Bricklink/BrickOwl - Discussion, questions, & answers

[MathBuilder]

1 hour ago, sunkenbrick said:

Question for the US sellers that have experience sending polybags overseas. A customer placed an order for 2 polybags and now I need to send the invoice. This is my first international order so I want to do things right. Is the price to send these $13.50? 

Yes.  No other legal cheaper options unfortunately. (If you have access to endicia or stamps.com it saves you a few cents to a dollar but paying for the service would negate any savings unless you sell in volume which I assumed it was not your case).

Edited May 3, 2016 by MathBuilder

[Kevink24]

2 hours ago, sunkenbrick said:

Question for the US sellers that have experience sending polybags overseas. A customer placed an order for 2 polybags and now I need to send the invoice. This is my first international order so I want to do things right. Is the price to send these $13.50? I'm selecting USPS first class and the package weights only 3 oz. there is no cheaper option available?

I was told by the post office that USPS First Class international is anything up to 4 pounds, and is really the only option. Anything over 4 pounds goes Priority Mail International. 

Also, if I am not mistaken, First Class International does not come with tracking (where Priority Mail International does come with tracking ) and I think costs an additional  $14. Maybe someone here on BP with more international shipping experience can verify...but you may want to check with post office about tracking.

Edited May 3, 2016 by Kevink24

[Phil B]

5 hours ago, Kevink24 said:

I was told by the post office that USPS First Class international is anything up to 4 pounds, and is really the only option. Anything over 4 pounds goes Priority Mail International. 

Also, if I am not mistaken, First Class International does not come with tracking (where Priority Mail International does come with tracking ) and I think costs an additional  $14. Maybe someone here on BP with more international shipping experience can verify...but you may want to check with post office about tracking.

First Class International DOES come with tracking, at least to most countries, if bought and paid for online. The shipping pages at USPS.com will say it doesn't, until you get to one of the last screens where it shows "additional options" and it will show that tracking is included. Tracking code looks like "LZ123456US". It will fully track within the US, and depending on the country it will also generate tracking steps outside of the US (For sure for Malaysia, but I had a package  to Hong Kong that didn't show any steps after leaving the US until the recipient reported he had it). The online option also helps you with the customs form and prints a combined customs/postage label.

[Kevink24]

46 minutes ago, Phil B said:

First Class International DOES come with tracking, at least to most countries, if bought and paid for online. The shipping pages at USPS.com will say it doesn't, until you get to one of the last screens where it shows "additional options" and it will show that tracking is included. Tracking code looks like "LZ123456US". It will fully track within the US, and depending on the country it will also generate tracking steps outside of the US (For sure for Malaysia, but I had a package  to Hong Kong that didn't show any steps after leaving the US until the recipient reported he had it). The online option also helps you with the customs form and prints a combined customs/postage label.

Thanks Phil... I have purchased and paid for First Class International at the USPS counter before, and they are the ones that told me it does not come with tracking. I have paid online for Priority International and was simple...Guess the key is to do both (First Class and Priority International) online.

[Alpinemaps]

You guys are making the international shipping from the US option on BL sound more and more appealing. I've been reluctant to do it up until this point but maybe I will give it a try.

[justapilgrim]

I'd say over half of my sales are international. I average probably 1 per day (a couple during the week, more on weekends). My store is a little different in that it is 90% polybags and minifigures

[stoltzjl77]

Is it illegal to use the large flat envelope option to ship merchandise? I use it frequently for small overseas orders (poly bags, minifigs, etc.). I always fill out the customs declarations accurately and truthfully stating that the contents are plastic toys, and I have never had one rejected by the post office. I use Stamps.com software and large bubble mailers that fit the dimension rules for the large flat envelope, and nothing in the description or rules that it shows for large flat envelopes seems to indicate I am misusing that rate. (It actually uses the word "merchandise" in the description of allowable contents.) The main requirements are that there be less than 1/4" variation (using the bubble mailer helps with this) and that it isn't too rigid (I assume these are both pertaining to the sorting machines used for this mail class).

I've used it for dozens (approaching 100) of overseas orders and never had one rejected by the post office. All have been delivered successfully. So if it is illegal, I'd like an explanation before I stop. Thanks in advance for the input!

[chinothegeeko]

I have never had an issue either as long as it meets that 1/4" variation. I've actually had a PO clerk measure it before but that was a few years back.

[DadsAFOL]

Just pay attention to the maximum thickness rule 3/4". Most parts orders have pieces that exceed that. Our business process it to charge the higher parcel rate because we have no way to automatically determine this. I'm sure we lose some sales to sellers like you willing to pull, pack, and measure each order before invoicing. We just have too much volume to deal with that.

[stoltzjl77]

Yeah I don't send parts in the large envelope unless they are very small orders. I've never come close to exceeding the 3/4" max thickness. For a couple of poly bags though (which is where this convo started) I'd recommend it over 1st class package service. Your poly bags in the large bubble mailer probably don't weigh more than 3-4 oz so you'd be looking at a shipping cost of under $4 (I think 3oz and under is $3.63). It comes with a customs number which (as others have pointed out above) provides tracking through U.S. customs, and then depending on the level of coordination between the USPS and the destination country's postal service you'll usually get some form of tracking information after that. Most countries will at least give you a delivery confirmation.

Do many people pull and pack before invoicing? I have in the past at times, but after the 2nd or 3rd NPB and the resulting headache of having to restock back into inventory I stopped. Nowadays I don't pull until I get payment confirmation.

[Guest betsy805]

1 hour ago, stoltzjl77 said:

Do many people pull and pack before invoicing? I have in the past at times, but after the 2nd or 3rd NPB and the resulting headache of having to restock back into inventory I stopped. Nowadays I don't pull until I get payment confirmation.

For new buyers I wait until payment, but for the most part I pull then invoice because it's easier on my accounting if I'm missing a piece and need to adjust order.

[tacsniper]

I don't pull the order until I received payment. On my invoice I clearly states quantities cannot be verified until their order is pulled. If I am short on any pieces, I just credit the buyer back after the package has been shipped. If the missing element/pieces represents a good chunk of the order I let the client know and ask if they want to me ship what I got or if they want to cancel the whole order so they can buy from another seller to save on shipping.

[Phil B]

23 minutes ago, tacsniper said:

I don't pull the order until I received payment. On my invoice I clearly states quantities cannot be verified until their order is pulled. If I am short on any pieces, I just credit the buyer back after the package has been shipped. If the missing element/pieces represents a good chunk of the order I let the client know and ask if they want to me ship what I got or if they want to cancel the whole order so they can buy from another seller to save on shipping.

Out of curiosity - what causes you to miss elements? I do a full manual count inventory of any set I add, make sure those counts are properly reflected in my BL/BO upload, and from that moment on I have an accurate inventory. I can imagine miscounts in packing an order could lead to inventory issues, but I'd assume that is maximum a 1-2 piece difference, something you'll find out easily once you get towards depleting the particular item from your inventory.

Of course I am only small-time and haven't run my store long enough, but just curious how these issues arise. At some point I considered not manually verifying the counts of my parted out sets and just going with whatever BrickStock/Bricklink tells me should be there, but I'm OCD enough not to trust that approach.

[tacsniper]

16 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Of course I am only small-time and haven't run my store long enough, but just curious how these issues arise. At some point I considered not manually verifying the counts of my parted out sets and just going with whatever BrickStock/Bricklink tells me should be there, but I'm OCD enough not to trust that approach.

This is the approach I use and take the risk of inventory error by assuming Brickstock is 100% accurate. 

For me doing BL on a part time basis of maybe 2-3 hours a night, it can take me up to 5-7 days to part out 10-20 copies of a particular set. By the time I am done with parting them out, dealing with Brickstock and then bag them to transfer to off site storage facility, I am done with handling the pieces.

Sometimes lots get mislabeled/misplaced. If one element remarks in spot 206, but when I pull 206 it is either empty or it maybe some other elements. This rarely happens, but it has happened. Especially in the first 150 lots when I first got started, not exactly sure what I was doing at that time. I think it will help if my sorting and storing are done in the same facility. But this is not feasible at this time. Maybe one day when I buy my own place with an undeveloped basement, I will turn it into a Stack-on warehouse 

Edited May 6, 2016 by tacsniper

[Phil B]

5 minutes ago, tacsniper said:

This is the approach I use and take the risk of inventory error by assuming Brickstock is 100% accurate. 

For me doing BL on a part time basis of maybe 2-3 hours a night, it can take me up to 5-7 days to part out 10-20 copies of a particular set. By the time I am done with parting them out, dealing with Brickstock and then bag them to transfer to off site storage facility, I am done with handling the pieces.

Sometimes lots get mislabeled/misplaced. If one element remarks in spot 206, but when I pull 206 it is either empty or it maybe some other elements. This rarely happens, but it has happened. Especially in the first 150 lots when I first got started, not exactly sure what I was doing at that time. I think it will help if my sorting and storing are done in the same facility. But this is not feasible at this time. Maybe one day when I buy my own place with an undeveloped basement, I will turn it into a Stack-on warehouse 

Thanks for detailing your approach and I echo the part-out sentiment. Some sets are fun to part out (interesting shapes, lots of the same bricks) and some are just a pain in the bee-hind. I made the mistake of buying a few 10682 Creative Suitcases when they were on sale at TRU ... Man-o-man. There are hundreds of different lots in that set, most with just 1 or 2 pieces in it. I'm almost done with the part-out and count, but that was a lesson learned

[tacsniper]

6 minutes ago, Phil B said:

 

oh and sometimes with the smaller pieces, sometimes... they slip in with other elements which can cause inventory to be off too. Its just when you are picking up pieces so fast that your finger might grab an extra tiny piece and in it goes with the wrong lot. Sometimes I catch it as I put them away, sometimes I find it when I am pulling other elements. 

I just wish some smart people can combine the power of a smartphone and brainstorm to create an automated sorting machine that can run 24/7. It will be a bonus if it can put them into the right stack-ons automatically  . Automate everything like the Lego factory

Edited May 6, 2016 by tacsniper

[Miavia7]

Quick question about brick link. If I place a order and they don't respond in week. Can I cancel the order? Or just don't worry about it and move to another seller?

[tacsniper]

6 minutes ago, Miavia7 said:

Quick question about brick link. If I place a order and they don't respond in week. Can I cancel the order? Or just don't worry about it and move to another seller?

I'd move on to another seller. With technology today, 3 business days should be reasonable enough for a seller to sent you an invoice for payment.

[Phil B]

11 minutes ago, Miavia7 said:

Quick question about brick link. If I place a order and they don't respond in week. Can I cancel the order? Or just don't worry about it and move to another seller?

I would not move on without using the Bricklink feature that marks the transaction as NRS (Non-responding seller). You can find the details here: https://www.bricklink.com/help.asp?helpID=1111. Without doing this you run the risk of the seller sending the order to you and you have no recourse to undo the transaction at that point. Plus, the seller might simply be out on holiday (did their store mention anything) and they might get to your order eventually.

[gbg108]

1 hour ago, tacsniper said:

I don't pull the order until I received payment. On my invoice I clearly states quantities cannot be verified until their order is pulled. If I am short on any pieces, I just credit the buyer back after the package has been shipped. If the missing element/pieces represents a good chunk of the order I let the client know and ask if they want to me ship what I got or if they want to cancel the whole order so they can buy from another seller to save on shipping.

Personally, I don't agree with that approach. 

When I buy on bricklink I get really mad when sellers ship the package and then just give a credit and assume everything's even. I'ts not. 

I keep my wanted lists sorted by rare parts (pretty much anything over $1) and common parts. Normally I'll look for a good deal on the rare parts and then buy whatever common parts the seller also has to save on shipping. If the seller discovers he doesn't have the rare part, most likely I no longer want that order. If it's a common part I probably don't care.

In the past whenever I have a seller tell me that some part is not included in my order AFTER they ship, I make a note about it and most likely won't be back. I won't leave negative feedback but that seller has pretty much lost me as a return customer.

Most recently I had this happen with a store I place a $120 order with. The part that led me to that store was the canopy for slave 1 which was $8. If that store didn't have that part I never would have placed the order. Anyway, the seller shipped and then told me that the canopy wasn't included and gave me a credit. I was hot. This sell redeemed himself by agreeing to pay shipping costs for me to by that part from another store, it it was a problem the seller could have easily avoided.

Do yourself a favor and be upfront with customers about missing parts before you ship.

Edited May 6, 2016 by gbg108

[Phil B]

10 minutes ago, gbg108 said:

Personally, I don't agree with that approach. 

When I buy on bricklink I get really mad when sellers ship the package and then just give a credit and assume everything's even. I'ts not. 

I keep my wanted lists sorted by rare parts (pretty much anything over $1) and common parts. Normally I'll look for a good deal on the rare parts and then buy whatever common parts the seller also has to save on shipping. If the seller discovers he doesn't have the rare part, most likely I no longer want that order. If it's a common part I probably don't care.

In the past whenever I have a seller tell me that some part is not included in my order AFTER they ship, I make a note about it and most likely won't be back. I won't leave negative feedback but that seller has pretty much lost me as a return customer.

Most recently I had this happen with a store I place a $120 order with. The part that led me to that store was the canopy for slave 1 which was $8. If that store didn't have that part I never would have placed the order. Anyway, the seller shipped and then told me that the canopy wasn't included and gave me a credit. I was hot. This sell redeemed himself by agreeing to pay shipping costs for me to by that part from another store, it it was a problem the seller could have easily avoided.

Do yourself a favor and be upfront with customers about missing parts BEFORE you ship.

It's exactly the same way for me. Nothing more frustrating than to cobble together an order around a critical piece, and then have that piece not be included. As a seller I think it is common courtesy to ALWAYS let a buyer know that something is missing before shipping, and offer them the chance to cancel the order. But even that does not work for times when I plan a purchase out over several sellers, and then having one seller screw it all up by not having a piece. That's unfortunately the risk of a marketplace like BL, but it's tricky and leaves me nervous until I have received and validated the orders when they come in.

[tacsniper]

Do you as a buyer often purchase extra pieces in case you misjudged the pieces you need or one of the seller is short a piece or two?

Edited May 6, 2016 by tacsniper

[Guest betsy805]

 

1 hour ago, Phil B said:

Thanks for detailing your approach and I echo the part-out sentiment. Some sets are fun to part out (interesting shapes, lots of the same bricks) and some are just a pain in the bee-hind. I made the mistake of buying a few 10682 Creative Suitcases when they were on sale at TRU ... Man-o-man. There are hundreds of different lots in that set, most with just 1 or 2 pieces in it. I'm almost done with the part-out and count, but that was a lesson learned

I don't manually verify either.  Just finished parting out some ghostbuster HQ and that would have been a NIGHTMARE to verify pieces!  

[tacsniper]

3 minutes ago, betsy805 said:

 

I don't manually verify either.  Just finished parting out some ghostbuster HQ and that would have been a NIGHTMARE to verify pieces!  

I am scared to part out something that big. It will take me forever! How many sets did you part out?

[Guest betsy805]

Just now, tacsniper said:

I am scared to part out something that big. It will take me forever! How many sets did you part out?

Just two.  And it took a whole week to part out, that thing is colossal.