BrickLink Discussion Forum

Dear BrickLink members,

Please find the minutes from the first Marketplace Panel meeting.

Minutes from the first Marketplace Panel meeting May 20th. 2021

Agenda

- Panel member introductions

- Marketplace panel program presentation

- Workshop

- BrickLink vision

- Marketplace plan 2021 & Prioritization discussion

- Next steps

Ad. 1 Panel member introductions

We have selected the initial panel members based on criteria such as: Having
both buyers and sellers represented, BrickLink experience, ability to engage
in constructive dialogues about the future of BrickLink and ability to consider
the greater good for the BrickLink sellers and buyers.

The initial panel members are:

Constructibles, SimplyBricks, Dcarmine, Calsbricks, Erkiles, Legoman77, Faro,
BrickCoast

During this first part, all panel members introduced themselves and it is clear
that this is a diverse, multitalented group that are all passionate about BrickLink.

No doubt that this select group will be a fantastic first Marketplace panel.

Ad 2. Marketplace panel program presentation

The structure of the program had been shared with the panel ahead of the meeting,
so in this session, we mainly dug into the basics of the program and collaboration
principles:

4 annual meetings with an opportunity to impact the future development of the
BrickLink Marketplace

Between the meetings we will collaborate through a Teams channel, making it possible
for us to engage outside the meetings as well.

We aim to increase the number of members in the panel to a max of 14 people throughout
the next 1-2 years.

We will invite new members to the Panel annually, to ensure fresh perspectives
by shifting 50% of the panel members with new members meeting above criteria.
We will be promoting the opportunity to sign up for the panel in Q1 2022.

In our collaboration, we will be looking to the future as opposed to the past.

We will be mindful of one another in the dialogues we have, remembering that
we are all in this with the best of intentions.

This panel is focused on the Marketplace specifically. There will be other initiatives
similar to this one, that focus on e.g. Studio, The Catalog, etc.

Ad 3. Workshop

This being the first Panel meeting, we felt a need to make sure we got the frustrations
out of every one’s system, in order to be able to focus on the future of BrickLink,
as opposed to being stuck in the past. This was done in a workshop where everyone
was able to share frustrations but also the things, they love about BrickLink.

Ad 4. BrickLink vision

Marvin Park shared thoughts related to the vision and mission of BrickLink as
a platform through which LEGO fans can also realize their dream designs. As for
the long-term roadmap, it was highlighted how BrickLink marketplace and Studio
can evolve to meet diverse needs of the AFOL community and become an integral
part of the entire LEGO ecosystem.

Ad 5. Marketplace plan 2021 & Prioritization discussion

BrickLink’s new Senior Product Manager Stephen Wilhelm presented the current
Marketplace roadmap. This roadmap is now mainly focused on development related
to VAT compliance rules (initiatives that we are bound to by law and that we
are not able to de-prioritize) and initiatives intended to support e.g., the
ability to lower response rate for new seller verifications, etc. There are several
user experience related initiatives the BrickLink Marketplace team plans to work
on, but we are looking to the Marketplace Panel members to help us prioritize
what enhancements would provide the most value.

Aside from above, several focus areas that we have picked up based on input from
the BrickLink members in general were presented with the intention to prioritize
them. We were not able to finish the prioritization discussions completely at
this meeting, but a couple of things were highlighted as being critical to prioritize:

Seller tools (e.g., Inventory management, store management, seller page updates)

Continue modernization of the BrickLink platform. This is already ongoing, but
we aim to apply more resources later this year.

A few less critical but still impactful areas were introduced:

Telephone support and the ability to have expert engagers to reach out to

Order Item Refund Request (OIRR) & Refund enhancement

Rewriting storefront pages to support mobile / native.

Provide BrickLink shipping methods (preferably one shipping cost per customer)

Overhaul/update payment processes

The above list varies greatly in level of complexity, and we will need to take
all input in to consideration in upcoming plans. Status on above and long-term
plans will be shared in minutes from the next Panel meeting.

A few other things we will be looking in to due to the input from the panel:

Ability for Sellers to make use of BrickLink’s access to Google Analytics.

On-site payment and why some sellers choose not to use this option.

Shipping price calculations based on zones instead of weight (US specific)

Ad 6. Next steps

It was decided to disclose the BrickLink panel members to the general BrickLink
membership base, this is not to be seen as an invitation to reach out to the
panel members directly with input for the Panel, but a way to be transparent
about who is in the panel as per the request of many members. Any ill manor
targeted directly at the Panel members may result in abandonment from BrickLink.

We need everyone’s input!

We have recently taken input from all BrickLink members in the survey, and we
take input regularly in the NPS survey, this input has already played a huge
part in shaping the focus for BrickLink in general and will be part of shaping
the future of BrickLink also.

During the upcoming Panel meetings, we might come across items to prioritize
that are not straight forward, in terms of defining what is best for the majority
of BrickLink members, in these cases, we will have a poll among the members in
general in order to ensure solid facts to back the decisions.

Upcoming meetings

The next meetings are planned for August and November.

Reflections

No doubt that we are blessed to have members on BrickLink that are prepared to
spend hours in their busy lives, participating in dialogue to make sure that
we have the best outside-in perspective we can when deciding how to prioritize
our efforts on BrickLink going forward. This is not something we have been able
to prioritize to the same extent in the past (hence numerous understandable frustrations),
but it is something that we are committed to prioritizing going forward!

BrickLink members, you can be proud of your Panel members, they did an amazing
job in representing you. Everyone spoke freely about critical issues to be addressed,
this is highly appreciated because then we won't have to waste time (mis)interpreting
this and we can get moving on the things that matter.

We hope that you will read this and share any feedback you might have, in this
topic or directly to ce_tanja. We have just started this journey and we are happy
to take your input to the process and adjust along the way.

Thank you!

The BrickLink Team

Author:

Admin_Russell

Posted:

May 17, 2021 22:18

Subject:

Last minute announcement regarding Brexit

Viewed:

454 times

Topic:

Dear BrickLink members,

As we announced here:

https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1270750

there is downtime scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday) from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM EDT
(BrickLink time).

At this point, the Brexit release is a GO.

Thanks,

The BrickLink Team

Author:

Admin_Russell

Posted:

May 13, 2021 20:42

Subject:

Site Downtime and the Brexit Deployment

Viewed:

3543 times

Topic:

Dear BrickLink members,

Last week we announced our Brexit marketplace solution, which is due for release
on Tuesday, May 18. This is considered a major deployment and will require site
downtime.

https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1269534

To avoid having two scheduled downtimes within a short period, we have consolidated
the regularly scheduled monthly maintenance downtime with the Brexit release.
This extended downtime is scheduled for Tuesday from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM EDT (BrickLink
time).

In case the Brexit deployment is further delayed, we will still carry out the
monthly maintenance at 1:00 PM, but the total downtime will last only one hour
instead of 90 minutes.

Thanks for your patience,

The BrickLink Team

Author:

CE_Tanja

Posted:

May 12, 2021 09:49

Subject:

LEGO Certified Professional program-hiring!

Viewed:

354 times

Topic:

Dear BrickLink Members,

I thought it might be interesting to some of you (especially Russian and Mexican
members) to know that The AFOL Engagement team within The LEGO Group is looking
for candidates for two new LEGO Certified Professional positions in Russia and
Mexico.

You can read much more about this here: https://www.lego.com/da-dk/aboutus/new-lego-certified-professionals.

/Tanja

Author:

CE_Tanja

Posted:

May 10, 2021 04:03

Subject:

BrickLink Marketplace Panel

Viewed:

905 times

Topic:

Dear BrickLink members,

We are launching a new initiative on BrickLink called the Marketplace Panel,
the initiative aims to achieve an outside-in driven approach to decision making.

In 4 annual Panel sessions, the purpose is to:

- Ensure and improved prioritization of tasks (development, bug fixes, etc.)
within the Marketplace team, in order to reflect the needs in the Seller and
Buyer community as much as possible.

- To investigate opportunities for improvements to the current setup of the Marketplace.

- To pressure test new opportunities, concepts, legislative requirements, etc.

- Build future strategic plans for the Marketplace

To start out with, we have invited 8 Sellers and Buyers, going forward it will
be possible for all to sign up for Panel participation (we will have a limit
of 10 members per year though).

We have great expectations for this initiative and hopefully this is something
that more people will want to take part in going forward.

The first Panel meeting will take place on May 20th. We will be sharing minutes
with all of you after each of the 4 annual meetings.

The BrickLink Team

Author:

Admin_Russell

Posted:

May 7, 2021 02:48

Subject:

BrickLink Marketplace Changes Due to Brexit

Viewed:

682 times

Topic: