I scored a great deal on almost the entire run of the lego viking theme on ebay but a couple of the sets are missing some pieces.  Of cousre I plan on bricklinking the missing pieces.  This gets me to my big pet peeve about most bricklink stores.  It seems most stores charge an "additional materials and handling fee".  I can stomach maybe 50 cents but shouldn't getting the parts and shipping them be part of doing business on bricklink? You can get padded evenlopes on bulk for less than 10 cents a piece.  I see stores who charge an additional $1.50 and fees.  That seems like a lot to me. I can understand stores don't like to handle small orders, then just have a minimum order requirement or adjust your prices accordingly. 

 

Whenever I see a store chargeing over $1 in additional fees, I go to the next one.  I know this sounds cheap and anal but buying $10 worth of parts and over 10% of that was an additional fee seems like a waist of money to me. 

 

Does this bother anyone else?  Or am I just being too cheap

Maybe just a tad cheap.

It is a pain for sellers to sell elements for mostly dime elements here and there. Then they have to have shipping supplies on-hand for even $0.75 orders before postage. These items aren't free, so I have no probs with chasing a buck or so for this.

I also don't have a prob with sellers have min purchase requirements.

My only prob / pet peeve are the sellers with min lot avg purchase prices. Ugh.. One seller even canceled my $40 order because I fell below his ave lot requirement (w/o buying minifigs it is hard to avg 75 cents per lot), that would be like me canceling a $400 lego set lot because the seller only averaged $40 per set instead of my required $75 per set. Who cares when they orders are of a higher amount...

Yep, I don't mind minimum purchase limits.  Stores should be comfortable with whatever they think is worth their effort.  I would hope that most stores would have shipping supplies on hand.  I usually always have supplies and I don't sell anything. 

We pieced out the market place modular and towards half way we had to add mini figs to meet (price per lot) requirements.  While annoying it allowed me to collect almost all the batman characters.  Turned around and sold collection on ebay. So it's possible to turn these annoying requirements into a profitable opportunity.

Maybe just a tad cheap.

It is a pain for sellers to sell elements for mostly dime elements here and there. Then they have to have shipping supplies on-hand for even $0.75 orders before postage. These items aren't free, so I have no probs with chasing a buck or so for this.

I also don't have a prob with sellers have min purchase requirements.

My only prob / pet peeve are the sellers with min lot avg purchase prices. Ugh.. One seller even canceled my $40 order because I fell below his ave lot requirement (w/o buying minifigs it is hard to avg 75 cents per lot), that would be like me canceling a $400 lego set lot because the seller only averaged $40 per set instead of my required $75 per set. Who cares when they orders are of a higher amount...

 

This is why they shouldnt charge handling fees - just have a minimum buy.

The whole Bricklink process is outdated and clunky... I've been putting off buying from there for the past few weeks just because I hate the process.

 

But I've yet to find a better alternative to finishing the used sets that are missing a handful of pieces.

All depends on the store, but people seriously underestimate the time it takes to put together pieced orders as well as the time to post. I don't have a problem with paying a handling fee when purchasing various lots as I know someone has locate the pieces in their inventory and count them out. Sometimes it isn't a quick task. On top of that there is the time taken to mail it off.

I agree, I don't really mind handling fees. Stores need a profit on the parts, but they also need a profit on their work.

The whole Bricklink process is outdated and clunky... I've been putting off buying from there for the past few weeks just because I hate the process.

 

But I've yet to find a better alternative to finishing the used sets that are missing a handful of pieces.

BL has recently handed over leadership from the originators mother to an actual business man.   I'm thinking an over haul is in the works.  

I scored a great deal on almost the entire run of the lego viking theme on ebay but a couple of the sets are missing some pieces.  Of cousre I plan on bricklinking the missing pieces.  This gets me to my big pet peeve about most bricklink stores.  It seems most stores charge an "additional materials and handling fee".  I can stomach maybe 50 cents but shouldn't getting the parts and shipping them be part of doing business on bricklink? You can get padded evenlopes on bulk for less than 10 cents a piece.  I see stores who charge an additional $1.50 and fees.  That seems like a lot to me. I can understand stores don't like to handle small orders, then just have a minimum order requirement or adjust your prices accordingly. 

 

Whenever I see a store chargeing over $1 in additional fees, I go to the next one.  I know this sounds cheap and anal but buying $10 worth of parts and over 10% of that was an additional fee seems like a waist of money to me. 

 

Does this bother anyone else?  Or am I just being too cheap

 

 

I find it really weird people complaining about that...

 

The point is minimum order is ok BUT I rather put fees on orders below XX

As a buyer on Bricklink, a modest handling fee (a dollar or two) doesn't bother me.

 

As a seller, I at first set up our store with a "small order" (under $5) handling fee of $1, and then changed my mind and simply went to no handling fee, exact cost postage.

 

We'll see how it goes. I, too, am looking forward to the revamped site (they've been doing some gatherings in Europe with sellers there to talk about what is wanted) and hope they can work out a system so that shipping can be effectively auto-calculated by part weight and put into a shopping cart type system.

This is why they shouldnt charge handling fees - just have a minimum buy.

How does a min purchase requirement relate to handling fees? Not trying to debate ya but I don't see the relationship.

All depends on the store, but people seriously underestimate the time it takes to put together pieced orders as well as the time to post. I don't have a problem with paying a handling fee when purchasing various lots as I know someone has locate the pieces in their inventory and count them out. Sometimes it isn't a quick task. On top of that there is the time taken to mail it off.

100% in agreement. It can be a real pain to locate 30+ diff elements in various colors , shapes, and sizes. ...and the print out a label, pack the items, and mail it.

Oh i really hope they revamp the shipping system. I HATE having to wait for an invoice to tell me the shipping fees. And to the letter of the law, it's too late to cancel by then. I bought set 4842 Hogwarts and the seller wanted $35 for usps parcel! Yeah, he didnt get my business.

I find it really weird people complaining about that...

 

Bricklink is perfect tool and easy to use... it just takes a little time to do the shopping (find cheapest seller) but thats the cost of being cheap ....

I also find bricklink easy to use to use (just took a few orders to learn the ropes). ...and the prices for the most part are pretty fair if not cheap. We shall see if the new regime can improve usability without adding extra seller fees.

Oh i really hope they revamp the shipping system. I HATE having to wait for an invoice to tell me the shipping fees. And to the letter of the law, it's too late to cancel by then. I bought set 4842 Hogwarts and the seller wanted $35 for usps parcel! Yeah, he didnt get my business.

Good point, for most larger orders, boxes, and sets, I usually email the sellers ahead of time.

As a buyer on BL, I completely agree with paying a small handling fee because I know what a pain it can be as a seller. For example, right now I have an open order (as a seller) on BL for 266 pieces. The total? $15. I charge an additional $1.50 for pulling this order because it is going to take me at least 1/2 hour just to pull the parts. There is not a lot of profit in selling parts unless you are willing to do it on a grand scale.

How does a min purchase requirement relate to handling fees? Not trying to debate ya but I don't see the relationship.

 

 

Basically he means that we should all (bricklink sellers) put minimum buy requirements so high that our current handling fees could be calculated inside minimum buy requirement ...

 

 

For example:

 

Instead of me selling on Ebay and writing in store terms:

 

''Any order below 10

That's the nice thing about Bricklink, you can ask for a quote and they can tell you how much the parts are up front if you want.  If it seems too expensive you have the option not to buy, but that's ultimately the price it costs to buy what you want and if it doesn't want, you can shop it around.

I recently purchased on Bricklink for the first time, and bought from 3 different sellers who all turned out to be great to deal with. I skipped over all the sellers who had minimum purchases and/or handling fees because mine were all small orders (average 10 pieces per store), and I couldn't justify spending more on postage/handling than on the legos themselves.

 

I wouldn't have minded going with a store with a minimum purchase amount IF I could find all the pieces I needed in that one store. So I would imagine that as a seller, you'd want to keep in mind the size of your inventory and the needs of your customer (are you trying to draw in buyers who need big lots, or buyers who just need a piece here and there?).

 

I agree that it's a terrible user experience for BL buyers. For one thing, how in the world do you choose a store out of the hundreds, thousands that are listed? I'd like to give the little stores a chance, but it's hard to get to them because all the big stores get sorted to the top.

For one thing, how in the world do you choose a store out of the hundreds, thousands that are listed? I'd like to give the little stores a chance, but it's hard to get to them because all the big stores get sorted to the top.

When buying by Wanted Lists, use the sort by "unique lots " (not total lots). You will find all sellers that match your wanted lists regardless of store size.

I am having a tough time trying to find all my parts in the fewest amount of stores. I have a couple of unique pieces and instructions that are making it a real problem   

Was going to give brickowl a try but some of the parts I need are not even listed.

I scored a great deal on almost the entire run of the lego viking theme on ebay but a couple of the sets are missing some pieces.  Of cousre I plan on bricklinking the missing pieces.  This gets me to my big pet peeve about most bricklink stores.  It seems most stores charge an "additional materials and handling fee".  I can stomach maybe 50 cents but shouldn't getting the parts and shipping them be part of doing business on bricklink? You can get padded evenlopes on bulk for less than 10 cents a piece.  I see stores who charge an additional $1.50 and fees.  That seems like a lot to me. I can understand stores don't like to handle small orders, then just have a minimum order requirement or adjust your prices accordingly. 

 

Whenever I see a store chargeing over $1 in additional fees, I go to the next one.  I know this sounds cheap and anal but buying $10 worth of parts and over 10% of that was an additional fee seems like a waist of money to me. 

 

Does this bother anyone else?  Or am I just being too cheap

 

Why dont you try to inventory and store away 10,000+ pieces and see if its worth your time to sell someone just 1 piece for less than .10 cents profit ... exactly lol

 

Why dont you try to inventory and store away 10,000+ pieces and see if its worth your time to sell someone just 1 piece for less than .10 cents profit ... exactly lol

Uh, isn't that where a minimum purchase amount comes into play

i understand the min purchase amount. I have looked quite a bit at seeing who has be best deal on parts and such and trying to figure it all out. i do not see a problem with this, but i do not think a min purchase and a fee at the same time is ok though