Eric (Admin) Leaving Bricklink

[Jeff Mack]

Sad news from ERIC Admin

Leaving BrickLink.com

In case you don't know me, my name is Eric Smith. I was originally involved
with BrickLink as the web host, starting back in 2001. I assisted Dan with 3
or 4 server upgrades as the site traffic grew and helped out occasionally with
technical questions he had. It was exciting to see this site grow over those
years, watching the number of users and parts climb each month. I continued hosting
the site for Dan Jezek until he passed away in September 2010. I was asked to
serve as BrickLink Administrator by Dan's family, in addition to hosting
the site. The site saw an explosion of growth between 2010 and 2013, which was
rewarding to see.

After the site was sold in June 2013, both the family and the new owners asked
me to continue in my role as site administrator to aid in the transition between
owners. I wasn't sure how things would go, but I was invited to meet the
new owners in Seoul in July 2013. At our meetings, they convinced me that they
would be good stewards of the community that Dan built. Building a replacement
site seemed like it was the immediate priority, and I was looking forward to
providing guidance and serving as a user representative during this process.

When the chief communications officer role was created in November 2013, the
original charter was to serve as the liaison between BrickLink and AFOL groups,
conventions, etc. While I continued to do my job as site administrator, this
person managed to convince the site owners to put all customer service under
the chief communications officer role, effectively demoting me from a role I'd
been performing for more than three years.

This change occurred in December 2013. I asked ownership several times for a
reason for my demotion and was never given an explanation. This demotion and
new organizational structure was announced back in December with a little blurb
announcing the new customer service team. Since December, I have been relegated
to supporting her team, which has grown to five people including her. These five
people are now doing the same job I did, part-time by myself, for more than 3
years.

My contract is up at the beginning of June and it has no automatic renewal clause.
At the end of April, I contacted the leadership of the company to determine my
status. My assumption was that the answer was that I was being let go in favor
of her local team. Instead, the chief communication officer offered me only 10%
of my current contract fee to help her team do my old job. It would have been
far less insulting to simply not renew the contract. Sadly, as a result of this
response, I will no longer be involved in BrickLink as of June 5th, 2014.

If you have questions, please send them to me privately at eric ( at ) northcomp
( dot ) com. Thanks to those of you who have provided encouragement and support
during my time in this position. I'd like to hope Dan would be happy with
how I managed the community he created.

- Eric

 

Post can be found here:

http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=820935

[StarCityBrickCompany]

So now you are posting letters from disgruntled employees of your competitors - that's nice.

[Fcbarcelona101]

So now you are posting letters from disgruntled employees of your competitors - that's nice.

You're joking, right?

Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

[Alcarin]

So now you are posting letters from disgruntled employees of your competitors - that's nice.

 

Its good to read that really....

 

I liked Eric, did not know that, and now I do....

[Jeff Mack]

So now you are posting letters from disgruntled employees of your competitors - that's nice.

 

Don't be an idiot, just because you don't like me or Ed and myself, no need to always post negative comments.  I know there are a lot of people that deal with Bricklink.  It is news. If you don't like it, don't read it.

[StarCityBrickCompany]

Don't be an idiot, just because you don't like me or Ed and myself, no need to always post negative comments.  I know there are a lot of people that deal with Bricklink.  It is news. If you don't like it, don't read it.

 

I have always liked Ed.

[plasticbrix]

Thanks for the post, regardless of what that person said.  I don't visit Bricklink unless I am searching for something.  I find the post good because it shows how big that company is getting and if the company is getting that big, there is a pretty good chance that maybe not from the start, but over time, the fees will continue to go up.  So then why would I care to use them over eBay?  That is a lot of people to pay.

[sadowsk1]

It's interesting.  Hopefully the service doesn't change.  What he helped to establish is phenomenal.  I use bricklink with great frequency.

[Ed Mack]

So now you are posting letters from disgruntled employees of your competitors - that's nice.

Jeff is friendly with Eric and is only letting people know of the situation. It is news and Eric certainly didn't come across as disgruntled. Disappointed maybe. Can you blame the guy? He kept that site running for years.

On a personal level, what's with the hostility? I appreciate constructive criticism, but your tone of late is not appreciated. If you hate the site and what we do and promote, please move on to another LEGO site. Thanks.

Sent from my iPad using Brickpicker

[beartrapper]

It reads to me like a warning to all who sell on Bricklink that the fees are going to start climbing very soon.

[ctoddlight]

Thanks for posting this quite important piece of news.  BrickLink is a vital piece of the puzzle for myself and, I am sure, many others on this site.  I have become wary of the change of ownership as the promised improvements have not appeared while some "enhancements" to the site have been announced.  My favorite part of BrickLink is that it still feels more like a community than an e-commerce site--sort of like eBay 15 years ago.  If that element is lost with the new ownership no amount of interface updating will be able to make up for it.

[StarCityBrickCompany]

Jeff is friendly with Eric and is only letting people know of the situation. It is news and Eric certainly didn't come across as disgruntled. Disappointed maybe. Can you blame the guy? He kept that site running for years.

On a personal level, what's with the hostility? I appreciate constructive criticism, but your tone of late is not appreciated. If you hate the site and what we do and promote, please move on to another LEGO site. Thanks.

Sent from my iPad using Brickpicker

 

Sorry about the quick gut response (which I tried to edit afterward, but couldn't) - then I do apologize.

[Guest brickcrazyhouse]

that sucks 10% I would have been far less professional.  looks like the new owners are going in the direction many feared. I now am expecting a 90% drop in fees, and will be holding my breath till it kicks in. this will probably my last pos

[Darth_Raichu]

Is starcitybrick = KShine ? The original post was from starcity but the replies quoted KShine.

On topic: it is an intersting insight to what was going on behind the scenes. We do not know how much Eric held back and / or exaggerated. Either way there is going to be a culture shock when the new ownership starts revealing their changes. If I was a seller there I would prepare some backup options just in case I did not feel comfortable with new management.

[exciter1]

Is starcitybrick = KShine ? The original post was from starcity but the replies quoted KShine.

 

 

All this secrecy and account manipulation makes my head spin.

[brickmaster]

So now you are posting letters from disgruntled employees of your competitors - that's nice.

 

You definitely took this the wrong way, wasn't justified.

 

I have always liked Ed.

 

This was just arrogant, dumb and rude.

 

Sorry about the quick gut response (which I tried to edit afterward, but couldn't) - then I do apologize.

 

At least you apologized which is kind of you.  I think the post is fascinating and while I think the new Bricklink will probably be very good, it makes me wonder overall about the community there.  Only time will tell.  Some wills say Eric didn't do enough, but it was never his to do what he wanted to anyhow.  Other people pulled the strings and paid him.  Even though we don't know both sides and even if this is worded to favor Eric's side, chances are they could have handled it better.

[Ed Mack]

Sorry about the quick gut response (which I tried to edit afterward, but couldn't) - then I do apologize.

Apology accepted.  I am a big fan of the old Bricklink.  It was ugly, but it worked.  Jeff had a relationship with Eric(as programmers usually do) and he helped Jeff numerous times.  It was unfortunate that the previous owners of the site(family of Dan Jezek) were not very open to working with other websites, like us or even Brickset.  Jeff reached out to this new "community relations" person, but did not get a response.  Not even a "F-OFF!" 

 

I hope that their communications with members, customers and potential business partners improves, because so far, it has been subpar from the word on the street.  The new Bricklink might have a flashier interface, but if the community and communication sucks, it will fail.  Jeff and I wish Eric well...

[iahawks550]

After having extensively browsed through Bricklink yesterday for the first time, and placing an order, my thought was....."Wow, what a tremendously incredible website this could be with some relatively minor improvements" Clunky and cluttered came to mind.

[stoltzjl77]

Given that the new communications officer's chief qualification was that she built an amazingly huge and awesome replica of Hogwarts, it's not surprising there are some issues with her managing skills (at least from one person's perspective). I am pretty pessimistic about the future of BrickLink, especially after reading what Eric wrote. Some of the updates so far have been cool, but I'm waiting for the fee hammer to drop. Unfortunately there is no other viable alternative market for parter-outers (eBay is NOT conducive to parting out anything other than minifigs - especially not with the changing fee structure for fixed-price listings) so we'll either have to absorb the hammer blow or get off the anvil.

[Ed Mack]

Is starcitybrick = KShine ? The original post was from starcity but the replies quoted KShine.

On topic: it is an intersting insight to what was going on behind the scenes. We do not know how much Eric held back and / or exaggerated. Either way there is going to be a culture shock when the new ownership starts revealing their changes. If I was a seller there I would prepare some backup options just in case I did not feel comfortable with new management.

On the first point...yes they were the same and now it is just SBC.  Long story...

 

On the second point, I would think fees will change.  The new ownership didn't invest millions to make 2-3%.  Plus the cost of creating the new site and paying for the new site and constant maintenance has to be extremely costly. 

 

On the third point, Brick Owl is a solid option.  The site works well, even though it is not pretty.  Plus, there are always programmers and developers working on new sites behind the scenes.  Always. 

[Jeff Mack]

Unfortunately there is no other viable alternative market for parter-outers (eBay is NOT conducive to parting out anything other than minifigs - especially not with the changing fee structure for fixed-price listings) so we'll either have to absorb the hammer blow or get off the anvil.

 

Why can't you use Brickowl?

[Brickrunner]

Plus, there are always programmers and developers working on new sites behind the scenes.  Always. 

 

Seeeeecrets???

[stoltzjl77]

I have a BrickOwl account but it seems pretty dead over there.

 

Plus I'm lazy, and having to build a whole new reputation on a new site seems overwhelming right now. And by lazy, I mean I don't enjoy constantly updating inventories across multiple sites enough to make it worth my while.

 

Parting out is hard enough work as it is...

[gregpj]

Plus, there are always programmers and developers working on new sites behind the scenes.  Always. 

 

And there are always programmers who would love to offer their services to work on new sites. Always.

[stackables]

I wonder if we will see a bunch of disgruntle bricklinkes move to Brickowl. I have yet to buy anything from there but if more stores transfer over, I would have no problem in switching.  I feel Brickowl still has a lot of work to do with the site to make it as useful as Bricklink but is still has some potential.