A Serious Discussion about Brick Classifieds

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

I just think you're opening yourself to trouble by stamping approvals on listings. What happens when you approve a listing, i buy it, and it arrives incomplete?

 

Eh - I can sort of see this, but that would just devalue the rating more than anything else. If there is no liability from the site, no protection, etc., then it is not as big a deal.

 

But this is why you would remove the ability from some people's listings, etc.

[Ed Mack]

I just think you're opening yourself to trouble by stamping approvals on listings. What happens when you approve a listing, i buy it, and it arrives incomplete?

Nothing. We cannot guarantee a listing. We are certifying the listing itself is quality and up to certain standards, just like the site that emes mentioned. Maybe an escrow system could work for guaranteeing sets. We don't have any knockoffs, so it wouldn't work the same. This is just discussion. Brainstorming.

[hepcatpunk]

Nothing. We cannot guarantee a listing. We are certifying the listing itself is quality and up to certain standards, just like the site that emes mentioned. Maybe an escrow system could work for guaranteeing sets. We don't have any knockoffs, so it wouldn't work the same. This is just discussion. Brainstorming.

 

That's just it though.  Any prospective buyer can tell if a listing is poop or not and choose to proceed accordingly.  I'm not sure a certified listing would make me want to purchase something over a listing being non-certified.  As a buyer, I'm careful w/ my money and would do my due diligence, as I'm sure most savvy investors on this site are.  Doesn't seem to fit imo.

[Alcarin]

That's just it though.  Any prospective buyer can tell if a listing is poop or not and choose to proceed accordingly.  I'm not sure a certified listing would make me want to purchase something over a listing being non-certified.  As a buyer, I'm careful w/ my money and would do my due diligence, as I'm sure most savvy investors on this site are.  Doesn't seem to fit imo.

 

 

Well it also give a better word to mouth  if all entries are approved.

 

'' hey you know brickpicker, only great sellers that take time and care can list and sell there, you should buy there way more detailed than digging through 10 crap listings with stock photos on ebay, it will save you time trust me''

 

and so on and on

[Diabolos80]

Nothing. We cannot guarantee a listing. We are certifying the listing itself is quality and up to certain standards, just like the site that emes mentioned. Maybe an escrow system could work for guaranteeing sets. We don't have any knockoffs, so it wouldn't work the same. This is just discussion. Brainstorming.

Yeah, I wouldn't be coming to you for compensation over a fraudulent sale. But it wouldn't do your credibility any favors.

In the fashion industry fakes run rampant, so I could see the appeal of a 3rd party authentification (I still don't understand how mypoupet can verify a product from an ebay listing). That won't be much of a problem with Lego, so the approval would either address verifying completeness, which is impossible, or it would just be putting a stamp on the prettiest listings, which seems a bit silly.

Maybe instead you could do a 'listings of the week' section to highlight quality sales and sellers. You'd get the same result without tying yourself down to an arbitrary approval system.

[Darth_Raichu]

Nothing. We cannot guarantee a listing. We are certifying the listing itself is quality and up to certain standards, just like the site that emes mentioned. Maybe an escrow system could work for guaranteeing sets. We don't have any knockoffs, so it wouldn't work the same. This is just discussion. Brainstorming.

 

Since all listings will need the approval of you or Jeff anyway, this can be an easy revenue generator.  As an added bonus, perhaps the BP certified listings can have a more prominent place in the search results compared to non-certified.

I agree with Hepcatpunk that this feature may not be very useful for the average forum posters and seasoned buyers.  However, for the average buyers who want to spend the least amount of time filtering crummy listings, this can be a very useful feature.

[Alcarin]

Since all listings will need the approval of you or Jeff anyway, this can be an easy revenue generator.  As an added bonus, perhaps the BP certified listings can have a more prominent place in the search results compared to non-certified.

I agree with Hepcatpunk that this feature may not be very useful for the average forum posters and seasoned buyers.  However, for the average buyers who wants to spend the least amount of time filtering crummy listings, this can be a very useful feature.

 

And thats reason enough imo....

 

That and good word to mouth of those people who will spend way less time searching for good detailed listings...

[Jeff Mack]

So what is the price value you would put on a feature like this if it were to be added?

[Alcarin]

So what is the price value you would put on a feature like this if it were to be added?

 

Depends what BP certified would cover/guarantee 

 

Perhaps double BP per 1$ listed? 

[emes]

(YeaI still don't understand how mypoupet can verify a product from an ebay listing). 

 

From their FAQ:

 

One must know how the item should look, so a catalog, the actual item, or other sample photos would be helpful if viewing an item online. Even then, sometimes one cannot tell the difference with just photos. And sometimes catalog photos are misleading. Even very good fakes typically have something that give them away. It could be a minute detail, but finding it is the tricky part. Often, it is only possible to judge authenticity by touching, smelling, and viewing the item in person.

 

I can vouch for this being correct. In fact, just last weekend my wife and I attended an auction where several "designer" items were auctioned. They were 100% fakes and she can clearly spot the fakes based on colors, style, wear, tags, etc... Despite the items being clearly fake, most of those at the auction were bidding on them as if they were genuine, and they went for amazing prices considering that they were fake. 

 

It can usually be done with a picture, but as they say, in some cases they authenticate in person. It's clearly a subjective skill. Also some designer items will have specific date code or other indicators that the counterfeiters always get wrong. You have to have access to and know what the date codes are, and even where to find them on the item.

[emes]

Since all listings will need the approval of you or Jeff anyway, this can be an easy revenue generator.  As an added bonus, perhaps the BP certified listings can have a more prominent place in the search results compared to non-certified.

I agree with Hepcatpunk that this feature may not be very useful for the average forum posters and seasoned buyers.  However, for the average buyers who want to spend the least amount of time filtering crummy listings, this can be a very useful feature.

 

I agree, I don't think this would necessarily be targeted towards seasoned buyers. In fact, a really good seasoned buyers wants a listing where they can see value that others might have missed. Think of the once per year seller that's dumping some sets that they bought that doesn't really understand eBay.

 

I want to be clear here that my thought on this is more focused on how Ed and Jeff can capitalize their understanding and knowledge of the main product that is the focus of this site, as well as leverage some of the standing in the market that they've generated to monetize some aspect of what they're doing. Without getting creative and figuring how to monetize things, they might not be able to grow the site as quickly as they want to. If people really want to help Ed and Jeff, platitudes about how awesome the free things are that they are doing will never be enough...what really needs to happen is they need to be able to show revenue and sell the site if they chose to at some point. Not saying that they would ever do this, but they're most likely not doing this purely from a charitable perspective.

 

Also, I feel a need to say that I'm not naive about what I've offered up here. This is not without risk...it could abjectly fail if the market doesn't find value in it. My company is focused on various aspects of IT consulting, training, security, and project management. From the training side of things there are huge scams in that marketplace that we have to compete with, with companies selling actual live certification exams, offering "hired guns" to take exams for people, etc. A company similar to mypoupette was formed for the purpose of addressing some of this many years ago, and I would argue that it's had little to no effect on the rampant scamming in the IT certification world. The company I'm referring to is http://www.certguard.com/ .

[emes]

So what is the price value you would put on a feature like this if it were to be added?

 

This is the part that I think will take some thought. It has to be low enough that people will be willing to do it, yet high enough that it's significant. With mypoupette, the reason that we use it is because their authentication service typically adds more than double that in value to an item. That's subjective...I have no data to back that up really, but mypoupette is expensive and we wouldn't use it if it didn't have an impact on our ability to sell things that higher prices.

[never2old4lego]

Question:  currently, set values are based on an average of sold prices on Ebay...once BC is up and running, will the prices that sets sell for on BC in any way affect the set values?  I'm thinking not, since it doesn't sound like actual selling price will be tracked.

[Ed Mack]

Question:  currently, set values are based on an average of sold prices on Ebay...once BC is up and running, will the prices that sets sell for on BC in any way affect the set values?  I'm thinking not, since it doesn't sound like actual selling price will be tracked.

Data of sold listings will be tracked.  Every transaction will have a feedback section that must be filled out by buyers and sellers in order to obtain a feedback score and reputation points.  In this section, there will be an input for the final sales price.  The buyer and the seller need to agree on this price or nobody gets feedback...and feedback is an item you will want to be successful on this site.

[never2old4lego]

Data of sold listings will be tracked.  Every transaction will have a feedback section that must be filled out by buyers and sellers in order to obtain a feedback score and reputation points.  In this section, there will be an input for the final sales price.  The buyer and the seller need to agree on this price or nobody gets feedback...and feedback is an item you will want to be successful on this site.

Thanks for the info!  Since you'll be tracking the data, am I correct to assume that it will be integrated into set values then?  If so, I'm wondering if that will end up lowering the overall values.  If values are based on Ebay now, and people generally pay more on Ebay than I think people will on BC (being more informed buyers), then sold prices are higher.  Once BC is up, if people stick to paying what the BP value is, and those sold prices are also averaged in, the overall values would go down, would they not?

[Jeff Mack]

Brick Classifieds would be separated from the eBay data.

[Darth_Raichu]

Brick Classifieds would be separated from the eBay data.

Will Brick Classified data be available to the public ?

 

Also, for people who use BC as a portal to their eBay listings / store, will there be a way to see how many people actually click the link on the classified to go to the advertised eBay listings / store ?

[Jeff Mack]

Will Brick Classified data be available to the public ?

 

Also, for people who use BC as a portal to their eBay listings / store, will there be a way to see how many people actually click the link on the classified to go to the advertised eBay listings / store ?

 

Yes, the classifieds data will go on the price guide pages.  Once there is substantial data it will go on there.  It will probably take a few months. I already have it worked into each listing on how many views its getting.  I didn't add anything yet to the eBay links to track clicks, but that can be done.

[graffiti600rr]

Another thought - this one is only half-formed, so feel free to point at it and laugh - is that with Lego LEGO Shop at Home, Amazon, etc., enforcing purchasing limits and/or outright banning folks, the classifieds could be a very handy place for some of the little guys to flip super-hot sets to some of the bigger guys.

 

For example, I buy a safe-and-sane two of the limited-du-jour on Amazon or Lego LEGO Shop at Home, keep all the nice VIP points and free bonus offerings for myself, and ship a trade or at-cost sale off to another seller who can't get any more of them from the mystery-limits at LEGO Shop at Home.

 

(Clearly shipping would be a factor in these cases, so local trades might work best, but I can see some super exclusives that Seller A doesn't necessarily want to tie up his cash in but Seller B is dying to get his hands on more being worth even the extra shipping in some cases.)

This is a great idea. This is a good way for all of us to get the sets that we want without being penalized by the limits.

[willy431]

Blog idea.....

Could somebody please take the time to pick maybe 10 or 20 random sets...newer and older...and run a comparison for what each sold for kn ebay vs. Bricklink in last 30 days...if that is possible with easily obtained data? It would help us gauge what we might expect to sell our products here. I am guessing ebay is going to be higher prices...even when the higher fees are figured in. Probably have to use bin (and us sellers) prices to get apples/apples.

I am still willing to take a 15% haircut off ebay selling prices...to not deal with them..and help support this site..and its members. Just curious if things would sell here/bricklink for 15% off ebay type pricing...or is it worse

[Fcbarcelona101]

Blog idea.....

Could somebody please take the time to pick maybe 10 or 20 random sets...newer and older...and run a comparison for what each sold for kn ebay vs. Bricklink in last 30 days...if that is possible with easily obtained data? It would help us gauge what we might expect to sell our products here. I am guessing ebay is going to be higher prices...even when the higher fees are figured in. Probably have to use bin (and us sellers) prices to get apples/apples.

I am still willing to take a 15% haircut off ebay selling prices...to not deal with them..and help support this site..and its members. Just curious if things would sell here/bricklink for 15% off ebay type pricing...or is it worse

 

I won't be writing articles for a while, but this is a great idea. If someone else does not write one before me, I will eventually do it myself. I spent the past 10 minutes or so just going over some sets (Hogwarts Castle being one of them) and I honestly did not see that much of a price difference. Most BL 4842s sold for $250 this month ($242 after BL fees) while eBay had many going for $270, some $300s, etc. Let's say most sell at $ 280 ($ 252 after eBay fees) so pretty close. Most of the expensive ones included shipping to, something the buyer has to cover on BL.

 

Of course, we would need a lot more evidence, but this was just to give you an idea.

[Jeff Mack]

Blog idea.....

Could somebody please take the time to pick maybe 10 or 20 random sets...newer and older...and run a comparison for what each sold for kn ebay vs. Bricklink in last 30 days...if that is possible with easily obtained data? It would help us gauge what we might expect to sell our products here. I am guessing ebay is going to be higher prices...even when the higher fees are figured in. Probably have to use bin (and us sellers) prices to get apples/apples.

I am still willing to take a 15% haircut off ebay selling prices...to not deal with them..and help support this site..and its members. Just curious if things would sell here/bricklink for 15% off ebay type pricing...or is it worse

 

I just did two quick ones and will look at more tomorrow.  

 

Tower Bridge (July 2013)  

Bricklink: $229.51

eBay: $261.86 (10 sold listings, Buy it Now)

 

Diagon Alley (July 2013)  

Bricklink: $219.72

eBay: $237.44 (12 sold listings, Buy it Now)

[Guest brickcrazyhouse]

not to much to add.  I would pay a flat rate listing fee, sounds interesting.  I first thought of it as a BP member online garage sale for people getting out or reducing inventory for space.  Probably wrong but interested in the idea.  

[boxofcorey]

I don't want to scroll through 13 pages on my outdated iphone so I'll just ask... is there going to be a way on the Classifieds to post WHAT I'm looking for? Kind of like a reverse classified where I'm looking for a set and how much I'm looking to spend? The BP Classifieds version of "My Wanted List"?
 

[justafrog]

I don't want to scroll through 13 pages on my outdated iphone so I'll just ask... is there going to be a way on the Classifieds to post WHAT I'm looking for? Kind of like a reverse classified where I'm looking for a set and how much I'm looking to spend? The BP Classifieds version of "My Wanted List"?

 

 

That is a good idea - useful for a lot of things, but what I'm thinking of off the bat is when folks want to get as many sets as possible at EOL - post a wanted ad, someone finds a cache of markdowns at their Walmart, buys all of them and keeps what they want, adds a reasonable "finder's fee" that keeps the price attractive for others and fills orders on folks wanted lists.