Redisplay Messages: Compact | Brief | All | Full Show Messages: All | Without Replies| Author: | FigBits  | | Posted: | Mar 22, 2017 16:25 | | Subject: | Re: BrickLink you are losing business | | Viewed: | 69 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, wahiggin writes:
| | In Suggestions, QA_Sheryl writes:
| | In Suggestions, BricksDirect writes:
| | Dear BrickLink admins and members,
We see it every day. BrickLink is losing business because it's still not
possible to pay immediately after checkout. We have to cancel our orders because
new members can't find shipping fees. They expect that the shipping fee will
be automically displayed when they put items in their shopping cart. The also
expect that they can pay immediately for their orders. The way it is going now
is way too complicated for new members.
Why is it so hard to create software to let members pay immediately and tell
them the shipping fee. BrickOwl and BrickScout are doing it. They are taking
BrickLink's business over.
What I hear from other sellers is that it's impossible to create it because
not al items have their weight in the BrickLink catalog. Why not solve this with
a standard weight for items that don't have their weight in the BrickLink
catalog? (0.5KG for a set, 0.2KG for a part etc.)
Please, BrickLink do something at this.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Niels Roest
Owner of BricksDirect
|
Hi Niels,
As has been stated in numerous other forum posts, we are in the process of creating
Instant Checkout. Since BrickLink has been around much longer than the other
sites you mentioned, our sellers have numerous configurations and setting up
the process is much more complex. We do not want to take away anything from how
our sellers are currently using the checkout process. With this in mind, we have
made great progress in instant checkout so far and will continue to do so without
sacrificing quality. We want to make sure this feature is accurate as well as
efficient.
We appreciate your patience and understanding, but want to let you know that
we have definitely heard the cry from our users for this feature and are working
hard to get it done as soon as possible!
Thanks!
|
Instead of a big bang approach, maybe doing an agile effort would be more impactful.
Start by creating a feature that would work for US shippers. Give sellers an
option to remain on the legacy shipping module or turn on the new Instant Checkout
feature until it is fully implemented. Then add other countries as you go along.
Prioritize it based on sales or complexity. Ebay does it, Brickowl does it,
Amazon does it, I can go out and create a website and add it in with a simple
plug in. This should be possible on a much shorter timeframe than what we have
seen so far.
|
All that needs to happen is to make the Shipping Cost Estimator face the customer.
That would already work for a majority of sellers, no matter the country.
--
Marc.
|
 |
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 22, 2017 10:08 | | Subject: | Re: price overview when buying a wanted list | | Viewed: | 57 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, mgiglio writes:
| | In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | | | You are mistaken. Sellers do not have the ability to part out a set and automatically
list the pieces at the 6 month average, using any BrickLink tools. It's possible
to do so with 3rd-party tools (off BrickLink), but those tools are available
to buyers as well. The access to pricing information is identical for buyers
and sellers.
|
What am I missing here? Is it interpretation of words?
Sellers can use the part out a set tool and set their part prices at the (worldwide)
six month average price, using Bricklink.
|
this is correct. i did it last night. it's a very useful feature for a seller.
don't know why someone is saying this can't be done right in bricklink.
|
You're right. I was wrong about that. I was thinking of re-pricing existing
inventory to the 6-month average.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 22, 2017 00:31 | | Subject: | Re: price overview when buying a wanted list | | Viewed: | 77 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, mgiglio writes:
| | of course i am not suggesting that parts be given away for free. i'm saying
maybe part prices are inflated if sellers are actually willing to sell for less.
as a seller, if i think a part is too cool to sell for a nickel, i keep it, cause
i know no one's gonna pay a quarter for it. or if i have a ten dollar minifig
and i dont want to sit on it for a year, i'll list it for 9 and try to move
it out.
|
For those of us whose BrickLink stores are trying to support us as a full-time
job, that a part being too cool doesn't factor into it. It's a business.
I try to sell for more than I paid.
A few years ago, most sets parted out for 2x the retail price of the set. Today,
that number is maybe 1.3x. I certainly would not say that prices on parts are
inflated. The opposite -- they're depressed.
Those $10 minifigs are only $10 because that's what they've been selling
for. It used to be as you described -- a few sellers would list at $9 to
try to sell them faster, while most listed for $10, and many listed for $11 or
more.
But now, ten stores list them for $8. Then when they see that everyone else is
doing that, they relist them for $6. Then someone lists 300 of them for $2.50.
All of which is fine (more or less). But it becomes a bit of a problem when sellers
who want to list that "$10" minifigure for $10 show up on a BrickLink tool as
being 75% higher than average.
| | if bricklink has a problem with sellers undercutting each other, i don't
think limiting the buyers information is the smart way to fix it. why not limit
sellers ability to list a part for less than a certain price.
|
That would be a terrible idea, and possibly illegal.
| | regarding sellers and buyers having equal access, that's just not true. a
seller can part out a set and list the pieces automatically at the 6 month avg,
but a buyer cannot then shop for those same parts in that same sellers store
without seeing all at once whether they are above or below average price. that's
not equal access. that makes the buyer work much harder than the seller to determine
whether each individual part is listed at fair value or not.
|
You are mistaken. Sellers do not have the ability to part out a set and automatically
list the pieces at the 6 month average, using any BrickLink tools. It's possible
to do so with 3rd-party tools (off BrickLink), but those tools are available
to buyers as well. The access to pricing information is identical for buyers
and sellers.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 21, 2017 18:34 | | Subject: | Re: price overview when buying a wanted list | | Viewed: | 64 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, mgiglio writes:
| | In Suggestions, tillmanbalazs writes:
| | few weeks ago when I went to a wanted list, and selected the items which I wanted
to buy, then the shop, it showed what is the price of items in this shop compared
to the average price of the items.
Now this function is not available, can I ask why?
Is it possible to have it back?
Thanks,
Balázs
|
Voted Yes. Having this comparison helps me to buy hundreds of pieces at a time
and easily know whether the store I've chosen is charging me double what
each piece is worth, without having to check each piece manually. The only ones
to blame for a downward spiral in pricing are sellers listing their parts cheaper
than everyone else. If a part can be sold cheaper, maybe it should be.
|
But tools like this enourage sellers to continue listing their parts cheaper
than everyone else. That's part of the problem. And I'm not sure what
you mean my that last sentence. Of course a part can be sold cheaper. It can
be given away for free. So it should be?
| | Providing sellers with this information easily when they list parts, but not
making it easily available to buyers when buying, puts sellers at an unnecessary
advantage in this marketplace. It erodes my confidence when purchasing, or requires
me to spend an inordinate amount of time researching to save what amounts to
pennies per piece. While some would say that I should just suck it up and pay
the pennies if I don't want to do the legwork, I'd say that'd make
sense if the sellers had to do the legwork of looking up each individual part
price and entering it manually, but they don't.
|
What do you mean? Sellers have EXACTLY the same access to average prices that
buyers do.
| | I think a nice compromise would be to show the over/under comparison against
current listing prices, instead of 6 month average.
|
I thought that's what it already was.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 21, 2017 09:42 | | Subject: | Re: price overview when buying a wanted list | | Viewed: | 66 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, TokerSays writes:
| | As a Seller, why don't you want a Buyer to have immediate access to a comparison
of your price against the average price?
All I want is an honest answer. The fact that this tool isn't valuable when
grocery shopping is irrelevant. I'm willing to entertain an alternative
basis of the average price if that is your concern. I'm just unsure of why
you don't want your price compared to another, immediately at the point of
purchase.
What's your honest answer?
|
Having such a tool encourages sellers to implement deceptive practices.
Imagine two stores: One has average prices, honest shipping costs, and no hidden
fees. The other has lower than average prices, but charges an extra $3 on shipping,
and adds 5% to the final total for Paypal fees.
The price comparison tool will lead buyers to the second store, even if their
order would cost more there.
I agree that it's a good thing for buyers to be able to see where they can
get what they want at a good price. For that to happen transparently, the comparison
tools need to include total final cost, not just the listed cost of the parts.
That is not possible without automated checkout.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 21, 2017 08:30 | | Subject: | Re: price overview when buying a wanted list | | Viewed: | 51 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, TokerSays writes:
| | In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
| | Not sure about leader but I'm missing the community overseer role at the
moment.
|
I'm not sure I understand. You are the community overseer or we are missing
a community overseer?
|
Community Overseer: Mnementh (19666) - Oct 31, 2005 - Dec 27, 2013
https://www.bricklink.com/memberAdmins.asp
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 21, 2017 01:03 | | Subject: | Re: Counterfiet Set Reporting | | Viewed: | 94 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, rofreder writes:
| | Upon inspection of parts even noticed "LEGO" on all studs. However edges were
sharper than genuine parts, also in general parts felt lighter, minor differences
in shapes of familiar elements. Amazed at the attention to detail of the fakers.
But, in my heart of hearts I know it's a fake set.
|
This would be the first that I have heard of clones actually having LEGO on the
studs. Do you have a photo that highlights the differences ("minor differences
in shape") between a genuine brick and one you suspect is counterfeit?
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 20, 2017 14:31 | | Subject: | Re: BrickLink you are losing business | | Viewed: | 86 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Bricklord writes:
| | What part of Canada Post's guidelines are you wilfully ignoring? it is not
just weight that determines a rate, but the volume as well. Or are you only shipping
as parcels? If so, you are costing your customers far more than they should be
paying.
|
I am not ignoring any of it. Nothing that you have written above addresses what
I wrote below, but I will answer your questions anyway.
I am not only shipping as parcels. The vast majority of orders within Canada
ship as oversized lettermail, and the vast majority of orders outside of Canada
ship as Light Packet. But it doesn't matter what I ship it as, because as
I said below, I charge a FLAT RATE for shipping. Which means, as I said below,
that for orders over 150 grams, buyers pay LESS for shipping. Not more, as you
claim. Less.
If you don't believe me, just go check. That's in my store. Other sellers
can (and do) do it differently. Some charge more, some charge less. Some charge
a lot more, some charge nothing.
The indisputable fact is that automated shipping calculation does not AUTOMATICALLY
cause higher shipping costs for buyers. That is totally up to the sellers.
| | In Suggestions, FigBits writes:
| | In Suggestions, Bricklord writes:
| | I completely concur. The Canada Post rates/tables would make any such automatic
shipping calculation even more overpriced than the exact rate they already charge.
An automatic checkout with the invoice would be an improvement, but for each
order the seller MUST calculate the shipping.
|
This is 100% false. I don't know why it keeps coming up. We know with absolute
certainty that automato shipping calculation need not result in overcharging
for shipping.
If a seller WANTS to charge more for shipping, they can set up their options
to do so. If they want to charge less for shipping, they can set up the options
to do so. On the other site, I have flat-rate shipping. This means that for orders
over 150 grams, buyers pay LOWER shipping costs in my store on the site that
has auto checkout.
|
|
|
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 20, 2017 12:41 | | Subject: | Re: BrickLink you are losing business | | Viewed: | 77 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Bricklord writes:
| | I completely concur. The Canada Post rates/tables would make any such automatic
shipping calculation even more overpriced than the exact rate they already charge.
An automatic checkout with the invoice would be an improvement, but for each
order the seller MUST calculate the shipping.
|
This is 100% false. I don't know why it keeps coming up. We know with absolute
certainty that automato shipping calculation need not result in overcharging
for shipping.
If a seller WANTS to charge more for shipping, they can set up their options
to do so. If they want to charge less for shipping, they can set up the options
to do so. On the other site, I have flat-rate shipping. This means that for orders
over 150 grams, buyers pay LOWER shipping costs in my store on the site that
has auto checkout.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 20, 2017 12:34 | | Subject: | Re: BrickLink you are losing business | | Viewed: | 72 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
| | In Suggestions, FigBits writes:
| | In Suggestions, technoluddite writes:
| | I don't think BL could concoct a system to account for all the variances
of each postal system in the EU, North America etc. to allow immediate posting
of shipping costs.
|
BL doesn't need to. The sellers would. The solution ALREADY EXISTS on other
sites, so we know that it is possible.
|
Yes we know it can be done (reasonably OK) on other sites but we so far don't
know if BL can deliver it here... just because the other guys do it doesn't
mean that is what we will get here as the site has a different structure/programming.
I'm just patiently waiting and will form an opinion on whether here it will
be a good or bad thing, or something in between when I see how it is going
to work here, not on another site.
Robert
|
Actually, it already exists on BrickLink as well. It just isn't customer-facing.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 20, 2017 11:54 | | Subject: | Re: BrickLink you are losing business | | Viewed: | 82 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, technoluddite writes:
| | I here what you're saying about listing shipping fees but in many places
it's complicated by the local Postal System requirements.
Here in Canada, I can ship anything that fits in an envelope less than 3/4" (2
cm) thick for about $2. However, anything thicker (even some minifigure headgear
and/or accessories) bumps it up to a parcel and the costs at least double!
The weight is relatively unimportant up to about 500 grams, it is all about the
dimensions.
I don't think BL could concoct a system to account for all the variances
of each postal system in the EU, North America etc. to allow immediate posting
of shipping costs.
|
BL doesn't need to. The sellers would. The solution ALREADY EXISTS on other
sites, so we know that it is possible.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 15, 2017 22:39 | | Subject: | Re: price overview when buying a wanted list | | Viewed: | 60 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, TokerSays writes:
| | In Suggestions, qwertyboy writes:
| |
I don't think anyone has issues with this being discussed. But I for one
would really REALLY like if you stopped campaigning so much by adding the URL
each time.
Again, I don't ask this because I am necessarily against the suggestion,
I just find this is getting incredibly annoying. Everyone on the forum knows
by now where to vote. Please stop. Please.
Niek.
|
Hi Niek. As I'm sure 'everyone on the forum' has figured out by
now that I'm new here. And in my brief time here I have come to find that
I am one of at least 5 new people that have stumbled upon this forum in search
of the reason why the average pricing tool was removed. And as another member
suggested, this forum could use a little updating as it's not always easy
to follow conversations. So I want to make it real easy for those who are new
to find where they need to go to suggest that tool be brought back.
They can go here: https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1031088
|
Keep human nature in mind. I have mentioned that I am on the fence about this
issue. But your annoying campaigning convinced me to vote No.
--
Marc.
(Also keep in mind that the votes mean nothing.)
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 15, 2017 22:32 | | Subject: | Re: Better Forum | | Viewed: | 50 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, ranarn writes:
| | Good Question, and of course i should have stated some examples, instead of just
saying that it's bad.
First, the tree approach, it's not a bad thing, and works pretty good when
a discussion is kept relatively small and you read each post.
But when more and more people join, and you get multiple levels of replies, each
tend to go it's own way when it branches out from the main tree. And a tree
structure makes really hard for someone that is coming into the discussion later
to see the latest "talk" or get a overview what has been replied earlier, you
often need to check each branch of the tree. I am more into the "reddit" approach,
where the hot or popular replies is what is showed at the top. Or the "standard"
flat forum approach with pages and not creating branches of replies.
|
I very much disagree there, at least compared to a flat view. Having a branching
tree is a huge benefit. One improvement would be to be able to collapse a branch
(as on reddit). But if this is your major concern, I think you are way off. The
branching structure is a huge benefit of the current format. It is not a fault
at all.
| | Second is style, it looks outdated and not very modern. I know that the "CORE"
users of the forum at the moment like it, and is happy with what it is, but to
broaden the usage from new users, it needs to be made more modern and easier,
explainable icons instead of text links maybe, Simplicity is the key.
|
To me, that's largely irrelevant. I care much more about content than style.
For the site itself, the style is important, because it's a commercial website
that is looking to make money for its sellers (myself among them). But for the
forum? Who cares. The appearance is neither a positive nor a negative. It's
irrelevant.
| | Some technical features that would be nice is, notification, unread message tracking,
templates, tags, ability mention or reference other people, online status of
users, avatars etc...
|
Notifications and message tracking, absolutely. Those should be added. Tags already
exist for catalog items. Referencing other users: meh. Online status of users:
meh. Avatars? Please no. There are way too many juvenile forums where 50% of
the "content" is animated gift and signature files. That contributes nothing
to actual discussions, and we are better off without them.
So ... Yes, we could use the ability to track read/unread status, and receive
notifications.
That's about it.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2017 15:13 | | Subject: | Re: price overview when buying a wanted list | | Viewed: | 50 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, TokerSays writes:
| | Perfect, then we agree! Bricklink is a legal free market and in a legal free
market a Buyer should have easy access to the average price per piece. Any measures
to limit that access would delegitimize the legal free market of Bricklink.
|
You are really not helping your case with statements like that. It makes it clear
that you have no idea what a free market is. So, people reading this could easily
think that since you don't know what you are talking about, then you are
probably wrong about the benefits of that feature, as well.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2017 12:56 | | Subject: | Re: DO AWAY WITH PRICE GUIDE....... | | Viewed: | 91 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Heartbricker writes:
| | In Suggestions, thewolf06 writes:
| | This site is going in the right direction with taking away important features
like being able to compare price. I think we need to go one step further and
COMPLETELY DELETE the PRICE GUIDE. Lets take it all away, and then there is no
comparison at all.
|
While they do that- they should close the site altogether too!!! :p
All due respect; when you post non-sense suggestions- BL admins do look as them,
in my experience BL staff has been helpful whenever i needed actual help and
they seem to be understaffed (probably so they won't have to raise our reasonable
seller's fees) so perhaps we can give them a break from non-sense suggestions
that may take their attention away from helping users.
I try to post my non-sense rants away from the suggestions and admin sections
so they can attend to more pressing needs.
|
I don't think it's a nonsense suggestion. It may not be a good idea,
and it might not even have been serious, but I do think that it is an idea worth
considering.
Deleting the price guide would have some positive impacts for sellers, buyers,
and BrickLink. It would help prevent a slow downward spiraling of prices (and
profits) because there would be no easy way for stores to set their prices at
6-month averages minus 10% (or whatever). For buyers, good deals would come up
more often, as sellers would list items for what they think they can get, instead
of based on previous (possibly misleading) prices.
For BrickLink, it could become a new revenue source if they granted access for
a fee (say, $10 per month for access to the full price guide).
I am not arguing in favor of this. But I am arguing that it is not nonsense.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 13, 2017 14:56 | | Subject: | Re: price overview when buying a wanted list | | Viewed: | 60 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, TokerSays writes:
| | In Suggestions, FigBits writes:
| | In Suggestions, MrDrem writes:
| | | |
Voting doesn't matter. What will count is what BrickLink believes is in their
best interest. Before they created that price comparison feature, they believed
that it would be in their interest to add it. Having added it, presumably they
discovered that it was NOT in their interest, so they have deleted it.
To get them to reverse that decision, you would need to convince BrickLink that
it's better for THEM to have the feature. Since we don't have access
to any of the data that they based their decision on, I believe making a convincing
argument is essentially impossible.
|
I'd argue that there is now a discrepancy between sellers, who have access
to tolls like BrickStock that automates pricing against 6 month averages, and
buyers, who no longer do.
|
Buyers can use BrickStock. (And I believe that most sellers do not.)
| | If Bricklink want a reason to bring it back, here's one. Whilst the tool
was there, it made it so much easier for me to sanity check prices on my orders
that I didn't look elsewhere. Its what kept me shopping within Bricklink.
There is now no difference in the buying experience between here and BrickOwl
that I can see so far, except that BrickOwl has a nicer interface.
You want me to keep shopping here, make it easy for me to confirm my deal is
OK.
Even if all you tell me is that my overall order price is below or above the
average price.
I don't think that the sellers arguing here would say that they want to participate
in a economy that is rigged for either side, would they?
|
I have long argued that BL's policies have favored sellers over buyers, and
that this is mostly a bad thing. In this particular case, I'm on the fence
about how significant it is. I think it pales in comparison to the imbalance
in feedback policies, order cancellation, additional fees, shipping fee transparency,
and other policies.
As to whether you (or anyone else) buys here or on the other site, I'm sure
it matters to BrickLink, but it doesn't matter to me as a seller. I sell
the same inventory for the same price on both sites.
--
Marc.
|
Hi again Marc - As a Seller if it doesn't matter to you, then could you support
me as a Buyer? Vote yes to bring it back. Makes no difference to you, but it
helps me out.
|
As I mentioned, the votes don't matter. BrickLink created this feature because
they thought it would be a good thing overall. Lots of people complained about
it when it launched. BrickLink didn't care. They made their decision based
on their own information and analysis.
Now they have deleted that feature. Lots of people are complaining about its
disappearance. BrickLink doesn't care. They made their decision based on
their own information and analysis.
I believe that the only way this feature is coming back is if deleting it was
a mistake. It's perfectly possible this is a bug, and the feature was not
supposed to disappear. If that's the case, it will be back in a few days,
regardless of what discussion happens here. On the other hand, if the change
was deliberate, then it was based on a 9-month trial, and the feature was considered
to be a failure. In that case, it's gone.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 13, 2017 14:51 | | Subject: | Re: price overview when buying a wanted list | | Viewed: | 59 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, TokerSays writes:
| | In Suggestions, FigBits writes:
| | In Suggestions, TokerSays writes:
| |
Thanks Marc - What I hear is the invisible hand of the marketplace is very visible
on Bricklink, it is the hand of profit. Limit the amount of information provided
to the Buyers and the Sellers will profit.
|
I'm not really sure what that means.
BrickLink's presumed motive is to be successful. That usually translates
into being profitable (though the owner is a billionaire, and I can't presume
to know what he wants).
Note that BrickLink making a lot of money is different than sellers making a
lot of money. So, your description above does not match what I was describing
at all. BrickLink will do what is in BrickLink's best interest. Sometimes
that is also in the best interest of buyers, sometimes it's in the best interest
of sellers, sometimes both, and sometimes neither.
--
Marc.
|
Thanks Marc - perhaps we're thinking along two different lines. I think
what I'd really like this thread to consider is; does removing the average
price tool benefit Buyers or Sellers? Take away everything else - profit, loss,
Bricklinks goals, opinions - take away everything and answer. Does removing
the average price tool benefit Buyers or Sellers?
|
It's complicated.
In the short term, it benefits some sellers and not others. (Sellers who have
been racing to the bottom for prices will likely see fewer orders now, while
sellers with more sustainable prices may see a slight increase.) In the long
term, this probably a benefit to both groups of sellers, as prices should stabilize,
which means that even with fewer orders, profits could stay the same or improve.
In the short term, this is not a benefit the buyers who used this information.
In the long term, it probably is a benefit to all buyers, because it will allow
for a more diverse market. Sellers who stock rare parts are less likely to be
driven out of the market.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 13, 2017 14:36 | | Subject: | Re: price overview when buying a wanted list | | Viewed: | 60 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, MrDrem writes:
| | | |
Voting doesn't matter. What will count is what BrickLink believes is in their
best interest. Before they created that price comparison feature, they believed
that it would be in their interest to add it. Having added it, presumably they
discovered that it was NOT in their interest, so they have deleted it.
To get them to reverse that decision, you would need to convince BrickLink that
it's better for THEM to have the feature. Since we don't have access
to any of the data that they based their decision on, I believe making a convincing
argument is essentially impossible.
|
I'd argue that there is now a discrepancy between sellers, who have access
to tolls like BrickStock that automates pricing against 6 month averages, and
buyers, who no longer do.
|
Buyers can use BrickStock. (And I believe that most sellers do not.)
| | If Bricklink want a reason to bring it back, here's one. Whilst the tool
was there, it made it so much easier for me to sanity check prices on my orders
that I didn't look elsewhere. Its what kept me shopping within Bricklink.
There is now no difference in the buying experience between here and BrickOwl
that I can see so far, except that BrickOwl has a nicer interface.
You want me to keep shopping here, make it easy for me to confirm my deal is
OK.
Even if all you tell me is that my overall order price is below or above the
average price.
I don't think that the sellers arguing here would say that they want to participate
in a economy that is rigged for either side, would they?
|
I have long argued that BL's policies have favored sellers over buyers, and
that this is mostly a bad thing. In this particular case, I'm on the fence
about how significant it is. I think it pales in comparison to the imbalance
in feedback policies, order cancellation, additional fees, shipping fee transparency,
and other policies.
As to whether you (or anyone else) buys here or on the other site, I'm sure
it matters to BrickLink, but it doesn't matter to me as a seller. I sell
the same inventory for the same price on both sites.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 13, 2017 14:27 | | Subject: | Re: price overview when buying a wanted list | | Viewed: | 66 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, TokerSays writes:
| |
Thanks Marc - What I hear is the invisible hand of the marketplace is very visible
on Bricklink, it is the hand of profit. Limit the amount of information provided
to the Buyers and the Sellers will profit.
|
I'm not really sure what that means.
BrickLink's presumed motive is to be successful. That usually translates
into being profitable (though the owner is a billionaire, and I can't presume
to know what he wants).
Note that BrickLink making a lot of money is different than sellers making a
lot of money. So, your description above does not match what I was describing
at all. BrickLink will do what is in BrickLink's best interest. Sometimes
that is also in the best interest of buyers, sometimes it's in the best interest
of sellers, sometimes both, and sometimes neither.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 13, 2017 13:26 | | Subject: | Re: price overview when buying a wanted list | | Viewed: | 75 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, TokerSays writes:
| | In Suggestions, qwertyboy writes:
| | If you allow me to take one sentence out of your reply:
| | I had a $50 cart and what I thought was a great deal.
|
This is _exactly_ why others would argue to have that feature removed. And if
you allow me to quote another tidbit from a different thread you posted:
| | Because I can't imagine the site administrators would knowingly remove the feature and allow the happy wonderful Lego fans through out the world who have gathered together here in the safe and welcoming site that is Bricklink to be knowingly ripped off. Some dude last week tried to charge me $2.00 for a 35 cent piece. It was an odd piece, I needed it. But I didn't '500% make up' need it. I can't keep track of the average price of 1000s of pieces
|
You have to understand that nobody is trying to rip you off by pricing items
in a certain way. That price is there to see and agree with or not.
I fully understand that automatically comparing prices to the last 6 month average
makes it easier to pick the best deal, but by doing this. BrickLink is actively
helping to push prices down. Shops that have priced items reasonably will see
that over time they will lose out on orders because others will undercut the
prices, and buyers will more and more favor the lower-priced options, thus further
put pressure on the L6MA. Stores that don't constantly adjust their prices
will eventually maybe show 500% above average. That does NOT mean they are ripping
buyers off.
The price comparison feature was introduced some time in the last year. Before
that, people were able to buy their LEGO just fine, but there can't be much
doubt that this feature was helping the downward spiral of item prices. This
is not in the interest of BrickLink, and not in the interest of the sellers.
And if you think about it, in the long run it is also not in the interest of
buyers. Many larger shops are feeling the pressure, and have to think about whether
this is still a market that is worthwhile to pursue. Sure, if they close shop,
others will fill the void, but it will be more and more of the lowest-prices-quick-sale-goodbye
shops. And that is not good for anyone.
Just my $0.02.
Niek.
|
Thanks Niek, I think I understand where you are coming from. It's like the
big box stores putting the Mom and Pop shops out of business by undercutting
prices. I get it. But I think the inverse is also true. Back to my gold piece
comparison; this piece I'm looking for averages 30 cents, and most stores
carry less than 10 of them. There is one store in North America that has over
50, and charges more than a dollar per piece. With the price tool, I've
been avoiding it. Because Mom and Pop show up every now and then with a price
that is more reasonable and I snatch it up along with the other pieces they have
that are priced reasonably. Without the price tool, I am more likely to purchase
from the guy that has quantity, he has everything I need, I'll overpay but
I'll only pay for shipping once and I won't have to do comparison shopping
at 15 different stores.
|
From the sounds of your previous post, that's not what would happen. Rather,
you would find the best price for the item you need, and then add some extra
stuff from that store, which you can also use. I very much doubt that you will
buy the ones at $1.48 each.
Even if you buy just 6 of them, it's cheaper to buy them from the store in
Portugal, including shipping, then it would be to buy them from that store in
the US. At quantities higher than 6, it becomes A LOT cheaper to buy them in
Portugal.
| | Without the pricing tool I have less information to
make an informed purchase. My 2 cents, is that without the pricing tool we enabling
the big box stores. We're letting the big box stores set the price because
they have quantity and quality (rare pieces). I am more likely to make one purchase
from a big box than 10 purchases from Mom and Pop.
|
Not according to what you have described previously. Also, with the tools that
are still currently available, you can save a lot of money compared to what you
say you would do.
| | Honestly, I didn't pay attention to the original pricing tool discussion
that went on, but I have a feeling that it was lead by the site's Sellers.
I want to hear more from the Buyers. I don't think I'm the only one
to think this way. I'm happy to hear everyone's point of view - but
I want the votes in. Buyers, Sellers, cast your votes!
|
Voting doesn't matter. What will count is what BrickLink believes is in their
best interest. Before they created that price comparison feature, they believed
that it would be in their interest to add it. Having added it, presumably they
discovered that it was NOT in their interest, so they have deleted it.
To get them to reverse that decision, you would need to convince BrickLink that
it's better for THEM to have the feature. Since we don't have access
to any of the data that they based their decision on, I believe making a convincing
argument is essentially impossible.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Feb 3, 2017 14:03 | | Subject: | Re: Another anti-scam idea | | Viewed: | 58 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Jamesf077 writes:
| | In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | I prefer the route of buyers should show common sense.
Education of buyers is much better fraud prevention than trying to remove scammers.
For every hurdle there is a way around it.
|
I've already suggested that Bricklink put a 'safe buying guide' on
the login page but that got shot down and ignored as well. I'm guessing that
the mention of scammers has very negative conitations for the site and off putting
for potential new members.
|
The people who would need to read it wouldn't read it. We are trying to protect
people who naively jump at the chance to send unsecured payments to strangers
who have listed items online at too-good-to-be-true prices. That is not the type
of person to click on a "safe buying guide" link.
Until BL add instant payment (which should then be required to be Paypal Onsite
for new sellers), the buyer should receive an automated email and BL essage when
a purchase is made, as I described here: http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1024951
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Feb 2, 2017 12:16 | | Subject: | Re: This will reduce scammers by 95% | | Viewed: | 44 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Proprietor writes:
| | I thought the implementation of on-site payments was supposed to help in some
way. Was it only by requiring Paypal for new sellers? We know that's no
guarantee.
|
I'm pretty sure it is, actually. If the purchase qualifies for buyer protection,
the buyer is protected (regardless of whether Paypal can successfully recover
the funds or not). They changed their terms while back.
| | Wonder if there's a way for BL to work with PP so that new BL
sellers have their funds held at PP for a number of days until buyers confirm
receipt. And maybe it needs to be receipt by buyers who have a minimum of X
feedback or Y years of membership, so it's not sham buyers validating delivery.
Question is whether the burden dissuades more legit new sellers than it thwarts
shams. Considering the surplus of sellers here, I'd think it worth a try.
|
Having an escrow-type way to hold funds was part of the plan that was rolled
out at the summit in Chicago a year and a half ago. When BL discussed it on the
forum, a lot of people on the forum complained very loudly that it was a terrible
idea, and we haven't heard a lot about it since then. It's too bad, because
I thought (and still think) that it's a fantastic idea. (A side benefit of
it is that BL could LOWER our Paypal fees, as well.)
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Feb 2, 2017 12:10 | | Subject: | Re: This will reduce scammers by 95% | | Viewed: | 49 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Heartbricker writes:
| | The whole point of starting from 10 successful buying transaction is that they
cannot start multiple seller accounts to gain feedback.
Also isn't it better to make a scammer jump through some obstacles before
being able to scam? this suggestion makes the seller do some work to gain access
to selling where NOW he can just scam, if it doesn't work he opens a new
account and starts again- so easy. having to make 10 purchases will make the
person get a paypal account (most scammers don't have PP they ask for wire
transfers)
This idea is good because it is simple to implement- it won't solve the problem
100%- but will over 90%
|
The risk is that for the scammers who put in that extra work, their account now
looks a lot more trustworthy, so when they move on to the scam, they are a lot
more likely to be successful at it. Ebay had a similar problem (I don't know
if they still do) -- sellers would sell a few dozen items for a penny, take
the loss, and then when their account looked great, with lots of praising feedback,
they'd flip it into a scam.
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Feb 2, 2017 10:04 | | Subject: | Re: Orders Placed page - add horizontal lines | | Viewed: | 32 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, WhiteVanMan writes:
| | In Suggestions, Teup writes:
| | In Suggestions, brisbane_qld writes:
| | It would be very helpful if you could include some horizontal lines (and possibly
an alternating light background shade) on the "Orders Placed" page between the
listed orders so the eye can easily track from the order number on the left to
the Status & Feedback fields to ensure buyers are changing the Status and adding
feedback to the correct order.
|
Agree. I still don't understand the new BL's love for contrasting white
with extremely light gray. This applies to set inventories, part-outs, etc. as
well. It's hard to enough to sell Lego just having to figure out Light Gray,
Light Bluish Gray, Pearl Light Gray, Flat Silver...!
This tracking from left to right that you describe has become a kind of bottleneck
in my otherwise smoothly automated selling routine. It's a potential cause
for mistakes, it's tedious and there's no reason for it to be that way.
|
I can see each order without any issues.
Maybe you could change the contrast on your computer screen?
Paul
|
I do also see the alternating shades for each line. However, this doesn't
do a lot to avoid the issue of having to scroll horizontally (and potentially
losing track of what line we are looking at).
There are a few ways this could be fixed. I think the first thing would be to
let each order take up 2 lines. Even though this would take up more vertical
space, vertical scrolling is MUCH better than horizontal scrolling on a webpage.
Second, all of the editable fields and button should be grouped together. We
shouldn't need to scroll all the way over to click the feedback button
or add a tracking number. Anything interactive should be on the left, so we know
it all belongs to the same order, and the non-interactive info (the dates, the
payment type, the grand total) can be off to the side a bit. Better yet, let
us arrange the columns however we like.
And third, a lot of this should be editable on the Order Details screen. That
way, we have a single order up, we can see exactly what is in the order, making
it really easy to enter information like shipping cost, tracking number, and
leaving feedback (and knowing for sure that we are entering this on the right
order).
--
Marc.
|
|
| Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Jan 31, 2017 10:53 | | Subject: | Re: Date of parts listed within a store | | Viewed: | 39 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, jenwick writes:
| | Paul,
I believe that is for your information. I cannot see how long you have had an
item listed.
Jennifer
|
You can (see screenshot below).
I'm not really sure of the intended use, but I've used it once in a while.
If I notice someone has a bunch of an item that I've been looking for (but
don't recall getting a Wanted List notification for), I will look at this
data out of curiosity.
--
Marc.
|
|
Next Page: 5 More | 10 More | 25 More | 50 More | 100 More
|
Canada, Ontario
