Bricklink/BrickOwl - Discussion, questions, & answers

[charger465]

Made my first sale on BL. Is there a field I'm missing where you upload tracking information? Do you send the buyer the tracking info via a message? I'm used to eBay where I have it sent automatically.

[Pebble&Park]

10 minutes ago, charger465 said:

Made my first sale on BL. Is there a field I'm missing where you upload tracking information? Do you send the buyer the tracking info via a message? I'm used to eBay where I have it sent automatically.

You can send them a message with it, but if you go into your Orders Received pane, the icon just to the right of the order # is the edit order button, in there is a field for a tracking number - that's what I always use.

[charger465]

You can send them a message with it, but if you go into your Orders Received pane, the icon just to the right of the order # is the edit order button, in there is a field for a tracking number - that's what I always use.

Cool, thx

[Alpinemaps]

You can send them a message with it, but if you go into your Orders Received pane, the icon just to the right of the order # is the edit order button, in there is a field for a tracking number - that's what I always use.

You can also add the Tracking # field to the Order Summary page via your settings.

[MinifigW]

16 minutes ago, charger465 said:

Cool, thx

You can also make a "Thank you drive through" which is an auto generated thank you message that you can edit before it sends, which I attach tracking and shipping information, plus a link to a customer satisfaction survey. I also add the tracking info on the order summary page as well. 

[Forsaker]

Initially, I'd suggest that it doesn't really matter one way or the other since the buyer can select his/her own preference for viewing from their side, so there's little impact on sales at all. 
There is a school of thought that since the marketplace is dominated by US buyers that's it's best to make it as simple for your largest pool of buyers as you can. thus manage everything in Us dollars. You'll very quickly get used to automatically doing conversions in your head anyway so it's not really any harder to manage either way, and you'll be able to take advantages of fluctuation in the currency rates without having to adjust your prices against the base Us rates nearly as often - this can work in your favour or not - being paid in Us funds means you'll also have to accept paying conversion fees (%3) when you want to pull the funds out of PayPal (you can work the US currency withdrawals through banks here. but it can get complicated to set up, there's a thread for that elsewhere here already).   Having the buyer pay for the conversion upfront on their side will act against you in sales, buyers don't want to have to do calculations of any kind when shopping, so best avoid the surprize invoice...
Having tried both ways I can tell you there's another issue that comes up that'll have you pulling your hair out, (exacerbated if you don't accept both currencies), You'll probably find you receive many more orders from the US - hugely more, like 75%+, and many fewer in numbers from Canada, but the Canadian orders are very much much larger orders as Canadians are way more shipping-cost adverse due to the high interprovincial postage rates. back to the hair-pulling problem is that you are going to get allot of "oops, I sent the wrong currency" either way, always a hassle to refund (pay the $.30 fee) and wait for resend - so it's just better to keep the listings/invoices simply suited to your largest target audience so you get fewer of these, and Canadians are pretty much already familiar with taking the time to notice the currency at checkout.  
 

Thanks for the lenghty info. I guess I'll have to ponder the pros and cons furthermore, has it's been half and half USA-Canada on my orders thus far. You're right on Canadians having ordered for more $$ in general.

[randrace]

I opened my Bricklink store three days ago and I got two sales today. I figured out how to add shipping charge after the order has been placed. I clicked 'Ready' for order status. Is that all I need to do to have the invoice sent to the buyer? Is the invoice sent after I update the order cost or after I change the order to 'Ready'?

One more question:
I entered my PayPal email address when setting up my shipping settings; does that mean the buyer now has the 'onsite payment' option?

Many thanks, I'm excited to graduate to Bricklink buyer to seller!

[Pebble&Park]

13 minutes ago, randrace said:

I opened my Bricklink store three days ago and I got two sales today. I figured out how to add shipping charge after the order has been placed. I clicked 'Ready' for order status. Is that all I need to do to have the invoice sent to the buyer? Is the invoice sent after I update the order cost or after I change the order to 'Ready'?

One more question:
I entered my PayPal email address when setting up my shipping settings; does that mean the buyer now has the 'onsite payment' option?

Many thanks, I'm excited to graduate to Bricklink buyer to seller!

In order to send the invoice to the buyer, use the button just to the left of where you entered the shipping cost. You can then customize the message sent to the buyer, etc.

For the Paypal question, I believe you are correct but I'm not 100% sure. 

[MinifigW]

10 minutes ago, randrace said:

I opened my Bricklink store three days ago and I got two sales today. I figured out how to add shipping charge after the order has been placed. I clicked 'Ready' for order status. Is that all I need to do to have the invoice sent to the buyer? Is the invoice sent after I update the order cost or after I change the order to 'Ready'?

One more question:
I entered my PayPal email address when setting up my shipping settings; does that mean the buyer now has the 'onsite payment' option?

Many thanks, I'm excited to graduate to Bricklink buyer to seller!

1. No. you will still need to manually send the invoice once you have updated it. You can accomplish this by clicking the white paper icon to the right of the order on your order summary page. This will bring up your default invoice, which you can make adjustments to.

2. If the buyer selected onsite payment, then they will be able to use a link auto generated by the invoice. I would still include instructions on how to do it manually in your default invoice. (just in case) When you are about to send an invoice on the top right of your screen is a prompt to change your default settings, where you can add instructions and a thank you message ( if you so please)

 

[DadsAFOL]

15 minutes ago, randrace said:

I opened my Bricklink store three days ago and I got two sales today. I figured out how to add shipping charge after the order has been placed. I clicked 'Ready' for order status. Is that all I need to do to have the invoice sent to the buyer? Is the invoice sent after I update the order cost or after I change the order to 'Ready'?

One more question:
I entered my PayPal email address when setting up my shipping settings; does that mean the buyer now has the 'onsite payment' option?

Many thanks, I'm excited to graduate to Bricklink buyer to seller!

You have to click the little white paper next to the order on the orders receive page to send an invoice.  If you hover over it, it will say "invoice".  You can customize the text in the invoice.   You may want to spend some time and just go through every screen on the Store --> Settings page to get familiar with the options.

Edit: wow, double ninja'd!

Edited February 3, 2017 by DadsAFOL

[donbee]

I opened my Bricklink store three days ago and I got two sales today. I figured out how to add shipping charge after the order has been placed. I clicked 'Ready' for order status. Is that all I need to do to have the invoice sent to the buyer? Is the invoice sent after I update the order cost or after I change the order to 'Ready'?

One more question:
I entered my PayPal email address when setting up my shipping settings; does that mean the buyer now has the 'onsite payment' option?

Many thanks, I'm excited to graduate to Bricklink buyer to seller!

It was many sales before I learned that you can send invoices through BL. I used to just send the total through a message. You can set a template so that it says what you want to say. And it auto calculates what you input for shipping and credits and what not. Make sure you click send a copy to your email because BL will auto delete things after time.

In the order received pane
Click on the 3rd icon to the right of the date, on the line of the order you wish to fulfill, the single piece of paper. I have 1) an envelope: which is to send a msg, but nvr works for me. 2) 2 pieces of paper on top of each other, and 3) a single piece of paper. Try that.

[LegoMan1212]

Double question,

How much in inventory value and/or how many pieces do you suggest having before opening up a store?

[donbee]

I've made some big sales lately on BL, and I'm unsure how safe they are. I assume the easiest way for someone to scam me and get their money back is to do something through PayPal. How good is the seller protection there? Do they refund money first, ask questions later or do they inform me and give me a chance to defend myself.

If I buy the postage through PayPal, am I more protected?

I've read some things in eBay and Amazon thread, but this is BL.

Can you guys share some experiences with me?

It would help calm the nerves =)

[MinifigW]

12 minutes ago, donbee said:

I've made some big sales lately on BL, and I'm unsure how safe they are. I assume the easiest way for someone to scam me and get their money back is to do something through PayPal. How good is the seller protection there? Do they refund money first, ask questions later or do they inform me and give me a chance to defend myself.

If I buy the postage through PayPal, am I more protected?

I've read some things in eBay and Amazon thread, but this is BL.

Can you guys share some experiences with me?

It would help calm the nerves =)

I'm getting near 400 orders on BL and I have never had a single problem with PayPal (even with huge orders). As long as you add the tracking info (buying through PayPal helps) and ship in a timely manner, you will be fine.

[randrace]

Thanks for the help, guys! Invoices sent, this is exciting. I'll study the Store Settings pages, thanks for the tip, DadsAFOL.

[donbee]

35 minutes ago, MinifigW said:

I'm getting near 400 orders on BL and I have never had a single problem with PayPal (even with huge orders). As long as you add the tracking info (buying through PayPal helps) and ship in a timely manner, you will be fine.

That is reassuring. It's all these eBay/Amazon stories giving me pause.
I never thought I'd have a $1000 sale, so now I really want to know how to protect myself. I'm putting in serious work packing these boxes as if I was shipping my own child. I will be thoroughly pissed if someone says they want a refund because of damaged/incorrect product or something. 

Large orders I've been buying insurance and putting signature confirmation. But I know insurance doesn't protect against fraudulent returns. 
I feel if I have a chance to defend myself I have a chance to win, but do I even get that chance?
Does anyone have a story to share?

Thank you!

[donbee]

58 minutes ago, LegoMan1212 said:

Double question,

How much in inventory value and/or how many pieces do you suggest having before opening up a store?

more than $0.35 or whatever you want your minimum order to be.
I started out with like $3.00 worth of used pieces and just kept adding. 
I didn't have a minimum buy in, so I got lots of crazy orders (order total cheaper than shipping cost) for cheap used parts.
But then I received a $0.12 order for some used pieces. I don't use envelope for Lego, at least didn't then, so he paid $2.60 for shipping.
I felt bad to charge anything for handling. That's when I learned that PayPal has a $0.35 transaction fee on top of their 2-3%. I ended up losing money on that order.

 

 

[Victorymike18]

I have a $3.00 order minimum for my store:    I think it's a fair threshold for the buyer to reach, even if they need to add a low priority item to cross it.      But, I also feel that it's fair to me since my process consists of printing the order page, picking & packing, verifying shipping, and utilizing packing supplies which (in my opinion) isn't really worth doing for a ~$1.00-2.00 order.

For context:   I've been doing this as a hobby for two years, and had the $3 minimum set ever since my inventory was steady around the $300 range at aggressive prices.

On a similar note:  While I do understand the reason for having a minimum lots to quantity ratio, I never felt that was fair to put the responsibility on the customer...  For example: If I have some low-value pieces that aren't worth selling in low quantity, then I set them as a bulk lot at a point where I feel it is worth my time to pick & bag them.

 

[Victorymike18]

I wanted to ask separately:  Do you print out orders to pick, or pick them from the PC screen?    And, do you put the printout and checklist with the order when you ship it?

[Vodium]

21 minutes ago, Victorymike18 said:

I wanted to ask separately:  Do you print out orders to pick, or pick them from the PC screen?    And, do you put the printout and checklist with the order when you ship it?

I have never used printed off check lists for pulling orders. I us my computer, or my phone if its a smaller order. 

As for lot limits, I've never had them. Overall most of the orders I get are lower lots, high item orders. But occasionally I get high lot orders, Just today I had an 84 lot order with 690 items. It will definitely take me longer to pack then most, but is is a $200+ order so it'll be worth the time. 

[newbie77]

1 hour ago, Victorymike18 said:

I have a $3.00 order minimum for my store:    I think it's a fair threshold for the buyer to reach, even if they need to add a low priority item to cross it.      But, I also feel that it's fair to me since my process consists of printing the order page, picking & packing, verifying shipping, and utilizing packing supplies which (in my opinion) isn't really worth doing for a ~$1.00-2.00 order.

For context:   I've been doing this as a hobby for two years, and had the $3 minimum set ever since my inventory was steady around the $300 range at aggressive prices.

On a similar note:  While I do understand the reason for having a minimum lots to quantity ratio, I never felt that was fair to put the responsibility on the customer...  For example: If I have some low-value pieces that aren't worth selling in low quantity, then I set them as a bulk lot at a point where I feel it is worth my time to pick & bag them.

 

depends completely how you want to run your store and what kind of orders you would like to fill. i don't have any lot limit and/or $ limit on the order. why simply because i am looking at brick link more like a place for selling parts what people might need. yes of course i do sell to resellers as well but focus is to the builders and they may just want to buy one part . yes to validate my point i have had orders for single item for 0.014 or 0.034 as well.

1 hour ago, Victorymike18 said:

I wanted to ask separately:  Do you print out orders to pick, or pick them from the PC screen?    And, do you put the printout and checklist with the order when you ship it?

we print every orders both for record keeping and print orders/items only to be included as packing slip. simple reason being this reduced number of errors in determining parts. becomes an issue when store is big enough with large lots or inventory.

42 minutes ago, Vodium said:

I have never used printed off check lists for pulling orders. I us my computer, or my phone if its a smaller order. 

As for lot limits, I've never had them. Overall most of the orders I get are lower lots, high item orders. But occasionally I get high lot orders, Just today I had an 84 lot order with 690 items. It will definitely take me longer to pack then most, but is is a $200+ order so it'll be worth the time. 

expect the worst and go with it. for me largest lot order has been 183[lots] 1290[items]

not all orders are going to be high value orders depending on your items and lots and getting $100+ orders for parts is a real big deal with bricklink unless you have some expensive items.

i had one order of  50[lots] for 106[items] for $19.11 which is absolute loss in terms of time but it is what i will get for having such generous policy

 

 

[Alpinemaps]

After being asked to pull together a 50 cent order one time, I put a small minimum on my store - I think $3? It's got to be worth my time to pull stuff.

I did that awhile ago though, when my only inventory was in mixed lots (because I thought it was easier?) and not sorted into bins. Now that my only listed inventory is sorted for easy picking maybe I'll change it. Takes too seconds now to pull stock.

[Phil B]

20 minutes ago, Alpinemaps said:

After being asked to pull together a 50 cent order one time, I put a small minimum on my store - I think $3? It's got to be worth my time to pull stuff.

I did that awhile ago though, when my only inventory was in mixed lots (because I thought it was easier?) and not sorted into bins. Now that my only listed inventory is sorted for easy picking maybe I'll change it. Takes too seconds now to pull stock.

No order minimum, I do the work up front to sort out into part-by-part storage/ziplocs, so pulling is as simple as finding the right bin (which is helped by putting bin location in the comments remarks field in BL). I have not yet implemented a surcharge system for smaller orders, but will do so shortly (I'm about to list a whole bunch of stuff). Right now I have a flat $0.75 handling fee for all orders, I'm changing it to $1.50-$2 (still deciding) for orders under $10, free for larger orders.

Edited February 6, 2017 by Phil B
Comments are publicly visible, remarks are for your eyes only

[NIevo]

4 hours ago, Victorymike18 said:

I wanted to ask separately:  Do you print out orders to pick, or pick them from the PC screen?    And, do you put the printout and checklist with the order when you ship it?

I use printed out orders, mark them off as I pick them and then include that sheet with the order.  I've learned that from being an buyer and a seller.  It is nice to know what part number is associated with what piece when a big order is received.

1 hour ago, Phil B said:

No order minimum, I do the work up front to sort out into part-by-part storage/ziplocs, so pulling is as simple as finding the right bin (which is helped by putting bin location in the comments remarks field in BL). I have not yet implemented a surcharge system for smaller orders, but will do so shortly (I'm about to list a whole bunch of stuff). Right now I have a flat $0.75 handling fee for all orders, I'm changing it to $1.50-$2 (still deciding) for orders under $10, free for larger orders.

I did a similar thing.  No minimum order, but anything lower then $3 I charge an extra $.35 to help offset the Paypal fees.  I have a $.75 handling/packaging fee as well.

 

[newbie77]

1 hour ago, Phil B said:

No order minimum, I do the work up front to sort out into part-by-part storage/ziplocs, so pulling is as simple as finding the right bin (which is helped by putting bin location in the comments remarks field in BL). I have not yet implemented a surcharge system for smaller orders, but will do so shortly (I'm about to list a whole bunch of stuff). Right now I have a flat $0.75 handling fee for all orders, I'm changing it to $1.50-$2 (still deciding) for orders under $10, free for larger orders.

 

1 hour ago, Alpinemaps said:

After being asked to pull together a 50 cent order one time, I put a small minimum on my store - I think $3? It's got to be worth my time to pull stuff.

I did that awhile ago though, when my only inventory was in mixed lots (because I thought it was easier?) and not sorted into bins. Now that my only listed inventory is sorted for easy picking maybe I'll change it. Takes too seconds now to pull stock.

doesn't matter how you define time involved. but there is a decent amount spent either

a. at the beginning or

b. at the end

depending on your modus operandi. fact is decent amount is spent. how you put $ value to it is completely different. 

regardless large lot order takes time. when those orders are of small $ value they hurt your bottom line. i.e. 50 lot order with 106 items vs 50 lot orders with 1060items will most likely take similar amount of time ( more or less 5 mins difference ]

 

if anyone says that they pull order in 2 seconds then i would say "stop making yourself feel better" . unless you have robots working for you and packing there is no one can pull any order in 2 seconds. it takes roughly about 30 second to open the zip lock empty the bin(with content) without counting and close the ziplock [ i.e. per lot]. 

overall IMHO, if anything is less than $1/lot you would be fighting to break even. and if it take more than 20min/lot for 50lot order you are again losing. 

Edited February 6, 2017 by newbie77