Redisplay Messages: Compact | Brief | All | Full Show Messages: All | Without Replies| Author: | calsbricks  | | Posted: | Dec 15, 2021 00:12 | | Subject: | Brickstock/Brickstore issues - update | | Viewed: | 91 times | | Topic: | Related Software | |
| Further to our original post we are delighted to advise thet with the help and
patience of Beaverbrick we now have a working labels template for Brickstore.
That has also revealed a bug in Brickstore which we are looking at how best to
report that.
The labels work wonderfully, but you can not selectively print them - it is
all or nothing. That happens whether using the label template from the extras
menu or the normal Brickstore print command. It seems to think a document is
the entire list not a selected item. Workaround is simple, copy the individual
item to another document and print from that, but it is a definite bug.
Thanks again Beaverbrick
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2021 03:59 | | Subject: | Change ,oftenbrings chaos | | Viewed: | 181 times | | Topic: | General | |
| Having looked back a long way in the forum (before the current lot of compliance
issues being addressed) I could find no real issues being brought up over sales
tax, vat etc. The stores where it applied were dealing with it with no real issues.
All of a sudden legislates get involved, without thinking things through, as
usual, and we have a degree of chaos here on Bricklink. How odd that the individual
stores, where applicable coped more than adequately, until this load of changes
emerged,
The moral of the story is let well enough alone. Yes they may have missed the
odd amount of tax or vat but things were being dealt with - no pressure on BL
to come up with a total solution and no forum posts raising holy hell.
Still there is no going backwards only forwards and we are all now waiting for
the issues to be dealt with - they are far more complicated than what people
believe but if others have dealt with it I am sure BL will in due course.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Dec 11, 2021 04:13 | | Subject: | What happens next | | Viewed: | 281 times | | Topic: | General | |
| TLG - Bricklink have recently announced a change of leadership at Bricklink
and thanks the previous CEO for all of his efforts. (Sorry to Interrupt the Monthly
Contests), etc.
We have a new gentleman coming on board - who we do not know a great deal about
other than he is a Lego guy. Ok good. Everyone who uses this site since JK's
takeover (2013) knows it needs a major re-write (Not XP) but both a redesign
and rethink. There have been a few (Including one by us) messages on here which
pointed the cost of doing that to be around 2 years in development terms at whatever
cost you wish to put on that.
There are differing views on development here some say use an agile methodology
(write code quickly and then patch, patch and patch.) Others say waterfall (The
old fashioned way) is best here - it takes more time and is less patch, (patch
and patch) . Agile is great when you are in a competitive environment (Can keep
you in front of the competition) but is that really required here? It also needs
2 sprint teams at least. One to write and release and the other to patch. Is
this the right environment for release, patch, patch and patch again (Even if
you have the people?)
Bricklink has several things going for it - e,g market pull, membership and now
the financial clout available through TLG, albeit we say that with tongue in
cheek.
Hire a senior analyst who has strong SQL skills/background and let them spend
some time putting together a decent system spec from which a business overview
can be published which asks all the right questions about direction etc and once
that is put together talk to your panels of advisors e.g Marketplace, Catalogue
and Studio as well as any future ones created. Make sure the spec includes strong
inventory management, and gives sellers the tools they need to operate successful
businesses as well as ease of use for buyers, etc. etc.
Get the spec costed and presented to TLG for approval (Let them worry about the
cost and time tables.)
Then go for it , really - lots of complications to this I am sure but in the
end analysis that is what is needed. Think more than carefully about the design
work- what it looks like is a matter of personal choice but what it does is not.
Design is everything in development4 and always calls for the highest level of
knowledge and experience
There are quite a few of us who would be willing to put time and effort into
this as this is a major project and needs lots of input and discussion. Not everyone
is going to get everything they want but working on the basis of discussion leads
to compromise and ultimately a quality product - this is the real way forward,
isn’t it?
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Dec 10, 2021 23:26 | | Subject: | Brickstock/Brickstore - issues | | Viewed: | 165 times | | Topic: | Related Software | |
| We have been Brickstock users since Patrick took it on and in many cases worked
closely with him to iron out issues etc, however his main job really does prevent
him from carrying on with developments so the product is slowly but surely heading
for the archives. Current issues include not getting any images of minwfigures
(everything else is okay), and price guide guidelines are also not updating properly.
So we downloaded Brickstore and it 'cures/fixes' the current Brickstock
issues and adds some nice touches but and it is a big but. We cannot use our
print templates. Yes we know about modifying viewws etc but that doesnt work
when we need to print labels for our products - and it works very well in Brickstock.
. We worked with tsrateplayer (Alan) a long time ago to get these templates done
and have shared them with many Brickstock users. We have good documentation on
theme and a how to guide to create or modify them but have not got a clue how
to incorporate them into Brickstore.
Maybe we can actually reach out to Robert via this forum message and ask if he
is willing to incorporate these into Brickstore. (We print delivery notes as
well as product labels via the templates.
Thoughts/comments.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Dec 9, 2021 00:19 | | Subject: | Not convinved this is correct | | Viewed: | 231 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
| Had to place an order on an EU store yesterday knowing full well that we would
have to pay VAT on it. The order was of small value so the VAT wasn't going
to be significant. The store had an onsite payment method (Paypal). Order placed,
shipping costs agreed and normal Bricklink invoice received from store. That
invoice had a link on it to pay via PAYpal onsite which we used - okay fine,
Moments after making the payment a Bricklink VAT invoice arrived - this is where
it gets cloudy, that invoice (BL's) shows an invoice amount fine - but no
where does it show what we paid. Surely this invoice should be a sales receipt
otherwise what proof do I have that we paid the VAT?
It really does not appear that this was all thought through. The customer should
always have proof of payment and by calling the Bricklink invoice which is the
VAT invoice as being paid that would suffice, otherwise C&E have every right
to question it at arrival. They are not interested in an invoice they want to
know the VAT has been paid. .
Are we not reading this right?
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Nov 4, 2021 03:18 | | Subject: | Please add Variant poicy to mandatory terms | | Viewed: | 127 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
| To avoid issues such as what we mentioned yesterday why not get Bricklink to
add to the stores terms page a variant policy statement from the store. I am
sure we will see everything from no policy to a complete novel, but at least
it is something that can be looked at by potential buyers and it may even add
clarity to the current situation.
We very strongly believe this is a stores responsibility and not the buyers.
A buyer should have confidence in the fact they are getting what they ordered.
or a notice from the store to alert them they aren't.
Of course mistake can and will happen but if a policy statement is at least on
the mind of the store maybe it will help them to focus
I do agree that buyers, if concerned could ask for details but of 6 stores who
were asked none replied is not a good result.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Nov 3, 2021 11:45 | | Subject: | It is just one of those days | | Viewed: | 148 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
| Just looked at the major sellers in usa and europe - but to buy from usa I think
I am going to pay sales tax, and import duty and a handling fee and a similar
situation from EU.
I know the lawmakers were after the Amazons of the world but is it really necessary
to clobber the 'bit players' in this way.
This saga has shown us it is no longer viable to buy outside the UK and I am
sure lots of others see it that way as well.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Nov 3, 2021 11:03 | | Subject: | Newish sellers - if not all - take your time | | Viewed: | 254 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
| Had an urgent requirement for 50+ 3794b's in white. Our inventory showed
we had enough but when checking there were some which were actually 15573. Went
to replace those and found about 20 suppliers in the UK who had (supposedly)
enough to solve our shortage.
Ordered in 50 - they arrived quickly but they are all 15573's. The moral
of the story is if you are going to list as a variant make sure they are the
variant.
That is why we have a catalogue with comparison photos.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Oct 27, 2021 09:25 | | Subject: | Boxes and Bags from Davpack (UK) | | Viewed: | 70 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
| For those of you who use Davpack for your zip lock bags and boxes,, please note
they are having extreme difficulties in getting items delivered. so much so that
they have cancelled our last order which Tuffnells lost twice and refunded our
payment.
They know about the problems but currently saying they are under contract and
cannot deviate from that . despite the fact they are losing business
Whoever negotiated that contract wants shooting. Tuffnells must be in breach
which should give Davpack options but they are telling us they do not have any
options. We have been using them for over 10 years and up til now have never
had any problems
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Oct 16, 2021 10:56 | | Subject: | Add My favourite stores to find stores/find i | | Viewed: | 100 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
| Could we have ann additional filter on these screens please to restrict the search
to our favorite stores.
Thanks
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Sep 13, 2021 12:08 | | Subject: | They rarely work but ........ | | Viewed: | 209 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
| Most eCommerce sites we use here in the UK ask us to confirm we have read and
accept the terms and conditions of the site when we are placing an order. Bricklink
currently does not - it just previews those terms,. Should we have a checkbox
which is mandatory so that buyers confirm their acceptance. Might help if and
when there are disputes
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Aug 26, 2021 07:39 | | Subject: | Just a thought | | Viewed: | 225 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
| Had an order this morning from a 0 feedback buyer for 400 parts over 140 lots.
No problem, however he said in his comments he had placed lots of orders on
Bricklink but was moving from one store to another due to incorrect parts being
sent.
I thought okay but lets do a bit of digging. He only registered on Bricklink
yesterday - so it is unlikely he had placed lots of orders. Dig deeper and it
appears he has changed his username within the last 30 days - warning bells or
he has had multiple accounts merged. More warning bells - might be nothing but
140 lot order takes time to pick and we process first .
I messaged him for more info and unfortunately he did not reply, so I cancelled
the order with a full explanation and left no feedback.
What would have been helpful if when clicking on the little green box after his
name it told you what h is previous username was and or whether or not it was
merging multiple accounts.
I am sure we used to be able to do this but perhaps GDPR has stopped it. Be nice
to have that feature back.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 15, 2021 11:01 | | Subject: | Sellers tools - update | | Viewed: | 132 times | | Topic: | General | |
| Just had an interesting PM regarding the above. Feasible ? don't know but
it could deal with lots of the requirements.
Technology has moved on in leaps and bounds since the original B:L was written
- we are all aware of that. One of the tools that lingers around now in a variety
of forms is the use of dashboard. There are a significant number of 3rd party
vendors who produce tools for creation as well as implying their software will
provide dashboards for most database applications
Worth a look Bricklink ?
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 15, 2021 10:31 | | Subject: | Sellers tools - Query by Form (QBF) | | Viewed: | 97 times | | Topic: | General | |
| Sellers Tools – Query by Form
Here is an idea which could help both sellers and buyers using a simple Query
by form (qbf)
I am not a software screen or form designer but the fields could be something
like this:
Top half of screen
Lot No/Product Code Lot no brings up product description, clour and condition;
Product
code lets you key in colour and condition
Colour Bricklink colour
Condition Bricklink conditions
Date Range Could include all or various ranges including custom
Sort on Could have default or by any of the array fields
Transaction Type Should show Manual add, order, adjustment; part out; mass upload,
etc
Once those key choices are made the system then goes and finds the transactions
that fit your criteria
The array fields should show at least the following
Qty
Date
TransType
Reference
Unit Value
Total value
Balance
Could make the array a lot more complex with avg value calculated etc, costing
etc but initially this QBF would be of value to sellers and could be used by
buyers to see their buying history by product
If I forgot anything you think might be useful, please feel free to comment/add.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 9, 2021 10:20 | | Subject: | Sellers Tools ????? | | Viewed: | 242 times | | Topic: | General | |
| Sellers tools – what should that Include
We think the following minimum areas of functionality should be included
1. Allow stores to have staff with their own password and levels of access
2. Allow more parameters for stores in all areas on the site, especially store
settings, and templates
3. Inventory management – complex area perhaps split between standard and advanced
4. Sales metrics
a. Ability to see the reality of what is selling and where and of course , for
how much
5. Costing – could be included in advanced inventory management
6. More queries by form
7. Changes to My Inventory page including multidimensional filters and more update
capabilities especially to do with pricing
8. More printing and report options both for the seller, with other filters available
such as country, region, all etc, as well as buyers.
Those items, which are by no means exhaustive, are fine for starters. What could
happen is polls to be run to consolidate the multitude of opinions and suggestions
from which design work could take place, ultimately leading to programming, testing,
documentation and release.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 9, 2021 08:48 | | Subject: | Bricklink Part Out feature | | Viewed: | 157 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
| The Bricklink part out feature needs work and a revisit
For almost 10 years we have been using Brickstock to do our part outs and then
uploading the xml file to Bricklink. Due to the recent changes to the catalogue
surrounding minifig to minifigure this has become laborious (Minifig images and
price information will not load into Brickstock). I know about Brickstore and
am considering it but the part out in BL is archaic to say the least. No permanent
record of the parting out other than a part out log which says you parted out
this set with no backup information whatsoever. It also causes problems with
pricing because you cannot see your existing prices without a lot of fiddling.
Bricklink needs to combine the features of the 3rd party products to offer a
fully functional part out facility and it needs to store the results of the part
out not just a date in the log.
I wonder if this is in the “sellers tools” functionality that has been talked
about for 8 years now and really has not materialised.
Lots of development time on conformance – fine that is required but what else
is going on? Please do not tell me it is XP
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 2, 2021 10:26 | | Subject: | The nutshell we were referring to | | Viewed: | 203 times | | Topic: | General | |
| | Try this one for size |
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jul 2, 2021 06:15 | | Subject: | In a nutshell | | Viewed: | 286 times | | Topic: | General | |
| OK the EU Marketplace VAT changes are released and in the throes of being examined,
and as pretty much normal, there are things missing. That is not new. We are
still waiting for the sales tax exemption for the US and that was a long time
ago. We are also still waiting on the zip code pricing for the US, as well as
weight and volume based pricing for most of Europe (Lots have workarounds for
this). We must not forget the margin scheme in all of tjhis – yet another complication
All sellers who have not implemented an onsite payment method are not affected
by these changes as Bricklink has limited the payment methods to either Paypal
or Stripe, where they have an arrangement to collect the monies directly before
the seller gets paid.
If you have implemented onsite payments then you are affected one way or the
other. Depends on what country you are in or selling from and also has a dependency
on your cumulative turnover in the EU currently 10k euros, (That hasn’t been
implemented yet either) Seeing a pattern ? we do. Big picture design and programming
works well in some circumstances but not all, the same as agile development
In time maybe the missing features will be added, only Bricklink knows that at
present. In the meantime we have a great deal of sympathy for those that are
caught up in this, both buyers, who are going to pay more and sellers who will
have an additional administrative burden and cost landed on them (You pay Paypal
or Stripe fees based on the total value of the orger (Which includes VAR, where
appropriate. Still that isn’t a lot is it?
I have left out lots of complicated bits here as that was not the point, How
is Bricklink going to know if a sellers turnover reaches 10k in a 12 month period,
for example unless the seller declares it.
Good fun and always, yes always a challenge.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 15, 2021 01:44 | | Subject: | New UK CN22 | | Viewed: | 117 times | | Topic: | Help | |
| If not registered for VAT what should go in the VAT registration box?
Thanks. Not applicable or not registered - are we allowed to do that? or are
the new silly rules about registering overseas now in effect?
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 11, 2021 09:08 | | Subject: | Paypal issues | | Viewed: | 149 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
| Not affecting everyone it seems but at least 500 of us in the UK have not been
able to log into Paypal since 0700 this morning. First they told us it was a
security issue, then they changed their mind and said it was an issue with one
of the phone companies and just now they said no chance of it getting fixed today
- try tomorrow. What a way to run a business.
Good grief Charlie Brown.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Jun 3, 2021 10:56 | | Subject: | The New Brickstore | | Viewed: | 206 times | | Topic: | Related Software | |
| | Are print templates created in Ntickstock supported in the new Brickstore? |
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | May 16, 2021 13:20 | | Subject: | These don't normally get too far but .... | | Viewed: | 321 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
| Could the programmers take a half hour and add the following information to the
my inventory detail pages as appropriate. It would be a step that would help
in reconciling inventory quantities (It won't do it all but it will help)
The information has to be held somewhere in the system and it only, for the moment,
needs to populate when someone adds to a lot. It can help sellers to back track
to when they last added this item.
It is not a complex programming effort.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Apr 22, 2021 10:40 | | Subject: | Brown (Old) 3957 | | Viewed: | 75 times | | Topic: | Catalog | | Status: | Open | |
| We have 2 of these in stock and were about to submit a photo (none in catalogue)
when we saw that whilst it is listed as a known colour it is not shown in any
sets. I thought that was not the policy - if not in set not a known colour???
Clarification, please.
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