prefer not
to play a waiting game on feedback, and instead prefer a timely, concrete resolution
process, after politely suggesting to buyers to either communicate or complete
a purchase.

If the NPB process is not this resolution process, and if several sellers and
BrickLink pay it no heed -- as is the case -- then BrickLink should dump
it.

In Suggestions, TheBrickGuys writes:

You really dont even have to wait one day, just cancel the order and move on.
If you are concerned about getting a negative feedback then just wait the alloted
time.

You have the ability to cancel the order so there is no need to downgrade BrickLink
for their policies (not your first posts, just this one)? And remember, you agreed
to these policies when you signed up to be a seller here on BrickLink as we all
did.

Jim

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 18:52

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

52 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

And a question (or questions) for a question (not addressed to you), why does
BrickLink not address this decade-old concern?

Is there a bona fide problem with giving sellers & buyers say "only" 6 days to
get something done (like the courtesy of sending of simple message) rather than
the current 14 days?

If yes, what's the problem?

Is instant checkout their one-size-fits-all solution?

Have they told anyone this?

If they have, is there some place to find their positions outside of this needle-in-a-haystack
forum (where I add hay such as this), where administrators' positions are
very low in number and extremely hard to find?

Are they taking the eBay road and discounting the importance of low volume buyers
and sellers?

And did I say "Whoopdeedoo" yet?

In Suggestions, WoutR writes:

Why not make sure that every buyer has to use the instant checkout? That should
solve your problem.

Author:

Lauren_Luke

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 18:29

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

34 times

Topic:

WoutR:

TLG designed a complete set. You want to split it up, but then you have to decide
which subsets to create. You could make different choices there, and go into
any level of sub-sub-subassemblies.

True

WoutR:

StormChaser simply proposes a system that helps to focus on the minibuilds that
larger amounts of people actually want, instead of automatically approving anything
that is submitted.

Yes, but this is a ‘chicken and egg’ situation. How can we know what minibuilds
people want, before we give them the choice of minibuilds to vote on?

Also, using themes has flaws, because there may be a minibuild in an ‘Agents’
set [ https://www.bricklink.com/catalogTreeCat.asp?catID=609 ] that someone would
want in a ‘Star Wars’ [ https://www.bricklink.com/catalogTreeCat.asp?catID=65
] project that are building.

If we “automatically approving anything that is submitted” then we are market
driven. The person requesting a minibuild for approval has the motive that they
want to sell the minibuild because the think there is a demand. The addition
of the marketplace will attract buyers who will either buy or leave. When the
buyers buy, other sellers will see the demand and add lots of the minibuild (as
well as request similar minibuilds for approval), increasing its competitiveness.
If the minibuild does not sell then fine, it will stay there in the catalog
until a demand is created.

Author:

WoutR

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 18:12

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

30 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Lauren_Luke writes:

StormChaser:

Anyone can submit minibuilds to the page and members can then vote on them.
Once a minibuild reaches a set number of votes it gets reviewed for addition
to the catalog. That method should eliminate a number of potential problems.

I don't see the need for this extra level of work. TLG spend a lot of time
and money developing their sets going through all aspects (aesthetics, durability
of builds; play-ability; build-ability, etc.) of design. Let's leverage
that time and money already spent by TLG, by submitting a minibuild to BL for
approval from TLG instructions. It would be easy to validate (from the instructions)
and easy for the seller to know what to pack and easy for the buyer to know what
parts he is buying (and how to build it).

In the proposal there is no deviation from the instructions other than splitting
it in sub-builds.

TLG designed a complete set. You want to split it up, but then you have to decide
which subsets to create. You could make different choices there, and go into
any level of sub-sub-subassemblies.

StormChaser simply proposes a system that helps to focus on the minibuilds that
larger amounts of people actually want, instead of automatically approving anything
that is submitted.

Author:

Lauren_Luke

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 18:08

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

27 times

Topic:

WoutR:

I can understand the 5 minibuilds you mentioned above. Those sub-subassemblies
are what I called the mayhem.

LOL

'You have to break some eggs to make an omelette!'

Author:

Lauren_Luke

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 18:06

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

22 times

Topic:

StormChaser:

Author:

WoutR

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 18:03

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

29 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Lauren_Luke writes:

OK, I’m running a minibuild test on a set. I have chosen set ‘#60141-1 Police
Station’:

60141-1 (Inv) Police Station
864 Parts, 7 Minifigures, 2017
Sets: Town: City: Police

Using the instructions, I guess the logical minibuilds would be:

Police Motorcycle
Cherry Picker
Police Station
Police Car
Police Helicopter

Issues:

The ‘stickers issue’ is the major issue, as all the above minibuilds use stickers
from the single sticker sheet (#60141stk01).

60141stk01 Sticker Sheet for Set 60141 - (31840/6179571)
Parts: Sticker Sheet

Most of the minibuilds come with their own bag but also a minifig/animal. For
example, ‘The Police Car’ comes in its own bag (bag #2) but also includes a police
minifig, the same with the ‘Police Helicopter’ which comes in bag #3 and includes
another police minifig.

All the minibuilds have their own instruction booklet except for the ‘Cherry
Picker’ and the ‘Police Motorcycle’ which share booklet #1.

Following the instructions and the separate bags The ‘Police Station’ is divided
into four sections: The Canine Department (bag #4); The Head Office with Helipad
(bag #5); The Garage (bag #6); The Barrier and Lookout Post (bag #7); and the
Prison Cells (bags #8, #9, and, #10). So should this be one minibuild (The Police
Station); or four minibuilds; or both?

We can go further into detail and part out the sub-assemblies into more minibuilds.
For instance, from the ‘Police Station’ there are at least 15 small minibuilds:
Computer Desk (four different designs); a welcome mat (which is silly without
the sticker); Exterior and Interior Lighting (four different designs); a cell
toilet; a cell bed; a coffee machine; a water cooler; a kitchenette; and, a barrier
(see photo). If a seller parted these out he would have many spare parts to
then sell as new. It is more work for the seller, but he can choose whether
he would want to do it. The big question is ‘Is this what buyers want?’. These
little builds add the ‘cuteness’ that TLG seems to be great at marketing. To
use the phrase of Bernie Loomis, these little minbuilds are ‘toyetic’, and ‘toyeticness’
sells!

I can understand the 5 minibuilds you mentioned above. Those sub-subassemblies
are what I called the mayhem.

Author:

tEoS

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 17:59

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

38 times

Topic:

What piece is it that you still need?

Likewise as a buyer I think its ridiculous to not be allowed to cancel an order
for 2 weeks if the vendor wont even communicate whether or not they will even
send it! I paid for my items 2/27/18. Altho I have sent several emails. UT I
HAVE STILL YET TO HEAR FROM 1 of my vendors if they are even going to ship my
merchandise. I have received my merchandise from a vendor who was moving his
warehouse and 1 that was form the Netherlands. It's a tiny order & very little
money. But if they didn't want to mess with such a tiny order, they should
have told me! Bricklink chose the vendors, NOT ME! Now I can't build, because
I need a piece I was expecting to get from them. I submitted a problem response
through this system. It's a common piece but I shouldn't have to order
it again or go to a Lego store.

Author:

Lauren_Luke

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 17:48

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

37 times

Topic:

OK, I’m running a minibuild test on a set. I have chosen set ‘#60141-1 Police
Station’:

60141-1 (Inv) Police Station
864 Parts, 7 Minifigures, 2017
Sets: Town: City: Police

60141stk01 Sticker Sheet for Set 60141 - (31840/6179571)
Parts: Sticker Sheet

Author:

leopard37

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 17:07

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

36 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Pretty_Pieces writes:

I have commonly sold minibuilds on the "other" auction site. I never bothered
listing them here.

Specifically, the Tardis and control room (separately) of

21304-1 (Inv) Doctor Who
526 Parts, 6 Minifigures, 2015
Sets: LEGO Ideas (CUUSOO): Doctor Who

, and the
police car from

70912-1 (Inv) Arkham Asylum
1572 Parts, 13 Minifigures, 2017
Sets: Super Heroes: The LEGO Batman Movie

(no stickers included).

Dawn
Pretty_Pieces

I think all the cars with/out drivers from speed champions would sell really
well. Especially from the large sets that have a lot of other "stuff" (eg. racestands).
If you were just collecting the cars you might want to get the minibuild. I've
also thought the duck from the batman cave would sell well.

Tyson.

Author:

Lauren_Luke

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 16:17

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

30 times

Topic:

axaday:

I totally agree.

Author:

Lauren_Luke

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 16:14

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

24 times

Topic:

Pretty_Pieces:

I have commonly sold minibuilds on the "other" auction site. I never bothered
listing them here.

Fantastic. So this may be an untapped market for BL and BL Sellers!

Author:

Lauren_Luke

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 16:13

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

35 times

Topic:

Miro78:

I agree. However, I think an organic evolution of this would be the best approach,
such as axaday suggests:

...I don't think we would have to make a complicated set of rules about what was and wasn't acceptable either. Just leave it up to what people want to submit. [axaday]

This would mean a whole new additional request-approval procedure for admins.

Miro78:

There are lots of little minibuilds across various themes/subthemes and I am not sure how they will be easily cataloged in what would require a whole new branch of the catalog.

Yes, I agree there would have to be a whole new branch of the catalog, i.e. ‘minibuilds’.

Admin_Russell also agrees with this:

...another type of item would ultimately need to be created... [Admin_Russell]

Miro78:

Would they be classified under their themes and subthemes. How will they be easily found. If I just want a brickbuilt trashcan, how will one know what theme and subtheme to find it under. The character ones would be fairly simple to find by name, but some accessory minibuilds would seem to lurk in the shadows of the catalog, to be never found or browsed. There needs to be an early decision to differentiate between an ambiguous figure being a minifig or a minibuild.

Yes, a major classification structure would have to be agreed upon before the
minibuilds are loaded. This would require discussion and research. On the face
of it I think it would be beneficial to classify (i.e. structure) minibuilds
by what they are / setting.

Miro78:

Additionally it would take a huge undertaking to re-catalog many of these.

WoutR:

...a lot more inventory work, and that also means a lot more verification work for our inv.admin

I agree, however, we are not adding any new parts only new inventories. I know
that sounds glib, I have worked in database/programming for over twenty years
so I do know how something that sounds easy to the user is in fact a huge operation
for the programmer. I suppose we must look at the return on investment (of time
and money). Sellers and BL are not bringing anything physical ‘to the table’,
only providing an extra way to part-out a set. The time and money for BL to
set it up (new minibuild branch) and the extra work involved by Sellers and BL
(I presume the collaborative community spirit is still here at BL) to manage
it (request-approve) needs to be balanced against a gain in sales (good for sellers
and BL) and an extra avenue for buyers. Sellers are already adding minibuilds
as incomplete sets in the current ‘set’ branch of the catalog, so I presume there
is a demand.

Miro78:

The sticker sheets is one of the biggest issues that I can't figure out the best way to handle the issue without making the minibuild seem incomplete if omitted, but if the stickers are applied, then it would classify them as used.

I agree, and yorbrick gave an example of this:

...this type is even worse:

Minifig No: dp029 Name: Cogsworth without Stickers

dp029 Cogsworth without Stickers
Minifigures: Disney: Disney Princess: Beauty and the Beast
Marked for Deletion

Sellers will not want to cut a sticker sheet, because that would invalidate the
‘new’ status of the minibuild, and if they add the sticker sheet to one minibuild,
then that would prevent stickers for other minibuilds and/or the main build (since
there is only one sticker sheet per set)! I suppose we will have to live with
examples of dp029 Cogsworth.

Another approach taken by AaronHeng in his minibuild of Ironman suit from set
‘#76105-1 The Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition’, is that he has changed the minibuild
to omit the stickered parts (see attached image).

76105-1 (Inv) The Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition
1358 Parts, 1 Minifigure, 2018
Sets: Super Heroes: Avengers Age of Ultron

https://store.bricklink.com/AaronHeng?itemID=139793517#/shop?o={"invID":"139793517"}

Miro78:

Ultimately, people will probably still list sets as incomplete to gain better visibility and to dump off the rest of the unwanted minibuilds in 1 sale as opposed to various minibuilds.

I guess most of the minibuilds (actually incomplete sets) are where the seller
has taken out the parts they want (usually minifigs) and dumped the rest as set-incomplete
in one sale, but they have to sometimes go to great lengths in their description
to explain what they have on sale and what has been taken out (again usually
minifigs). They have to do this specifically for the novice buyer. If there
were a proper structure (i.e. what we are discussing here) then then seller would
not have to go into an elaborate ‘liability clause’ and the buyer (novice or
not) would know exactly what they are buying. In fact, with minibuilds available
as a new catalog branch, could we eliminate the ‘incomplete’ status (new and
used)? Is the ‘new-incomplete’ set supposed to be for minibuilds; a rampaged
set; or, a set in a box that was damaged and a sealed bag fell out (or a mixture
of the three)? What is the definition of a 'used-incomplete' set?

Miro78:

As far as the catalog price averages issue, I think incomplete sets need to be marked as incomplete and sale of those should not be listed or used for calculations of averages. Perhaps that is already what is happening, I just wouldn't know.

Doing a quick investigation (and only one sample set - sorry) of the price guide
for set ‘#76105-1 The Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition’, it appears that the one minibuild
(new-incomplete set) is not included in the average price calculations. See:

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?S=76105-1&ColorID=0

Author:

WoutR

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 16:02

Subject:

Re: Stop counting neutral feedback as negative

Viewed:

49 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Dino1 writes:

Where is the percentage for buyers?

I don't know.
For buyers, we still use the old system.

Author:

Dino

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 15:52

Subject:

Re: Stop counting neutral feedback as negative

Viewed:

53 times

Topic:

Where is the percentage for buyers?

Author:

Pretty_Pieces

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 15:13

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

32 times

Topic:

I have commonly sold minibuilds on the "other" auction site. I never bothered
listing them here.

Specifically, the Tardis and control room (separately) of

21304-1 (Inv) Doctor Who
526 Parts, 6 Minifigures, 2015
Sets: LEGO Ideas (CUUSOO): Doctor Who

, and the
police car from

70912-1 (Inv) Arkham Asylum
1572 Parts, 13 Minifigures, 2017
Sets: Super Heroes: The LEGO Batman Movie

(no stickers included).

Dawn
Pretty_Pieces

Author:

WoutR

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 15:13

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

50 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

In Suggestions, WoutR writes:

Why not make sure that every buyer has to use the instant checkout? That should
solve your problem.

Personally, I think that the first 7 days are reasonable. When shit happens to
someone, it is easy to be distracted/overwhelmed for a few days. Once a claim
escalates to NPB/NSS/NRS, then the waiting period of ANOTHER 7 days is long.
It is reasonable to expect immediate action at that time.

I would propose something like 7 + 3 days.

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 15:04

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

47 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, WoutR writes:

Why not make sure that every buyer has to use the instant checkout? That should
solve your problem.

Author:

chetzler

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 15:04

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

37 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, WoutR writes:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

Hi,

The new buyer's level of effort required to tie up any given seller's
inventory for 14 to 21 days still stands a very, very firm almost none.

I get that irresponsible and indifferent buyers present a difficult challenge,
but the NPB process needs to be significantly shortened to make it something
less than a sick joke.

Eight sets and one entire lot are now off the market for 14-days or more. Whoopdeedo.

For any decisive administrator of BrickLink, please take action on behalf of
the responsible BrickLink community.

A good day to any readers, Matthew

Why not make sure that every buyer has to use the instant checkout? That should
solve your problem.

It actually doesn't. I just had to NPB a buyer who used Instant Checkout.

Author:

RobErNat

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:56

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

54 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, WoutR writes:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

Why not make sure that every buyer has to use the instant checkout? That should
solve your problem.

And what about non instant payment methods like IBAN/Cash/etc. Auto-checkout
with non instant payment methods will still cause a problems... If autocheckout
becomes more of a 'standard', part of the problem will be solved, but
not 'all', so those should have shorter timeframes depending on 'method'
(and IMHO it should be flexible and a seller setting, not a site wide setting)

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:50

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

47 times

Topic:

Your point is good.

Given my low volume sales, customers' desires for low-cost shipping, and
the somewhat byzantine world of postal rates, I prefer to manually provide an
accurate shipping rate rather than automate the process.

In Suggestions, WoutR writes:

Why not make sure that every buyer has to use the instant checkout? That should
solve your problem.

Author:

Admin_Russell

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:47

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

48 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, StormChaser writes:

In Suggestions, axaday writes:

And I don't think we would have to make a complicated
set of rules about what was and wasn't acceptable either. Just leave it
up to what people want to submit.

Complicated rules? I agree that they aren't necessary.

Some clear and simple guidelines will be necessary, though. For example, the
small table with two cups and a teapot in this set:

40307-1 (Inv) Castle Interior Kit
115 Parts, 2018
Sets: Disney: Disney Princess: Supplemental

It's a minibuild, but it shouldn't be in the catalog and people will
need a general idea of what likely will and won't be accepted before they
submit builds.

Even though it will involve quite a bit more work for administrators, I think
certain minibuilds should be included in the catalog. Members have been asking
for them for a long time.

The conditions for inclusion in the catalog may be based on perceived partout
value. If an assembly isn't a highly collectible thing itself (i.e. a heavily
branded character) and the parts involved are relatively useful to builders,
we would rather have more consolidated parts listings than split things up between
parts and assemblies.

But in the case of the Juniors Cars sets, the amount of printed parts alone (Juniors
sets do not use stickers) significantly reduces the partout value. Add to that
the juniorized parts such as this:

30833 Vehicle, Base 6 x 21 x 3
Parts: Vehicle, Base

and the brand recognition of the Cars characters, and the case for selling as
assemblies grows very strong.

Author:

WoutR

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:45

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

62 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

Why not make sure that every buyer has to use the instant checkout? That should
solve your problem.

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:44

Subject:

Change the price guide screen

Viewed:

97 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Currently there is no way you can determine easily from looking at the price
guide what currency conversion has been used to determine the move from USD to
any other currency. As this figure has to be held/determined (calculated) somewhere,
whether in BL or by xe.xom it is available to be displayed and updated as regularly
as the price guide.

If Bricklink displayed that figure it would be very helpful for everyone's
use whether buying or selling. This is especially relevant for the last 6 months
sales which is a floating figure and is not easily determined - (it can be done,
but is very long winded and takes a lot more time and effort to get right.

As for the changes this would require, they are absolutely minimal from a coding
point of view and it would help to solve the never ending threads about currency
conversion and the price guide.

It would also help with Brickstock, but I am sure that is of no concern to Bricklink.

Author:

WoutR

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:43

Subject:

Re: Stop counting neutral feedback as negative

Viewed:

55 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Brick.Door writes:

Since the change was made to put the large "% Praise" at the top of each store
front page neutral and negative feedback are basically the same thing.

This is not obvious to customers leaving feedback - especially new members.

I suggest to exclude neutral transactions from the % Praise calculation - treat
them the same as if no feedback had been left. This seems more accurate than
counting them as negative.

Also I find it strange that the % praise is calculated to 2 decimal places. Does
anyone really think a 99.74 seller is more trustworthy than 99.68? There are
no standards or guidelines for what makes a positive/neutral/negative transaction
-- it is up to the individual opinion. So there is no way this figure is
that accurate.

I thought that the system is simply letting us know a percentage of positives.
As far as I know nothing is being subtracted. Both neutral and negative are not
positive, so they do not count for the number of positives.

I DO want the neutrals to be included in the calculation. If the seller receives
a lot of neutral feedback, that is certainly a warning sign that I should take
a closer look at the feedback. The positive-feedback-percentage is usually very
high, so those neutrals really do make a difference.

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:38

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

38 times

Topic:

A correction, I should have just written "buyer-seller communication period"
above & below.

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:35

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

61 times

Topic:

Thank you for your reply,

I think both seller non-shipping and buyer non-paying processes could easily
be shortened to 3 and 3 and 3, rather than the current 7 and 7 and 7 -- (a)
buyer-to-seller communication period, and (b) BrickLink-to-non-communicator period,
and (c) an added three days if non-communicator communicates whatever the circumstances
are.

Six (to nine) days is not super fun, but is more than 2x better than fourteen
(to twenty-one) days.

Another thought on the buying side is to have all of us pay BrickLink a dollar
or euro prior to being allowed to buy. If someone wants to mess around, it'll
cost them a buck for the privilege -- most non-serious buyers will likely
find better (or worse) things to do outside of BrickLink.

I'm not yet familiar with unresponsive sellers, the scope of such problems,
and an apparent new lengthy screening process by BrickLink, so do not have any
added thoughts here.

I hope your concern is resolved soon, Matthew

PS on original post: I think Whoopdeedoo is spelled "Whoopdeedoo".

Author:

Pippysblocks

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:35

Subject:

Re: Stop counting neutral feedback as negative

Viewed:

38 times

Topic:

Yes I like this suggestion, I had a 100% until I received a neutral and know
I'll never be able to get my 100% back again.

In Suggestions, Brick.Door writes:

Author:

WoutR

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:34

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

21 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, StormChaser writes:

It's a minibuild, but it shouldn't be in the catalog and people will
need a general idea of what likely will and won't be accepted before they
submit builds.

Here's an idea. It shouldn't be too difficult to set up a page like
this one:

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogThemes.asp

Anyone can submit minibuilds to the page and members can then vote on them.
Once a minibuild reaches a set number of votes it gets reviewed for addition
to the catalog. That method should eliminate a number of potential problems.

Clicked that link.... Now I am disappointed to see that people can vote for BrickArms
as their favourite LEGO theme...

Author:

leopard37

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:27

Subject:

Re: Stop counting neutral feedback as negative

Viewed:

53 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Brick.Door writes:

This also may lead to more accurate feedback being given. I know I have been
satisfied neutrally from a purchase but not given feedback at all because I don't
think it's worth harming their rating.

It may also help educate shoppers on the difference between great and average
service provided by stores.

Tyson.

Author:

StormChaser

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:24

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

32 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, StormChaser writes:

It's a minibuild, but it shouldn't be in the catalog and people will
need a general idea of what likely will and won't be accepted before they
submit builds.

Author:

Brick.Door

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:19

Subject:

Stop counting neutral feedback as negative

Viewed:

200 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

StormChaser

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:11

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

35 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, axaday writes:

And I don't think we would have to make a complicated
set of rules about what was and wasn't acceptable either. Just leave it
up to what people want to submit.

Complicated rules? I agree that they aren't necessary.

Some clear and simple guidelines will be necessary, though. For example, the
small table with two cups and a teapot in this set:

40307-1 (Inv) Castle Interior Kit
115 Parts, 2018
Sets: Disney: Disney Princess: Supplemental

Author:

axaday

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 14:01

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

29 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Miro78 writes:

Author:

axaday

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 13:53

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

30 times

Topic:

I don't see any downside other than the work. Anyone who wants to ignore
it would be free to do so. And I don't think we would have to make a complicated
set of rules about what was and wasn't acceptable either. Just leave it
up to what people want to submit. As it is right now, a lot of set inventories
have alternates (such as a modified plate with wheels attached) but it isn't
required. So if you want to add the inventory for the car on the car ferry set,
then do so. But an inventory would not be incomplete just because someone hadn't
done so.

I sold a whole bunch of Giant Antmen from the Civil War airport set. Having
a visible "correct" place to list it would have been great. But BEYOND that,
I also would have appreciated the ability to subtract the Giant Antman parts
from the set as I was parting it out. I had to take the instructions (in hand
or online) each time and scroll through my inventory deleting them a page at
a time. Needlessly labor intensive, in my opinion.

In Suggestions, Lauren_Luke writes:

I don’t want to open a can of worms here, but I think this is a valid suggestion.

Can BL create a fourth entry for a set where is states:

‘Set Entry | Instructions Entry | Original Box Entry’

to become

‘Set Entry | Minibuild Entry | Instructions Entry | Original Box Entry’ ?

The ‘Minibuild Entry’ would contain the valid minibuilds (new and used) from
a set. Sellers are selling minibuilds anyway under 'Set Entry' as new-incomplete
and used-incomplete with the minibuld definition the description.

Separating out the minibuilds would...
- clean up the 'Set Entry';
- improve average pricing effectiveness;
- create an additional avenue for buyers and sellers

Author:

1977_mauro

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 13:33

Subject:

Re: Do the price guide not for 6 month, but for..

Viewed:

51 times

Topic:

Has this been partially implemented?

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?S=7686-1&ColorID=0

In Suggestions, 1977_mauro writes:

...an amount of particular sales.

Many of seller have the problems here for older or rare sets that there are no
sales between last 6 month.
Therefore we should have a price guide for let say last 50 or less sales for
every product...

Cheers
Mauro

Author:

QueenAnne

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 13:28

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

68 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

Author:

alahaka

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 13:15

Subject:

New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

Viewed:

182 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

Miro78

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 13:02

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

32 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, TallyToyBricks writes:

I'm not sure how you would handle selling new minibuilds with stickers and
instructions.

Do you cut the sticker sheets? Do you send the appropriate building pages from
the manual?

What would the buyer expect?

AFAICT, generally, each minibuild has its own instruction booklet.

Sticker sheets are more of a problem :/

I like the idea, but the problem seems to be in the details and how it can be
best handled, as has already been pointed out.

There are some obvious builds like the characters from Cars, brickbuilt figures
like Groot, the giant Antman and such, train cars, but then it it's not so
clear on the smaller builds that are not attached to the main set build. There
are lots of little minibuilds across various themes/subthemes and I am not sure
how they will be easily cataloged in what would require a whole new branch of
the catalog. Would they be classified under their themes and subthemes. How will
they be easily found. If I just want a brickbuilt trashcan, how will one know
what theme and subtheme to find it under. The character ones would be fairly
simple to find by name, but some accessory minibuilds would seem to lurk in the
shadows of the catalog, to be never found or browsed.

Additionally it would take a huge undertaking to re-catalog many of these. The
sticker sheets is one of the biggest issues that I can't figure out the best
way to handle the issue without making the minibuild seem incomplete if omitted,
but if the stickers are applied, then it would classify them as used. Cutting
instructions creates an additional chore for the seller, but mainly the quality
of the cut which could compromise the sticker just to name 1 of several concerns
with that alone. Some stickers have no space between them and cutting between
2 stickers would prove quite impossible without inflicting some damage.

Ultimately, people will probably still list sets as incomplete to gain better
visibility and to dump off the rest of the unwanted minibuilds in 1 sale as opposed
to various minibuilds.

As far as the catalog price averages issue, I think incomplete sets need to be
marked as incomplete and sale of those should not be listed or used for calculations
of averages. Perhaps that is already what is happening, I just wouldn't know.

Whatever Bricklink decides to do, should probably do a trial test with certain
figures and see how it shakes out, before they bite of more than they can chew.
Catalog and Inventory admins will have quite a work cut out for them.

Miro

Author:

WoutR

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 12:37

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

41 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Lauren_Luke writes:

To me, it sounds like..
1) some people will be happy to buy and sell subsets,
2) a lot more inventory work, and that also means a lot more verification work
for our inv.admin
3) if you want to do this, you need very clear definitions about what are acceptable
minibuilds. Different sellers might have different ideas about that, and it would
be easy to end up with chaos and mayhem.

Author:

SylvainLS

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 11:30

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

39 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, TallyToyBricks writes:

AFAICT, generally, each minibuild has its own instruction booklet.

Sticker sheets are more of a problem :/

Author:

TallyToyBricks

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 11:25

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

36 times

Topic:

Author:

bacon1986

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 09:07

Subject:

Re: Classic Wanted List Unavailable on June 5th

Viewed:

68 times

Topic:

I second this post entirely

In Administrative, yoshi98bc writes:

Im not sure who you have had testing the new design but there are so many flaws.

Things I cannot seem to do
1.Change quantity of a part
2.Edit color of a part
3.Get error messages if the same item is on the list twice, they should be automatically
combined
4.Cannot edit the have list either.

I switch back to the old wanted list just to edit things

Author:

StormChaser

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 05:33

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

36 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:

How on earth are those cars minifigures? They contain no minifigure parts. Especially
when other assemblies that form characters such as Groot, LOTR Ent, etc are disallowed?

Did you read this message elsewhere in the thread?

https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1081410

I believe it addresses both of your questions.

Author:

yorbrick

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 05:27

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

40 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

In Suggestions, Lauren_Luke writes:

Would you consider these to be "minibuilds"?

crs001 (Inv) Lightning McQueen - Dark Blue
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

crs002 (Inv) Cruz Ramirez - DINOCO
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

crs003 (Inv) Jackson Storm
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

How on earth are those cars minifigures? They contain no minifigure parts. Especially
when other assemblies that form characters such as Groot, LOTR Ent, etc are disallowed?

That said, this type is even worse:

dp029 Cogsworth without Stickers
Minifigures: Disney: Disney Princess: Beauty and the Beast
Marked for Deletion

No minifigure parts, and not even a proper character without the stickers.

Author:

wahiggin

Posted:

Mar 15, 2018 22:47

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

46 times

Topic:

The only disadvantages (for the seller) is the time needed to part-out the set
with the correct parts for the minibuild assembly and the issue with a sheet
of stickers spanning over multiple minibuilds, however, a buyer may even want
someone to apply the stickers for the minibuild.

Sometimes the parts for the minibuild come in separate bags which will help with
parting them out.

Author:

Lauren_Luke

Posted:

Mar 15, 2018 22:38

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

47 times

Topic:

OK, you have given the example of set 10745-1

10745-1 (Inv) Florida 500 Final Race
114 Parts, 5 Minifigures, 2017
Sets: Juniors: Cars: Cars 3

On this set is says: “
Item Consists Of
114 Parts
5 Minifigs
“

This should become either: “
Item Consists Of
114 Parts
9 Minibuilds
“

or (because this experiment has already classified the ‘cars’ characters as minifigs):
“
Item Consists Of
114 Parts
5 Minifigs
4 Minibuilds
“

The four minibuilds in these set would be:

Fuel Stop
Podium
Finish Line and Ripple Strips
Finish Booth
(see photos)

I like this idea because there may be buyers who are only interested in certain
minibuilds of a set, or want to expand a set, or add a minibuild from one to
set to another set etc… Some set offer only part of an arena (for example),
as a buyer I would prefer to buy just another (or two) parts of the arena (to
make it complete) that the whole set.

The only disadvantages (for the seller) is the time needed to part-out the set
with the correct parts for the minibuild assembly and the issue with a sheet
of stickers spanning over multiple minibuilds, however, a buyer may even want
someone to apply the stickers for the minibuild.

Author:

wahiggin

Posted:

Mar 15, 2018 22:36

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

53 times

Topic:

I would like to hear from people who are interested in listing larger assemblies
like this. I would also appreciate hearing from those who think it's not
a good direction for the site to take.

I've been wanting this for YEARS! I proposed it back when we had the Thomas
the Tank sets so we could add the train "figures" as minifigures or as something
similar to how the Bob the Builder characters had been loaded. I was interested
it again with the first round of Cars sets. I didn't understand why the
Bob the Builder sets had minibuilds, but the others couldn't. I thought
it would be nice for the sets that have modular builds to, such as the Pirate
II Fort, where each bag built a different section. It would be nice for train
sets too, so each train car could be listed individually. It would also be great
for the minecraft animals. Large sets would be nice to have mini-builds as well,
so people could list a certain vehicle or building. Mini-build inventories would
be nice too!

Can we build it! Yes we can!

[p=dmuckc01]
[p=21098pb01]

6242-1 (Inv) Soldiers' Fort
337 Parts, 6 Minifigures, 2009
Sets: Pirates: Pirates II: Imperial Guards

5552-1 (Inv) James at Knapford Station
25 Parts, 1 Minifigure, 2005
Sets: DUPLO: DUPLO, Train: Thomas & Friends

60097-1 (Inv) City Square
1623 Parts, 14 Minifigures, 2015
Sets: Town: City: Traffic

Author:

Admin_Russell

Posted:

Mar 15, 2018 21:58

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

106 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Lauren_Luke writes:

In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

Would you consider these to be "minibuilds"?

crs001 (Inv) Lightning McQueen - Dark Blue
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

crs002 (Inv) Cruz Ramirez - DINOCO
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

crs003 (Inv) Jackson Storm
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

Author:

Lauren_Luke

Posted:

Mar 15, 2018 21:46

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

62 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

Would you consider these to be "minibuilds"?

crs001 (Inv) Lightning McQueen - Dark Blue
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

crs002 (Inv) Cruz Ramirez - DINOCO
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

crs003 (Inv) Jackson Storm
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

Author:

Admin_Russell

Posted:

Mar 15, 2018 21:17

Subject:

Re: Minibuilds

Viewed:

102 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Lauren_Luke writes:

Would you consider these to be "minibuilds"?

crs001 (Inv) Lightning McQueen - Dark Blue
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

crs002 (Inv) Cruz Ramirez - DINOCO
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

crs003 (Inv) Jackson Storm
Minifigures: Cars: Cars 3

Author:

Lauren_Luke

Posted:

Mar 15, 2018 19:28

Subject:

Minibuilds

Viewed:

245 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

brickphils

Posted:

Mar 14, 2018 15:45

Subject:

Item code link on cart list

Viewed:

49 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Pls add item code link on cart list.

This feature was available in previous versions.

This helps in reviewing cart items.

Author:

Brickwilbo

Posted:

Mar 14, 2018 10:38

Subject:

Re: Suggestion - link to report post on message

Viewed:

26 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Cob writes:

In Suggestions, WoutR writes:

In Suggestions, Cob writes:

Please put a quick link to report a post in each message.

Thanks
Cob

Yes, not having to find the message ID and the correct problem page would make
it easier to report messages. That would help.

An icon could be added next to Cancel and Reply, which could take you directly
to the reporting page with the message number already filled in.

After getting nearly 200 spam forum posts in the last few days, it seems that
this suggestion would be a good addition to the forum page.

Cob

Report the Member as spanner under Report Member.

Author:

Cob

Posted:

Mar 14, 2018 09:03

Subject:

Re: Suggestion - link to report post on message

Viewed:

39 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, WoutR writes:

In Suggestions, Cob writes:

Please put a quick link to report a post in each message.

Thanks
Cob

After getting nearly 200 spam forum posts in the last few days, it seems that
this suggestion would be a good addition to the forum page.

Cob

Author:

BricksShop

Posted:

Mar 13, 2018 17:24

Subject:

Re: My inventory with overview of missing data

Viewed:

35 times

Topic:

Waltraud,
you're right - my sentence was not 100% clear written. Bricklink is for sure
not like other online shops - It's just Bricklink-Online-Shopping with special
features. But the checkout with instant payment is more like regular online shops
- that's what I wanted to say.

But maybe there are some Admins and hopefully some Management left who are still
interested to improve Bricklink for the future. If not I guess the people (sellers
and buyer) will leave Bricklink to some fast growing alternatives (also not perfect,
but in some cases better).

Regards,
Oliver.

Author:

WFMTF

Posted:

Mar 13, 2018 16:11

Subject:

Re: My inventory with overview of missing data

Viewed:

33 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, OliS writes:

Hello,

since we have Instant Checkout the life is much more easier and for the buyer
Bricklink is also like all other online shopping sites.

Anyhow sometimes the weight and/or dimensions of the parts are missing.

My idea and suggestion is to implement an overview in the inventory of the users
which lists all the parts which have missing data (weight, dimensions). This
will give the users the possibility to update the data to complete the database
of Bricklink.

What do you think about this idea?

Regards,
Oliver.

IS BRICKLINK like all other shopping sites?..... NO!

BrickLink is nowadays to decide everything without the users - why should they
still work on it?
Any answer would be very much appreciated.
Waltraud

Author:

Give.Me.A.Brick

Posted:

Mar 12, 2018 14:49

Subject:

Re: Save for later option.

Viewed:

22 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, PaulOfBricks writes:

I have mentioned it before but it seems it would work even better now with the
New chckout layout

I know we are not eBay or amazon, but the checkout now is simular and it would
be good for items you are not ready to buy in the current order but would like
to buy in the future. (Obviously if the seller still has it)

When you remove an item from your basket currently, you would have to find the
shop/item again, search again the store to find the item and add it again to
your basket.

Id rather it just be saved

Yes!

Author:

PaulOfBricks

Posted:

Mar 11, 2018 07:16

Subject:

Save for later option.

Viewed:

66 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

Mar 11, 2018 05:49

Subject:

Must have improvements

Viewed:

170 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

As there is almost constant changes going on in the catalogue stores need more
features to ensure they are up to date. For example - we received orders over
the weekends for many of our

3794 Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with 1 Stud, Jumper (Undetermined Type)
Parts: Plate, Modified

pieces which of course have been changed
to

3794a Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with 1 Stud without Groove (Jumper)
Parts: Plate, Modified

. I had to go to my inventory page for the part and change each and
everyone of these from 3794 to 3794a, That 'dropped 4 or 5 small images -
(we will re-do those photos and submit) but they had photos before we changed
them from 3794 to 3794a.Hmmmm

It is a very simple select and update query in SQL - surely one of the developers
can put together a screen to allow us to update multiple items in our inventory
at once. We are in the dark ages here really.

In addition I noticed yet another quirk which is simple enough to sort out but
untouched

We hold bulk amounts for many standard items (in the thousands of each of them)
and decided to set up a tiered pricing schedule for each of those taking 1p off
at each quantity break. Fine - it was still a manual exercise for over 100 items
but we went through that - only to find that we either had to repeat this each
time we added to that part or we would lose that tiered pricing. The options
on consolidate are far too limited. We need at least another method of new price
and retain old tiered pricing.

Neither of these changes require huge amounts of time or development effort but
both have needed doing for some time.

It may be a question of priorities or design or ????? but surely such simple
mods can be dealt with quickly and efficiently.

It does get exasperating sometimes. And Brickstock will not allow you to make
these changes offline and upload them either. We have tried that and failed.
We have also advised Patrick but he has gone missing at present.

Come on Bricklink - the stores need their tools (just like buyers, if not more
so)

Author:

bb414973

Posted:

Mar 8, 2018 19:56

Subject:

Re: Separate professional and private sellers

Viewed:

73 times

Topic: