Bricklink/BrickOwl - Discussion, questions, & answers

[KShine]

Explain the situation (insufficient packaging/damage) and mention that you are planning on returning the item, but would also consider keeping the item if a partial refund was provided (amount/percentage dependent upon damage), and then just leave it in their hands to decide which option they would prefer (most won't want the return of a damaged item, or the expense of shipping costs for nothing).  

Edited February 26, 2019 by KShine

[KShine]

4 minutes ago, TANV said:

I just checked their store terms. All sales are final.  However, I'll still contact them and tell them that I'm disappointed.

 A seller can state things all they want - but if they fail to deliver, that is on them (regardless of what they stated).

[mizeur]

7 minutes ago, TANV said:

I just checked their store terms. All sales are final.  However, I'll still contact them and tell them that I'm disappointed.

"All sales are final" always comes with an asterisk for credit card/PayPal disputes exactly for cases where sellers mess up.

ETA: but sellers always deserve a chance to make it right before bringing in a 3rd party.

Edited February 26, 2019 by mizeur

[legorunner]

27 minutes ago, TANV said:

I just checked their store terms. All sales are final.  However, I'll still contact them and tell them that I'm disappointed.

All sales are final doesn't mean that they can destroy the item and then ship it to you. Sending a box in a envelope is just cheap. 

That said, one of the best parts about Bricklink is that its a pretty forgiving place. I've run a small store for a couple of years now and have made a few mistakes , but with good customer service it has worked out fine through the present. 

On both eBay and BL I'm always a big fan of the "I hope we can find a solution to this issue". As a seller it puts the ball in my court and allows me to make amends quickly without feeling attacked, and as a buyer it usually results in getting exactly what I'm hoping for or even something more generous than I would have asked for while still leaving the option for negotiation if the seller doesn't come back with an acceptable offer. 

[LegoMan1212]

1 hour ago, TANV said:

I just checked their store terms. All sales are final.  However, I'll still contact them and tell them that I'm disappointed.

I'm being sarcastic when I say this but next time, how about pay in cash and shred the bills and say it's all there.  It's basically the same thing.  All sales are essentially a trade of something for something.  

I honestly think I would put a neutral and say, shipped a small set in padded envelope vs a box and box came destroyed as expected.  

Years ago I bought a small set on Ebay and they seller did the same thing.  What do you think is going to happen to a box in a padded envelope.  The seller was a complete ******* to me and said the "price" with free shipping didn't dictate a box.  Well, that is not my problem. I pay for an item and expect the item to come as listed, not packaged poorly and then destroyed.

Neutral or Negative or they never learn.

[TANV]

Thanks to all your help, @lego rules, @betsy805, @KShine, @mizeur, @legorunner, @LegoMan1212.  I contacted the seller and she was pretty understanding. I ended up getting a bit of a small refund back and will keep the set.  I left her positive feedback so it all worked out.

[SLL]

just got the BO store set up, tried to use BrickSync to sync my BL inventory but received the following error message. Is the BO server not responding or I am doing anything wrong @Stragus? Thanks.

 

INIT: Fetching BrickOwl user information...
WARNING: BrickOwl HTTP Error - Saving server reply (447+25 bytes) at path "data\errors-2019-03-10\00002.txt".
WARNING: Bad reply from server, trying again shortly...
INIT: Fetching BrickOwl user information...
WARNING: BrickOwl HTTP Error - Saving server reply (446+25 bytes) at path "data\errors-2019-03-10\00003.txt".
WARNING: Bad reply from server, trying again shortly...
ERROR: Too many connection errors, giving up.
WARNING: Failed to query BrickOwl user details, store name and currency are unknown.
INFO: Fetching the BrickLink Order List...
INFO: Fetching the BrickLink Inventory...
INFO: Fetching the BrickLink Order List...
INFO: BrickLink inventory has xxx items in xxx lots.
INFO: We saved the BrickLink inventory as our locally tracked inventory.
INFO: Received inventory of BrickLink Order #10763919
INFO: Saved BrickLink order #10763919 at "data\orders\bricklink-10763919.bsx".
INFO: Fetching the BrickOwl Order List...
WARNING: BrickOwl HTTP Error - Saving server reply (447+25 bytes) at path "data\errors-2019-03-10\00004.txt".
WARNING: Bad reply from server, trying again shortly...
WARNING: BrickOwl HTTP Error - Saving server reply (446+25 bytes) at path "data\errors-2019-03-10\00005.txt".
WARNING: Bad reply from server, trying again shortly...
ERROR: Too many connection errors, giving up.
ERROR: Fatal error encountered.
ERROR: Exiting now.
Press Enter to exit...

 

 

Edited March 11, 2019 by superlegolover

[Phil B]

Have a quote outstanding to a potential customer on BrickOwl, but want to raise my price (should that quote not go through). If I raise the price now, I assume the quote stays unaffected, correct? Can anyone confirm?

[donbee]

Have a quote outstanding to a potential customer on BrickOwl, but want to raise my price (should that quote not go through). If I raise the price now, I assume the quote stays unaffected, correct? Can anyone confirm?

I’ve always wondered that on BrickLink.
I don’t know if it does. Let us know.

[mizeur]

26 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Have a quote outstanding to a potential customer on BrickOwl, but want to raise my price (should that quote not go through). If I raise the price now, I assume the quote stays unaffected, correct? Can anyone confirm?

Never tested it but I assume that the invoices get built off the quote record in the database not the inventory record.

Probably worth using a dummy account to test rather than doing it live.

[Phil B]

Never tested it but I assume that the invoices get built off the quote record in the database not the inventory record.
Probably worth using a dummy account to test rather than doing it live.

Nope, the quote goes against the new price. Interestingly enough the buyer accepted and paid, so I am just going to ship

[lego rules]

quotes are accurate when created; however, the price and the qty. are not guaranteed.

 

[donbee]

Nope, the quote goes against the new price. Interestingly enough the buyer accepted and paid, so I am just going to ship

You, reseller Scum, you.

[SageFly]

Had a lovely email from a Brickowl customer today after they placed an order and paid, but later wanted to cancel stating that it was an accident that they placed the order to begin with.

I agreed to cancel and added to my reply message that they "please keep in mind that large orders can be quite labor intensive to reverse (of which, this order was not) and to try avoid inadvertently ordering in the future".

The lovely email reply was frustrating to read, especially since I wasn't about to reply with what my actual feelings were.

 

With that being said and to better improve how I manage my cross-platform inventory, how do those of you that get canceled orders on BrickOwl update your inventory for the canceled items? This order won't be bad since it's small, but I really don't want a 100+ lot order get canceled and I have to go manually update each lot quantity.

[Guest betsy805]

7 minutes ago, SageFly said:

Had a lovely email from a Brickowl customer today after they placed an order and paid, but later wanted to cancel stating that it was an accident that they placed the order to begin with.

I agreed to cancel and added to my reply message that they "please keep in mind that large orders can be quite labor intensive to reverse (of which, this order was not) and to try avoid inadvertently ordering in the future".

The lovely email reply was frustrating to read, especially since I wasn't about to reply with what my actual feelings were.

 

With that being said and to better improve how I manage my cross-platform inventory, how do those of you that get canceled orders on BrickOwl update your inventory for the canceled items? This order won't be bad since it's small, but I really don't want a 100+ lot order get canceled and I have to go manually update each lot quantity.

So, I got the scathing reply email on MY brickowl account for this situation this morning. I was so confused, and still not sure how I got the reply for an order that isn't mine!  As for your issue, it should prompt whether you want to have canceled items returned to inventory so you don't have to do it manually?

[SageFly]

Did Julie send you the message that was supposed to go to me? ?

2 hours ago, betsy805 said:

As for your issue, it should prompt whether you want to have canceled items returned to inventory so you don't have to do it manually?

On BrickLink, auto-adding items back to my inventory is no problem, however, Bricksync uses BrickLink as the primary inventory and I can update BrickOwl inventory using the built in “return items to inventory” that’s built in because of this. I know I can swap brickowl to be primary, but don’t know if I can just go back and forth as needed.

[Guest betsy805]

13 minutes ago, SageFly said:

Did Julie send you the message that was supposed to go to me? ?

 

Yes she did!! She's a repeat customer of mine so I was all sorts of confused!!

[DadsAFOL]

3 hours ago, SageFly said:

Did Julie send you the message that was supposed to go to me? ?

On BrickLink, auto-adding items back to my inventory is no problem, however, Bricksync uses BrickLink as the primary inventory and I can update BrickOwl inventory using the built in “return items to inventory” that’s built in because of this. I know I can swap brickowl to be primary, but don’t know if I can just go back and forth as needed.

BrickSync saves all orders as BSX files.   If you have a returned/cancelled BO order, you can simply open the order's BSX file in BrickStock, and use the upload function to add it back to your BL inventory.   Don't forget to BL Master...

[brickvoyeur]

International buyer paid via PayPal for a set of 4 LM2 Brickheadz. Item was shipped, arrived in their country February 16th. They attempted to deliver it according to the tracking information, but

Received a message this morning " Hi, I got a problem, they will return my package form customs back to you,cuz I didnt have time to pick up in stupid customs, let me know what can we do "

In all my years of shipping internationally, I've never had anything returned due to not being picked up.

If this item returns to me shredded and crushed by customs, what options do I have? Ideally it comes back in the shape I sent it... and all I can just refund him minus the shipping cost. But if customs has had their way with it, how would that work with PayPal protection?

[mizeur]

59 minutes ago, brickvoyeur said:

International buyer paid via PayPal for a set of 4 LM2 Brickheadz. Item was shipped, arrived in their country February 16th. They attempted to deliver it according to the tracking information, but

Received a message this morning " Hi, I got a problem, they will return my package form customs back to you,cuz I didnt have time to pick up in stupid customs, let me know what can we do "

In all my years of shipping internationally, I've never had anything returned due to not being picked up.

If this item returns to me shredded and crushed by customs, what options do I have? Ideally it comes back in the shape I sent it... and all I can just refund him minus the shipping cost. But if customs has had their way with it, how would that work with PayPal protection?

YMMV. PayPal probably isn't going to step in without an Item Not Received claim from the buyer, which would probably go against you, and Seller Protection isn't insurance against damage, though you could try to escalate to someone sympathetic. Generic shipping insurance doesn't cover customs inspection because that's your liability not the shipping service's 

You might be able to file a claim with the customs agency/port authority itself if the damage was caused by negligence rather than inspection.

Otherwise, losses are why you pay for business insurance. 

 

 

[KShine]

43 minutes ago, brickvoyeur said:

International buyer paid via PayPal for a set of 4 LM2 Brickheadz. Item was shipped, arrived in their country February 16th. They attempted to deliver it according to the tracking information, but

Received a message this morning " Hi, I got a problem, they will return my package form customs back to you,cuz I didnt have time to pick up in stupid customs, let me know what can we do "

In all my years of shipping internationally, I've never had anything returned due to not being picked up.

If this item returns to me shredded and crushed by customs, what options do I have? Ideally it comes back in the shape I sent it... and all I can just refund him minus the shipping cost. But if customs has had their way with it, how would that work with PayPal protection?

They will hold it for a month (or more) before sending it back. I would think that there were customs fees due, and that they buyer didn't want to pay (but it could be true, and certainly the buyer should be treated as though what they claim is true).

I wouldn't expect it to be returned in great shape. Pretty much all my international custom returns have looked as if they have been through multiple war zones/natural disasters.

I always try to balance the handling of the situation based on the specific situation (is the buyer going to play fair, and be reasonable, or are they going to try to get the shipping refunded as well). Be understanding, express patience, and thank the buyer for also having patience. Let them know that you are sorry about the issue, and assure them that as soon as the item is returned, you will certainly be issuing the refund for the item.

It could take a while to get the item back, and time is on your side. In general, the longer it is since the transaction date, the less damage/control a buyer has.

[paulvdb]

On 3/15/2019 at 6:30 PM, SageFly said:

With that being said and to better improve how I manage my cross-platform inventory, how do those of you that get canceled orders on BrickOwl update your inventory for the canceled items? This order won't be bad since it's small, but I really don't want a 100+ lot order get canceled and I have to go manually update each lot quantity

I don't use Brickowl's own option to return items to inventory. With Bricksync's add function you can add a bsx file to your inventory. So you can just add the bsx file of the order to your inventory to get the items back in your inventory on both sites.

[SLL]

On 3/10/2019 at 10:09 PM, superlegolover said:

just got the BO store set up, tried to use BrickSync to sync my BL inventory but received the following error message. Is the BO server not responding or I am doing anything wrong @Stragus? Thanks.

 

INIT: Fetching BrickOwl user information...
WARNING: BrickOwl HTTP Error - Saving server reply (447+25 bytes) at path "data\errors-2019-03-10\00002.txt".
WARNING: Bad reply from server, trying again shortly...
INIT: Fetching BrickOwl user information...
WARNING: BrickOwl HTTP Error - Saving server reply (446+25 bytes) at path "data\errors-2019-03-10\00003.txt".
WARNING: Bad reply from server, trying again shortly...
ERROR: Too many connection errors, giving up.
WARNING: Failed to query BrickOwl user details, store name and currency are unknown.
INFO: Fetching the BrickLink Order List...
INFO: Fetching the BrickLink Inventory...
INFO: Fetching the BrickLink Order List...
INFO: BrickLink inventory has xxx items in xxx lots.
INFO: We saved the BrickLink inventory as our locally tracked inventory.
INFO: Received inventory of BrickLink Order #10763919
INFO: Saved BrickLink order #10763919 at "data\orders\bricklink-10763919.bsx".
INFO: Fetching the BrickOwl Order List...
WARNING: BrickOwl HTTP Error - Saving server reply (447+25 bytes) at path "data\errors-2019-03-10\00004.txt".
WARNING: Bad reply from server, trying again shortly...
WARNING: BrickOwl HTTP Error - Saving server reply (446+25 bytes) at path "data\errors-2019-03-10\00005.txt".
WARNING: Bad reply from server, trying again shortly...
ERROR: Too many connection errors, giving up.
ERROR: Fatal error encountered.
ERROR: Exiting now.
Press Enter to exit...

 

 

can any body help with this issue? Still couldn't get it sync'd and @Stragus appears to be vanished ☹️

[Foreman Porgy]

1 hour ago, superlegolover said:

can any body help with this issue? Still couldn't get it sync'd and @Stragus appears to be vanished ☹️

Yes, I can help you with this issue. First, Did you enter in all of your API information correctly? 

[SLL]

2 hours ago, Foreman Porgy said:

Yes, I can help you with this issue. First, Did you enter in all of your API information correctly? 

Yes, I did. Entered API info into bricksync.conf, from the error log file, BL side seems ok but always failed connecting to BO