Bricklink/BrickOwl - Discussion, questions, & answers

[ctoddlight]

Alright I am setting up my store terms and everything and I have a question for you guys. Would it ruin my chance of a small start up if I charged $1 additional per order to cover shipping materials, PayPal (More for lower sales), and printing ink? I am torn over this because I don't want to put a minimum buy but I will lose money if I am filling <$1 orders.

You will get those small orders if you do not have a minimum buy (I got one today for one 15 cent part) so, if you do not want to take a loss on them you need to have a handling fee or overcharge for shipping. I have chosen to have a small (60 cents) handling fee on all orders under $25. I charge true shipping costs and I feel that there are lots of people who appreciate the fact that the costs are upfront and not rolled into the shipping charges or absorbed in higher part prices.

[Victorymike18]

I have a $3 minimum order limit, which I think is reasonable to myself and customers.

 

I also have a flat $.99 handling fee that I add to all orders which covers the cost of the padded mailers (or small cardboard box).   I might cut into profits a bit if it's a physically larger order of very inexpensive parts (like one or two cents each) that takes a big mailer (or box) that costs me more than $.99 but that is not often.  I also charge exact shipping costs, so I'm not making money there.

 

I really hate the Paypal percentage, but honestly don't think the BrickLink fees are unreasonable...

[10230]

You will get those small orders if you do not have a minimum buy (I got one today for one 15 cent part) so, if you do not want to take a loss on them you need to have a handling fee or overcharge for shipping

On the other hand, as new seller you want all orders you can get, and you won't loose a lot on money on those small orders. I would say, either charge no fee, but setup a minimum order of a few dollars (even just $1), or allow those orders, but charge something like .50 for those (and only those).

 

In general, if you ask yourself what you should do as a seller, imagine yourself on the other end. What I usually do is from time to time getting all my wanted lists together, fetching the current prices off BL, have a smart program figure out what the best combination of (local) sellers is for that list, assuming a given shipping cost (since up to recently there was no way to know in advance). Then I go through what is proposed, look at the particular orders and store terms, remove shops with terms I find unreasonable, and repeat until I come to something that I like. I then send out all the orders almost at once, so that inventory (hopefully) didn't change much. In this sense it is perfectly ok to charge a small handling fee, most of the time.

[Frogger21]

Thanks for all of the responses. Another question I have is international shipping. I know it is pretty much a requirement if I ever want to maximize my sales. How hard is to ship internationally? (I have only ever sold to Lower 48 selling just sealed sets) Are customs forms a pain? Probably my biggest concern is shipping addresses and scams. Are there some countries I should exclude because of high risk? Thank you guys for all of the help.

[holleman67]

Thanks for all of the responses. Another question I have is international shipping. I know it is pretty much a requirement if I ever want to maximize my sales. How hard is to ship internationally? (I have only ever sold to Lower 48 selling just sealed sets) Are customs forms a pain? Probably my biggest concern is shipping addresses and scams. Are there some countries I should exclude because of high risk? Thank you guys for all of the help.

PayPal has integrated shipping internationally very well as of late. the system prints up the customs form as well so it's pretty seem less.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Brickpicker mobile app

[Frogger21]

Thanks. Are some countries in the world more high risk and would it be better not to ship to them? (Middle East, Russia, etc.) I just don't want to lose out because it could wipe me out since I am a small store.

[DadsAFOL]

Brazil and Italy have issues with parcels getting "lost" by their post offices. Everywhere else is pretty solid, even Russia. If you are uncomfortable just buy insurance (not USPS insurance - 3rd party like Shipsurance or Endicia)

[biking_tiger]

My shipping fees start at $3. The cheapest USPS parcel (up to 3 oz) costs $2.32 (or cheaper, $1.93 I believe, if purchased online). Every Paypal transaction starts with a 30 cent fee + 3%. Factor in a bubble mailer, I'm losing money if I don't charge at least $3.

 

Yes, it feels silly when someone spends 15 cents on a part and I have to charge $3.15, but I try to be upfront and honest about fees/costs (it happened to me just the other day). And yes, some do buy one part for a few cents and pay for the shipping. But, as a buyer, I'd rather get the one part I want than pay for a bunch of parts I didn't just to meet an arbitrary minimum.

[stoltzjl77]

For those who have BrickOwl stores, how do you handle shipping claims? On BrickLink I have a disclaimer on my storefront to the effect that I am not responsible for lost or damaged packages if the buyer doesn't elect to purchase insurance. But there doesn't seem to be a way on BrickOwl to 1) offer insurance, or 2) put a disclaimer on the store page.

 

Any ideas? I don't want to get burned and automatically including insurance will probably drive international sales down.

Edited March 25, 2015 by stoltzjl77

[minicoopers11]

Thanks. Are some countries in the world more high risk and would it be better not to ship to them? (Middle East, Russia, etc.) I just don't want to lose out because it could wipe me out since I am a small store.

Russia has provided some of my best customers. I would not shrug Russia off if you really want to maximize sales.

[DadsAFOL]

For those who have BrickOwl stores, how do you handle shipping claims? On BrickLink I have a disclaimer on my storefront to the effect that I am not responsible for lost or damaged packages if the buyer doesn't elect to purchase insurance. But there doesn't seem to be a way on BrickOwl to 1) offer insurance, or 2) put a disclaimer on the store page.

Any ideas? I don't want to get burned and automatically including insurance will probably drive international sales down.

You really should stop claiming this. It's one reason why BO doesn't enable it. Consumers expect something they order to be delivered. All online marketplaces own the responsibility until it reaches the customer. Can you imagine if Target or Amazon said "Sorry, not our problem"?

Anyway, on BO add $0.30 or whatever to all of your postage bands. For the 1:1000 order that gets lost, cover it and resend/refund. If it's something valuable, buy 3rd party insurance when you ship (funded by the aggregate charge on every order). In other words, build it into your operating cost.

[minicoopers11]

You really should stop claiming this. It's one reason why BO doesn't enable it. Consumers expect something they order to be delivered. All online marketplaces own the responsibility until it reaches the customer. Can you imagine if Target or Amazon said "Sorry, not our problem"?

Anyway, on BO add $0.30 or whatever to all of your postage bands. For the 1:1000 order that gets lost, cover it and resend/refund. If it's something valuable, buy 3rd party insurance when you ship (funded by the aggregate charge on every order). In other words, build it into your operating cost.

Right. It's very cute that sellers claim this. Paypal will laugh at you if that was the payment method used and the buyer opens a case.

[Guest betsy805]

Not sure if this is common knowledge to others, but if you (like me) are just getting your Brick Owl store set up, they have an option for a 'feedback booster' where they'll transfer feedback rating from another selling venue over for you.  They round down to the nearest hundred and you just need to send a screenshot of your feedback profile with username clearly visible.

[minicoopers11]

Not sure if this is common knowledge to others, but if you (like me) are just getting your Brick Owl store set up, they have an option for a 'feedback booster' where they'll transfer feedback rating from another selling venue over for you.  They round down to the nearest hundred and you just need to send a screenshot of your feedback profile with username clearly visible.

Good call. Also, if this is not done within a certain amount of time of your first Brick Owl sale, then you won't have that option anymore (reported on the Brick Owl forum).

[holleman67]

Not sure if this is common knowledge to others, but if you (like me) are just getting your Brick Owl store set up, they have an option for a 'feedback booster' where they'll transfer feedback rating from another selling venue over for you. They round down to the nearest hundred and you just need to send a screenshot of your feedback profile with username clearly visible.

Thanks for the tip!!!

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Brickpicker mobile app

[stoltzjl77]

Part of the point of BrickLink is that I'm not Target or Amazon, I'm just some guy with a bunch of LEGO in his basement. Oftentimes I don't have a replacement item.

 

I understand what you're saying though. On the other hand, the more fees you tack on the more people complain (reference posts above).

 

Do you automatically insure everything that goes overseas? The one I'm dealing with right now is $35 worth of minifigs shipped to Poland. For a small seller like me, eating that whole cost is a week's worth of profits. Buying my own insurance on that order would also probably have cut my profit in half on the order. Lose-lose situation.

[DadsAFOL]

Insurance on that would be ~$1.50. In BO the fees are hidden in the postage and no one complains like they do on BL.

[beartrapper]

Part of the point of BrickLink is that I'm not Target or Amazon, I'm just some guy with a bunch of LEGO in his basement. Oftentimes I don't have a replacement item.

 

I understand what you're saying though. On the other hand, the more fees you tack on the more people complain (reference posts above).

 

Do you automatically insure everything that goes overseas? The one I'm dealing with right now is $35 worth of minifigs shipped to Poland. For a small seller like me, eating that whole cost is a week's worth of profits. Buying my own insurance on that order would also probably have cut my profit in half on the order. Lose-lose situation.

Forgive me if this comes across as being rude, but if your weekly profits are $35 why do it? Surely there are other ways to make more $ with less hassle. If you're doing because you love Lego I'd suggest finding something more lucrative to be able to put those profits into Lego.

[stoltzjl77]

Yep, not only rude but also not helpful. But I forgive you.

Edited March 26, 2015 by stoltzjl77

[stoltzjl77]

Thanks DadsAFOL (by the way, I've shopped in your store several times and love your service!).

 

So how do you do it on BrickLink? Your fees there don't seem to reflect insurance, they are quite reasonable (similar to my current fees). Is it just that your volume is so high?

[stoltzjl77]

FWIW, I have a perfect rating on both BL and BO with 500ish BL orders and coming up on 75 BO orders (just started on BO at the end of February).

[Robb]

Forgive me if this comes across as being rude, but if your weekly profits are $35 why do it? Surely there are other ways to make more $ with less hassle. If you're doing because you love Lego I'd suggest finding something more lucrative to be able to put those profits into Lego.

it's rude without a suggestion. What do you suggest that works very similar to what this person is doing that pays more? $35 a week is pretty good for no risk work from home when you want, doing something you like. Besides that, we can't all dive straight into becoming huge players in the lego money game it takes learning and capital.

[Stragus]

Forgive me if this comes across as being rude, but if your weekly profits are $35 why do it? Surely there are other ways to make more $ with less hassle. If you're doing because you love Lego I'd suggest finding something more lucrative to be able to put those profits into Lego.

That is rude. Many AFOLs don't run a store "for profit", they run a store to conveniently swap parts with other builders who need them. In that context, I think $140 of profit per month from the hobby is quite good.

 

Keep going, stoltzjl77.

[holleman67]

Not sure if this is common knowledge to others, but if you (like me) are just getting your Brick Owl store set up, they have an option for a 'feedback booster' where they'll transfer feedback rating from another selling venue over for you.  They round down to the nearest hundred and you just need to send a screenshot of your feedback profile with username clearly visible.

 

 

Good call. Also, if this is not done within a certain amount of time of your first Brick Owl sale, then you won't have that option anymore (reported on the Brick Owl forum).

Any tip on where I can find this option? Can't find it on the store settings and impossible to find on the forum. 

 

Thanks

[chinothegeeko]

Any tip on where I can find this option? Can't find it on the store settings and impossible to find on the forum. 

 

Thanks

I believer it's under your profile then feedback. I did mine already so I forget. 

 

Also, I think if you already have feedback on brickOwl then you can't do a boost.

Edited March 29, 2015 by chinothegeeko