Bricklink/BrickOwl - Discussion, questions, & answers

[donbee]

@philb

Give him the price for the shipping you're comfortable with, another buyer will come. I'm often surprised at the amount of money people will pay to get the set they want, if he wants it bad enough he'll pay.

 

For those countries that don't have first class international tracking, I tell them ahead of time. I typically quote the FC and Priority prices and make sure they know that if usps does not insure it, neither will I.

Then in the invoice, if they choose FC, I state that by sending payment they forfeit any right to return or request a refund due to dmged or missing package.

 

Haven't had any problems, except with that one South African, but even he turned out to be a swell guy.

 

Since it's a 0 feedback, go safe. Go high, and if he doesn't want it, no problem. It's not like he can give you negative feedback or anything. Though I would count the fact that he requested a quote first as a positive sign. If I wanted to take advantage of someone then buying it first, and putting you in a position to cancel because of prejudice would give me leverage. You can leave feedback on a canceled order, not a quote.

 

[Phil B]

39 minutes ago, donbee said:

@philb

Give him the price for the shipping you're comfortable with, another buyer will come. I'm often surprised at the amount of money people will pay to get the set they want, if he wants it bad enough he'll pay.

 

For those countries that don't have first class international tracking, I tell them ahead of time. I typically quote the FC and Priority prices and make sure they know that if usps does not insure it, neither will I.

Then in the invoice, if they choose FC, I state that by sending payment they forfeit any right to return or request a refund due to dmged or missing package.

 

Haven't had any problems, except with that one South African, but even he turned out to be a swell guy.

 

Since it's a 0 feedback, go safe. Go high, and if he doesn't want it, no problem. It's not like he can give you negative feedback or anything. Though I would count the fact that he requested a quote first as a positive sign. If I wanted to take advantage of someone then buying it first, and putting you in a position to cancel because of prejudice would give me leverage. You can leave feedback on a canceled order, not a quote.

 

The reason he requested a quote is because I have configured my BO shipping in such a way that these non-standard items are forced to a quote. He couldn't have paid without a quote (that's the beauty of BO - BL is a different story). I'm not going to trust an email in BO to be of any value in a Paypal dispute, that's why I'll quote PME. Unlikely the guy will pay anyways.

[donbee]

The reason he requested a quote is because I have configured my BO shipping in such a way that these non-standard items are forced to a quote. He couldn't have paid without a quote (that's the beauty of BO - BL is a different story). I'm not going to trust an email in BO to be of any value in a Paypal dispute, that's why I'll quote PME. Unlikely the guy will pay anyways.

Sorry. I misread the BO as BL.

[Alpinemaps]

The reason he requested a quote is because I have configured my BO shipping in such a way that these non-standard items are forced to a quote. He couldn't have paid without a quote (that's the beauty of BO - BL is a different story). I'm not going to trust an email in BO to be of any value in a Paypal dispute, that's why I'll quote PME. Unlikely the guy will pay anyways.

That is an annoyance of mine with BL. I have Request a Quote set up but no one ever uses it.

[Phil B]

6 minutes ago, Alpinemaps said:

 

That is an annoyance of mine with BL. I have Request a Quote set up but no one ever uses it.

I do get regular BL Quote requests. Typically either low-feedback European buyers, who almost always run for the hills when they get my shipping quote, or Asian buyers who order multiples to maximize their shipping allowance within the quote I provide.

[thoroakenfelder]

hey you guys parting out Dimensions sets, are you doing the whole minifigure or breaking them down as parts?

 

[randrace]

hey you guys parting out Dimensions sets, are you doing the whole minifigure or breaking them down as parts?
 

Breaking them down. Homer's arms are worth more than the man himself.

[Pebble&Park]

Sold a pet shop today within hours of listing it to a zero feedback buyer that literally signed up today. I'm thinking about just canceling the order. Anything else I could do to protect myself and actually do the sale?

[Zelgazra]

Talk to them. Try and learn some more information to make a judgement call. We were all 0 feedback users once. Maybe the guy just wants the set, browsed Amazon, browsed eBay, then checked BrickLink and saw you had it at a price he liked, and decided to make an account to buy it. You could quite easily find this information out and make a judgement call on whether he's pulling your leg or not.

I sell to 0 feedback buyers all the time. My logic is, if they're just starting out buying their Lego collection, and you nail down a flawless transaction on their first buy, the chances they'll be coming back to you to buy more in the future are pretty solid. 

[randrace]

Pull the gloves (bb523) off your Raging Batsuit!

[thoroakenfelder]

My wife is helping me to sort my bulk LEGO in order for me to do a proper inventory for Bricklink. I had to explain 5 times the difference between the 2x2x2 brackets then when we got to the 1x2x2/3 it was all over again. 2x2 round tiles, 2x2 round tiles with holes and 2x2 round tiles with holes and a jumper are all different dear.

[donbee]

My wife is helping me to sort my bulk LEGO in order for me to do a proper inventory for Bricklink. I had to explain 5 times the difference between the 2x2x2 brackets then when we got to the 1x2x2/3 it was all over again. 2x2 round tiles, 2x2 round tiles with holes and 2x2 round tiles with holes and a jumper are all different dear.

Be careful, or she may throw them all together and then separate only by color.

[thoroakenfelder]

10 hours ago, donbee said:

Be careful, or she may throw them all together and then separate only by color.

She tried that "dear, this is tan, this is light grey and this is old, discolored white, they are not the same."

[damnsanders]

I'm trying to list a whole series set of minifigs on bricklink as a super lot. Is there a way to price the super lot cheaper than the price of the individual minifigs totaled together? I can't seem to figure out how to do it or if it can be done at all.

[vincevaughn]

18 hours ago, thoroakenfelder said:

She tried that "dear, this is tan, this is light grey and this is old, discolored white, they are not the same."

One definitely needs an almost OCD level of attention to detail to sell parts on bricklink.

[lego rules]

10 hours ago, damnsanders said:

I'm trying to list a whole series set of minifigs on bricklink as a super lot. Is there a way to price the super lot cheaper than the price of the individual minifigs totaled together? I can't seem to figure out how to do it or if it can be done at all.

No.  The minifigs need to be cost adjusted.  Keep in mind, the minifigs can't be sold separately when in a super lot so there is no worry to price them all lower to get your super lot price.

[Vodium]

13 hours ago, damnsanders said:

I'm trying to list a whole series set of minifigs on bricklink as a super lot. Is there a way to price the super lot cheaper than the price of the individual minifigs totaled together? I can't seem to figure out how to do it or if it can be done at all.

Or do what lots of others do. List 16 individual xx series figures then make it a bulk buy of 16. And set it to the price that you want. (I feel like I've worded this poorly)

[damnsanders]

Or do what lots of others do. List 16 individual xx series figures then make it a bulk buy of 16. And set it to the price that you want. (I feel like I've worded this poorly)

I'll have to try this method. I'm not that proficient with bricklink as I just have things that are easily uploaded (sealed sets, minifigs, some CMFs). Thanks!

[LegoMan1212]

I've gotten to the point that I've actually started loading in some of my pieces into Bricklink to try having a store within the next few months to a year.  Time period is larger than I want, but my day job and kids are priority and we are in the mist of a busy season which requires 60+ hours of work per week.

I've been going through other USA dealers on their stock just to get a better idea of what it looks like to try to compare to.  I don't think I'm incorrect in this assumption, but I would assume people would much rather pay for and buy NEW bricks over Used any-day right?  From a sellers perspective, I find this much easier because sorting is a pain in the ass and I really don't want to sell bricks that have faded even one micro-shade to someone (even if used) and loading in sets is of course 10000% faster than sorting them out.

Other than buying sets on Ebay, in Stores, etc... is there some brick heaven I am missing?  Only reason I say this is that one person had nearly 200 of the same mini-figure which is just insane and it wasn't a standard trooper but an actual unique person (not something I would think people would buy more than 1 of).

Also, any other general advice?  I've read many of the pages in this thread but am always open to hearing more, especially up to date stuff.  Thanks much!

[Lordoflego]

16 minutes ago, LegoMan1212 said:

I've gotten to the point that I've actually started loading in some of my pieces into Bricklink to try having a store within the next few months to a year.  Time period is larger than I want, but my day job and kids are priority and we are in the mist of a busy season which requires 60+ hours of work per week.

I've been going through other USA dealers on their stock just to get a better idea of what it looks like to try to compare to.  I don't think I'm incorrect in this assumption, but I would assume people would much rather pay for and buy NEW bricks over Used any-day right?  From a sellers perspective, I find this much easier because sorting is a pain in the ass and I really don't want to sell bricks that have faded even one micro-shade to someone (even if used) and loading in sets is of course 10000% faster than sorting them out.

Other than buying sets on Ebay, in Stores, etc... is there some brick heaven I am missing?  Only reason I say this is that one person had nearly 200 of the same mini-figure which is just insane and it wasn't a standard trooper but an actual unique person (not something I would think people would buy more than 1 of).

Also, any other general advice?  I've read many of the pages in this thread but am always open to hearing more, especially up to date stuff.  Thanks much!

Im a long time BL buyer, new BL seller. As a buyer, at least me, I'll take new over used always, unless I can't find new, then I have no choice. The reason for me to buy only new is because people's idea of used may be different, I don't want to receive chewed bricks that somebody considers just used. About your selling, why wait a year? Why not selling little but now and slowly add more, or you don't have time because of work again, will you have time in a year?

[justapilgrim]

Find a niche. I mostly sell minifigures and polybags.

I have recently (this kids help) branched out in selling parts. Beefing up minifigures parts, people will pay used for a lot of those parts. I have a fair amount of classic castle, pirates etc that are just too hard to find new.

Also going with theme been adding more and more loose minifigures accessories. $0.25 here and there adds up and I bet more than half of orders have people adding on a few things.

Been also selling used parts that are unique/rare. $1 for an old skull shield here, orc sail there, all also used but not your standard 2x4 used bricks

[LegoMan1212]

41 minutes ago, Lordoflego said:

Im a long time BL buyer, new BL seller. As a buyer, at least me, I'll take new over used always, unless I can't find new, then I have no choice. The reason for me to buy only new is because people's idea of used may be different, I don't want to receive chewed bricks that somebody considers just used. About your selling, why wait a year? Why not selling little but now and slowly add more, or you don't have time because of work again, will you have time in a year?

Probably not, but I feel that I want to make an impression on first time customers looking through the inventory so I get saved and so the Name of the store sticks in their heads a little as a "pleasant thought' vs "ehhh".  Maybe it doesn't work how I imagine, but if I start with say 1,000-5,000 pieces, that isn't an appetizing as 10,0000 to 50,0000, with variety or as mentioned above, something that gets buyers coming back for more. Plus, I need to slowly work my wife into seeing how this works and spreading out the expenses of buying sets on sale is easier than going BAM.  I also want to be ready to ship immediately and just have my ducks in a row.  The more planning and organized upfront, the less this becomes a hassle down the line.  Going into it, I would be shocked if a profit actually occurs and immediately looked up Hobby vs Business for tax purposes.  

One question I wonder, do any of you register your brickstore as a LLC at all or get officially registered in your state?  What about getting sales tax exemption (I don't remember all the rules on this or if it would even be possible)?  A con of sales tax exemption is that then the stores may actually ban you from shopping there, at least from some conversations I've read, some stores clearly do not like re-sellers as much as others.

[Guest betsy805]

17 minutes ago, LegoMan1212 said:

Probably not, but I feel that I want to make an impression on first time customers looking through the inventory so I get saved and so the Name of the store sticks in their heads a little as a "pleasant thought' vs "ehhh".  Maybe it doesn't work how I imagine, but if I start with say 1,000-5,000 pieces, that isn't an appetizing as 10,0000 to 50,0000, with variety or as mentioned above, something that gets buyers coming back for more. Plus, I need to slowly work my wife into seeing how this works and spreading out the expenses of buying sets on sale is easier than going BAM.  I also want to be ready to ship immediately and just have my ducks in a row.  The more planning and organized upfront, the less this becomes a hassle down the line.  Going into it, I would be shocked if a profit actually occurs and immediately looked up Hobby vs Business for tax purposes.  

One question I wonder, do any of you register your brickstore as a LLC at all or get officially registered in your state?  What about getting sales tax exemption (I don't remember all the rules on this or if it would even be possible)?  A con of sales tax exemption is that then the stores may actually ban you from shopping there, at least from some conversations I've read, some stores clearly do not like re-sellers as much as others.

I do have my store registered with the state and have the sales tax exemption.  As long as I don't use it at the Lego Store, no one really cares.  Each store has their own method of doing things, some easier than others.  You'll also be responsible for collecting and remitting sales tax for sales you've made in your state.

[Victorymike18]

1 hour ago, justapilgrim said:

Find a niche. I mostly sell minifigures and polybags.

I have recently (this kids help) branched out in selling parts. Beefing up minifigures parts, people will pay used for a lot of those parts. I have a fair amount of classic castle, pirates etc that are just too hard to find new.

Also going with theme been adding more and more loose minifigures accessories. $0.25 here and there adds up and I bet more than half of orders have people adding on a few things.

Been also selling used parts that are unique/rare. $1 for an old skull shield here, orc sail there, all also used but not your standard 2x4 used bricks

^  I'd agree with a lot of this advice in particular (though it's all very good)

I started selling used parts from bulk lots a couple of years ago.  Although there can be a LOT of time spent on cleaning, sorting, researching and listing, there is a visceral thrill for me of digging through a bulk bin off Craigslist and finding those few rare pieces that can (sometimes) pay back on the whole lot.     That, and having some inexpensive bulk used items (or rare items) in my inventory keeps things diverse and get people shopping.

Now, due to some personal / family things, I don't have the space at the moment to do all the work for cleaning & sorting the used lots.    So I have been dabbling in parting out sets to help diversify my inventory.    I still get to satisfy my OCD by sorting and organizing LEGO, and it keeps my offerings fresh.

Dealing with new parts has a LOT of benefits that have been mentioned already.   So if I could say the one "drawback" of dealing with new sets / parts is that you really have a more straightforward understanding upfront on what the costs and profits should look like.    Aside from finding good buying deals, you loose that "treasure hunt" and "goldmine" effect that used bulk lots can provide.    That's a fun aspect of this hobby for me.

From a business perspective, you can build formulas and strategies around dealing with new sets / parts.     And the good thing is that as mentioned above, there are still a lot of niche ways to do things.

Just my two-cents.

 

[vincevaughn]

3 hours ago, Lordoflego said:

Im a long time BL buyer, new BL seller. As a buyer, at least me, I'll take new over used always, unless I can't find new, then I have no choice. The reason for me to buy only new is because people's idea of used may be different, I don't want to receive chewed bricks that somebody considers just used. About your selling, why wait a year? Why not selling little but now and slowly add more, or you don't have time because of work again, will you have time in a year?

This right here...there is just too much variation in that ominous "used" designation and not knowing what your going to get.  That said there is a market on vintage.  I am replacing pieces from my mid 90's childhood sets (as well as being a classic space collector) so used is the only way to go on some things so it is good.  I recently purchased from one seller that rated all used parts 1 through 5.  With one being like new and 5 being heavy scratching and playwear.  I really liked that system and will be implementing it when I open my bricklink store.

Which on a side note: my professional grade ultrasonic cleaner got delivered today, looking forward to test cleaning used parts this weekend and being one step closer to the BL dream.