Bricklink/BrickOwl - Discussion, questions, & answers

[FM]

It's suddenly Bricklink season.  I've had more sales on BL this week than the past 3 months combined.  I sold a $600+ set but the buyer created his BL account the same day he ordered the set, so zero feedback of history.  Should I be concerned or are there any precautions I shoud take?  Thanks!

[iahawks550]

12 hours ago, FM said:

It's suddenly Bricklink season.  I've had more sales on BL this week than the past 3 months combined.  I sold a $600+ set but the buyer created his BL account the same day he ordered the set, so zero feedback of history.  Should I be concerned or are there any precautions I shoud take?  Thanks!

Everyone has to have their first order sometime. It's most likely legit. Send an email to verify some things, or make a phone call. Scammers most likely aren't willing to answer or provide that info. Legit customers are usually assured with that type of questioning.

[tz6p06]

21 hours ago, FM said:

It's suddenly Bricklink season.  I've had more sales on BL this week than the past 3 months combined.  I sold a $600+ set but the buyer created his BL account the same day he ordered the set, so zero feedback of history.  Should I be concerned or are there any precautions I shoud take?  Thanks!

I'm glad to hear you have seen an uptick in sales.  My sales over 2021 was minimal and I decided to close up my store on Brick Link and Brick Owl for a while.  I am trying to move some items locally for pick up only.  I think I will reopen the store in 2023 and take a break from the two online stores for a while.  As for the zero feedback, I wouldnt worry too much about it.  I've sold many expensive sets to people who just created their Brick Link account the day they purchased.  Good luck to you and hopefully you'll see continued success.

[FM]

15 hours ago, iahawks550 said:

Everyone has to have their first order sometime. It's most likely legit. Send an email to verify some things, or make a phone call. Scammers most likely aren't willing to answer or provide that info. Legit customers are usually assured with that type of questioning.

Good call on digging in!  I googled the 'buyer's' info and the email address comes back to a business registered in Russia.  The address comes back to a house in rural NJ with a business name "Shoppex Inc.".  I google "Shoppex Inc." and I get back a few ebay scam posts.  I google the phone number and I get a few dozen more complaints:

https://badbuyerlist.org/buyer/144199cf8b97489cece35687 

If you would like to put the individual on BL Buyer Stop List, its Bricklink username: de1388

 

Edited January 12, 2022 by FM

[tz6p06]

Thanks for posting the link to the bad buyer list.  This isnt something I heard of but I will try it out in the future.

[Ogelwoc]

I have a buyer who sent me a message directly to my email asking why the package not arriving yet. Package was shipped with tracking and tracking no. given to buyer. This is odd.

I replied the date it was dropped off, as well the postal confirmation that the package was delivered (weeks ago) and signed by the recipient as shown on PayPal. It was delivered to address in PayPal and BL.

I also replied through the BL messaging system for the record.

Appreciate any thoughts on what else I need to do, or something fishy I need to look out for.

[Randyipp]

Give them a bit to respond, I just had this exact same situation come up on a card selling platform and got a reply a day later saying "oops, wrong vendor".

Sounds to me like you have covered all your bases at this point.

[Ogelwoc]

Give them a bit to respond, I just had this exact same situation come up on a card selling platform and got a reply a day later saying "oops, wrong vendor".
Sounds to me like you have covered all your bases at this point.

Thank you. Useful.

[brickvoyeur]

It's good to see Lego subsidiary Bricklink has decide to partner with AliExpress to sell bootleg bricks

Facebook ad:

 

Searching on the AliExpress site:

[Alpinemaps]

If I had to take a guess, the ad designer probably lifted the Bricklink logo and slapped it on those ads. I’m sure they have nothing to with the listings.

[Goofball814]

Why do people put upper lot limits on BL?  Do they not want my money?

One store has 57 pieces I need to complete about 18 sets, but he has a lot limit of 30.  Why?  Just take my money.....

 

[Alpinemaps]

Why do people put upper lot limits on BL?  Do they not want my money?

One store has 57 pieces I need to complete about 18 sets, but he has a lot limit of 30.  Why?  Just take my money.....
 

Too much work, I guess, to grab things from too many lots vs their time and the ROI? I guess? I never understood it either.

[Randyipp]

1 hour ago, Alpinemaps said:

Too much work, I guess, to grab things from too many lots vs their time and the ROI? I guess? I never understood it either.

Yeah, it is crazy to me that they would just rather not take your money cause it might take them too long to pull the order.  Most sellers take the easy orders with the harder ones as they always seem to even out in the end.

[legorunner]

Is trading via Bricklink a thing? I have a buyer who has offered a couple of different trade options, but I assume this would be a violation of "no sales outside of Bricklink" that is parts of the terms of having a BL store. No money would exchange, and the items I would receive would go back into the store, but still, since BL doesn't get a cut, and the communication has happened through BL messages, it seems like this is just not worth the risk of losing my BL account. Anyone disagree, have experience trading, etc? 

[junkrigger]

Is trading via Bricklink a thing? I have a buyer who has offered a couple of different trade options, but I assume this would be a violation of "no sales outside of Bricklink" that is parts of the terms of having a BL store. No money would exchange, and the items I would receive would go back into the store, but still, since BL doesn't get a cut, and the communication has happened through BL messages, it seems like this is just not worth the risk of losing my BL account. Anyone disagree, have experience trading, etc? 

As with most things one must decide how much risk vs reward is there. I like buying and selling stuff on BL but compared to the other venues there just isn’t enough velocity, at least for me so it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest to lose my selling privileges, buying that might hurt but likely work around possible. With that in mind when a buyer contacted me through BL earlier this year about a fairly valuable set, 10175, new opened box, I had no issue with going outside of BL to do a local cash pickup sale. In this case is was more about not having to deal with PayPal and do a local cash sale that once done never comes back to bite you, rather than avoiding paying BL fees. I have sold other items through BL this year and this only represents about 20% of my estimated total sales there this year. This was in March and nothing has happened in terms of what your worried about. Just one data point though.


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[Huskers1236]

19 hours ago, legorunner said:

Is trading via Bricklink a thing? I have a buyer who has offered a couple of different trade options, but I assume this would be a violation of "no sales outside of Bricklink" that is parts of the terms of having a BL store. No money would exchange, and the items I would receive would go back into the store, but still, since BL doesn't get a cut, and the communication has happened through BL messages, it seems like this is just not worth the risk of losing my BL account. Anyone disagree, have experience trading, etc? 

I have been approached a few times to trade via Bricklink users, and have always declined since these were used items that were being floated out there and everyone's idea of "new" or "excellent" are wildly different.  So just because of this, I avoid it.  New, sealed items would be a different story in regards to condition, but as has been stated, going outside of BL leaves you to some risk of being slapped on the hand by Lego.  

[redcell]

Is trading via Bricklink a thing? I have a buyer who has offered a couple of different trade options, but I assume this would be a violation of "no sales outside of Bricklink" that is parts of the terms of having a BL store. No money would exchange, and the items I would receive would go back into the store, but still, since BL doesn't get a cut, and the communication has happened through BL messages, it seems like this is just not worth the risk of losing my BL account. Anyone disagree, have experience trading, etc? 

If it’s a good trade for you, I wouldn’t worry a great deal about the TOS. First, you’re trading and not selling so there’s no money for them to take a cut of. Second, that provision in the TOS is IMHO really designed to prevent people from leveraging the site to find customers and then moving their business outside of it to avoid fees. Here, you’re connecting with someone else to do an exchange. I would be very surprised if the admins at BL would care. If you’re really concerned, you could ask them how they feel about trades.

Personally, I’ve done one trade through BL, but it was years ago so maybe not the best precedent. It went smoothly and I’ve actually stayed in touch with the other guy over the years.


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[Mark Twain]

WTF is this? Just received this email from BL:

 

Dear BrickLink Seller,   We are sorry to inform you that the BrickLink Marketplace has recently been flooded with high-profile counterfeit Minifigures. These counterfeit Minifigures have in some cases been purchased from distributors on and outside of BrickLink. These are known to have been made using genuine LEGO elements with after-market (custom) printing. BrickLink has a zero tolerance policy [refer to sections 1 and 3] towards counterfeit items.   We are reaching out to you because we have seen several flagrant examples recently with very high numbers of items appearing in certain stores. Please report those listings when you notice them using this page.   Keeping the BrickLink Marketplace free from counterfeit elements is critical to maintain the reputation of BrickLink as a premier LEGO Marketplace.   As a Seller on BrickLink It is your responsibility to ensure that the items for sale in your store are original LEGO items.   In some cases the authenticity of an item can be difficult to determine, however the main things to look out for is the availability of a highly desirable LEGO Minifigure in hundreds or thousands from a single source as well as any discrepancy in the print.   If you have or suspect that you have these listed in your store, please remove them immediately as we will be taking action against stores selling these items now and ongoing. If the problem persists, we would have to consider further restrictions for listing Minifigures on the site. If you have recently sold counterfeit Minifigures we suggest you reach out to the buyer and offer to take the Minifigures back. We appreciate your understanding and collaboration.

Sincerely, The BrickLink Team

Disclaimer: This issue is not related to the Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures forum post.

[donbee]

Glad they’re doing something about it.


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[exciter1]

54 minutes ago, Mark Twain said:

WTF is this? Just received this email from BL:

 

Dear BrickLink Seller,   We are sorry to inform you that the BrickLink Marketplace has recently been flooded with high-profile counterfeit Minifigures. These counterfeit Minifigures have in some cases been purchased from distributors on and outside of BrickLink. These are known to have been made using genuine LEGO elements with after-market (custom) printing. BrickLink has a zero tolerance policy [refer to sections 1 and 3] towards counterfeit items.   We are reaching out to you because we have seen several flagrant examples recently with very high numbers of items appearing in certain stores. Please report those listings when you notice them using this page.   Keeping the BrickLink Marketplace free from counterfeit elements is critical to maintain the reputation of BrickLink as a premier LEGO Marketplace.   As a Seller on BrickLink It is your responsibility to ensure that the items for sale in your store are original LEGO items.   In some cases the authenticity of an item can be difficult to determine, however the main things to look out for is the availability of a highly desirable LEGO Minifigure in hundreds or thousands from a single source as well as any discrepancy in the print.   If you have or suspect that you have these listed in your store, please remove them immediately as we will be taking action against stores selling these items now and ongoing. If the problem persists, we would have to consider further restrictions for listing Minifigures on the site. If you have recently sold counterfeit Minifigures we suggest you reach out to the buyer and offer to take the Minifigures back. We appreciate your understanding and collaboration.

Sincerely, The BrickLink Team

Disclaimer: This issue is not related to the Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures forum post.

Shame Shame, at least that's what I felt like, and I haven't sold a single thing on there.

[Ogelwoc]

I’ve this seller/ buyer on BrickLink, who I think is a drop shipper based on my snooping around and special request made for the shipping.

Buyer has a store in one state but requesting shipping to a different state. Obviously, I only ship to recipient address as per PayPal address, which name is different than buyer name. Buyer offered to pay and print shipping label which I declined, s I think it not worth the risk.

I’m wondering how buyer manage to do that.
Been wrecking my head on this as this buyer bought from me few times.

[raindog]

I have never understood the reasoning behind sellers not wanting to sell to drop-shippers.  As long as they make it right with Paypal (by ensuring that the recipient is the name on the ship-to on PP) then I am fine with it.  I have mailed literally 100+ orders to drop-shippers over the past 7-8 years and not a single one has been a problem.  Drop-shipping is a legitimate form of commerce.  LEGO uses it, as does Amazon, Target, WalMart and most other retailers.

Concerning the letter, every seller received a copy of it.  I get my minifigure/parts from legitimate sources.  I ignore Hong Kong sellers with 300 of a $10 figure.  I don't spend money for parts to sellers in Korea, China, Russa, etc.  As far as I know, I have never sold a counterfeit part or minifigure, although I have purchased a few,

[Huskers1236]

10 hours ago, Mark Twain said:

WTF is this? Just received this email from BL:

 

Dear BrickLink Seller,   We are sorry to inform you that the BrickLink Marketplace has recently been flooded with high-profile counterfeit Minifigures. These counterfeit Minifigures have in some cases been purchased from distributors on and outside of BrickLink. These are known to have been made using genuine LEGO elements with after-market (custom) printing. BrickLink has a zero tolerance policy [refer to sections 1 and 3] towards counterfeit items.   We are reaching out to you because we have seen several flagrant examples recently with very high numbers of items appearing in certain stores. Please report those listings when you notice them using this page.   Keeping the BrickLink Marketplace free from counterfeit elements is critical to maintain the reputation of BrickLink as a premier LEGO Marketplace.   As a Seller on BrickLink It is your responsibility to ensure that the items for sale in your store are original LEGO items.   In some cases the authenticity of an item can be difficult to determine, however the main things to look out for is the availability of a highly desirable LEGO Minifigure in hundreds or thousands from a single source as well as any discrepancy in the print.   If you have or suspect that you have these listed in your store, please remove them immediately as we will be taking action against stores selling these items now and ongoing. If the problem persists, we would have to consider further restrictions for listing Minifigures on the site. If you have recently sold counterfeit Minifigures we suggest you reach out to the buyer and offer to take the Minifigures back. We appreciate your understanding and collaboration.

Sincerely, The BrickLink Team

Disclaimer: This issue is not related to the Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures forum post.

You will see certain sellers with tons of specific figures/parts on the site.  You think they get these legitimately?  The thread on the trans figures is a good one as well and I've seen tons of these being sold on Instagram and now Whatnot.  They are official parts since they are stamped, but Lego is not making them.  The email title and message did make it seem like I had done something wrong, though.  

[Ogelwoc]

I have never understood the reasoning behind sellers not wanting to sell to drop-shippers.  As long as they make it right with Paypal (by ensuring that the recipient is the name on the ship-to on PP) then I am fine with it.  I have mailed literally 100+ orders to drop-shippers over the past 7-8 years and not a single one has been a problem.  Drop-shipping is a legitimate form of commerce.  LEGO uses it, as does Amazon, Target, WalMart and most other retailers.

Concerning the letter, every seller received a copy of it.  I get my minifigure/parts from legitimate sources.  I ignore Hong Kong sellers with 300 of a $10 figure.  I don't spend money for parts to sellers in Korea, China, Russa, etc.  As far as I know, I have never sold a counterfeit part or minifigure, although I have purchased a few,

I’ve no issue selling to dropshipper, in fact have done few times. Just that this particular one is asking to create and post on his own the shipping label, and then send the label to me. The set will still be paid through PayPal. Now, there is a scenario where PayPal address won’t match shipping label, and I run the risk of claiming item not received.


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[Brystheguy]

10 hours ago, Ogelwoc said:

I’ve no issue selling to dropshipper, in fact have done few times. Just that this particular one is asking to create and post on his own the shipping label, and then send the label to me. The set will still be paid through PayPal. Now, there is a scenario where PayPal address won’t match shipping label, and I run the risk of claiming item not received.


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There's no way I'm doing that. I go by what is in Ebay and that's it. Maybe offer that he can reimburse you for shipping if he's so intent on paying for it.