Bricklink/BrickOwl - Discussion, questions, & answers

[Victorymike18]

I think you have to factor in how you price the parts as well.

 

For example:  I am doing this for fun & a little extra income, so I price the majority of my parts towards the low end of the price range so that I get traffic from the unique parts that I put up and move parts.

 

I find that at the low end pricing, my inventory hovers around $150 in value (roughly 1400 to 1600 parts) and generates about 2-4 orders a week. (which works well for my schedule)

 

As I build my Briclink feedback and am willing to sit on parts longer, I will probably bring prices up to slightly under the average price so that I can make a bit more money (but know that the orders will slow until I build a larger inventory).

 

* I'm pretty new to this, but Here's my assumption:   I figure that having some low-priced unique items will get people looking, and some small orders, but people see you don't have a lot and just order a few things.      I figure that having a larger inventory priced around the average will work well for the people with larger wanted lists looking to buy larger quantity from one shop...

 

I'd love to hear feedback on this, as I could be totally off and should adjust my style.

[10230]

Also, just pure part count can be misleading. 70k of the same part won't help much. Have a good mix of all, with some of them at good prices.

[stoltzjl77]

I think your analysis is pretty spot on, VMike. I started out selling a lot more minifigs but now I am mainly selling parts (turns out, selling minifigs on Amazon/eBay is generally more lucrative). I usually have between 30-40k pieces in inventory and get 10-15 orders per month - which is plenty for the amount of time I have to give to it. I've got my red brick (500+ feedback). If I'm going to get any bigger I will need to organize my inventory better - right now it is just grouped by the set it came from, which is fairly convenient since BL easily references that from the order sheet. But if I wanted to grow it I would sort by piece or at least by BL description to make picking quicker.

 

Find a way that works for you and your situation/family, stick with it until it stops working, have fun, and good luck! Also, keep good records so you stay straight with the IRS.

[holleman67]

So I bought a base plate off of bricklink and nothing more. The guy charged me $9 for shipping which is nuts as I know it might cost $3 coming from *** to md. I sent him an email asking him why it's so high, does that make me crazy?

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Brickpicker mobile app

[minicoopers11]

So I bought a base plate off of bricklink and nothing more. The guy charged me $9 for shipping which is nuts as I know it might cost $3 coming from *** to md. I sent him an email asking him why it's so high, does that make me crazy?

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Brickpicker mobile app

Seems that should be $6 max for actual shipping cost, if it can't go first class (due to dimensions).

[Stragus]

So I bought a base plate off of bricklink and nothing more. The guy charged me $9 for shipping which is nuts as I know it might cost $3 coming from *** to md. I sent him an email asking him why it's so high, does that make me crazy?

Yup, it's always nice getting into a binding order without knowing what you'll end up paying! Some sellers also decide to charge packing materials, an arbitrary insurance amount, PayPal fees and so on.

As a buyer, I generally look at BrickOwl before falling back on BrickLink.

[DadsAFOL]

Baseplates are problematic to ship.  Most sellers use a box, which is probably why the shipping quote was high.  We ordered some giant padded envelopes specifically for shipping baseplates which drops the cost back to first class +/ $2.  As for knowing the shipping, BL has been working on a real ecommerce system for about two years.  They made a huge step forward yesterday by changing the font on a couple of pages.  /s 

[minicoopers11]

Baseplates are problematic to ship.  Most sellers use a box, which is probably why the shipping quote was high.  We ordered some giant padded envelopes specifically for shipping baseplates which drops the cost back to first class +/ $2.  As for knowing the shipping, BL has been working on a real ecommerce system for about two years.  They made a huge step forward yesterday by changing the font on a couple of pages.  /s 

Haha, I'm not the only one that noticed that.

 

 

Yup, it's always nice getting into a binding order without knowing what you'll end up paying! Some sellers also decide to charge packing materials, an arbitrary insurance amount, PayPal fees and so on.

As a buyer, I generally look at BrickOwl before falling back on BrickLink.

And some US sellers still charge PayPal fees despite the fact that is explicitly against Paypal's TOS.

[stackables]

I seem to have problems with sellers getting back to me.  A seller gave me a wrong piece and I requested he either refund me the cost of the item or send the correct piece.  It has been a week without a response.

[ctoddlight]

I seem to have problems with sellers getting back to me.  A seller gave me a wrong piece and I requested he either refund me the cost of the item or send the correct piece.  It has been a week without a response.

There are plenty of sellers on BL that are really just hobbyists, but that is no excuse for poor service.  Be sure to reflect your issues in your feedback and perhaps others will not experience the same problem.

I have not had many bad experiences with sellers, but get a fair number of buyers who do not really understand how the system works and have some difficulty.  If you read the information of the seller's splash page and their selling feedback it usually gives you some indication about their level of professionalism.

[stackables]

Yeah, I would assume that most sellers are hobbyists on bricklink.  Being impatient and always on the internet, I just don't understand why they cannot respond to an email within a couple days.  I check my email every couple of minutes

[10230]

Yes, base plates are expensive to ship. I had one seller charge me $5.50 for shipping+handling, but I understand. And you can always ask before you order (which I did).

[holleman67]

Couldn't you just put the base plate in a box? First class is 13 oz or less and is package eligible as long as it meets the requirements!

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[No More Monkeys]

Couldn't you just put the base plate in a box? First class is 13 oz or less and is package eligible as long as it meets the requirements!

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Brickpicker mobile app

Or just sandwich it/them between cardboards (maybe multiple cardboards for more rigidity..)

[stackables]

Couldn't you just put the base plate in a box? First class is 13 oz or less and is package eligible as long as it meets the requirements!

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Brickpicker mobile app

That is what I was thinking.  I am not sure how much they weigh but I would assume less than 13 oz.

[justafrog]

Couldn't you just put the base plate in a box? First class is 13 oz or less and is package eligible as long as it meets the requirements!

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Brickpicker mobile app

 

Boxes of a size to accommodate a base plate are not light. If the seller has the exact size box and/or has a box they can cut down to size, however, they would probably be able to ship a baseplate within the first class limits.

 

Re the other suggestion: Cardboard to protect a 32 x 32 (I assume that's the size we're talking about) is a little dicier -- it doesn't take a lot to break a baseplate of that size, and the post office can bend a couple sheets of cardboard any day of the week.

 

Regardless, you can cancel the purchase if you think the shipping charges are excessive ($9 is, $3 as in your OP may be unrealistic) and ask the next seller in advance what it will cost you -- a good policy if the seller isn't very clear on shipping prices on their terms pages and/or you're working with a more difficult to ship item like a large baseplate.

[holleman67]

That is what I was thinking. I am not sure how much they weigh but I would assume less than 13 oz.

Boxes of a size to accommodate a base plate are not light. If the seller has the exact size box and/or has a box they can cut down to size, however, they would probably be able to ship a baseplate within the first class limits.

Re the other suggestion: Cardboard to protect a 32 x 32 (I assume that's the size we're talking about) is a little dicier -- it doesn't take a lot to break a baseplate of that size, and the post office can bend a couple sheets of cardboard any day of the week.

Regardless, you can cancel the purchase if you think the shipping charges are excessive ($9 is, $3 as in your OP may be unrealistic) and ask the next seller in advance what it will cost you -- a good policy if the seller isn't very clear on shipping prices on their terms pages and/or you're working with a more difficult to ship item like a large baseplate.

Thanks for the comments, I paid the charges as I purchased without inquiring first. This is my second purchase from brick link so there is a learning curve here. This has taught me a few things:

1. Get shipping estimates beforehand instead of assuming

2. On my seller account, encourage buyers to get shipping quotes, may cost me time but may keep me from losing a returning customer.

3. Fine tune my seller terms and conditions, this seller had nothing. I knew that before buying and what do you know, we had two different thoughts of how this transaction will turn out.

I as ranting earlier as a buyer but understand from a sellers standpoint. Transactions like this just helps as it puts me in the buyers shoes, it helps keep me honest.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Brickpicker mobile app

[Alpinemaps]

I had someone pay me last month, without waiting for an invoice. I actually refunded them immediately and asked them to wait until I provided them with an invoice to pay me. That way, they know I'm honest, and that way, I know I'm going to get the full, correct amount before I ship.

On the flip side, I would never pay anyone without getting an invoice. I want to know how much they are charging me before I pay them.

[bbaer6676]

Hello everyone.

 

I mostly hang out in the daily deals thread but i am starting to mess with a bricklink store. I uploaded about two dozen sets, have about 8000 parts listed now and setup my splash page and shipping pages. It been about two weeks and no action. Is there anything i can do to market myself? Trying to figure out the trick to getting some sales but so far it seems like just having a ton of different parts. I know when i am buying i always try to find someone who has everything i need to avoid paying shipping to multiple sellers. I guess i thought i would have sold something at this point, i would like to get to a place where i was averaging about 10 sales a day. 

 

Brian

[Robb]

Hello everyone.

I mostly hang out in the daily deals thread but i am starting to mess with a bricklink store. I uploaded about two dozen sets, have about 8000 parts listed now and setup my splash page and shipping pages. It been about two weeks and no action. Is there anything i can do to market myself? Trying to figure out the trick to getting some sales but so far it seems like just having a ton of different parts. I know when i am buying i always try to find someone who has everything i need to avoid paying shipping to multiple sellers. I guess i thought i would have sold something at this point, i would like to get to a place where i was averaging about 10 sales a day.

Brian

im experiencing about the exact same thing. It's been about a month and I'm now at 30% off current price average and still not a single sale. I'd like to know how many sales go through bricklink a day. It may just be a waist of our time. Edited January 20, 2015 by Robb

[rastascoob]

There is a notification tool on your My Bricklink page that can send to people who have something on their wanted list.

[bbaer6676]

im experiencing about the exact same thing. It's been about a month and I'm now at 30% off current price average and still not a single sale. I'd like to know how many sales go through bricklink a day. It may just be a waist of our time.

 

Glad to hear its not just me. I don't think pricing has a lot to do it with, I doubt someone is making a decision on if they should by the 15 cent part or the 12 cent part. I think it has more to do with if you can fill the whole order. How many parts / lots do you have. Some of the guys I have bought from have over 40000 feedback. Estimating it takes 60000 sales to get 40000 feedback, and they have been doing it for 10 years that is still 15-20 orders a day, they are doing something right.

 

Brian

[gregpj]

Hello everyone.

 

I mostly hang out in the daily deals thread but i am starting to mess with a bricklink store. I uploaded about two dozen sets, have about 8000 parts listed now and setup my splash page and shipping pages. It been about two weeks and no action. Is there anything i can do to market myself? Trying to figure out the trick to getting some sales but so far it seems like just having a ton of different parts. I know when i am buying i always try to find someone who has everything i need to avoid paying shipping to multiple sellers. I guess i thought i would have sold something at this point, i would like to get to a place where i was averaging about 10 sales a day. 

 

Brian

 

No offense, but without knowing what kinds of sets or parts you've listed this is a difficult question to answer.

 

Questions about the sets...

-> Are the sets you've listed desired?

-> What is your shipping policy to countries outside the US? <Around 50% of my personal orders have been from the US>

-> Obviously, how do your prices compare?

 

Go to a set's price guide (i.e. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?S=10221-1) and see how the set is selling. Maybe sets like yours just aren't selling?

 

As for the parts... unless you've got some rare parts for a good price, 8000 parts isn't really that many. We've probably got 40,000 misc parts in our personal collection (not including any sets in that total). I don't even click on stores with only 8000 parts unless I'm looking for something specific and it comes up as so much cheaper that I'd be silly not to order from the store.

 

It's also not always about having tons of different parts, rather parts people want to buy in quantity. What gets you noticed? To me I either sort by "highest quantity" or "lowest price." Personally I suggest you target a particular theme of parts (i.e. technic or castle or space or etc) to get your inventory loaded. Get some popular minifigs into your store to drive traffic. Don't be afraid to stock regular old Lego bricks and plates either... When we were working on our big city project, we almost always started with "who can we buy a lot of 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, etc bricks from at a good price."

[bbaer6676]

Thanks for the information. I wasn't clear before, I parted the sets, not selling them as sets just loading the parts list into inventory. 8000 parts seems like a lot, but I can see how it is misleading. I still have lots to enter and more sets to part so hopefully that will get me up toward 40 or 50k in parts. Thanks for the tip on the minifigures, I have all the figures from the sets I am parting but I have plenty more that I can add. I do ship internationally and I have no min order. I sell a lot of sets on ebay and most of them go international so have seen the importance of shipping everywhere first hand. I never thought about quantity being important, my experience as a buyer has been ordering 20 or 30 different parts to complete a dozen sets that I bought off craigslist in bulk and put together with my son, I thought that was how everyone used the site.

 

Brian

[bbaer6676]

Thanks a lot for the post. I just need to reduce my expectations for the moment. Ill work to get a coupe hundred thousand parts entered in and then see how it goes. I think I am fair on shipping and handling so that shouldn't be an issue going forward, basically just trying to pass through my costs on that.