Bricklink/BrickOwl - Discussion, questions, & answers

[Al Legorical]

46 minutes ago, Phil B said:

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?

I do as you do, I’ve even bought a $200 set to get the parts required, part out the rest doesn’t cost much other than time and more inventory, more profit.

If I can’t get the part I will send a message alerting customer and ask what they would rather do. Including option to cancel order completely.

my minimum refund is $1.00

So. What are his store terms? There are stores that state clearly “if I/we make a mistake we will refund for the missing part” (only). I never buy from them.

given that you can get the missing part in your other order, me, I would go that route.

my MO is to never close a door unless you really have to, save conflict for a real problem and “least favorite” the store 

[LegoMan1212]

1 hour ago, Phil B said:

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?

Leave neutral reply that says, "Shipped Known Incomplete Order w/o my approval of missing pieces ok" (something like that)

No this shouldn't be normal but some people are cheap AF as sellers   When I mess up, it is minimum $3 refund + the cost of the piece and I make sure they still want the order before I ship.  This should cover shipping from someone else or at least help with it.

Edit: Also, I make sure I don't have it in my own collection.  Or sadly, my kids collection (I make it up to them). Or check recent sets and I will buy a set from Amazon to part out just for 1 piece if needed.  I've done it before and I'd do it again. 

Edited September 5, 2019 by LegoMan1212

[Phil B]

25 minutes ago, Al Legorical said:

[snip]

So. What are his store terms? There are stores that state clearly “if I/we make a mistake we will refund for the missing part” (only). I never buy from them.

[snip]

"We will always do our best to fix issues that might happen - we're human and things happen.  We will refund missing parts for orders or send them when it's worth it to do so but please remember shipping is at least $3.50 so sending a few replacement parts wont always make sense.  We just ask that you please let us know as soon as you can if you have an issie(sic) with your order so we can help you out."

[Foreman Porgy]

1 hour ago, Phil B said:

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?

If I ever run into an Inventory issue, I will tell the buyer that I was short a certain part. I’ll always order the missing part from another vendor, or open a set to get the part. I will then ask if they’d like me to ship their order (minus the one part) while letting them know the part is on its way. To me this is crucial for what we do. Buyers don’t want refunds. They want their Lego. If you don’t wanna cause conflict, leave a positive feedback stating that the seller was short an item, but sent refund instead of missing part. 

[LegoMan1212]

1 hour ago, Phil B said:

"We will always do our best to fix issues that might happen - we're human and things happen.  We will refund missing parts for orders or send them when it's worth it to do so but please remember shipping is at least $3.50 so sending a few replacement parts wont always make sense.  We just ask that you please let us know as soon as you can if you have an issie(sic) with your order so we can help you out."

What horse poo terms.  Why not just say... Chances are we won't satisfy you.  

Can you please PM me the store so I can put them on my thumbs down list. Thank you

EDIT: I want to explain why $3.50 is ridiculous as many of you know.  I'm a small shop but it does ok with selling parts.  I wish it was more but I'm also a 1 man crew and life gets in the way sometimes.  So in my shop, I think I'm hovering between $4k in parts sold this year so far.  I've made some mistakes this year, not many but I know they have happened (probably between 3-5 of 500ish).  Let's round up and say I screw up 1 of 100.  So 1 of 100 times about 1,000 orders a year is 10, which is $35.00.  Of another $3k total on top of the $4k, we have $7k of revenue (not counting the cost and obviously just making up numbers here) but then only $35 of extra fees for mistakes.  I would rather have $35 of loss from errors each year and 100% satisfaction from every customer than risk 1 customer either A) not get their complete order or B ) be giving a half-rear end refund when they did nothing wrong.

Edited September 5, 2019 by LegoMan1212

[Guest betsy805]

2 hours ago, Phil B said:

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?

Yeah, that's crap service right there. I message before sending to see what they want to do if it is a smaller order....including option to cancel order. A large order I will sometimes ship and send a message apologizing for not having a part (I sell lots of used minifig parts that you can't just open a new set for) and I will refund the piece and their entire shipping.

[Al Legorical]

1 hour ago, Phil B said:

"We will always do our best to fix issues that might happen - we're human and things happen.  We will refund missing parts for orders or send them when it's worth it to do so but please remember shipping is at least $3.50 so sending a few replacement parts wont always make sense.  We just ask that you please let us know as soon as you can if you have an issie(sic) with your order so we can help you out."

Please name the store. Their terms are BS. Its someone i would prefer not to order from. More than likely most folks here. But i go by what i said before "don't burn your bridges"    you never know they maybe the only place to get that really important part.

Edited September 5, 2019 by Al Legorical

[Huskers1236]

I would be pretty pissed if this happened to me and would at a minimum expect the price of the piece refunded as well as the shipping if they sent out without my acknowledgement.  I will always let a buyer know before packing if I have an inventory error and give them the right to order an alternate part, cancel, or get a refund if I cannot get the part.  I had an error a few days ago on a torso that, while in good shape, was brittle when examined it one last time, so I took one from my own collection that was new and sold as used and now is on my wanted list as I now need one for my figure.  Small price to pay to keep customers happy.  

 

On the flip side of the BL spectrum, I got my first ever non positive (a neutral) for not sending instructions that weren't supposed to be sent or ever even asked for by the buyer.  Love that.  Hasta la vista, 100%

[LegoMan1212]

3 hours ago, Huskers1236 said:

I would be pretty pissed if this happened to me and would at a minimum expect the price of the piece refunded as well as the shipping if they sent out without my acknowledgement.  I will always let a buyer know before packing if I have an inventory error and give them the right to order an alternate part, cancel, or get a refund if I cannot get the part.  I had an error a few days ago on a torso that, while in good shape, was brittle when examined it one last time, so I took one from my own collection that was new and sold as used and now is on my wanted list as I now need one for my figure.  Small price to pay to keep customers happy.  

 

On the flip side of the BL spectrum, I got my first ever non positive (a neutral) for not sending instructions that weren't supposed to be sent or ever even asked for by the buyer.  Love that.  Hasta la vista, 100%

Why you undercutting my store on the fantastic beast dudes?  My store includes instructions... maybe he read my description but bought yours due to cheaper price.   I guess lesson learned, don't undercut   haha  

Overall, sucks and I feel for ya.  At least it shouldn't impact anything as the explanation is pretty straight forward.  

[legorunner]

This was an interesting discussion to read. While I do the same  good seller practices discussed above, at least 50% of the time that a seller has not had a part I ordered they have simply refunded the value of the part without reaching out with options. Its definitely annoying, but because of the frequency I have just assumed it was the standard BL practice. It sounds like its time to raise my BL expectations! 

[Al Legorical]

17 minutes ago, legorunner said:

This was an interesting discussion to read. While I do the same  good seller practices discussed above, at least 50% of the time that a seller has not had a part I ordered they have simply refunded the value of the part without reaching out with options. Its definitely annoying, but because of the frequency I have just assumed it was the standard BL practice. It sounds like its time to raise my BL expectations! 

This will happen less on BrickOwl because a seller can only leave positive feedback, so no retaliatory feedback, they can however respond to feedback left. This is as eBay does. I think it’s better. 

[Huskers1236]

8 hours ago, LegoMan1212 said:

Why you undercutting my store on the fantastic beast dudes?  My store includes instructions... maybe he read my description but bought yours due to cheaper price.   I guess lesson learned, don't undercut   haha  

Overall, sucks and I feel for ya.  At least it shouldn't impact anything as the explanation is pretty straight forward.  

HAha, I priced them pretty low because my buy in on those sets was really low and wanted to try to move them before the site got bombarded with them from everybody else trying to unload them.  I've sold a few of them and this was the first person to say something.  I don't have the instructions in front of me, can you break them down to each individual beast without compromising the instructions for the others?

[Foreman Porgy]

3 hours ago, Huskers1236 said:

HAha, I priced them pretty low because my buy in on those sets was really low and wanted to try to move them before the site got bombarded with them from everybody else trying to unload them.  I've sold a few of them and this was the first person to say something.  I don't have the instructions in front of me, can you break them down to each individual beast without compromising the instructions for the others?

I do this once in awhile if I feel like a race to the bottom is coming. Better to get out at a break even or with a low ROI than have to deal with a hoard of sellers drilling the price into the ground. 

[LegoMan1212]

3 hours ago, Huskers1236 said:

HAha, I priced them pretty low because my buy in on those sets was really low and wanted to try to move them before the site got bombarded with them from everybody else trying to unload them.  I've sold a few of them and this was the first person to say something.  I don't have the instructions in front of me, can you break them down to each individual beast without compromising the instructions for the others?

You can and what I did is I ripped out the pages for each beast individually and there is zero overlap. 

[Huskers1236]

1 hour ago, LegoMan1212 said:

You can and what I did is I ripped out the pages for each beast individually and there is zero overlap. 

Thanks, I honestly thought I would be robbing Peter to pay Paul so I may have to do some instructions surgery and amend my listings so that I don't have any future issues.  

 

2 hours ago, Foreman Porgy said:

I do this once in awhile if I feel like a race to the bottom is coming. Better to get out at a break even or with a low ROI than have to deal with a hoard of sellers drilling the price into the ground. 

I checked out the listings and mine are still pretty low so I'll probably be upping mine a bit as most buyers of the set probably didn't part them out this way.  I like to be on the first page to get seen but don't want to be the cheapest.  

[LegoMan1212]

3 hours ago, Huskers1236 said:

I checked out the listings and mine are still pretty low so I'll probably be upping mine a bit as most buyers of the set probably didn't part them out this way.  I like to be on the first page to get seen but don't want to be the cheapest.  

Being the cheapest only means one thing... you are not making as much as the person above you.   

[Huskers1236]

16 minutes ago, LegoMan1212 said:

Being the cheapest only means one thing... you are not making as much as the person above you.   

Oh, no doubt.  I only have so much room to dedicate to this, though, so I need to keep inventory moving and when you don't hit as many wanted lists as others when you don't sell normal parts (for the most part) then I need to be attractive in other ways.  Figures that I know are more rare or that sell well in the store definitely get a bump in price since I know they are moving regardless.  

For these animals in question, I really felt that there was going to be a clearance boom to the inventory on the site so I tried to price at a point that I figured would keep me looking good when the others came on the site.  

[donbee]

Leave neutral reply that says, "Shipped Known Incomplete Order w/o my approval of missing pieces ok" (something like that)

I agree. A neutral comment at best.
Typical on BrickLink? Says who? It’s not in any policy. What a deusch thing to say.
I get it, you might run into him. So you want to tread carefully. But he doesn’t sound like the kind of guy you should be getting close to anyways. What’s he going to do if you leave a bad comment? Mean mug you at the country club?
Leave him no comment, but send him a return message with a similar tone that he mailed you, “I don’t care what you say, I’m gonna do it my way”. Except explain that your way is taking care of your customers, and communicating clearly.

[tawsauce]

How long does it typically take to get your store approved on BrickLink? It’s been almost a week for me and I haven’t heard anything from them besides a verification ticket number.

[Huskers1236]

On 9/8/2019 at 6:54 AM, tawsauce said:

How long does it typically take to get your store approved on BrickLink? It’s been almost a week for me and I haven’t heard anything from them besides a verification ticket number.

From reading the Forum on BL over time, it seems it can take a few weeks for an Admin to get to your ticket on these types of things.  Having a buying history on the site seems to help with this process as well.  When I got started, I think it was near instantaneous, but they are so understaffed now that everything takes forever to get done since I don't think they are ever caught up.  About all you can do is get your store full of your inventory in the meantime so you are ready to go when you finally get the call.

[Huskers1236]

I have been thinking about making the switch from paper printed labels to actual sticker labels and wanted to get some advice from those that use them already.  What brand do you use?  It sounds like there are some good off brand labels vs. buying branded, which ones are good enough they won't fade?  Any other factors I'm missing?   I'm looking to save more time with this part of the process since the printing/cutting/taping of the labels takes some time.  

[minicoopers11]

16 minutes ago, Huskers1236 said:

I have been thinking about making the switch from paper printed labels to actual sticker labels and wanted to get some advice from those that use them already.  What brand do you use?  It sounds like there are some good off brand labels vs. buying branded, which ones are good enough they won't fade?  Any other factors I'm missing?   I'm looking to save more time with this part of the process since the printing/cutting/taping of the labels takes some time.  

I've been using Rollo this year. Only downside to me is they have no wireless option, at least not when I bought it. I really should have switched to thermal printers with sticker labels years ago.

[Foreman Porgy]

1 hour ago, Huskers1236 said:

I have been thinking about making the switch from paper printed labels to actual sticker labels and wanted to get some advice from those that use them already.  What brand do you use?  It sounds like there are some good off brand labels vs. buying branded, which ones are good enough they won't fade?  Any other factors I'm missing?   I'm looking to save more time with this part of the process since the printing/cutting/taping of the labels takes some time.  

I had a dymo 4xl, but it gave out after only a year. Switched to a Rollo and have no complaints. It does what it’s suppose to do, easy to set up. Definitely a good idea to switch to a thermal printer. 

[zaphoid]

I'm just using the 2 stickers per page sheets.  The work well with eBay and Paypal shipping and its relatively cheep to by the sticker sheets off of eBay.

[DadsAFOL]

Dymo 4XL is worth every penny.  I've probably printed well over 20,000 labels on one.  I think @Foreman Porgy's experience is atypical.

Best thing is that it will do international labels with the integrated CN22 form if you use Endicia or other service.  And FedEx labels if ou do more than just USPS.