Does anyone use Bricklink?

[Alcarin]

I too like to use the site for minifig prices. I have also bought several items from the site. Never sold anything.

Interested to see how the classified section actually turns out. I am probably one of the only members who might be a little skeptical. I assume members here are more frugal than most so I don't see sellers getting top dollar for their sets. Here there is no mystery of what the set goes for on ebay. I could be wrong though.

I think Classifieds will have to be an agreement of Seller/buyer that both save 5%

So sets SHOULD be 5% lower here than on Ebay since that way seller still makes more than selling on Ebay and buyer saves 5% so both are happy = win/win

Some might only sell here because some people feel better if they know a fellow AFOL buys their LEGO and are taken with good care like they deserve.

[Ed Mack]

I agree.

Jeff and I can only give people the tools to sell, trade and buy items and to save money. If sellers choose to charge crazy prices for sets and pocket the savings from no commissions on sales, then sellers will not sell their items. If sellers choose to share their savings with the buyers, the Brick Classifieds system will work very well. I believe that members will do the latter and that peer pressure will keep prices fair for all concerned.

[Huskers1236]

I agree.

Jeff and I can only give people the tools to sell, trade and buy items and to save money. If sellers choose to charge crazy prices for sets and pocket the savings from no commissions on sales, then sellers will not sell their items. If sellers choose to share their savings with the buyers, the Brick Classifieds system will work very well. I believe that members will do the latter and that peer pressure will keep prices fair for all concerned.

And those that keep prices high, simply won't sell anything and eventually come down on price or quit posting. I'm very much looking forward to it because I look forward to do some figure trading and every now and then post some sets. Being able to pass fee savings along will expedite sales and I think we will find this to be a very useful tool. Are there going to be lights out deals? Probably not, we're pretty smart people here for the most part, but at least you will have very informed buyers and sellers and problems should be minimal.

[Ed Mack]

I think Classifieds will have to be an agreement of Seller/buyer that both save 5%

So sets SHOULD be 5% lower here than on Ebay since that way seller still makes more than selling on Ebay and buyer saves 5% so both are happy = win/win

Some might only sell here because some people feel better if they know a fellow AFOL buys their LEGO and are taken with good care like they deserve.

I agree. Sellers have about the same protection on Brick Classifieds as they would on eBay or Bricklink...basically none. While we offer Paypal, Escrow.com and a feedback system, sellers don't have any 'real' protection on any of the sites. Even eBay with its protection offers very little to sellers.

This is why in theory, the Brick Classifieds should work. If I'm going to tell you that on a $100 set, a seller can save approximately $10 in comparison to eBay and $3 or $4 in comparison to Bricklnk, maybe the seller will split the savings with the buyer. If the protection is about the same for sellers, why not pay the least fees?

[Ed Mack]

I agree.

Jeff and I can only give people the tools to sell, trade and buy items and to save money. If sellers choose to charge crazy prices for sets and pocket the savings from no commissions on sales, then sellers will not sell their items. If sellers choose to share their savings with the buyers, the Brick Classifieds system will work very well. I believe that members will do the latter and that peer pressure will keep prices fair for all concerned.

And those that keep prices high, simply won't sell anything and eventually come down on price or quit posting. I'm very much looking forward to it because I look forward to do some figure trading and every now and then post some sets. Being able to pass fee savings along will expedite sales and I think we will find this to be a very useful tool. Are there going to be lights out deals? Probably not, we're pretty smart people here for the most part, but at least you will have very informed buyers and sellers and problems should be minimal.

The tremendous growth of this site over the past year gives me hope that not only resellers and investors will be looking at listings. Jeff does a great job with Google and their search engines and I know when it goes live, there will be a multitude of non AFOLs and non investors looking to purchase LEGO sets from the Brick Classifieds site.

[Alcarin]

I really wish you Ed this makes a grand opening and ends up amazing... I am sure I will offer my stuff up here ;)

[Ed Mack]

I really wish you Ed this makes a grand opening and ends up amazing...

I am sure I will offer my stuff up here

i'm excited to see it launch myself. Jeff had to finish up the UK, Australia and German data and we are launching the new forums within days. All good stuff. But Jeff has done a tremendous job with the Classifieds and I can tell you it is quite unlike anything on the LEGO resale market right now. It is very attractive and simple. I just wish i had some programming ability so that I could help him.

[Alcarin]

i'm excited to see it launch myself. Jeff had to finish up the UK, Australia and German data and we are launching the new forums within days. All good stuff. But Jeff has done a tremendous job with the Classifieds and I can tell you it is quite unlike anything on the LEGO resale market right now. It is very attractive and simple. I just wish i had some programming ability so that I could help him.

On Ebay you can surely find books to learn programming but you always check Toys section

slacker ;)

[Ed Mack]

i'm excited to see it launch myself. Jeff had to finish up the UK, Australia and German data and we are launching the new forums within days. All good stuff. But Jeff has done a tremendous job with the Classifieds and I can tell you it is quite unlike anything on the LEGO resale market right now. It is very attractive and simple. I just wish i had some programming ability so that I could help him.

On Ebay you can surely find books to learn programming but you always check Toys section

slacker

True, Jeff self taught himself much of his ability to program. I myself, cannot read so I cannot teach myself. ;-)

[Jeff Mack]

Interested to see how the classified section actually turns out. I am probably one of the only members who might be a little skeptical. I assume members here are more frugal than most so I don't see sellers getting top dollar for their sets. Here there is no mystery of what the set goes for on ebay. I could be wrong though.

Buyers are smart. Just because it's on this site does not mean you will lose your profits. You are basically saying that people buying on Bricklink don't know the price of sets and will be likely to pay higher because its not a LEGO investing site. They have a price guide based on their own prices. People on ebay can look at completed listings to see what people are paying. The tools are out there and most people are "cheap" to begin with and will usually always look to the cheapest price.

The huge advantage to sellers on Brick Classifieds will be the options we are going to give you for selling on the site. It is dirt cheap. If sellers are smart and don't try to break records with high priced sales, they will move inventory. If you price it accordingly, have good deals, have good feedback, you will make your profits, even from fellow Brickpickers depending on the set. If you price it high, it will sit here just like it does on eBay and Bricklink.

[justgod]

I have used Bricklink for many years. I have bought and sold a few sets, but nothing major. I have also sold quite a few individual pieces. It is really only worth it for selling parts if you set your minimum high, like $10. Makes it less painful to go through the effort to pull 20 1x1 plates for a whopping 30 cents. However, I will say that Bricklink is great for picking up missing parts. They allow you to create a "wishlist" for individual sets that are missing pieces. You can then sort by the sellers that have most of the parts you are looking for versus going to each and every one. I also find it useful for determining what parts go with what sets. The site can be cumbersome, but overall I think it great, especially for parts. I look forward to seeing the new classified site on BP, although as most of us are collectors for resale, I am a bit skeptical as to how well it work as I can't see many people selling a set for less than what they can sell for elsewhere or many people buying a set that they can get cheaper elsewhere. I think a majority of the purchases will be for personal collections versus investments. Just my two cents.

[Jeff Mack]

I look forward to seeing the new classified site on BP, although as most of us are collectors for resale, I am a bit skeptical as to how well it work as I can't see many people selling a set for less than what they can sell for elsewhere or many people buying a set that they can get cheaper elsewhere. I think a majority of the purchases will be for personal collections versus investments.

I think some of you are getting the concept of trying to buy a Helms Deep for $80. This site will be no different than the thought process on eBay or Bricklink, it will just allow you to keep more money in your pocket at the end of the day which already will raise your profits right from the start. A retired set is a retired set no matter where its sold, but would you rather pay $1 or less in fees overall, or $10 or more?

Your customer base will not always be savvy Brickpicker members. Average Joe buyers will be there too once people learn about it over eBay and Bricklink. If its a retired set and can't be found on Amazon, etc. They will come looking for it. I have plenty of ideas to get people to find your sets on sale. Just have to give it time.

[justgod]

I think some of you are getting the concept of trying to buy a Helms Deep for $80. This site will be no different than the thought process on eBay or Bricklink, it will just allow you to keep more money in your pocket at the end of the day which already will raise your profits right from the start. A retired set is a retired set no matter where its sold, but would you rather pay $1 or less in fees overall, or $10 or more?

Your customer base will not always be savvy Brickpicker members. Average Joe buyers will be there too once people learn about it over eBay and Bricklink. If its a retired set and can't be found on Amazon, etc. They will come looking for it. I have plenty of ideas to get people to find your sets on sale. Just have to give it time.

Jeff, I have no doubt that you guys have done your fair share of research in looking at what does and doesn't work with other sites. I know the idea is to grow this site, but I am wary of a huge influx of "average Joes". The more people that come to this site, the more the idea of reselling is exposed, the more competition there is for the rest of us. I relate it to how I cringed when the USA Today article came out. As far as the fees, I understand that they will be less and save the sellers plenty of money in fees. However, I would be curious to know what the percentage is of ebay sales that are made to other investors/collectors. I would think that a very large portion of ebay sales are made to John Q Public, who are not savvy enough to know that they can get the set for less with a bit of research. Most of us here ARE that savvy, so while sellers can offer sets for less on this site because of less fees, they are still going to want a decent profit, meaning they are going to charge close to ebay prices (minus the fee savings).

Please do not get me wrong, I am not trying to pick a fight. I absolutely love this site and cannot begin to imagine all the hard work that goes in to keeping in its current great condition. It is especially impressive considering it is squeezed in amongst your guys' work and personal lives. I look forward to any and all upgrades. I was just trying to play devil's advocate for a minute.:cheese:

[akohns]

I think some of you are getting the concept of trying to buy a Helms Deep for $80. This site will be no different than the thought process on eBay or Bricklink, it will just allow you to keep more money in your pocket at the end of the day which already will raise your profits right from the start. A retired set is a retired set no matter where its sold, but would you rather pay $1 or less in fees overall, or $10 or more?

Your customer base will not always be savvy Brickpicker members. Average Joe buyers will be there too once people learn about it over eBay and Bricklink. If its a retired set and can't be found on Amazon, etc. They will come looking for it. I have plenty of ideas to get people to find your sets on sale. Just have to give it time.

If you can take home $10 more on a set you can also sell it for $10 less and sell it quick. Personally have some inventory I got after last christmas that I'd like to clear out below retail and make a few bucks. With ebay and paypal fees that's not possible. But I think with this new service I could probably get rid of someone because they can get it cheaper than on ebay and I can still make the profit I wanted. WIN/WIN!

[Jeff Mack]

I think some of you are getting the concept of trying to buy a Helms Deep for $80. This site will be no different than the thought process on eBay or Bricklink, it will just allow you to keep more money in your pocket at the end of the day which already will raise your profits right from the start. A retired set is a retired set no matter where its sold, but would you rather pay $1 or less in fees overall, or $10 or more?

Your customer base will not always be savvy Brickpicker members. Average Joe buyers will be there too once people learn about it over eBay and Bricklink. If its a retired set and can't be found on Amazon, etc. They will come looking for it. I have plenty of ideas to get people to find your sets on sale. Just have to give it time.

Jeff, I have no doubt that you guys have done your fair share of research in looking at what does and doesn't work with other sites. I know the idea is to grow this site, but I am wary of a huge influx of "average Joes". The more people that come to this site, the more the idea of reselling is exposed, the more competition there is for the rest of us. I relate it to how I cringed when the USA Today article came out. As far as the fees, I understand that they will be less and save the sellers plenty of money in fees. However, I would be curious to know what the percentage is of ebay sales that are made to other investors/collectors. I would think that a very large portion of ebay sales are made to John Q Public, who are not savvy enough to know that they can get the set for less with a bit of research. Most of us here ARE that savvy, so while sellers can offer sets for less on this site because of less fees, they are still going to want a decent profit, meaning they are going to charge close to ebay prices (minus the fee savings).

Please do not get me wrong, I am not trying to pick a fight. I absolutely love this site and cannot begin to imagine all the hard work that goes in to keeping in its current great condition. It is especially impressive considering it is squeezed in amongst your guys' work and personal lives. I look forward to any and all upgrades. I was just trying to play devil's advocate for a minute.

I know you are not trying to pick a fight, it doesn't even come into my mind that you are. It's just a discussion and a good one. I just want to ask what makes Bricklink any different than here? Its a site FULL of lego fanatics that know the value of a single brick to a #10179, but yet, they make thousands and thousands of sales (I am sure many amongst themselves).

Everyone in the world is not going to become a big time investor just because they come across this site. There is too much work, time, effort and space involved with doing this. There are plenty of people out there that will eventually just want to find a set at a good price from people (meaning knowledgable LEGO nuts) that know how to store them and ship them. There are plenty of people that have come and gone since the USA Today article, they know it's not for them and was just interesting for a moment.

Also, just like the article that Strytlr wrote on parting out sets. I know there is money to be made there, but I know I will never do that. That is not for me, no way, no how.

[brickmaster]

I see what Jeff Mack is saying and where he is going with this. I think some of you are worried that you someone will just be looking to give you 5% over whatever you paid for it. One day the Tower Bridge will be EOL and it will sell for whatever the market is dictating and won't matter whether you Mr Investor or not. The prices here will probably be close to whatever the price is on eBay, but here you will pocket more because of the low fee structure. Sound like a good deal to me. It won't be eBay $350, Brick Classifieds $275.

[face]

I only use it to price minifigures, not buy or sell.

Me to but I'm going to start buying.