BrickLink Discussion Forum

This issue does crop up quite often, and the reason shops will have a min buy
(mine included) is that if an order comes in for a very small amount then the
shop will actually be paying to send the order out (it's all to do with min
Paypal fees etc).

What I would suggest is if there's a shop with items you want but under their
min buy just talk to them, most will be accommodating. I've had plenty of
people message me this and always allow the purchase to go through as long as
I am able to tag on an axtra 50p to make sure I don't run at a loss. It's
just a practical

I know it can seem frustrating but it is just the mechanics of running a store
without hitting a loss. It is not the shops profiting or any bad marketing decisions.

In Suggestions, Brickochet writes:

This is a fairly bad marketing idea for shops that probably don't work out
in the shops favour. I know a majority of my browsing has ended up in me taking
my business and money to another shop. Where I am either buying from someone
without a min buy, or selecting other items I actually want to hit that minimum
purchase amount. So my suggestion is to add a donation field/possibility to finish
passing the required purchase line.

I have only made 3 purchases since I joined but these 3 people are profiting
by shop deterrence over the min buy. One of which was a difference of 3 cents
to the min buy vs. paying 1 cent more for the same thing because it didn't
have one.

Author:

nectara

Posted:

Jun 1, 2019 06:42

Subject:

Re: Option to Donate to reach min. buy

Viewed:

45 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Brickochet writes:

If a few cents deter you to buy then maybe Lego hobby it's too expensive
for you.
Regards
Nectara

Author:

axaday

Posted:

Jun 1, 2019 04:12

Subject:

Re: Option to Donate to reach min. buy

Viewed:

33 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Brickochet writes:

In Suggestions, axaday writes:

In Suggestions, Pretty_Pieces writes:

So good idea, but doesn't really need a separate feature, in my humble opinion.

It does for instant checkout.

not all shops offer: the above mentioned work-around, or instant check out.
Kinda missing the point =/

I am pretty sure you missed my point. PrettyPieces says it doesn’t need a special
feature because she will adjust the invoice. I say it does need a special feature
for instant checkout.

Author:

yorbrick

Posted:

Jun 1, 2019 04:06

Subject:

Re: Option to Donate to reach min. buy

Viewed:

37 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Brickochet writes:

Can't you just buy some extra parts you are likely to need in future?

Author:

Brickwilbo

Posted:

Jun 1, 2019 03:06

Subject:

Re: Option to Donate to reach min. buy

Viewed:

40 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Brickochet writes:

This hasn't been implemented yet because having a store minimum doesn't
have to be intended for the money, it's often there to save time for not
having to pick small orders.

Author:

bb1404048

Posted:

Jun 1, 2019 02:51

Subject:

Re: Option to Donate to reach min. buy

Viewed:

43 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, axaday writes:

In Suggestions, Pretty_Pieces writes:

In Suggestions, Brickochet writes:

Hi Brickochet,
I've had this in place since I opened, though my minimum buy has crept up
since then. On my home page I list a minimum buy bypass password, along with
a notification that if it is used, I will add a $ amount to their order to hit
the minimum. I only have people take me up on it about once a year. It was more
often when my minimum was lower.

So good idea, but doesn't really need a separate feature, in my humble opinion.

It does for instant checkout.

not all shops offer: the above mentioned work-around, or instant check out.
Kinda missing the point =/

Author:

axaday

Posted:

Jun 1, 2019 00:24

Subject:

Re: Option to Donate to reach min. buy

Viewed:

50 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Pretty_Pieces writes:

In Suggestions, Brickochet writes:

It does for instant checkout.

Author:

Pretty_Pieces

Posted:

Jun 1, 2019 00:19

Subject:

Re: Option to Donate to reach min. buy

Viewed:

49 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Brickochet writes:

Author:

bb1404048

Posted:

Jun 1, 2019 00:09

Subject:

Option to Donate to reach min. buy

Viewed:

190 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

iprice

Posted:

May 28, 2019 13:54

Subject:

Re: Embedding pictures in contact function

Viewed:

36 times

Topic:

In Help, CCBricks writes:

Good morning all,

Is there a way to send photos via the contact option? I have a potential buyer
interested in a certain minifigure and wants photos. I'm happy to oblige,
but can't figure out how to send photos. I dont have the email address so
I can't send then that way. I tried using the Help section. But was unsuccessful.
any help is appreciated.

Brian

Can't you just ask the buyer for their email address?

Author:

Brickwilbo

Posted:

May 28, 2019 11:19

Subject:

Re: Embedding pictures in contact function

Viewed:

74 times

Topic:

In Help, CCBricks writes:

Upload images to your My Images and add the links into your message.
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/myimages_modal.page?CKEditor=splash-editor-6013&CKEditorFuncNum=1&langCode=nl

Author:

bje

Posted:

May 28, 2019 08:46

Subject:

Re: Embedding pictures in contact function

Viewed:

42 times

Topic:

In Help, CCBricks writes:

I've never been able to that. Add the images as additional images to your
inventory (select the inventory item, click on "edit more" and then "upload image")
or ask that person to send you his/her e-mail address so you can send the images
direct.

Author:

CCBricks

Posted:

May 28, 2019 08:39

Subject:

Embedding pictures in contact function

Viewed:

72 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

Brickwilbo

Posted:

May 28, 2019 05:21

Subject:

Re: Warning to seller for inconsistent config

Viewed:

51 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, alexbinary writes:

Hello,

After some time as a buyer, I just opened my store on BrickLink.

At first I was only shipping domestic so I configured domestic shipping method
and checked only the domestic checkbox for PayPal payments.

I am now opening to international sales, so I configured international shipping
methods, but I had forgotten about the international checkbox for PayPal and
did not check it.

I got messages from potential buyers saying they could not checkout because I
had not configured a payment method.

I do not understand how enabling international shipping without international
payment can make sense, so I would assume that anyone who did this made a mistake.

My suggestion is to have BrickLink check for this inconsistent configuration
and at least warn sellers about it, or maybe even prevent it from happening.

Thanks
Alex

BrickLink can't know the intention of the seller for certain configurations.
It's the sellers responsibility to make sure that the settings are correct.
There should be a proper way to test settings though.

Author:

alexbinary

Posted:

May 28, 2019 01:23

Subject:

Warning to seller for inconsistent config

Viewed:

189 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

DeLuca

Posted:

May 27, 2019 20:46

Subject:

Rewording of Forum Rule #4

Viewed:

184 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

I recently noticed that the wording of Forum Rule #4 is quite odd. While I do
understand the meaning of the existing version, it is structured awkwardly and
ambiguously (such that, for example, it could indicate that offensive
words are not to be replaced with pornography!).
A revised version of Rule #4 (such as I have drafted) would clarify what, precisely,
is defined as "offensive" (as this is a highly subjective term), as well as making
the sentence-structure more understandable - Particularly to non-native English-speakers.

Existing:
"Posts should not include foul language, lewd, or other offensive content, or
links to such content. This includes replacing offensive words with alternate
letters or characters, pornography, or any kind of racial/prejudicial content."

Revised:
"Posts should not include offensive content, nor any links to such content, including:
Profane, foul, lewd, pornographic, violent, or prejudicial language or images.
Replacing censored words with alternate letters or characters, or editing images
to obscure forbidden content with pixilation or black bars, is also prohibited."

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

May 27, 2019 13:39

Subject:

Re: Helpful but ....

Viewed:

48 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

Optionally included where?

https://www.bricklink.com/help.asp?helpID=22

That is not how it works when we upload our xml file from Briokstock. The file
has the category number in it but leads with the itemid.

Knowing how the tables work and what is in them would be helpful to get this
sorted, but suffice to say that when the xml data comes along Bricklink has to
make up its mind what to do with it and it cannot do that without the itemid
e.g. part no. It requires part no, colour and condition to see if the data submitted
is a new lot or matches an existing lot. So the item id is used somewhere - it
cannot just work from the category id.

It is a mandatory field out of Brickstock for an xml
update inventory. The only time lot numbers come into it are if you wish to update
existing inventory. Niek is right - the system is doing a lookup to pick up the
description so it can look up the product id quite easily.

It performs a lookup on the category only, nothing else.

Sorry that cannot work - the category could have hundreds of items in it so how
is it going to know which item to either add or update? It simply isn't logical.

Yes according to Bricklink
we sell lots but according to reality we sell items which make up lots.

In reality there has never been a single catalog item sold on BL

Mind blowing
I know, but download your orders with full detail - there is no such thing in
the catalog as a "Red Technic, Brick 1 x 14 with Holes" as a separate catalog
item, yet that is the only description on your invoice.

The catalogue is made up of many related tables - the order detail download is
useless as far as we are concerned and has been set up by Bricklink to offer
info they wish to offer not the info we need.

The fact
that this platform has no real inventory system available to stores does not
mean we cannot look at elements of the catalogue when we are bringing in data.
A schema would clearly establish this - Product ID cannot be duplicated and
therefore can be read easily when a lookup to that table is done.

What do you mean by Product ID - the lot ID or the catalog item ID? These are
two different things altogether and bear no relation to each other.

The lot id is a bricklink generated number assigned to each store for each item
no, colour and condition. That then represents , lets call it a stock item and
that is what we sell. Lot nos, however are cumbersome and clumsy, so we use Lego
design id nos or (Bricklink part nos) to refer to our items. No one uses lot
nos other than the system.

If I modify the xml file we created when we export xml to Clipboard - the mass
upload will not work - we get an error message that the file format is invalid.
If I put the itemid back in it works.

Export with a comment and delete the item field again, it will work. You could
conceivably list your entire inventory without a single catalog item id.

No, I am afraid it doesn't - the system tells us it is an invalid file format.

We have moved off the original point - the only real resolution to this is if
someone at Bricklink who understands the code

is willing to share that info
out in the forum.

Whilst I am confident nothing will happen over this suggestion it would be welcome
for BL to comment.

Admin ?

Author:

qwertyboy

Posted:

May 27, 2019 13:35

Subject:

Re: Helpful but ....

Viewed:

37 times

Topic:

To illustrate, see attached picture of an upload of a yellow 2x4 brick. The program
knows it is part 3001, it even shows the picture, and if you hover over that
picture, the title says "Part No: 3001 Name: Brick 2 x 4". So don't tell
me that when showing this page it is difficult to add "Part No: 3001" somewhere
in clear text on that line.

Niek.

Author:

qwertyboy

Posted:

May 27, 2019 13:24

Subject:

Re: Helpful but ....

Viewed:

35 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

In Suggestions, qwertyboy writes:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

That would be a valid argument, if BL weren't already showing the item description
on that exact same screen. If the program is able to show the description (which
is a lookup into the items table), it already knows the part number (or at least
grab it from the same table the description came from).

So yes, it is a request easily implemented.

Niek.

But the item number is optionally included, it is not even a required field.
And from what I can see, only the category field ties to the item number in the
catalog. As a matter of fact, you can list everything in your store without a
single catalog item number, so long as you have the category and comments fields,
mass uploads will work. We sell lots, not catalog items.

You are missing the point. The issue here is that, when uploading a common "2x4
brick" (part 3001), the screen shows "2 x 4 Brick" - the official BL description
of part 3001. Obviously at that point the program knows it is dealing with part
3001 (as it had to look up that description) and it also shows a picture of that
part. As it has all the info, it is indeed easy to just add "3001" somewhere
on that line item.

Niek.

Author:

bje

Posted:

May 27, 2019 12:57

Subject:

Re: Helpful but ....

Viewed:

33 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

Optionally included where?

https://www.bricklink.com/help.asp?helpID=22

It performs a lookup on the category only, nothing else.

Yes according to Bricklink
we sell lots but according to reality we sell items which make up lots.

In reality there has never been a single catalog item sold on BL

The fact
that this platform has no real inventory system available to stores does not
mean we cannot look at elements of the catalogue when we are bringing in data.
A schema would clearly e4stablish this - Product ID cannot be duplicated and
therefore can be read easily when a lookup to that table is done.

What do you mean by Product ID - the lot ID or the catalog item ID? These are
two different things altogether and bear no relation to each other.

If I modify the xml file we created when we export xml to Clipboard - the mass
upload will not work - we get an error message that the file format is invalid.
If I put the itemid back in it works.

Export with a comment and delete the item field again, it will work. You could
conceivably list your entire inventory without a single catalog item id.

Whilst I am confident nothing will happen over this suggestion it would be welcome
for BL to comment.

Admin ?

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

May 27, 2019 12:40

Subject:

Re: Helpful but ....

Viewed:

30 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

In Suggestions, qwertyboy writes:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

Optionally included where? It is a mandatory field out of Brickstock for an xml
update inventory. The only time lot numbers come into it are if you wish to update
existing inventory. Niek is right - the system is doing a lookup to pick up the
description so it can look up the product id quite easily. Yes according to Bricklink
we sell lots but according to reality we sell items which make up lots. The fact
that this platform has no real inventory system available to stores does not
mean we cannot look at elements of the catalogue when we are bringing in data.
A schema would clearly e4stablish this - Product ID cannot be duplicated and
therefore can be read easily when a lookup to that table is done.

If I modify the xml file we created when we export xml to Clipboard - the mass
upload will not work - we get an error message that the file format is invalid.
If I put the itemid back in it works.

Whilst I am confident nothing will happen over this suggestion it would be welcome
for BL to comment.

Admin ?

Author:

bje

Posted:

May 27, 2019 12:02

Subject:

Re: Helpful but ....

Viewed:

34 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, qwertyboy writes:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

May 27, 2019 11:51

Subject:

Re: Helpful but ....

Viewed:

28 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, qwertyboy writes:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

Thanks Niek

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

May 27, 2019 10:54

Subject:

Re: Helpful but ....

Viewed:

29 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, qwertyboy writes:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

Thanks Niek

Author:

qwertyboy

Posted:

May 27, 2019 10:51

Subject:

Re: Helpful but ....

Viewed:

35 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

May 27, 2019 08:42

Subject:

Re: Helpful but ....

Viewed:

47 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

I voted yes, but I am not entirely sure this would be as simple as is believed
on first glance.

The reason that part number gets dropped is because in BL world, that part number
is not something used to differentiate inventory items. What you are adding are
lots, and not individual stock items or even different colours of an item. This
is the reason you cannot cost 2 different batches of the same inventory item
with different cost prices added at two different dates on BL, as you are merely
adding to existing lots, and not adding a new batch which must be reported on
separately. Showing the part number when importing would probably have to mean
that the lot would need an additional characteristic added to it to move it into
the realm of actual inventory of parts and not lots.

My information may be a tad wrong, but from experience, lots (that is your inventory
items) are differentiated only on the comments and the condition, nothing else.
It is, sadly, a throwback to auctioneer inventory where the lot is costed as
a unit and fees are earned on the unit. To get to a basis of project costing
or at the very least some average costing for your inventory items as actual
items and not lots, would possibly take a redesign of the entire inventory handling.

Thanks for adding your comments/thoughts to this. I am not convinced they should
apply, though. The xml file to the mass upload feature includes the part no -
if it is in that file it can be displayed on the verify page. I understand the
lot concept but as Bricklink does not really have an inventory management system
built in we believe picking this field up from the xml file that it receives
should not be a problem.

Having said that as the code is referred to as spaghetti by the development team
they may not understand how to do this.

Speaking of average costing that would be a blessing - but again little chance
of that as BL move towards no stores, no inventory just Amazon/Ebay esque model.
We won't be involved with that as, when and if it ever appears, and from
the comments we have had from others neither will an awful lot more.

Brickowl also doesn't have a proper inventory management system and although
handling Lego items isn't easy - Lego have an in house modified system -
they do not have to deal with condition. Here you have part no colour and condition
to cope with.

A fresh design would be ideal but development investment is not high on the priority
list, it appears.

If you look at a sample of a small file we did yesterday, in-between server 500
errors, you will see what I mean

95345
88
18
P
3
0.270
U

The lot number is checked based on item no, colour and condition and if there
is a match it adds to that lot; if not it creates a new lot and adds that but
it still knows the item no. Displaying it, ther4efore is a couple of lines of
code to be added (according to my head of development).

Thanks again for your comments and for voting for the suggestion.

Author:

bje

Posted:

May 27, 2019 07:51

Subject:

Re: Helpful but ....

Viewed:

61 times

Topic:

Author:

uvt203

Posted:

May 27, 2019 06:00

Subject:

Re: Helpful but ....

Viewed:

35 times

Topic:

Voted YES - it's a really good proposal for a simple improvement.

/Asger

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

Firstly let me say that we know suggestions are not being implemented and according
to MP no work is being done on the classic site however this is a small request
which doesn't require huge amounts of development time and would make life
a bit easier.

Currently the method of manually adding inventory is long winded, provides no
audit trail of what has been done and at best is clumsy.

We use Brickstock for most of our updates to our store. It is much easier, quicker
and provides us with a complete audit trail - the only real snag is what happens
when the file gets to Bricklink, The verify screen drops off the Bricklink part
number for some reason so we are left with an audit trail which, when variants
are involved, isn't really all that helpful, although to be fair we have
used this for some time.

Simply placing the bricklink product code on the verify screen would be very
helpful and this is not a major programming issue. At the same time give us a
print button to print that screen Using the print command from the browser doesn't
work well with the page setup falling short of what is needed.

This is a simple matter and could be resolved in minimal time - please implement.

Author:

Stuart9

Posted:

May 27, 2019 05:55

Subject:

Re: Helpful but ....

Viewed:

36 times

Topic:

+1

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

May 27, 2019 05:50

Subject:

Helpful but ....

Viewed:

233 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

yorbrick

Posted:

May 14, 2019 05:17

Subject:

Re: Fair, safe and legal trading = BL principles

Viewed:

73 times

Topic:

Well, yes, you are right. The seller has to cancel when requested but is entitled
to taking any measures they like. Especially since this Bricklink world is slightly
different from regular online retail as a lot of labour goes into getting an
order together.
Maybe the "without penalty" part wasn't phrased to well. At least I would
like the language to change. Because right now some sellers write things in their
terms like "I don't accept cancellation requests" or "orders are legally
binding contracts" or stuff like that. I think there's an important distinction
between discouraging it / considering it rude or something like that on the one
hand, and making buyers believe they have no actual choice but to pay up on the
other hand. The latter is basically misinformation about the rights that consumers
have. I think vulnerable/naive consumers should be protected by at least being
offered store terms that don't obscure their rights.

Yeah, I totally agree. This is sort of covered already in the terms, as sellers
must abide by their local laws, and writing contract terms that go against those
just mean the buyer is likely to win if they ever took the case to small claims
court or equivalent.

That said, the BL terms mention that orders are "legally binding contracts",
which probably needs cleaning up.

- Being responsible for lost shipments - meaning full refund or resend if anything
goes missing

And no problem there, and this holds if the buyer pays with paypal anyway. Although
if BL start asking for proof of delivery routinely, this may change smaller orders
as sellers start charging for this.

I think Bricklink could do two things in all this: 1. Enforcing by being involved
with the actual transactions, which might be complicated and costly (although
that is not an excuse it is not needed - perhaps it is) and/or 2. Simply moderate
store terms ahead of any transactions a store may be involved in. That's
not too much manual work, and we live in an age where computers can recognize
actual people in photographs, so I'm pretty sure some algorithms can be put
together to spot illegal store term claims. Even with a simple search operation
it's easy to spot them.
I think the main problem has to do with stores having illegal terms more than
store having legal terms but not keeping to them. Once the store terms are sound,
buyers will be able to call out and spot bad sellers pretty easily whenever they
cause trouble that's not in line with their own terms.

Yeah, although there are probably ways around the machine learning checks for
terms. It might be better that BL has one set of terms that sellers must agree
to, standardised across all stores. Where necessary there could be country based
amendments (across all sellers in that country) due to local laws.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

May 13, 2019 14:45

Subject:

Re: Fair, safe and legal trading = BL principles

Viewed:

49 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:

- Full acceptance of cancellation without penalty and without reason required

This issue has been around for years (as has the thread!). There is no legal
right to cancellation without penalty. The buyer has a right to cancel,
but that does not mean that they can order, then cancel. Order, then cancel.
And so on without penalty. If a buyer becomes a problem for a store (whether
on BL or elsewhere), the store is legally entitled to stop selling to them. It
is the same with feedback - feedback does not affect the right to cancellation.
Just because a buyer has a right to cancel, it does not take away the right a
seller has to leave feedback or file a NPB. Of course, if a buyer is responsive
and asks for a cancellation, then many decent sellers will allow cancellations
and they may be more lenient than if the buyer just doesn't pay. But if a
buyer orders then cancels, orders then cancels, orders then cancels, it wouldn't
surprise me if the buyer gets blocked from buying from that store.

And last but not least:

- Being responsible for lost shipments - meaning full refund or resend if anything
goes missing

Author:

JusTiCe8

Posted:

May 13, 2019 06:39

Subject:

Re: Fair, safe and legal trading = BL principles

Viewed:

69 times

Topic:

In an ideal world maybe, in our world anyway, even law enforcement units doesn't
care so much about laws so...

Modern profit oriented world: as long as money comes in (and in the "right" pocket),
who cares ?
But when the flow decrease or worth, stopped: panic mode, create tons of new
laws, made tons of arrests and trials (quite like financial crisis of 2007/2008)
then... move on, and the show must go on.

BL team becoming stricter = less sellers = less sales = less profit, I guess.

In Suggestions, Teup writes:
[...]

These laws apply to all EU stores, regardless of the legal form of the store.
Here on Bricklink we sell in stores (selling through the forum is not even allowed).
Therefore, all of the above is applicable and in my opinion should be enforced
by Bricklink.

Author:

yorbrick

Posted:

May 13, 2019 06:03

Subject:

Re: Fair, safe and legal trading = BL principles

Viewed:

72 times

Topic:

- Full acceptance of cancellation without penalty and without reason required

- Accepting returns and refunding the buyer including the postage cost and the
postage cost of sending it back

Again, legally they have this right (although may need to pay return postage
if this is detailed in the seller's terms). But that doesn't mean the
seller cannot block them to stop them doing it again in the future.

Large online retailers are starting to crack down on people buying items, especially
clothes, wearing them with the tags on, then returning them.

- Not charging more for transaction fees than the transactions actually cost

No problem there.

And last but not least:

- Being responsible for lost shipments - meaning full refund or resend if anything
goes missing

Author:

Teup

Posted:

May 13, 2019 04:52

Subject:

Re: Fair, safe and legal trading = BL principles

Viewed:

103 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:

This suggestion is a summary of my recommendations, plus input from others' many
private messages I received on this over the last few days that I would like
Admin to consider in the site upgrade.

BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION:-

The BrickLink site has always required its' members, both buyers and sellers,
to trade legally and fairly. This is an essential aspect of the site's reputation
which makes it an attractive venue for buyers and sellers to trade here with
confidence and safety. The continued success of the site and enjoyment of it
experienced by its' members both depend heavilly on this being maintained.

The site continues to grow rapidly and welcomes many mew members, both buyers
and sellers every day. The financial success of the site has indeed secured its'
future beyond the loss of its' inspired founder. In the early days, this site
was a small community and the founder members and early adopters clearly did
a great job in building the principles of the site and policing it in a self-regulatory
way. For the most part this still works today but, as is demonstrated in the
many threads recently, some (buyers and sellers) are falling short of those principles
and indeed the law! This may be driven by the vast increase in membership which
makes this place less "personal" for some and combined with this; the laws and
regulations covering internet trading become more and more complex as governments
focus on the explosion of such trading and their need to close tax loopholes
and try to protect their consumers from substandard trading and scams.

I believe the site and ALL its' members (except for any that come here to do
unfair or illegal trading) will benefit from a more developed policy on safe
and legal trading for both their own protection and for the reputation of the
site in general which should help promote its' continued growth and success.

The following suggestions are simply my thougths on "how" some of the issues
might be addressed taking into account the direct input I have had from several
other members as well as many forum threads over the years but some recent ones
in particular:-

SUGGESTION #1 - EXPAND ON THIS IN TOS:-

TOS #11 REQUIRES the following.

"General Compliance with Laws:
You shall comply with all applicable laws, statutes, ordinances and regulations
regarding your use of our service and your listing, purchase and sale of items."

Whilst this "covers" the site in demonstrating to authorities its' intent not
to encourage illegal behaviour, in practice it does little or nothing to:

1. Help inform its' members about what those laws might be and where to find
out about them. Many of the problems here (for buyers and sellers) are caused
by a complete lack of knowledge on the relevent laws.

2. Provides no penalty for breaking them which unfortunately is the reason why
some of the intentional law breakers are comming here.

I suggest changing the TOS #11 to spell out some of the specific laws that members
need to comply with, namely:

Customs - sellers are required to complete customs documents as required by law
honestly and accurately which, for the purpose of selling here, means declaring
the sales value of the goods as stated on the invoice and NOT misprepresenting
commercial sales as gifts.

Compliance with local advertising, selling and consumer protection laws - sellers
are required to comply with all relevent laws applicable to their selling activities.

Taxation - prior to listing any items for sale, sellers are advised to check
the rules in their country relating to any taxation they may need to charge their
customers (e.g. sales tax, VAT as applicable) and any requirements to declare
to their tax authorities any sales activity they conduct on this site.

SUGGESTION #2 - MAKE CUSTOMS FRAUD A REPORTABLE OFFENCE:-

Just as we can report listings that do not comply with the TOS, have a similar
funtion where:

1. Sellers can report (with evidence e.g. private message) to Admin that a buyer
requested a fraudulent customs declaration.

2. Buyers can report (with evidence e.g. private message or something in sellers'
terms) that a seller is offering a fraudulent customs declaration.

3. If a penalty is given, just like an NPB or NSS, a buyer or seller can have
feedback removed if it was given in relation to a transaction subject to the
penalty.

4. A buyer or seller has the right to cancel an order without penalty if subject
to a validated request for customs fraud.

Validated reports would result in a penalty ranging from 1st warning, through
temporary suspension of buying or selling rights, to membership termination for
repeat offenders.

SUGGESTION #3 - HAVE A HELP GUIDE ON SAFETY AND THE LAW

Which members have to declare they have read before they can buy or sell on the
site.

Unlike eBay which has legal resources in many of its' markets, BL has a central
Administration which cannot be expected to be expert on these matter in all geographies.

Perhaps we cound have voluntary "country Admins" for this purpose who would be
responsible for maintaining content with an opening statement relevent to their
market and a number of (official government only) links to any laws relating
to internet buying and selling in their country and the official taxation and
customs sites for their country. This must have a legal disclaimer saying these
Admins and the site are not giving legal advice and it is the ultimate responsibility
of the individual member to ensure he/she complies with all applicable laws.

SUGGESTION #4 - HAVE SOME FUNCTION TO PROMPT BUYERS WHEN BUYING INTERNATIONALLY
-

When you put something in a cart of a store not in your country, you are prompted
to look at a page that says something like:-

"You are about to purchase from a store located outside of your country, you
are advised to check if you may be liable for any customs charges relating to
importing this item into your country WHICH ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY before committing
to this purchase. Purchasing from overseas may also limit your rights as a buyer."

Obviously, this needs some more thought! I would not want this message for EVERY
item I put in a store cart, maybe just the 1st one for example. Maybe give an
option "do not show this message again" after a couple of hits on it within a
certain time period.

SUMMING IT UP FOR ME:-

None of this changes anything that is not the intent of the current TOS.

It is not to differentiate between "private" or "business" sellers for any purpose
of promoting one above the other, although for UK at least and many EU countries,
Gareth's suggestion on that would help keep sellers on the right side of the
law so I still support that too. There does seem to be some differences of definition
on that between countries which would need to be addressed further.

This is intended to HELP buyers and sellers comply with their laws and avoid
some of the risks many are taking now through ignorance of them. Being reported
for falling foul of a law or being caught not complying with it in most cases
carries penalties that most people would be pleased to avoid if given a chance
and informing them better simply helps to avoid that possibility

I would be happy to do more work on this if required as I am passionate about
keeping this a safe, respected place with trading standards that we can ALL be
proud of and enjoy.

CONGRATUALTIONS YOU GOT TO THE END OF THIS POST -

Thank you very much for your time!

Robert

I very much agree with your introduction, and I can't say I disagree with
the rest, but to me the issue of customs delcarations seems really minor and
anecdotal - people are usually talking more about the issue in theory than about
actual occurences of it, and I wonder how much money in the history of Bricklink
has been actually saved by inaccurate forms.

For me much more immediate concerns that comes to mind when reading your introduction
are the following, because when I go over various random EU store's terms
MORE THAN HALF of the sample is not legally compliant with at least
one and usually multiple ones of the following rules:

- Full acceptance of cancellation without penalty and without reason required

- Accepting returns and refunding the buyer including the postage cost and the
postage cost of sending it back

- Not charging more for transaction fees than the transactions actually cost

And last but not least:

- Being responsible for lost shipments - meaning full refund or resend if anything
goes missing

These laws apply to all EU stores, regardless of the legal form of the store.
Here on Bricklink we sell in stores (selling through the forum is not even allowed).
Therefore, all of the above is applicable and in my opinion should be enforced
by Bricklink.

Author:

Steven_Villman

Posted:

May 10, 2019 14:38

Subject:

Re: Fair, safe and legal trading = BL principles

Viewed:

79 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:

This is great and all of that; as I don't support customs fraud, and so I
support this idea of yours! HOWEVER, the problem with buying internationally
(at least for a Canadian Buyer as myself) is that the sales taxes (GST, HST and/or
PST) *IN PARTICULAR* (it's much, MUCH more difficult to do it with customs
duty fees, but whatever...) aren't usually automatically levied and actually
shown/itemized on invoices for Bricklink orders from Sellers in foreign countries
like the U.S. when the net amount [price of LEGO goods, excluding shipping, handling
and insurance fees (if insurance is requested by the Buyer or is made mandatory
by the Seller)] is over $40, which is the *new* minimum amount in which GST,
HST, PST, etc. can be levied for importing goods via e-commerce. Therefore, this
creates an emotional headache for the Buyer when the mail person delivers the
parcel to the shipping address but asks for sales taxes plus the customs handling
fee payments *before* releasing the parcel to the Buyer (or to someone else on
the Buyer's behalf), as the buyer is often either in one of two situations
– one, he/she is not always home there when the parcel is attempted delivery;
or two, the buyer's own home address is different from the delivering-to
address (the latter one is the one that applies to me personally there), and
the person who is supposedly accepting the parcel on the Buyer's behalf refuses
to pay anything that is owning to various levels of government (sales taxes,
customs duties and/or customs handling fees) on the Buyer's behalf (to which
the Buyer will later pay back to whoever had to pay the various fees to the postal
worker UP FRONT on the Buyer's behalf) – which results the Buyer in needlessly
in having to go to the local post office to pick up the parcel and make "surprise"
payments for any sales taxes (as well as possible customs duty fees, in some
cases) plus the customs handling fee that are owning there.

I don't really see how any of this is different to other countries that charge
sales tax on imported goods over a threshold. If you buy over the threshold,
you get taxed. It is your job to know about this as an importer buyer, and there
should not be a surprise.

I see your point. However, sales taxes should *still* always be itemized (IF
there's going to be any amount that's owing to various levels of government
in their county) on the invoice for Bricklink orders from Bricklink Sellers from
foreign countries [just like shipping and handling and insurance (if any) charges
are itemized on Bricklink invoices now for *ALL* Bricklink orders *regardless*
of country of origin]. *That* is what I meant by "surprise" charges; "surprise"
charges [I put the word "surprise" in double quotation marks because *some* people
already can figure out on what sales taxes in which they will owe to various
levels of government for any given Bricklink order; but the fact remains that
not everyone can figure it out, and others (like me) just don't want the
hassle in having to pay *TWO* separate times (2 separate transactions: one when
they first place the order and one when they see a postal worker to receive/claim
their package) for their Bricklink order and thus want to pay for it once and
forget about it!] of this nature can be quite easily be avoid there (unlike *CUSTOMS
DUTIES*, as they are much, MUCH more unpredictable – thus very difficult – to
calculate there!) if they were actually itemized on Bricklink Orders' invoices.

Author:

yorbrick

Posted:

May 10, 2019 13:54

Subject:

Re: Fair, safe and legal trading = BL principles

Viewed:

68 times

Topic:

Author:

Steven_Villman

Posted:

May 10, 2019 13:43

Subject:

Re: Fair, safe and legal trading = BL principles

Viewed:

113 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:

Author:

bb1126827

Posted:

May 9, 2019 11:13

Subject:

Re: New Rigid Hoses flex

Viewed:

40 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, frankool86 writes:

Hi Studio Devs,
thanks for adding rigid hose flex feature

i am actually trying that new feature and cant seem to make it work on that type
of projet (attached picture)
looks like the tip of the hose wont follow camera orientation. it is always facing
my mouse cursor in all camera modes/orientation. That said, i just cant plug
the tip of the hose in the proper way as you can see on the picture. Maybe i
need tips on that to make it work.
Keep doing a great job on studio

First, the dedicated forum for Studio is http://forum.bricklink.com/ (which,
despite the generic name, isn’t this one).

Then, you can simply rotate the hose’s head with the arrow keys (shift for 45°
increments).

Merci Beaucoup Sylvain. Génial.
Francois, Québec,Canada

Author:

SylvainLS

Posted:

May 9, 2019 11:00

Subject:

Re: New Rigid Hoses flex

Viewed:

40 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, frankool86 writes:

Hi Studio Devs,
thanks for adding rigid hose flex feature

Author:

bb1126827

Posted:

May 9, 2019 10:29

Subject:

New Rigid Hoses flex

Viewed:

96 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Hi Studio Devs,
thanks for adding rigid hose flex feature

Author:

bb1126827

Posted:

May 8, 2019 10:37

Subject:

Rigid Hoses on Studio

Viewed:

52 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Hi, would it be possible in a near future to make Rigid hoses flexible on studio
?
for now, as far as i can see we can only do on ribbed hoses and chains. thank
you

Author:

JusTiCe8

Posted:

May 8, 2019 03:31

Subject:

Re: Studio Subheadings

Viewed:

22 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, JEL129a writes:

Can the starwars have it's own separate category under the studio gallery.
There is a lot of great starwars creations in their, but at the same time, if
you are looking for other things, it makes it hard to find something else.
Thanks

Just use search, if authors are good enough, they should have add a proper tag.
Or at least something in model's title.

No need to add special stuff for one kind only, what about Star Trek, Super Heroes,
any movies and Tv Shows inspired models, military (WWI, WWII, modern, ...), nature,
landscape, animals, buildings, etc

Author:

JEL129a

Posted:

May 7, 2019 18:21

Subject:

Studio Subheadings

Viewed:

55 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

SylvainLS

Posted:

May 7, 2019 11:10

Subject:

Re: Automatic store selection in Buy mocs

Viewed:

31 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, titips writes:

Hi,
I hope this is the right place to post this.
I think it would be a good thing to be able to set the maximum number of stores
used to fulfill a wanted list search of matching stores in order to have a good
compromise between items costs and shipping costs.
Since shipping costs can't be taken in count during stores automatic selection,
you could add a parameter "max N° of stores" so that we can compair a result
with 10 stores and very low pieces costs and 2 stores with more high pieces costs.
Sometime shipping costs from many stores override high pieces costs from 1 or
2 stores.
hope is clear enough

First, it has been said that the algorithm has a (mysterious) way to include
shipping costs in its calculations.

Then, at a time there were up to three options for Auto-Select:
1. minimize price,
2. minimize number of stores,
3. “best” price (we never could get an answer about what “best” meant).

And they were removed because they didn’t work as advertized and there were “funny”
results (“min stores” cheaper than “min price” or “min price” with fewer stores
than “min stores” and such).

IOW, I doubt BL could implement your suggestion.

Moreover, it has been said several times that development on this website is,
at best, frozen.
So, if I were you, I wouldn’t hold my breath for that suggestion to be even considered.

Author:

titips

Posted:

May 7, 2019 10:50

Subject:

Automatic store selection in Buy mocs

Viewed:

58 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

axaday

Posted:

May 6, 2019 05:52

Subject:

Re: That Randy Color

Viewed:

56 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, randyf writes:

Who said I'm non-technical?

It wasn't me.

Author:

randyf

Posted:

May 5, 2019 21:08

Subject:

Re: That Randy Color

Viewed:

64 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, mfav writes:

It's a quick read, and appropriate for non-technical types.

Who said I'm non-technical? I have a degree in Chemical Engineering, a minor
in Computer Science, worked as a process engineer for a Fortune 50 company, and
then transferred into working for that same company as a web application developer
specializing in UI/UX design and database architecture. Believe me, if this was
my site, things would be wayyyyyyyyyyy different.

Thanks for your thoughts on everything, though. I do appreciate them, but a project
of the scope you are talking about is way above my pay grade and I have no ability
to implement it the way I would want to.

Cheers,
Randy

Author:

mfav

Posted:

May 5, 2019 14:41

Subject:

That Randy Color

Viewed:

207 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

I want to further the discussion at https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1139677
but under an appropriate thread.

In regards to color.

The comments below go to the use of color labeling in the context of being functional
in regards to search. It is not in regards to color accuracy in terms of cataloging.
There is a schism between the two uses because there is only one available field
in the database to handle what are two distinctly different purposes.

At https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1139699 you bring up the color guidelines.

I appreciate as one of the admins, you're attempting to follow the guidelines.
The guidelines however are in conflict with what an average person with no experience
with the guidelines would expect. They're even in conflict with what someone
with greater than average knowledge of the color labeling conventions on BL would
expect. I would reconsider those guidelines.

There are, by my count currently 170 different distinct colors that the system
knows. https://www.bricklink.com/catalogColors.asp

Assuming an ideal world where all of the decorations are accurately color-described
in the database per the guidelines, it's unreasonable to expect any average
person to be able to remember 170 different colors and to accurately identify
every instance of them. Colors shift over time due to aging and formulation.
Color perception changes relative to adjacent colors. Perceived color accuracy
is relative to the available reference photos or renders, the skill of the photographer
to capture the color, the ability of any individual piece of hardware or software
to properly interpret and render the color, lighting conditions, and other factors.
Color is a rainbow hell-hole.

Here is a test situation to illustrate my point. Take the torso in question in
the original thread and show it to 20 random people. Ask them what the colors
are. I'll wager you a cookie that if you ask 20 people who are not jenwick,
that exactly zero describe the blue as "medium azure." I'll wager you another
cookie that less than half describe the purple as "magenta."

With that in mind, somebody comes to the site and attempts to find something.
Somebody will use what they think the color is because that is their perception
of the color, not because they've reviewed the color chart in depth and have
spent time comparing many pieces to one another to grok the nuances and accurately
predict the exact hue necessary to achieve a match in search. What they'll
do is enter the color they think it is (blue) and do a search, and the search
results will be unsatisfactory, and they'll declare they can't find it
and post in the forum "what is this" or they'll search repeatedly and repeatedly
get unsatisfactory results, declare the site too complicated, and go away in
frustration. This frustration ends up being an indelible negative association
with BrickLink in that person's mind.

We've witnessed this scenario time and again here on the forum. We've
witnessed the endless debates over yellowed LBG vs LG, the confusion with pearl
gray and flat silver (two labels for one color), the confusion with pearl gold
(one label for two colors), people can't find pieces they're looking
for when they're looking right at them because the thumbnail color isn't
the same as the color they searched for, and more.

Having people "go away in frustration" is not in the best interest of BL as a
marketplace. Presumably the 10,000 plus shops here have invested some effort
in attempting to sell things. With that in mind, I argue that things which facilitate
sales should have precedent over "historical accuracy" when it comes to searching
the catalog. One needs to be able to find something before one can dig deep into
understanding it and its associated nuances...if one even needs or wants to understand
them.

We know a better solution to the issue would be a more robust database. As we've
been told repeatedly that isn't going to happen, you're left with a choice.
Either you populate the description field with user-friendliness or with historical
accuracy in mind (for user-friendliness, decoration colors in the item/description
would be their most generic counterparts: black, gray, silver, white, gold, red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, tan, chrome, copper, and speckle).
I would suggest the item field be populated with user-friendliness in mind and
that the note/comment field be generously populated with the historical accuracy
and other more esoteric information.

It's not an ideal solution, but it would work within the current operational
parameters of the database and site interface.

On contributions.

I went through a discussion with the Stormchaser about this at length. This isn't
going to improve until all the UI is improved. The forms are too convoluted and
not explained well and the explanations are hidden and it's just too much
work for anybody who isn't more than casually dedicated. All the instructions
for filling a form need to be adjacent to the fields on the form. The instructions
are buried elsewhere. If you start filling a form, then have to leave to find
instructions, the form is then blanked when you return, and that's an issue
and causes frustration. The UI can't improve much without programmer time.
The whole issue gained no traction while I was communicating with the Stormchaser.
I don't expect any improvement any time soon. Refer to second picture attached
after you finish reading this post.

In regards to the Stormchaser.

You'll forgive me if I read your statement about following in his footsteps
probably not the way you intended it. It's pretty clear that being a volunteer
admin at BrickLink is basically like being in the "zone" in Stalker https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079944/

To really appreciate the statement, you'll have to experience the movie,
if you haven't already.

Stormchaser's footsteps promised much change, then he made like Mrs. Hogwallop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsAZ0RweVxk So maybe don't follow those footsteps
too closely.

I had a number of communications with the Stormchaser both on- and off-line.
I'll suggest to you the same thing I did with him: read Steve Krug's
"Don't Make Me Think" https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Think-Revisited-Usability/dp/0321965515/
This book has been revised a few times. I'm familiar with the second version,
but would expect the later versions to be effectively the same content probably
with more recent references. It's a quick read, and appropriate for non-technical
types. He said it helped him with how he thought about things he wanted to do.

So. Food for thought. And in closing, because you asked, a portrait of Randy
after reading this post.

Author:

change

Posted:

May 3, 2019 18:04

Subject:

Re: Change NPB Timeline

Viewed:

40 times

Topic: