Bricklink/BrickOwl - Discussion, questions, & answers

[tacsniper]

6 minutes ago, betsy805 said:

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

Awesome! I hope the Minifigs alone can cover the cost of the set.

[gbg108]

5 minutes ago, tacsniper said:

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?

Depends. If it's for a MOC I just put some "big enough" number in the wanted quantity. But if I'm building a set, I start just the way a seller would with the BL set inventory so the quantity is set to exactly the amount needed.

 

 

 

 

[redghostx]

1 hour 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.

 

46 minutes ago, Phil B said:

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.

Add me into this group.  The only thing worse than searching for a rare part and placing the order only for the rare part to be unavailable is when you do that with multiple stores and then ONE store gets back to you late telling you they don't have the part (or ship without it).  Now, I am stuck with shipped orders that I would have waited on or not placed while I sourced the original part (this means I might have gone from 3 stores to 4 or to 3 different stores etc.).

Some sellers go the extra mile though and an example is that I really appreciated it when a seller sent me an oddball piece (only in 2 sets) and pays shipping out of their pocket because they sent me a 'new' one that arrived damaged and unusable.  Those sellers will definitely get repeat business from me in the future because communication is important, especially when things aren't perfect - we all make mistakes.

[Phil B]

2 hours ago, redghostx said:

 

Add me into this group.  The only thing worse than searching for a rare part and placing the order only for the rare part to be unavailable is when you do that with multiple stores and then ONE store gets back to you late telling you they don't have the part (or ship without it).  Now, I am stuck with shipped orders that I would have waited on or not placed while I sourced the original part (this means I might have gone from 3 stores to 4 or to 3 different stores etc.).

Some sellers go the extra mile though and an example is that I really appreciated it when a seller sent me an oddball piece (only in 2 sets) and pays shipping out of their pocket because they sent me a 'new' one that arrived damaged and unusable.  Those sellers will definitely get repeat business from me in the future because communication is important, especially when things aren't perfect - we all make mistakes.

It's the difference between a seller wanting to sell pieces and a seller who wants to help someone complete their wishes. I definitely want to be the latter. A little understanding of why people buy something from you can go a long way.

[DadsAFOL]

We will do our best to "make it right" if we are short. We make several "seller assist" orders a month and have parts shipped at our expense to our original buyer. I wish we were never short but with 1m parts, things get misplaced or mispacked over time. We have proprietary software to do inventory checks, but it takes more time than the staff has free and takes a long time to go through all categories.

[LegoPup]

I'm just getting started with BL/BO and  have a question concerning part quality.  When you part out a set, how much tolerance do have for damage to a piece before deciding not to sell it?  Scratches, a few tiny nicks?  I know a lot of sellers say that the pieces aren't mint, but at what point do you not sell a piece?  On a 200 piece set, how much on average do you remove as damaged?  Do you sell them as used?  What do you do with it?  I've purchased from BL and have received parts that I certainly would not have sold as new.  Does "new" just imply that it came from new set?  Thoughts?  Thanks in advance!

[newbie77]

36 minutes ago, LegoPup said:

I'm just getting started with BL/BO and  have a question concerning part quality.  When you part out a set, how much tolerance do have for damage to a piece before deciding not to sell it?  Scratches, a few tiny nicks?  I know a lot of sellers say that the pieces aren't mint, but at what point do you not sell a piece?  On a 200 piece set, how much on average do you remove as damaged?  Do you sell them as used?  What do you do with it?  I've purchased from BL and have received parts that I certainly would not have sold as new.  Does "new" just imply that it came from new set?  Thoughts?  Thanks in advance!

from my limited experience its very hard to damage lego piece unless you have actually used it (assembled it) or stacked it for storage. 

if anyone is truly selling only parted items from new sets; % of damaged piece is probably less than 0.1% i.e. probably 1/1000 

now if anyone is actually assembling/stacking bricks to store them or throwing bricks from one corner to another then probably can't say  .. haven't performed those kind of stress tests

[Phil B]

4 hours ago, LegoPup said:

I'm just getting started with BL/BO and  have a question concerning part quality.  When you part out a set, how much tolerance do have for damage to a piece before deciding not to sell it?  Scratches, a few tiny nicks?  I know a lot of sellers say that the pieces aren't mint, but at what point do you not sell a piece?  On a 200 piece set, how much on average do you remove as damaged?  Do you sell them as used?  What do you do with it?  I've purchased from BL and have received parts that I certainly would not have sold as new.  Does "new" just imply that it came from new set?  Thoughts?  Thanks in advance!

Depends a little on the seller (and you might want to make notes on sellers that don't adhere) but typically:

- new is fresh from LEGO boxes, not used in any build

- used without any lot comments means they have been built with, might have some minor scuffing or discoloration, but should typically not stand out when compared to other used bricks

- used with comments for parts that have visible damage or strong discoloration.

Some people allow stacking of bricks/assembly of minifigs and call it new, some people will have a generic note under all their used lots to illustrate the range of items they call "used".

Broken or pieces with white fold lines are typically a toss and do not get listed in inventories, unless they are very rare pieces (e.g. the 6x24 train base used in the holiday train where you wouldn't really see a lot of damage since only the red side of the plate is visible).

[LegoPup]

Thanks for the responses, very much appreciated.  So basically you sell everything that comes out of a set as new even if it has a few blemishes.  Do you ever receive complaints from customers about these small imperfections?  Maybe I'm just being too OCD.....hmmmm maybe that's why I like parting out sets.

[Phil B]

4 minutes ago, LegoPup said:

Thanks for the responses, very much appreciated.  So basically you sell everything that comes out of a set as new even if it has a few blemishes.  Do you ever receive complaints from customers about these small imperfections?  Maybe I'm just being too OCD.....hmmmm maybe that's why I like parting out sets.

If it's how it comes out of a fresh LEGO box, it's new (to me). Apart from the 2 bent/misformed 2x4 bricks I got in a 10697 at X-mas, those went into the plastic bag lined bin under my desk

[Stragus]

1 hour ago, LegoPup said:

Thanks for the responses, very much appreciated.  So basically you sell everything that comes out of a set as new even if it has a few blemishes.  Do you ever receive complaints from customers about these small imperfections?  Maybe I'm just being too OCD.....hmmmm maybe that's why I like parting out sets.

Over here, we check all transparent parts from sealed sets, especially the larger parts. Anything with scratches or blemishes get flagged as "used".

About 20% of large transparent parts (like 1x6x5 panels) end up being listed as used.

Edit: And said transparent parts are packed to prevent scratches during storage and shipping, of course. That's one polybag per part in some cases.

Edited May 7, 2016 by Stragus

[donbee]

I probably have a small BL store in comparison to most of you. I avg 3-4 sales a week, that's probably because i accept small orders and international. Most of my profit actually comes from flipping poly bags.

I started out as a piece by piece store, now that's more of a feedback generator, than a moneymaker. But I do enjoy helping people find what they're looking for.

As for storing and fulfilling orders,

I started out with used bulk, posted the most expensive and anything I thought people might want. Like basic colored bricks. Even with a small amount of Legos, ~10 lbs, it was time consuming and confusing. I wasn't organized enough, but didn't have the hours to separate, store and post online every little brick. It didn't seem worth the time to inventory used bricks only worth $0.01-3 a best.

Then I started parting out new sets. I found this also time consuming, but at least more profitable and a little easier because i know what should be there. But figuring out whether to sort by brick type or color and where to keep them all was becoming a hassle. Plastic Storage cases get expensive.

Now, I keep Legos together by set. Particularly new ones. When I part out a set on BL, I make a "remark" that automatically gets placed on each lot. I store the sets in bags. When I get an order I just pull directly from the set bag. I save a considerable amount of time sorting.

True, I assume BL is accurate and that the new set is complete, 99% of the time. I usually confirm the best pieces, like minifigs. But other than that, this saves me a lot of time.

I have a different method for used brick, particularly from bulk. But this is the easiest way to part out new sets that I keep in my home. Which basically, not part them out at all.

[newbie77]

1 minute ago, donbee said:

I probably have a small BL store in comparison to most of you. I avg 3-4 sales a week, that's probably because i accept small orders and international. Most of my profit actually comes from flipping poly bags.

I started out as a piece by piece store, now that's more of a feedback generator, than a moneymaker. But I do enjoy helping people find what they're looking for.

As for storing and fulfilling orders,

I started out with used bulk, posted the most expensive and anything I thought people might want. Like basic colored bricks. Even with a small amount of Legos, ~10 lbs, it was time consuming and confusing. I wasn't organized enough, but didn't have the hours to separate, store and post online every little brick. It didn't seem worth the time to inventory used bricks only worth $0.01-3 a best.

Then I started parting out new sets. I found this also time consuming, but at least more profitable and a little easier because i know what should be there. But figuring out whether to sort by brick type or color and where to keep them all was becoming a hassle. Plastic Storage cases get expensive.

Now, I keep Legos together by set. Particularly new ones. When I part out a set on BL, I make a "remark" that automatically gets placed on each lot. I store the sets in bags. When I get an order I just pull directly from the set bag. I save a considerable amount of time sorting.

True, I assume BL is accurate and that the new set is complete, 99% of the time. I usually confirm the best pieces, like minifigs. But other than that, this saves me a lot of time.

I have a different method for used brick, particularly from bulk. But this is the easiest way to part out new sets that I keep in my home. Which basically, not part them out at all.

if you are doing 3-4 sales/week then i would say that's pretty good. you are active brick linker with about 30k to 50k parts.

keep this in mind: 

total # of stores in brick link: 9943

average order/day : (approx.) 3500

with most of the orders going to high volume active stores and if you are netting over 10orders per-month then its good number for stores below 50k parts (of course i am not an expert here.. @Stragus or @DadsAFOL can comment/attest with authority and accuracy to what i am saying.

[LegoPup]

Thanks again for the great input.  BP rocks!

[donbee]

if you are doing 3-4 sales/week then i would say that's pretty good. you are active brick linker with about 30k to 50k parts.

keep this in mind: 

total # of stores in brick link: 9943

average order/day

[newbie77]

11 minutes ago, donbee said:

then you are the best hustler in town who knows just what to sell and probably at the cheapest possible price around.

[Vodium]

How does everybody decide to price out their new parts? I generally do any where from 10-30% below the 6 month average. I've been thinking of just using the 6 month average and then offering better shipping discounts, since shipping can be a major decision maker for the Canadian orders.

And if I can get more orders to be shipped as a parcel rather than letter mail, then it saves me a fair amount of packing time. Especially since work is very busy at the moment. (spent over 80 hours on the tractor last week )

Overall I have been averaging a sale a day since January, but they generally come in spurts with 50% of sales in Canada, 30% to the US and the rest is international. I'm down to ~70,000 parts over 1,214 lots. And it seems that my minifigure sales have really dropped and my parts orders have gone up.

 

[Guest betsy805]

I know it doesn't make my price as competitive, but I use the 6 month average.  It's fast and easy. I still average 2 orders a day between BL and BO so I figure it's working just fine.  I sell far more used minifigs than new, so probably I should adjust price on the new minifigures to make them more competitive

[donbee]

When I first started, I went low, I looked at the lowest available and matched or beat.

Then I got wiser. As people mentioned earlier. There may be just a few rare pieces that someone wants, that draws them to your store. Then they pick up whatever you have to justify the shipping costs. So I price my best pieces very competitively and then the rest I do 10-20% under avg.

Often less for used pieces. This guarantees that they add more to the order.

With minifigs and new sets I study very carefully what is available right now, and what the recent trends by month are.

For example. I've been flipping cpt America poly bags like crazy. Sold 38 so far, all in bulk.

I'm selling them above the avg May price because I have so many of them. There are many people selling $1.-1.75 cheaper than me, but they only have 1-2 available. There are sellers with more then me, so they are my true competitors. So i have to keep under them, but I'm still selling above avg price because I'm selling double digits at a time.

[LegoPup]

I've just been using the 6 month average just to make things easier and charge a little below the retail rate for shipping.  I don't know if this is good or bad.  I guess time will tell.

[Vodium]

I guess it will take some experimenting to find the right pricing balance.

On a side note. What would be a good way to transport full stack on type shelving between houses? I was thinking of wrapping them with packing plastic wrap to keep the drawers from sliding out, then just stack them upright. 

Finally got all my parts nicely organized and now I have to move. 

Figured I'd just have a sale and offer good shipping discounts to get rid of as many parts as possible so there's less to move. There goes my hope of hitting 100k parts by July. Oh well.

[gregpj]

2 hours ago, Vodium said:

On a side note. What would be a good way to transport full stack on type shelving between houses? I was thinking of wrapping them with packing plastic wrap to keep the drawers from sliding out, then just stack them upright.

That sounds like an excellent idea. Shrink wrap isn't too expensive, doesn't need extra adhesive and peels off easily at the end. The only other option I see is a box - put the drawers up against the side and pack it full of towels/clothes/etc to keep it from moving. With the right size box, you could probably do two front-to-back and it wouldn't be too heavy.

[tacsniper]

2 hours ago, Vodium said:

 

I would grab those painting masking tape and do one long stretch for each column running from the top to the bottom to prevent the drawers from sliding out. Easy to remove after.

[gbg108]

I think I remember reading this question being asked a while back by someone else but I  can't find it via search, so I'll ask again...

Can anyone tell me how some Bricklink sellers have so many of some rare minifigures? For example I see two sellers, both with excellent feedback, in the US with 50+ new Slave Leia (sw070) which was only available in one set, 4480 Jabba's Palace, from 2003. How are they sourcing these?

The part out value of 4480 is pretty much the same as the cost of the set to buy now so it wouldn't make sense to buy from other resellers and part out. Did they just part out like 300 of these sets 10 years ago and still have this many left?

[justapilgrim]

I think I remember reading this question being asked a while back by someone else but I  can't find it via search, so I'll ask again...

Can anyone tell me how some Bricklink sellers have so many of some rare minifigures? For example I see two sellers, both with excellent feedback, in the US with 50+ new Slave Leia (sw070) which was only available in one set, 4480 Jabba's Palace, from 2003. How are they sourcing these?

The part out value of 4480 is pretty much the same as the cost of the set to buy now so it wouldn't make sense to buy from other resellers and part out. Did they just part out like 300 of these sets 10 years ago and still have this many left?

If I was betting, I'd say yes. The tat sets have lots of tan in them, and that color sells well

I would also bet, that some of the larger BL operations buy from other BL stores to resell. When looking at average prices for some minifigure, someone sold 54 of it in one pop.