BrickLink Discussion Forum

In Suggestions, bje writes:

In Suggestions, Etown writes:

In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

In Suggestions, Etown writes:

I was just coming to suggest this very thing. Before I did though I checked,
and no, there is no such box. That would probably be one of those "inventory
management tools" that were promised years ago but have yet to materialise.

Hi Jennifer,

Like I said, there is no box to search for "dimensions unavailable". The box
that you've selected only searches for items that you've already set
to 'manual' meaning they can't be included in an instant checkout
order. What we need is a box that selects items that have no dimensions listed
in the Bricklink catalogue so that we as sellers can either enter the dimensions
ourselves or set the item to 'manual'.

Ron

It is not correct to say that the search only returns results for items you've
already set to manual. That search returns results for the following:

All items set to manual;
All items with no weight at all;
All items with weight but no dimensions and set volume bound (such as instructions).

The images below are from that exact search in my inventory and all of those
items will not be in an IC order

This is true, my explanation was overly simplistic.

However, the issue at hand I believe is that there are items that do not have
dimensions AND are set to weight bound by default. Like I said in another post,
I accept responsibility for my mistake. However, if there was a tool provided
that allowed us to search our inventory for ALL items that do not have dimensions
entered, it would be very useful.

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Mar 13, 2019 17:02

Subject:

Re: Search for parts without dimensions

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Topic:

In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

In Suggestions, Etown writes:

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Mar 12, 2019 23:36

Subject:

Re: Search for parts without dimensions

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Topic:

In Suggestions, SchmickBricks writes:

Can we please have an option to search our inventory for items without dimensions
in the catalogue? There is already an option to search for items without a catalogue
weight or items that won't work with instant checkout, but it won't help
with finding items that are set as weight bound by default with no dimensions
(Curved train track, some rollercoaster track) which are potentially too big
to send in a letter.

Prohibiting new sets from being inventoried without all the parts having weights
and dimensions would be a big help too, providing users don't add arbitrary
values which seems to be the case for 99% of instruction books at the moment.

Yes, this!!

I just had another IC order in which a part that is too large to fit through
the 2 cm Canada Post mail slot did not have proper dimensions entered and thus
I will likely have to eat at least $9.00 CAD in shipping costs. I get it, it's
as much my fault as it is Bricklink's, maybe more so. But I will admit that
it is frustrating to see all the work that BL is putting into this AFOL meanwhile
the promised inventory engagement tools are still not here. I'll admit, I
know next to nothing about programming, but I can't imagine it would be overly
difficult to implement this suggestion and add a way that we sellers could quickly
identify the items in our inventory that cause these issues.

I'm hoping to see this one implemented quickly. Meanwhile, I guess I'm
searching through my inventory to find other culprits....

Ron

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Mar 12, 2019 23:32

Subject:

Re: Search for parts without dimensions

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Topic:

In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

In Suggestions, SchmickBricks writes:

No, that doesn't help at all. Why can't sellers have an option to search
their inventory for items without dimensions so we can add our own? Unfortunately
there are a lot of items in the catalogue without dimensions that have been set
by default as weight bound rather than volume bound that can't (In Australia
at least) be sent as a large letter as they will exceed the 20mm maximum thickness.
This wasn't as big an issue in the past, but now with instant checkout it
is. Why should it matter if an item does or doesn't fit within the normal
stud/brick height system? Surely the main purpose of dimensions is for calculating
postage costs?
It's not that difficult to pull out a ruler or tape measure and measure
something. I'm happy to do it myself to my own inventory, just give me the
option to search for items that don't have catalogue dimensions like we can
for items without weight.

First, I didn't make this system and I would certainly NEVER defend it.
I was just trying to explain some the details.

Second, you can absolutely look up parts missing shipping dimensions in your
inventory. I don't use Instant Checkout, but I believe there is a checkbox
for Instant Checkout Unavailable on your My Inventory page.
Your original post seemed to be asking about item dimensions which are not the
same thing.

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Nov 12, 2018 11:47

Subject:

Re: Mark a buyer as "Refunded due to non-arrival"

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Topic:

In Suggestions, iprice writes:

In Suggestions, Gaston.La.Brick writes:

It happens a buyer says he didn't receive the items. When shipping using
an untracked medium, there is no way in verifying if the claim is legit. So I
usually make no fuss and either refund the total order amount (including shipping)
or re-send it (if I have the items in stock).

In these cases, I sometimes get the feeling the buyer might have done this before
and actually has received the items. But as I said: there is no proof, since
no tracking. Then I wonder: "has this buyer done this in the past before with
other sellers?". There is no way in knowing. And that's why I think a buyer
should get some sort of parameter/rating stating the number of orders that were
refunded due to non-arrival. It seems like a small feature. Not really that important,
but if it were there, it would give some extra statistics in the long run as
well.

I actually had this happen recently; I'm the buyer BTW. I made an order in
May this year with someone in Belgium (your neck of the woods it would seem,
but not you).

The seller posted it a couple of days after ordering, and it did have tracking
information. However it still had not arrived after two months. I contacted the
seller, who showed evidence that it had been supposedly been delivered a couple
of weeks after my order - however his proof indicated a date and time wher no
member of the family was home, so how can it have been delivered...

After trying to track the package for a couple of weeks it was decided that a
refund was in order; so the seller was out of pocket and out of bricks. However,
this is not where the story ends. As a few weeks ago, my order finally arrived
(5 months late!). I contacted the seller and let him know and returned the unopened
package back to him so that he could re-stock his shop.

Moral of this story - you don't know whether the buyer has or hasn't
receieved his package, however you have to give him the shadow of doubt. In my
case I would have had a "Potential scammer" label if your idea bore fruit, which
could have harmed my reputation - despite the fact that I genuinely had not received
the item. Sometimes stuff does get lost in the post or takes an unreasonable
amount of time to arrive. Or you might have got scammed. I doubt the buyer would
admit, so you'll never know.

I don't think he's suggesting anything that would make sellers think
that a buyer who had had this happen once before is a scammer. What he's
suggesting would perhaps eliminate buyers who do this repeatedly.

That said, I do think they're exceedingly rare and I definitely agree that
you need to give the buyer the benefit of the doubt. I refund in full any order
that goes missing that does not have tracking. So far I've only had to do
a few.

Also, in my experience a couple of these instances have been brought up after
more than 6 months after the order was placed. It's difficult to know exactly
what to do in those situations as Bricklink purges the order after 6 months.
Not sure why exactly it takes that long to realize your order hasn't arrived,
but it has happened.

Ron

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Oct 1, 2018 15:22

Subject:

Re: Note to seller is not very good

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Topic:

In Suggestions, randyipp writes:

I would love it if the "note to seller" when a buyer is checking out were handled
more like a message and show up in the messages inbox, with the notification
number. The note looks like a message when using "contact your buyer about this
order" link but can easily be missed by sellers. It has happened to me a few
times, and can be frustrating if you see it too late!

Thanks,

Randy

I voted yes. I have been guilty of missing a message until I'm ready to invoice.

Ron

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Oct 1, 2018 15:16

Subject:

Re: 90-percentile as new average price ?

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Topic:

In Suggestions, Gaston.La.Brick writes:

I noticed the highest prices of items sold (or of items that are on sale), have
an out of proportion influence on the average prices.
Example: when 9 people sell (or have sold) an item at €0.10 but 1 person has
sold that item for €10.00, the average price would be €1.09
You may say this example is not realistic, but it's not that unrealistic
either. Check out item 6558. The avg used price of last 6 month sales is €0.023,
while the majority of the sales are for less as €0.02
If you look more closesly, you see a few sales at a high price, but not a lot.
(Note: someone even sold a few of these for €1.00 !)

It's my suggestion to change the calculation of avg price to use the 90-percentile
method. So only the 90 percent (lowest prices) are taken into account. That way,
the top 10-percent highest prices are not taken into account when calculating
the avg price.
To avoid weird behaviours, the rule could be in place only when there are 10
items sold/for sale.
Example would become an avg price of €0.10

Another somewhat more complex method would be the use the median. Not the mathematic
average, but the middle price: 50% of the sellers have a lower price, 50% of
the sellers have a higher price.

What do you guys think?

I voted no because I am hesitant to support anything that would expedite the
race to the bottom. It's getting more and more difficult to find sets with
a large enough margin to make it worth while. Besides, adding something that
makes the calculations even less transparent isn't a good move for Bricklink
in my opinion.

Ron

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Sep 8, 2016 18:56

Subject:

Re: Find Local Stores

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Topic:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, Etown writes:

[…]

If your town is New York, or Toronto, it’s okay. If it’s OneHorse, population
3 (counting the horse), it’s another matter.

This could also be something that could be toggled on or off.

Off by default, please.

Perhaps, but then would not leaving it 'off' alleviate your concerns,
even if you live in OneHorse?

That’s why I asked the default to be off

People are used to expose their whole lives nowadays. They don’t even notice
when they’re doing it (look at how many people have their birthyear (even birthday)
in their ID). If they want to continue, it’s no skin off my nose, but I prefer
not having to parse a f-load of options to keep my life not searchable by the
first crawler that comes.

Fair enough. But all that crawler has to do (if you're a seller) is to make
a minimum purchase and they have access to your email and address. If it increases
a buyers ability to find my store, I'm certainly fine with them knowing I
live near them or not.

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Sep 8, 2016 17:04

Subject:

Re: Find Local Stores

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Topic:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, Etown writes:

Interesting point. I would agree that it would be a privacy violation if the
sellers whole address was provided (however, this is something that is provided
as soon as an order is placed). However, I would have no problem with my city
being available, in the same way as my country and province are.

If your town is New York, or Toronto, it’s okay. If it’s OneHorse, population
3 (counting the horse), it’s another matter.

This could also be something that could be toggled on or off.

Off by default, please.

Perhaps, but then would not leaving it 'off' alleviate your concerns,
even if you live in OneHorse?

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Sep 8, 2016 17:02

Subject:

Re: Find Local Stores

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Topic:

In Suggestions, MarieA writes:

In Suggestions, Etown writes:

In Suggestions, GrumpyWizard writes:

It would be cool if there was a way to find stores in my city, not just my state,
so we could have the option of meeting up craigslist-style to avoid shipping
costs, and to make new Lego friends.

It isn't a feature because there are (privacy) laws involved.
There are better ways to meet up local Lego enthusiasts.

Privacy issues come in to play for private sellers, which is perhaps another
reason why BL could introduce a self-certified "I'm a business/private seller"
toggle, which would then allow searching by city without listing those sellers
who (a) self-certify as private and (b) choose not to publicly disclose their
city.

Yes, a simple toggle that defaults to undisclosed would alleviate privacy concerns
for all I think. Even if you live in a thriving metropolis or a hamlet.

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Sep 8, 2016 11:54

Subject:

Re: Find Local Stores

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Topic:

In Suggestions, GrumpyWizard writes:

It would be cool if there was a way to find stores in my city, not just my state,
so we could have the option of meeting up craigslist-style to avoid shipping
costs, and to make new Lego friends.

It isn't a feature because there are (privacy) laws involved.
There are better ways to meet up local Lego enthusiasts.

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Feb 1, 2016 12:53

Subject:

Re: Hide a Single Thread

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Topic:

In Suggestions, par016 writes:

Sometimes the forum gets in a heated debate that consumes the whole forum. I
am fine with people having opinions and discussing differences of opinions but
it does kind of take over the forum and make it hard to sift out anything else
that is happening there. It would be cool if there was a way to at least temporarily
hide a thread in the forum so that those who are not interested in following
a mega-thread can easy access the rest of the forum.

Maybe there already is a way to do this, that I am unaware of.

Thanks,
Pete

I think this is a great idea. The forum has been taken over by The Thread for
the last few days. It would be nice to be able to "mute" it if we so desire.

Ron

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Nov 9, 2015 20:45

Subject:

Re: Show +/-value report when parting out

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Topic:

In Suggestions, FigBits writes:

In Suggestions, Teup writes:

Sellers who want to keep track of their profit ratio (whether for personal insight
or for bookkeeping purposes) will always run into this same problem:

You just parted out $100 worth of parts, yes..

but..

your existing lots were updated with new prices. This means that although you
may now calculate your profit rate based on that $100, you have no idea what
just happened to the profit rate of the old bit of inventory.

To me it would seem fairly easy for Bricklink to compute an additional line,
"Value of existing inventory was modified with -$25" or, "Value of inventory
has increased with $75"

This information is much more interesting than the value of the bit you just
added. This way, you can calculate your actual profit rate, which will otherwise
always be obscured by the consolidation effects. In fact, you could theoretically
be running with a zero profit rate, without that ever appearing to you.

It is easily calculated, and can also be manually calculated - just look at the
difference in value before and after adding.

This would get solved with a slightly simpler, but more comprehensive update:
Allow access to historical inventory information.

Right now, there is a snapshot on the My Inventory page that shows the total
items, lots, categories, original price, sale price, and my cost for the current
inventory. But ONLY for the CURRENT inventory. All we need is a field that allows
us to see what these numbers were at some point in the past.

This would be very handy for seeing how inventory has grown over time, (or how
profit margins have changed, etc).

--
Marc.

Hi Marc,

I love this idea. I would find it very useful. Please create a suggestion for
this specifically and I would be happy to support it.

Ron

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Feb 7, 2015 23:32

Subject:

Re: Time to address seller quality issues

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Topic:

In Suggestions, QCBricks writes:

Not necessarily replying to each of Lukas' individual points, but just a
few notes and ideas on these issues...

Hi Scott. I enjoyed reading your post, I think you make a lot of good points.

1.) This issue was discussed at length at the BL Roundtable in Seattle and it
is on BL's radar. The prevailing idea is that 4 levels of grading will be
used for used parts. 1 would equal something "like new" or thereabouts, while
4 would be "my dog ate it before I listed it"

I'm interested to see how this works. At first glance it seems like that
amount of work - categorizing all used parts into 4 distinct categories and having
seperate listings for each of the four. I wonder if this would make selling used
parts so difficult that many sellers would stop altogether unless they pick one
or two categories and only list/sell parts that fall into those. Also, organizing
even a moderate sized store can be daunting - this may add a layer (or two) to
that as well.

Overall, I like the idea I just wonder how practical it will be for sellers.

2.) These types of statements like "Bricklink is going down" or "their reputation
is bad" are nothing without any real proof and lots of it. The fact that a few
people come to the forum here (or any other forum) and complain is natural for
a site with the volume that BL has. (It has already been established here that
a minute percentage of users actually post here) If this is someone's personal
opinion, it should be noted as such. Otherwise, come forward with the hundreds
of unique complaint posts posted over a very short, recent period of time. Even
in the case of this seller, his or her x number of transactions are likely a
proverbial drop in the bucket.

The overwhelming majority of BL buyers and sellers are honest people and it
is unfair to lump "Bricklink" in with a few of these yahoos.

Bricklink is growing fast in spite of some of these issues, so it must not be
hurting them that much.

THANK YOU!! Nothing against the OP - he brings up a very valid point. But I often
see these threads descend into generalizing most BL sellers that couldn't
care less about their buyers. This makes me sad, but I also think it's very
far from the truth. Given the amount of orders on a daily basis, someone out
there is doing a good job. A few bad apples should not spoil the batch.

3.) Many of these issues can be taken care of by some of the basic concepts
that Scooter talked about in his post. I would like to add another to the pile.
If BL charged a minimum monthly charge, much of these people would go
away.

It could be something simple and small like $10, which is like prepaying the
first $10 of fees each month.

Putting up little roadblocks like this have been beneficial for many other sites.
Many of the people that somehow cannot manage to get parts in the mail for 2-3
weeks probably cannot pull things together and make a $10 monthly payment! I
know that won't work for those of your that sell $2 in parts a month, but
I think that it will make the site much stronger and safer. BL could always
spin off a part of the site for no fee hobby stores that can sell something like
$50 a month with no fees.

Are you suggesting that the $10 would count the same value against the monthly
selling fees? If so, I think this might be an excellent idea.

Would the fee still be required if the store is closed for whatever reason?

4.) Some ideas have been tossed around about resolved NSS claims and such. Longtime
forum readers remember "Brri*******", who ripped people off for a long time,
across at least two accounts and they got around the consequences by simply refunding
all of the NSS claims that were filed. I am all for giving people a chance,
but at some point, 10 or 20 resolved NSS claims show that something is
not working. As I have said here before, we have shipped nearly 4.5 million
parts in the last 3+ years here on BL and we have had exactly two NSS claims
filed against us. In both cases, the shipments showed as delivered and in both
cases the buyers "found" the shipment once we passed that information on to them.
This belief that big stores just get NSS claims left and right is just plain
silly.

4b.) This also goes for any other site manipulation. Using the "pay too much
on my bill so I am in the Top 60" trick should be treated just like any other
sort of dishonesty. I am sure that there are hundreds of other similar issues
that speak to the honesty level of a store.

5.) Buyers...while you may care about your feedback and want it to be 100%, it
really doesn't matter. As long as it is not below zero, you will be fine.
(...and if someone really says they won't sell to you because you have 50
positives and 1 negative, do you really want to buy from them?)

Suck it up and leave neutrals or negatives when they are deserved.

I don't really understand why this isn't a more common view point amongst
buyers. I don't go through my orders and before processing, cancel any with
more than say 3 negs. Who cares if that obnoxious seller gives you a negative.
There are what 8000 stores? Leave honest FB and move on.

Now, this is not to say that stores should not be given a chance to make things
right, but if they tell you take a jump when you ask for some sort of resolution,
then that deserves non-positive feedback. This will provide something actionable
for BL to use to get these people off of Bricklink. I have said it many, many
times here...

there is no reason for any store to have 150+ neutrals and 75+ negatives.

I don't care how big they are, I don't care how busy they are, I don't
care how cheap they sell parts/sets, I don't care how big or small they are,
I don't care what other sorts of useless excuses they come up with. These
stores are a cancer on BL and need to go away. That goes for the "I never leave
positives and only use feedback to retaliate" crowd as well.

6.) Featured/Highlighted/etc... stores should be reserved for the cream of the
BL crop. If you get a couple negatives in a month, that should disqualify the
store from being on any of the lists. New buyers may feel like those stores
have been vetted, but if they are selling used as new, not shipping in a timely
fashion, etc... they should not appear on those lists.

Agreed.

Whew...that was a lot!

Scott

Thank you, great post.

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Nov 10, 2014 14:35

Subject:

Re: Issue, I didn't bring up at the RoundTable

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Topic:

In Suggestions, viejos writes:

In Suggestions, Etown writes:

Does anyone recall the impetus to add this? Was it meant to fix a particular
issue?

Like I mentioned upthread:
http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=868500

...it was implemented as part of a "Scammer Prevention" package. Scroll down
to number 2:
http://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/newsview.page?msgid=846636

Thank you for that.

I think there are other ways they could achieve their goal and at the same time
give more information to the buyer about the seller.

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Nov 9, 2014 16:51

Subject:

Re: Issue, I didn't bring up at the RoundTable

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Topic:

In Suggestions, popsicle writes:

I earnestly feel the new banner across the top of BL stores displaying the feedback
breakdown, should be altered.

As it stands now, a neutral will bring the percentile down. This, I believe is
misleading to potential buyers and somewhat unfair in nature. Many neutral marks
are received for perfectly satisfied transactions, as witnessed in the feedback
itself. This I think, is due to a general misunderstanding of the BL feedback
system. It is unlike many other site's feedback process.

I feel any neutral mark given, should be just that, carry no effect. Just
as it does with the numbers.

My motivations in bringing this up are unbiased, as reflected in our own banner.
I sincerely hope the Admins take this suggestion into consideration.

-Cory

I'm just trying to better understand the implementation of this banner in
the first place.

Does anyone recall the impetus to add this? Was it meant to fix a particular
issue?

I understand ebay uses something similar, however ebay does not use neutrals.

I think the suggestion that was made that included a three part break down over
the past 12 months is the most equitable.

If you MUST have a percentage do not count neutral at all, just as it doesn't
affect the sum of the members fb.

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Nov 9, 2014 16:38

Subject:

Re: Issue, I didn't bring up at the RoundTable

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Topic:

In Suggestions, eileenkeeney writes:

In Suggestions, popsicle writes:

I vote no, because it would be a lie to claim 100% positive feedback, if there
were neutrals (which are not positive).

However, I prefer to just have the banner removed.
It is misleading to treat neutrals the same as negatives in any blanket statement,
such as the one on the banner. But it is a lie to claim 100% positive, if there
are negatives.
Either show all the percents (positive, neutral, and negative) or show nothing.

It seems to me you agree with the OP more than you disagree with him.

I see his suggestion as less about making neutrals look like positives and more
about simply fixing the issues (and there are many apparantly) with the feedback
percentage banner.

Many buyers - especially new ones who are familiar with ebay - will see a feedback
score of 98% and immediately look elsewhere. I have seen neutrals left for all
sorts of reasons, many not negative at all.

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Nov 8, 2014 18:35

Subject:

Re: Issue, I didn't bring up at the RoundTable

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Topic:

In Suggestions, steekstra writes:

In Suggestions, Etown writes:

In Suggestions, popsicle writes:

Yes! Yes! YES!!!

I'll admit that my reasoning IS biased. I received a neutral feedback a few
months ago from a buyer when we mutually agreed to cancel the order. I did try
to have it removed but admin refused.

So an order that was never even paid for brings my FB down to just above 98%.
No, I don't think that is fair.

You are on my stoplist,, you have 1 neutral..

Steekstra

LOL!

When they first brought the % thing in, I was at 97%. I have 100% 500+ FB on
feebay so I was pretty embarrassed. How many people are going to see
simply turn away? Obviously not all, but even if 1 in 5 do, that's a big
hit considering it wasn't even negative AND it was on a mutually cancelled
order.

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Nov 8, 2014 15:27

Subject:

Re: Issue, I didn't bring up at the RoundTable

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Topic:

In Suggestions, popsicle writes:

Author:

Etown

Posted:

Jun 10, 2014 01:24

Subject:

Re: bad sellers

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Topic: