Bricklink/BrickOwl - Discussion, questions, & answers

[Foreman Porgy]

48 minutes ago, Huskers1236 said:

I don't get the infamous "500" error often like it sounds like others do, but I did the other day for about an hour when I was trying to upload some inventory and it was really frustrating.  The biggest issue is that there is seemingly no plan to upgrade their site or servers at all to fix these issues.  Hoping that whoever picks up this website does more with it than the current owner, because they obviously don't want to invest a dime into it.  

It’s hard to get a straight answer out of the admins. I can imagine how busy they are though. I was excited for bricklink XP to roll out but I still haven’t heard anything about it yet, except it was supposed to be released earlier this year. 

[Al Legorical]

39 minutes ago, Foreman Porgy said:

It’s hard to get a straight answer out of the admins. I can imagine how busy they are though. I was excited for bricklink XP to roll out but I still haven’t heard anything about it yet, except it was supposed to be released earlier this year. 

If they are going to sell BrickLink (they already turned down an offer) then it will need to look as profitable as possible. So cut any possible expense or investment. Potential buyers probably don’t see much behind the scenes, it will be someone, or company,  looking for an investment more than likely not that knowledgeable about the product.

be interesting to find out how much they will sell for

[minicoopers11]

14 hours ago, Foreman Porgy said:

I got this for about two hours yesterday. Finally eventually worked.

[Foreman Porgy]

3 hours ago, Graham Bailey said:

If they are going to sell BrickLink (they already turned down an offer) then it will need to look as profitable as possible. So cut any possible expense or investment. Potential buyers probably don’t see much behind the scenes, it will be someone, or company,  looking for an investment more than likely not that knowledgeable about the product.

be interesting to find out how much they will sell for

When did you hear that it’s being sold?

[Foreman Porgy]

3 hours ago, minicoopers11 said:

I got this for about two hours yesterday. Finally eventually worked.

It can be frustrating at times, but still can’t complain because of what we get to do, and also the fees are extremely lower than other platforms. 

[minicoopers11]

4 hours ago, Graham Bailey said:

If they are going to sell BrickLink (they already turned down an offer) then it will need to look as profitable as possible. So cut any possible expense or investment. Potential buyers probably don’t see much behind the scenes, it will be someone, or company,  looking for an investment more than likely not that knowledgeable about the product.

be interesting to find out how much they will sell for

I haven’t heard this. Also, the whole designer software and AFOL set thing seems to fly in the face of that logic. 

[Al Legorical]

39 minutes ago, minicoopers11 said:

I haven’t heard this. Also, the whole designer software and AFOL set thing seems to fly in the face of that logic. 

Can’t find the info at the moment, the parent company Nexon is “for sale”. 

 BrickLink doesn’t fit in the mold of the company, Jay bought BrickLink, as a fan, which is incorporated within Nexon 

i May have misread the article, which was a while back, Until I can verify facts, please take it as an unsubstantiated rumor, should have bookmarked the page where I found the info.

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2019/01/04/2019010401398.html

[minicoopers11]

14 hours ago, Graham Bailey said:

Can’t find the info at the moment, the parent company Nexon is “for sale”. 

 BrickLink doesn’t fit in the mold of the company, Jay bought BrickLink, as a fan, which is incorporated within Nexon 

i May have misread the article, which was a while back, Until I can verify facts, please take it as an unsubstantiated rumor, should have bookmarked the page where I found the info.

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2019/01/04/2019010401398.html

Interesting, nonetheless. Thx for the insight

[LegoMan1212]

I recently bought around 2,000 1 x 1 LBG tiles (from another BL store, decent feedback, no red flags here)) as my store ran out and I wanted to restock. They came and I am questioning whether they are real or not.  I have a very low chance in that they would be fake so let me present the facts as I know it.  I will take a picture later tonight of them compared to stock I have from newly opened sets if needed.

The Newly acquired Tiles Have:
1. The Lego imprint and tile number as expected.
2. The shade of color and size of the piece seems correct
3. The bottom of the tile bottom (the groove portion) is rounded at the corners and not square.  The top of the tile is square as expected.
4. On one side of the tiles, is a white mark of where it seems the paint was disconnected.  It looks like a small "nick" on each one that is roughly the size of the Negative key on a keyboard (slightly smaller).  Like a small sliver.  On other tiles I have, this mark is right in the middle on the underside.

I don't see the point in "faking" these with putting in #1 from above but I do question them. I know that these are made from various plants around the world so maybe one plant is making them differently.  Maybe these were "mass produced" and put into pick a brick which is why the mold is slightly different. 

Thoughts from anyone?  Does anyone else have any 1x1 tiles that clearly have the paint on these on the side vs underside?  

I ordered another 5,000 from another store and am waiting from them to ship to compare.

Thank you

Edited August 12, 2019 by LegoMan1212

[Foreman Porgy]

11 minutes ago, LegoMan1212 said:

I recently bought around 2,000 1 x 1 LBG tiles (from another BL store, decent feedback, no red flags here)) as my store ran out and I wanted to restock. They came and I am questioning whether they are real or not.  I have a very low chance in that they would be fake so let me present the facts as I know it.  I will take a picture later tonight of them compared to stock I have from newly opened sets if needed.

The Newly acquired Tiles Have:
1. The Lego imprint and tile number as expected.
2. The shade of color and size of the piece seems correct
3. The bottom of the tile bottom (the groove portion) is rounded at the corners and not square.  The top of the tile is square as expected.
4. On one side of the tiles, is a white mark of where it seems the paint was disconnected.  It looks like a small "nick" on each one that is roughly the size of the Negative key on a keyboard (slightly smaller).  Like a small sliver.  On other tiles I have, this mark is right in the middle on the underside.

I don't see the point in "faking" these with putting in #1 from above but I do question them. I know that these are made from various plants around the world so maybe one plant is making them differently.  Maybe these were "mass produced" and put into pick a brick which is why the mold is slightly different. 

Thoughts from anyone?  Does anyone else have any 1x1 tiles that clearly have the paint on these on the side vs underside?  

I ordered another 5,000 from another store and am waiting from them to ship to compare.

Thank you

If you can upload a picture of a couple side by side I can cross check them with tiles that came right out of newly parted out sets. 

[LegoMan1212]

If you can upload a picture of a couple side by side I can cross check them with tiles that came right out of newly parted out sets. 

Ones I just got on the left, older I already had on the right.

[LegoMan1212]

See what I mean?  I think I can still sell these as is, but it is just different to have that mark on the side of every single one.  As you can see, the very bottom of the tile is slightly different too.  I might just sell them as "new" still but make a note that there is a small mark on the side of each one.  Slightly disappointing though as it will hurt the margins but I would rather be honest upfront than have a buyer expect all sides to look great.

[Sharkbait]

That mark is the gate, which is where the plastic is injected into the mold cavity. It is a inherent to the molding process. The thing I find odd is that gate seems a bit large, and usually Lego uses a hot tip (leaves a small circular mark seen in the center of the right tile in your picture, or the stud of a plate/brick). I have a few tile pieces (1x2 and 2x2) that have the gates on the side of the part, but they are small circular indents. 

[Sharkbait]

I just got the bag of LBG 1x1 tiles I got directly from a Lego Discovery Center PAB wall, and they have that same side gate mark and bottom shape. 

Sorry for the poor cell phone picture quality, I didn't feel like getting my camera out. 

[LegoMan1212]

I just got the bag of LBG 1x1 tiles I got directly from a Lego Discovery Center PAB wall, and they have that same side gate mark and bottom shape. 

Sorry for the poor cell phone picture quality, I didn't feel like getting my camera out. 

Perfect. Thank you. This confirms they were from a PAB wall as I suspected initially. At least i know they are not fake.

[Foreman Porgy]

3 hours ago, LegoMan1212 said:

Ones I just got on the left, older I already had on the right.

 

3 hours ago, LegoMan1212 said:

Ones I just got on the left, older I already had on the right.

I’ve honestly never seen that before, but now that I did see it, I can’t unsee it...and I’m going through my tiles ?

[LegoMan1212]

I’ve honestly never seen that before, but now that I did see it, I can’t unsee it...and I’m going through my tiles

The reason I figured it was PAB is because there has been a recent surge in this piece available on BL so just assumed that for those that are fortunate to be next to a PAB store, this is why they suddenly have 10,000 of these.

I simply ran out and wanted to buy enough so I wouldn't run out again anytime soon. The marking is disappointing, but I'll just mention it in my listing so the buyer wont be turned off when they receive it like I was initially.

[Jackson]

Is bricklink.com down for anyone else or just me?

[Foreman Porgy]

On 8/15/2019 at 1:15 PM, Jackson said:

Is bricklink.com down for anyone else or just me?

It’s down...again. Oh hum 

[eracine]

it has been down since about 9am EST for me

[Huskers1236]

Yep, down all morning.  Got a mountain of orders to fill and and can't do ****.  Frustrating. 

[Foreman Porgy]

14 minutes ago, Huskers1236 said:

Yep, down all morning.  Got a mountain of orders to fill and and can't do ****.  Frustrating. 

Seems to be back up now, but for how long is the real question. 

[Al Legorical]

32 minutes ago, Huskers1236 said:

Yep, down all morning.  Got a mountain of orders to fill and and can't do ****.  Frustrating. 

I only recently returned to Bricklink after being BrickOwl only since 2013.

Is this the new normal? I pick up on a slightly resigned tone to messages about this. Thanks

[Al Legorical]

On 8/15/2019 at 2:15 PM, Jackson said:

Is bricklink.com down for anyone else or just me?

This maybe useful in the future  https://www.isitdownrightnow.com

[Phil B]

So I have one of these typical BL issues again: Placed 7 orders, 5 shipped. 6th one the seller sends me a "Sorry, I do not have the brick you ordered" message, ships the remainder and refunds me a penny. 

Is this acceptable? I dug around a bit and found that it would cost me $5 to get the brick from another vendor (including shipping). I told him this, and got a pissy email back saying that this is how it works on BL all the time.

I know that this is not how I run my business. If I have inventory mistakes, it is my problem and I fix it, even if it costs me $5 on a $0.10 brick. I have one open order still, and that vendor has this brick in stock, so I hope to resolve it that way, avoiding a conflict, but what would you advise I do?

(The problem is a little bit more complex, as this seller lives in my town and even though I only know him by name, he is an active LUG member and I might bump into him in the future, so I don't want to get too tough either).

Suggestions?