Redisplay Messages: Compact | Brief | All | Full Show Messages: All | Without Replies| Author: | axaday  | | Posted: | Feb 17, 2022 09:58 | | Subject: | Re: Marketplace Panel meeting minutes | | Viewed: | 56 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | 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
|
I hope one of the tools being talked about is infinite (or way more) stockrooms.
I would love to part each set out to its own stockroom. And be able to name
the stockrooms.
|
 |
| Author: | par016 | | Posted: | Feb 17, 2022 09:55 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 134 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, maxx3001 writes:
| | In Administrative, par016 writes:
| | In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
Having run across a marbled brick yesterday, it got me to thinking. How does
this policy relate to Grangemouth Marbled 2 x 4 bricks?
It's fairly well known that those bricks were created by employees off the
record, much like these items here. So do they get the same treatment, or is
the statute of limitations up on Grangemouth bricks?
-Pete
|
The difference in my eyes is that Grangemouths were not made to make a profit.
These new parts are clearly being made to create monetary value.
The test bricks are normally hard to find, sure batches show up every now and
then.
But these new parts are being sold to stores across the world in high numbers.
A fascinating problem.
Maxx
|
I agree, I just wanted to confirm BrickLink's stance on it.
They don't show up very often on BrickLink but every now and then when I
need my Grangemouth fix I would to be able to know I get get them on BrickLink.
-Pete
|
|
|
| Author: | maxx3001 | | Posted: | Feb 17, 2022 09:40 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 147 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, par016 writes:
| | In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
Having run across a marbled brick yesterday, it got me to thinking. How does
this policy relate to Grangemouth Marbled 2 x 4 bricks?
It's fairly well known that those bricks were created by employees off the
record, much like these items here. So do they get the same treatment, or is
the statute of limitations up on Grangemouth bricks?
-Pete
|
The difference in my eyes is that Grangemouths were not made to make a profit.
These new parts are clearly being made to create monetary value.
The test bricks are normally hard to find, sure batches show up every now and
then.
But these new parts are being sold to stores across the world in high numbers.
A fascinating problem.
Maxx
|
|
|
| Author: | par016 | | Posted: | Feb 17, 2022 09:13 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 161 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
Having run across a marbled brick yesterday, it got me to thinking. How does
this policy relate to Grangemouth Marbled 2 x 4 bricks?
It's fairly well known that those bricks were created by employees off the
record, much like these items here. So do they get the same treatment, or is
the statute of limitations up on Grangemouth bricks?
-Pete
|
|
| Author: | WoutR | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 18:25 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 142 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, yoavheskia writes:
| | | | | | If I read correctly they are illegally made by employees in their spare time
using materials, time, molds etc. they weren’t allowed to use.
|
|
If I was one of the employees there, I would find the current 2x4 mold and produce
for my self a modern 3001 in every color that exist! 
|
I would love to have a black-with-glitter or trans dark-blue satin brick, but
I am happy that this niche collectors market has not been spoiled by this issue.
|
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| Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 14:31 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 129 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| | |
What about all the odd colored SW Blasters? Are they allowed legitimate Lego
parts?
|
Some are those are pretty funny. One seller lists as hard to find, then another
lists 100+ of them at about 50c each.
|
|
| Author: | bahpstore | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 13:51 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 149 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
Thank you for taking care of this.
What about all the odd colored SW Blasters? Are they allowed legitimate Lego
parts?
|
|
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| Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 13:22 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 102 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, ryanaitch writes:
| | In Administrative, yorbrick writes:
| | | | I hope that we don't need to go that far. I love the view into LEGO development,
production and quality control that we can get through these parts.
For me, a few genuine test parts that got out are different on principle from
large quantities of illegitimate parts that were specifically made to be stolen
and sold to collectors.
|
I agree, but when they are veing made for the market, there becomes no difference.
Who can tell the difference between a red Darth Vader helmet that was really
used for testing and a red Darth Vader helmet that was produced to be sold as
a test item. If they clear out the trans parts but keep the red, then the illegitimate
production will just shift to making more red ones.
|
I think the difference is which parts are actively being listed. If there is
an influx of red parts that "shouldn't" exist, from multiple stores, that
seems to be new production (and not old stock), that would likely be restricted
too.
|
So they list one at a time to make them appeal real.
|
|
| Author: | rylie_aitch | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 12:59 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 95 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, cosmicray writes:
| | In Administrative, ryanaitch writes:
| | No one is saying they're counterfeit here, as far as I can tell. They're
using official molds, but rogue employees are using that equipment to make parts
after hours that they think will sell well on the gray market. They're real
Lego but not seen as legitimate in that sense.
|
I would very careful making that assertion (unless you have verifiable first
hand knowledge). They could also be unscrupulous manufacturers trying to cash
in on easy money, and they simply don't care about trade-dress infringement.
If anything, putting the LEGO logo on them might cause customs to think they
are legitimate, and allow them into the country.
Nita Rae
|
Yep sorry, I should have clarified that what I said is only the current prevailing
theory. Those who resell the figures are not talking of course.
Ryan
|
|
| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 12:39 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 98 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, ryanaitch writes:
| | No one is saying they're counterfeit here, as far as I can tell. They're
using official molds, but rogue employees are using that equipment to make parts
after hours that they think will sell well on the gray market. They're real
Lego but not seen as legitimate in that sense.
|
I would very careful making that assertion (unless you have verifiable first
hand knowledge). They could also be unscrupulous manufacturers trying to cash
in on easy money, and they simply don't care about trade-dress infringement.
If anything, putting the LEGO logo on them might cause customs to think they
are legitimate, and allow them into the country.
Nita Rae
|
|
| Author: | rylie_aitch | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 12:31 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 79 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, yorbrick writes:
| | | | I hope that we don't need to go that far. I love the view into LEGO development,
production and quality control that we can get through these parts.
For me, a few genuine test parts that got out are different on principle from
large quantities of illegitimate parts that were specifically made to be stolen
and sold to collectors.
|
I agree, but when they are veing made for the market, there becomes no difference.
Who can tell the difference between a red Darth Vader helmet that was really
used for testing and a red Darth Vader helmet that was produced to be sold as
a test item. If they clear out the trans parts but keep the red, then the illegitimate
production will just shift to making more red ones.
|
I think the difference is which parts are actively being listed. If there is
an influx of red parts that "shouldn't" exist, from multiple stores, that
seems to be new production (and not old stock), that would likely be restricted
too.
|
|
| Author: | rylie_aitch | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 12:28 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 91 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, calebfishn writes:
| | If there are legitimate "test batches" then you would expect the following:
a) They would be in limited colors, not every trans color imaginable (and unimagined)
b) They would not be limited to highly desireable parts, such as star wars figures,
and Darth Vader helmets with their neck pieces.
c) They would be uncommon, rather than appearing in hundreds, in dozens of stores.
d) there would not be stores offering hundreds of Star Wars minifig blaster weapons
and Emperor Palpatine statuettes in a multitude of rainbow colors.
For years, collecting test batches in some interesting colors, (predominantly
red) has been a niche collectors' market. But the new transparent color minifigures
and parts have flooded the market. There are several sellers who have 5 or
6 Darth Vaders in Tran Bright Green for example, (and 2-5 each of many other
monochrome colors) or Trans Yellow minifig helmets in numbers between 22 and
40. This is no longer something that is rare.
If you think that Lego produced these parts, is almost like they made more Darth
Vader helmets in Trans and Bright colors than they did in Black.
I feel bad for collectors and sellers who have worked hard to secure genuine
rare test batch parts in colors. I feel bad for reputable sellers who have inadvertantly
got these fake parts in their supply chain. But I think that all sellers and
buyers should be very cautious of all of these so called "rare" colors, and suspect
them to be counterfeit unless they can verify otherwise.
I appreciate the work that Bricklink is now doing to clean up these improper
listings. It would be a tragedy if Bricklink gained a reputation for being full
of counterfeit minifigs and parts.
|
No one is saying they're counterfeit here, as far as I can tell. They're
using official molds, but rogue employees are using that equipment to make parts
after hours that they think will sell well on the gray market. They're real
Lego but not seen as legitimate in that sense.
|
|
| Author: | calebfishn | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 12:12 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 101 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| If there are legitimate "test batches" then you would expect the following:
a) They would be in limited colors, not every trans color imaginable (and unimagined)
b) They would not be limited to highly desireable parts, such as star wars figures,
and Darth Vader helmets with their neck pieces.
c) They would be uncommon, rather than appearing in hundreds, in dozens of stores.
d) there would not be stores offering hundreds of Star Wars minifig blaster weapons
and Emperor Palpatine statuettes in a multitude of rainbow colors.
For years, collecting test batches in some interesting colors, (predominantly
red) has been a niche collectors' market. But the new transparent color minifigures
and parts have flooded the market. There are several sellers who have 5 or
6 Darth Vaders in Tran Bright Green for example, (and 2-5 each of many other
monochrome colors) or Trans Yellow minifig helmets in numbers between 22 and
40. This is no longer something that is rare.
If you think that Lego produced these parts, is almost like they made more Darth
Vader helmets in Trans and Bright colors than they did in Black.
I feel bad for collectors and sellers who have worked hard to secure genuine
rare test batch parts in colors. I feel bad for reputable sellers who have inadvertantly
got these fake parts in their supply chain. But I think that all sellers and
buyers should be very cautious of all of these so called "rare" colors, and suspect
them to be counterfeit unless they can verify otherwise.
I appreciate the work that Bricklink is now doing to clean up these improper
listings. It would be a tragedy if Bricklink gained a reputation for being full
of counterfeit minifigs and parts.
|
|
| Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 11:59 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 84 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| | | I hope that we don't need to go that far. I love the view into LEGO development,
production and quality control that we can get through these parts.
For me, a few genuine test parts that got out are different on principle from
large quantities of illegitimate parts that were specifically made to be stolen
and sold to collectors.
|
I agree, but when they are veing made for the market, there becomes no difference.
Who can tell the difference between a red Darth Vader helmet that was really
used for testing and a red Darth Vader helmet that was produced to be sold as
a test item. If they clear out the trans parts but keep the red, then the illegitimate
production will just shift to making more red ones.
|
|
| Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 11:49 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 81 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| | |
They are indeed no test batches.
If I read correctly they are illegally made by employees in their spare time
using materials, time, molds etc. they weren’t allowed to use.
|
Lego / BL are using the word illegitimate rather than illegal. Presumably they
are not breaking any laws, but may well be breaking their employment contracts
by removing and selling these items.
Torsos alone have been selling for $100US, and there are a number of people showing
off their complete illegitimate monochrome figures on various forums, so someone
is making a tidy sum from this.
|
|
| Author: | yoavheskia | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 11:18 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 106 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| | | | | If I read correctly they are illegally made by employees in their spare time
using materials, time, molds etc. they weren’t allowed to use.
|
|
If I was one of the employees there, I would find the current 2x4 mold and produce
for my self a modern 3001 in every color that exist!
|
|
| Author: | WoutR | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 09:38 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 115 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, tonnic writes:
| | In Administrative, yorbrick writes:
| | In Administrative, Yo_Yo_Flamingo writes:
| | In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
This certainly is interesting, and there are definitely cases where these items
are frauds (such as the pictures show here, these items can be seen to not be
LEGO parts, clear as day).
However, I think it we need to be careful before flagging every transparent minifigure
part under the sun- the catalog listing itself for minifigure torsos shows a
transparent torso . Transparent minifigures have made their way out
of test batches in the past- are these no longer allowed for sale?
|
There are photos of three different coloured trans torsos in that listing. Are
they all "test batches"? I doubt it. Why would they need to run test batches
of multiple trans colours, especially of a long existing part? These are more
likely the made-for-sale parts that someone is producing outside of LEGO's
production.
|
They are indeed no test batches.
If I read correctly they are illegally made by employees in their spare time
using materials, time, molds etc. they weren’t allowed to use.
|
I highly doubt that it was in their spare time. I more suspect night shifts where
there is less supervision.
The molds probably need cleaning and revisions, followed by production of a few
test batches for quality control. There is no reason to use all these odd colours
for that, nor for making larger quantities of specific minifigures.
| | | |
But maybe LEGO / BL do need to ban all non-production parts, just so it is clear
that even the genuine test parts that were either stolen or otherwise removed
from factories are no longer allowed here as there is little difference between
genuine test parts and these new made-for-sale parts.
|
|
|
|
| Author: | WoutR | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 09:32 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 114 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, yorbrick writes:
| | In Administrative, Yo_Yo_Flamingo writes:
| | In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
|
|
Thank you.
Sadly, I think that this is the best way forward.
A single figure is a fun oddity, flooding the market is completely different.
| | | | This certainly is interesting, and there are definitely cases where these items
are frauds (such as the pictures show here, these items can be seen to not be
LEGO parts, clear as day).
However, I think it we need to be careful before flagging every transparent minifigure
part under the sun- the catalog listing itself for minifigure torsos shows a
transparent torso . Transparent minifigures have made their way out
of test batches in the past- are these no longer allowed for sale?
|
|
A very few rare trans-clear figure parts have been seen before this abuse. Those
actually might have been test items.
| | There are photos of three different coloured trans torsos in that listing. Are
they all "test batches"? I doubt it. Why would they need to run test batches
of multiple trans colours, especially of a long existing part? These are more
likely the made-for-sale parts that someone is producing outside of LEGO's
production.
|
These illegitimate figures are clearly made-for-sale. They are products that
we might wish for, but that are unobtainable. Clearly made for collectors who
pay high prices only. I hope that LEGO can identify the culprits and will take
appropriate action. As long as this problem is ongoing, we should not support
it here. (If a few random parts show up in ten years time, that would be different
for me because a sale here would no longer reward fraud/theft/abuse.)
These figures seem to be marked as "prototype" or "test batches" because that
helpes sales only.
Red and transparent parts are known for actual testing, because certain molding
problems show up clearly. Sometimes other colors were also used, maybe "whatever
was available at the time in that injection molding machine".
| | But maybe LEGO / BL do need to ban all non-production parts, just so it is clear
that even the genuine test parts that were either stolen or otherwise removed
from factories are no longer allowed here as there is little difference between
genuine test parts and these new made-for-sale parts.
|
I hope that we don't need to go that far. I love the view into LEGO development,
production and quality control that we can get through these parts.
For me, a few genuine test parts that got out are different on principle from
large quantities of illegitimate parts that were specifically made to be stolen
and sold to collectors.
|
|
| Author: | tonnic | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 09:30 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 94 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, yorbrick writes:
| | In Administrative, Yo_Yo_Flamingo writes:
| | In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
This certainly is interesting, and there are definitely cases where these items
are frauds (such as the pictures show here, these items can be seen to not be
LEGO parts, clear as day).
However, I think it we need to be careful before flagging every transparent minifigure
part under the sun- the catalog listing itself for minifigure torsos shows a
transparent torso . Transparent minifigures have made their way out
of test batches in the past- are these no longer allowed for sale?
|
There are photos of three different coloured trans torsos in that listing. Are
they all "test batches"? I doubt it. Why would they need to run test batches
of multiple trans colours, especially of a long existing part? These are more
likely the made-for-sale parts that someone is producing outside of LEGO's
production.
|
They are indeed no test batches.
If I read correctly they are illegally made by employees in their spare time
using materials, time, molds etc. they weren’t allowed to use.
| |
But maybe LEGO / BL do need to ban all non-production parts, just so it is clear
that even the genuine test parts that were either stolen or otherwise removed
from factories are no longer allowed here as there is little difference between
genuine test parts and these new made-for-sale parts.
|
|
|
| Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 08:10 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 129 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, Yo_Yo_Flamingo writes:
| | In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
This certainly is interesting, and there are definitely cases where these items
are frauds (such as the pictures show here, these items can be seen to not be
LEGO parts, clear as day).
However, I think it we need to be careful before flagging every transparent minifigure
part under the sun- the catalog listing itself for minifigure torsos shows a
transparent torso . Transparent minifigures have made their way out
of test batches in the past- are these no longer allowed for sale?
|
There are photos of three different coloured trans torsos in that listing. Are
they all "test batches"? I doubt it. Why would they need to run test batches
of multiple trans colours, especially of a long existing part? These are more
likely the made-for-sale parts that someone is producing outside of LEGO's
production.
But maybe LEGO / BL do need to ban all non-production parts, just so it is clear
that even the genuine test parts that were either stolen or otherwise removed
from factories are no longer allowed here as there is little difference between
genuine test parts and these new made-for-sale parts.
|
|
| Author: | Yo_Yo_Flamingo | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 07:51 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 115 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, randyf writes:
| | In Administrative, Yo_Yo_Flamingo writes:
| | In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
This certainly is interesting, and there are definitely cases where these items
are frauds (such as the pictures show here, these items can be seen to not be
LEGO parts, clear as day).
|
I think the point is that the pictures shown here are *in fact* LEGO parts that
have been manufactured in a LEGO plant without the blessing of LEGO.
| | However, I think it we need to be careful before flagging every transparent minifigure
part under the sun- the catalog listing itself for minifigure torsos shows a
transparent torso . Transparent minifigures have made their way out
of test batches in the past- are these no longer allowed for sale?
|
That is pretty much what the post is stating. Those "test batches" are not authorized
by the company, so they should not be in the market.
|
The way I read it is that these items may have the logo, but were not manufactured
by LEGO- it would be nice to have some clarification on this point. I know red
test-moulds of parts are popular items to sell here.
|
|
| Author: | randyf | | Posted: | Jan 13, 2022 01:23 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 160 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, Yo_Yo_Flamingo writes:
| | In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
This certainly is interesting, and there are definitely cases where these items
are frauds (such as the pictures show here, these items can be seen to not be
LEGO parts, clear as day).
|
I think the point is that the pictures shown here are *in fact* LEGO parts that
have been manufactured in a LEGO plant without the blessing of LEGO.
| | However, I think it we need to be careful before flagging every transparent minifigure
part under the sun- the catalog listing itself for minifigure torsos shows a
transparent torso . Transparent minifigures have made their way out
of test batches in the past- are these no longer allowed for sale?
|
That is pretty much what the post is stating. Those "test batches" are not authorized
by the company, so they should not be in the market.
|
|
| Author: | Yo_Yo_Flamingo | | Posted: | Jan 12, 2022 23:52 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 200 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
This certainly is interesting, and there are definitely cases where these items
are frauds (such as the pictures show here, these items can be seen to not be
LEGO parts, clear as day).
However, I think it we need to be careful before flagging every transparent minifigure
part under the sun- the catalog listing itself for minifigure torsos shows a
transparent torso . Transparent minifigures have made their way out
of test batches in the past- are these no longer allowed for sale?
|
|
| Author: | CE_Tanja | | Posted: | Jan 12, 2022 15:22 | | Subject: | Re: Studio to replace LDD Fan | | Viewed: | 69 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
|
BrickLink
ID CardCE_Tanja
|
Location:  USA, California |
| Member Since |
Contact |
Type |
Status |
| Feb 17, 2021 |
 |
Admin |
|
|
| BrickLink Administrator |
|
| Hi Stellar,
Your feedback is highly appreciated! We did hear this in the dialogues and I
am going back to ensure that it has indeed been added to the FAQ section and/or
the tutorials
In Administrative, Stellar writes:
| | In Administrative, Tracyd writes:
| | In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear all,
Today it is announced that LEGO® BrickLinkStudio will be replacing LEGO Digital
Designer as the LEGO Group’s official 3D building app.
We are of course very excited about this step but at the same time aware that
for some this may be a difficult transition.
Leading up to this announcement we have been in dialogue with current LDD and
Studio users in the community in an attempt to make the transition as smooth
as possible, hopefully that will be the case.
|
|
Tanja, if it helps, one of the most shocking changes to some users that they
told me is the color transition from White background from LDD to Black by default
in Stud.io but it can be changed in Stud.io to White, and it helped them feel
more confortable using it.
| |
Please tell me there will be a direct link to the Studio forum on the Studio
side so we dont't get flooded with Studio issues on this forum.
|
It is there and it already points to the correct forum: https://forum.bricklink.com/
|
|
|
| Author: | CE_Tanja | | Posted: | Jan 12, 2022 15:20 | | Subject: | Re: Studio to replace LDD Fan | | Viewed: | 56 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
|
BrickLink
ID CardCE_Tanja
|
| Location: USA, California |
| Member Since |
Contact |
Type |
Status |
| Feb 17, 2021 |
|
Admin |
|
|
| BrickLink Administrator |
|
| Hi Tracyd,
There is, all LDD Fan users are being guided to a Studio page with link to forum
as well as Q&A and video tutorials.
In Administrative, Tracyd writes:
| | In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear all,
Today it is announced that LEGO® BrickLinkStudio will be replacing LEGO Digital
Designer as the LEGO Group’s official 3D building app.
We are of course very excited about this step but at the same time aware that
for some this may be a difficult transition.
Leading up to this announcement we have been in dialogue with current LDD and
Studio users in the community in an attempt to make the transition as smooth
as possible, hopefully that will be the case.
You can read the details on the LEGO Ambassador Network here:
https://lan.lego.com/news/overview/the-lego-group-will-focus-on-bricklink-studio-and-pull-back-support-for-lego%C2%AE-digital-designer-r301/
If you haven't already tried 3D building using Studio, do check it out!
|
Please tell me there will be a direct link to the Studio forum on the Studio
side so we dont't get flooded with Studio issues on this forum.
|
|
|
| Author: | Stellar | | Posted: | Jan 12, 2022 12:51 | | Subject: | Re: Studio to replace LDD Fan | | Viewed: | 64 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, Tracyd writes:
| | In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear all,
Today it is announced that LEGO® BrickLinkStudio will be replacing LEGO Digital
Designer as the LEGO Group’s official 3D building app.
We are of course very excited about this step but at the same time aware that
for some this may be a difficult transition.
Leading up to this announcement we have been in dialogue with current LDD and
Studio users in the community in an attempt to make the transition as smooth
as possible, hopefully that will be the case.
|
|
Tanja, if it helps, one of the most shocking changes to some users that they
told me is the color transition from White background from LDD to Black by default
in Stud.io but it can be changed in Stud.io to White, and it helped them feel
more confortable using it.
| |
Please tell me there will be a direct link to the Studio forum on the Studio
side so we dont't get flooded with Studio issues on this forum.
|
It is there and it already points to the correct forum: https://forum.bricklink.com/
|
|
|
| Author: | Tracyd | | Posted: | Jan 12, 2022 12:28 | | Subject: | Re: Studio to replace LDD Fan | | Viewed: | 63 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear all,
Today it is announced that LEGO® BrickLinkStudio will be replacing LEGO Digital
Designer as the LEGO Group’s official 3D building app.
We are of course very excited about this step but at the same time aware that
for some this may be a difficult transition.
Leading up to this announcement we have been in dialogue with current LDD and
Studio users in the community in an attempt to make the transition as smooth
as possible, hopefully that will be the case.
You can read the details on the LEGO Ambassador Network here:
https://lan.lego.com/news/overview/the-lego-group-will-focus-on-bricklink-studio-and-pull-back-support-for-lego%C2%AE-digital-designer-r301/
If you haven't already tried 3D building using Studio, do check it out!
|
Please tell me there will be a direct link to the Studio forum on the Studio
side so we dont't get flooded with Studio issues on this forum.
|
|
|
| Author: | randyf | | Posted: | Jan 11, 2022 01:13 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 236 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, ryanaitch writes:
| | In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
While I do love these figures, I understand why you need to match Lego's
position on this. But what will this mean for other non-production parts, or
vintage test bricks?
|
I would think that vintage test bricks would still be okay because those were
made for testing back in the day and not for profit. I think it is pretty obvious
that all of these modern parts are being made behind LEGOs back by some bad actors
with access to the means of manufacture for an under-the-table gain. Not cool.
|
|
| Author: | rylie_aitch | | Posted: | Jan 11, 2022 01:07 | | Subject: | Re: Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 261 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
While I do love these figures, I understand why you need to match Lego's
position on this. But what will this mean for other non-production parts, or
vintage test bricks?
|
|
| Author: | Admin_Russell | | Posted: | Jan 10, 2022 23:20 | | Subject: | Transparent and Glow-in-Dark Minifigures | | Viewed: | 3165 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
|
BrickLink
ID CardAdmin_Russell
|
| Location: USA, California |
| Member Since |
Contact |
Type |
Status |
| May 9, 2017 |
|
Admin |
|
|
| BrickLink Administrator |
|
| Dear BrickLink Sellers,
Over the past several months, we’ve seen a variety of Transparent and Glow-In-Dark
minifigures flood the market. We have determined these to be illegitimate LEGO
items, despite the fact that many of them are imprinted with the LEGO logo.
Of particular note are the Darth Vader minifigures, Batman, and other superheroes.
We will start removing these listings this week, both from the custom items section
and from listings under catalog entries. This includes whole minifigures and
minifigure parts. For those of you who regularly file Problem Item For Sale reports,
please add these to the things you screen for.
Thank you,
The BrickLink Team
|
|
|
| Author: | TBS | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2022 10:39 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 93 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| | | Also they suggested using the Handling Fees feature in a shipping method to add
a % fee to the countries with greater VAT so the total is more correct with your
net costs.
|
That approach might work in some "free" or loose EU-Countries who spit on the
Bruxxeles madness.
I doubt that "members from X are charged xyz% on top of your order as handling
fees is "working". Having December 2018 here in mind. (look it up, if not sure
what that hint is about.)
|
|
| Author: | Stellar | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2022 10:13 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 61 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, Teup writes:
| | In Administrative, TBS writes:
| | In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear all,
The webinar reg. EU Distance selling took place today. First of all thank you
to every one who participated and shared very valuable input, questions, etc.
Please find the link to the meeting recording here:
https://bricklink.s3.amazonaws.com/EU+Distance+selling-20220107.mp4
Have a great weekend!
| | The BrickLink Marketplace team
|
|
Hi Tanya and Team,
thank you. It was a most important meeting.
Please continue to adress such upcoming changes in future, and maybe even ahead
of its time.
So as a conclusion, it just confirmed my opinion of not joining the IOSS-Crew.
The fact that the VAT is calculated "Crude or incorrectly" was a big letdown
for me.
However i can understand you went for this route because the bricklink system
itself is unable to handle NET prices on such a level.
So if you could have added the countryspecific VAT-Rate on top of our Netprices,
it could have been handled, but i won´t let me deduct some 5% to 27% from my
German Total/Gross pricing, and that even on handling and shipping.
I am sorry. Thanks, but no thanks.
Which leaves us in an even tighter spot.
Dear buyer from the European Union reading this.
Don´t hesitate on getting your parts needed, there is just a narrow timeframe.
Some time in spring to summer i (we as other sellers) might not be allowed to
deliver your items within the European Union anymore then, because the threshold
is reached.
That means for you, further orders are only possible from January 2023 then,
or as a registered business with an confirmed VAT-ID (B2B-Sale).
Sorry for this, but my friends from the EU - if you need something, Hurry up.
For all other buyers - Exports outside the EU are not affected by this, and maybe
the only business left alongside domestic sales after spring/summer.
Have a nice weekend
Tom
|
Hi Tom, while I agree with you the implementation is fundamentally incorrect
(violates price discrimination law plus is annoying for bookkeeping), to take
a pragmatic angle: Is it really that big a problem that it is worth giving up
a portion of your sales?
As for the price discrimination part, I don't expect we can get into trouble
as individual sellers since we don't have an option to change it. And in
case you happen to be a seller who calculates the cost of good sold based on
the turnover: You could always take the inc.VAT price of the annual sales, deduct
VAT as if they were all German customers, and from that hypothetic 'ex.VAT'
amount calculate cost of goods sold.
And if it's because you apply margin VAT, contact the helpdesk: They're
still figuring this out and maybe they can help you.
The call gave me confidence that the reason Bricklink is not improving this is
completely because of the limited resources, and that Bricklink understands full
well that this is is a poor patch that needs to be revised eventually. So there's
no real reason to stop selling out of protest, either.
|
Also they suggested using the Handling Fees feature in a shipping method to add
a % fee to the countries with greater VAT so the total is more correct with your
net costs.
As Teup said, BL knows its not the best way but its what they could do with the
current site. They are working in a refactoring that would have this kind of
issue in mind to better accommodate the needs of sellers and regulations.
|
|
| Author: | TBS | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2022 10:12 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 45 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| | | Hi Tom, while I agree with you the implementation is fundamentally incorrect
(violates price discrimination law plus is annoying for bookkeeping), to take
a pragmatic angle:
|
Hi, just replied above your post, some bits of reply in there.
Fine you agree on the implementation side of things.
| | Is it really that big a problem that it is worth giving up
a portion of your sales?
|
Yes and no. The price for opening the pandora´s box is to much for me.
I refuse their buerocratic BS.
1st. I would have to redo all invoices and tax reports once i crossed that threshold.
2nd. All that is only starting from that point on, meaning i must start making
new forms for my invoices for 29 countries as bricklink invoices are "not legal"
i.e. meeting the requirements of the german tax authorities.
3rd. I am not sure if an excess turnover above that threshold is worth all the
hassle.
A company who has some 100K´s or a million turnover within the EU can easily
do this, but if i may reach say a 15K or 20K a year or similar, i wonder if that
little profit from the extra 5K on top is enough to adress all the extra paperwork
and cost you are charged for than.
4th. The whole regulation is clearly made to slowly drive smaller shops out of
business because they want to giant ones to take over. Plus the EU Buerocrats
can never have enough money (and stupid ideas) anyway.
| |
As for the price discrimination part, I don't expect we can get into trouble
as individual sellers since we don't have an option to change it. And in
case you happen to be a seller who calculates the cost of good sold based on
the turnover: You could always take the inc.VAT price of the annual sales, deduct
VAT as if they were all German customers, and from that hypothetic 'ex.VAT'
amount calculate cost of goods sold.
|
That´s right. It wouldn´t be a problem to give away 27% on some sales,
but you have to put up all new invoices for that. (Since the BL ones don´t count
in Germany)
If that works legally in your Country you can save a lot of paperwork.
| | And if it's because you apply margin VAT, contact the helpdesk: They're
still figuring this out and maybe they can help you.
|
Can´t apply that, because of already registered VAT Member.
You have to register for Margin-Rule when founding your Company and then say
, you will never sell anything than USED items anyway from start.
As i know you can´t switch between those once your Company is running.
| | The call gave me confidence that the reason Bricklink is not improving this is
completely because of the limited resources, and that Bricklink understands full
well that this is is a poor patch that needs to be revised eventually.
|
Agree on this, they (try to) do so something to handle this on a worldwide scale,
which
is honourable and to be thanked for.
| | So there's no real reason to stop selling out of protest, either.
|
Depends on your business type or scale - see answer point 3rd.
|
|
| Author: | Teup | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2022 09:52 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 58 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, TBS writes:
| | | | Is this because when one reaches the 10K (?) treshold, one is regarded a 'business'
with different tax regulations?
|
Not really, becasue you are a business to begin with.
Thing here is: If your company gone over the 10K treshold on sales from EU to
EU,
you are obliged to register for OSS and redo all your invoices and tax-reports,
because you must pay the specific country VAT-Rate then to that specific country.
As far as i know, that OSS-System is doing this combined, so you don´t have to
register and file your reports anymore and payments in each 1 of 29 EU States
yourself like before.
But you have to redo it anyway. And then are obliged for it the next years.
|
Germany has more strict rules maybe? I read in a Dutch explanation that you need
to apply the local VAT rate from the first invoice in which you exceed 10K for
that fiscal year. So nothing needs to be revised.
|
|
| Author: | SylvainLS | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2022 09:47 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 46 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, StarBrick writes:
| | […]
Is this because when one reaches the 10K (?) treshold, one is regarded a 'business'
with different tax regulations?
If so: split you shop into multiple sales-depending-sizes: 1 for 9K, another
for the next 9K etc. This will bypass the treshold I guess?
|
Would you suggest I tell the revenue service: “I don’t owe income tax: my imaginary
twin brother and I are sharing my salary and this way each of us is below the
threshold,” and to invent as many imaginary siblings as I need? Because that’s
how I understand your suggestion here 
|
|
| Author: | TBS | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2022 09:44 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 55 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| | | Is this because when one reaches the 10K (?) treshold, one is regarded a 'business'
with different tax regulations?
|
Not really, becasue you are a business to begin with.
Thing here is: If your company gone over the 10K treshold on sales from EU to
EU,
you are obliged to register for OSS and redo all your invoices and tax-reports,
because you must pay the specific country VAT-Rate then to that specific country.
As far as i know, that OSS-System is doing this combined, so you don´t have to
register and file your reports anymore and payments in each 1 of 29 EU States
yourself like before.
But you have to redo it anyway. And then are obliged for it the next years.
That´s why me and some sellers more refuse to be trapped in that beurocratic
nightmare beforehand.
Which leaves us left, in blocking all orders and sales, once we get close to
that 10k Threshold.
| | If so: split you shop into multiple sales-depending-sizes: 1 for 9K, another
for the next 9K etc. This will bypass the treshold I guess?
|
Sorry, useless, because it´s the WHOLE EU to EU turnover of your company regardless
of branch or "daughter company".
If you establish several (say 10) separate PLC´s (don´t have the international
name for it, i mean businesses owned by many shares, not a single individual.)
which are selling as 10 different companies on the plattform it might work, but
that´s useless advice because founding that companies is costing way much more
capital than what you could earn from that 10K.
If you are allowed to sell as private individual (Hobby seller) in your country,
you are not subject to that Distance selling rules, because you might have much
less than these 10K of sales allowed as private anyway. Otherwise they might
force you into becoming a company because to high turnover. In Germany there
are harsh rules for that, but please check that for your homeland yourself -
can be very different there.
|
|
| Author: | Teup | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2022 09:43 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 57 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, TBS writes:
| | In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear all,
The webinar reg. EU Distance selling took place today. First of all thank you
to every one who participated and shared very valuable input, questions, etc.
Please find the link to the meeting recording here:
https://bricklink.s3.amazonaws.com/EU+Distance+selling-20220107.mp4
Have a great weekend!
| | The BrickLink Marketplace team
|
|
Hi Tanya and Team,
thank you. It was a most important meeting.
Please continue to adress such upcoming changes in future, and maybe even ahead
of its time.
So as a conclusion, it just confirmed my opinion of not joining the IOSS-Crew.
The fact that the VAT is calculated "Crude or incorrectly" was a big letdown
for me.
However i can understand you went for this route because the bricklink system
itself is unable to handle NET prices on such a level.
So if you could have added the countryspecific VAT-Rate on top of our Netprices,
it could have been handled, but i won´t let me deduct some 5% to 27% from my
German Total/Gross pricing, and that even on handling and shipping.
I am sorry. Thanks, but no thanks.
Which leaves us in an even tighter spot.
Dear buyer from the European Union reading this.
Don´t hesitate on getting your parts needed, there is just a narrow timeframe.
Some time in spring to summer i (we as other sellers) might not be allowed to
deliver your items within the European Union anymore then, because the threshold
is reached.
That means for you, further orders are only possible from January 2023 then,
or as a registered business with an confirmed VAT-ID (B2B-Sale).
Sorry for this, but my friends from the EU - if you need something, Hurry up.
For all other buyers - Exports outside the EU are not affected by this, and maybe
the only business left alongside domestic sales after spring/summer.
Have a nice weekend
Tom
|
Hi Tom, while I agree with you the implementation is fundamentally incorrect
(violates price discrimination law plus is annoying for bookkeeping), to take
a pragmatic angle: Is it really that big a problem that it is worth giving up
a portion of your sales?
As for the price discrimination part, I don't expect we can get into trouble
as individual sellers since we don't have an option to change it. And in
case you happen to be a seller who calculates the cost of good sold based on
the turnover: You could always take the inc.VAT price of the annual sales, deduct
VAT as if they were all German customers, and from that hypothetic 'ex.VAT'
amount calculate cost of goods sold.
And if it's because you apply margin VAT, contact the helpdesk: They're
still figuring this out and maybe they can help you.
The call gave me confidence that the reason Bricklink is not improving this is
completely because of the limited resources, and that Bricklink understands full
well that this is is a poor patch that needs to be revised eventually. So there's
no real reason to stop selling out of protest, either.
|
|
| Author: | CE_Tanja | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2022 09:37 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 67 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
|
BrickLink
ID CardCE_Tanja
|
| Location: USA, California |
| Member Since |
Contact |
Type |
Status |
| Feb 17, 2021 |
|
Admin |
|
|
| BrickLink Administrator |
|
| Thank you Teup!
Based on the response to the meeting we will definitely have more of these sessions
going forward.
In Administrative, Teup writes:
| | Thank you for yesterday! I really appreciate this initiative. Nice to see transparency
and honesty and feel like our input is taken seriously. Will definitely attend
again if there will be more sessions in the future! 
In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear all,
The webinar reg. EU Distance selling took place today. First of all thank you
to every one who participated and shared very valuable input, questions, etc.
As promised below is a link to the recording of the meeting, what you are not
able to see in the recording are all the comments and questions, and there were
a lot! we will be taking some time to group the input and the questions and share
our responses to these with all of you.
Please find the link to the meeting recording here:
https://bricklink.s3.amazonaws.com/EU+Distance+selling-20220107.mp4
Have a great weekend!
In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear BrickLink member,
We have recently launched a new feature enabling EU distance selling on the BrickLink
site. Because we have had a number of questions and concerns expressed from some
of you, we are setting up an online sessions to take you through the new guidelines
in more detail as well as addressing your concerns. The online session will take
place this Friday at 9-10 am PST
During the meeting you will have the option to write additional questions in
the session chat and have them answered directly in the session to the best of
our ability.
In order to participate in the session you will need to sign up, in order to
sign up, please write to CE_Tanja and share the email you would like to participate
with and we will invite you to the session. The deadline for signing up is Thursday
1/6 at 9 am PST.
There is a limit of 350 participants. Participation will be on a first come first
serve basis. We will be recording the session for those of you that are unable
to participate, this way you will be able to watch the recording afterwards.
Kind regards,
The BrickLink Marketplace team
|
|
|
|
|
| Author: | StarBrick | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2022 09:13 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 66 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, TBS writes:
| | Dear buyer from the European Union reading this.
Don´t hesitate on getting your parts needed, there is just a narrow timeframe.
Some time in spring to summer i (we as other sellers) might not be allowed to
deliver your items within the European Union anymore then, because the threshold
is reached.
That means for you, further orders are only possible from January 2023 then,
or as a registered business with an confirmed VAT-ID (B2B-Sale).
Sorry for this, but my friends from the EU - if you need something, Hurry up.
For all other buyers - Exports outside the EU are not affected by this, and maybe
the only business left alongside domestic sales after spring/summer.
|
Is this because when one reaches the 10K (?) treshold, one is regarded a 'business'
with different tax regulations?
If so: split you shop into multiple sales-depending-sizes: 1 for 9K, another
for the next 9K etc. This will bypass the treshold I guess?
|
|
| Author: | TBS | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2022 08:21 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 62 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear all,
The webinar reg. EU Distance selling took place today. First of all thank you
to every one who participated and shared very valuable input, questions, etc.
Please find the link to the meeting recording here:
https://bricklink.s3.amazonaws.com/EU+Distance+selling-20220107.mp4
Have a great weekend!
| | The BrickLink Marketplace team
|
|
Hi Tanya and Team,
thank you. It was a most important meeting.
Please continue to adress such upcoming changes in future, and maybe even ahead
of its time.
So as a conclusion, it just confirmed my opinion of not joining the IOSS-Crew.
The fact that the VAT is calculated "Crude or incorrectly" was a big letdown
for me.
However i can understand you went for this route because the bricklink system
itself is unable to handle NET prices on such a level.
So if you could have added the countryspecific VAT-Rate on top of our Netprices,
it could have been handled, but i won´t let me deduct some 5% to 27% from my
German Total/Gross pricing, and that even on handling and shipping.
I am sorry. Thanks, but no thanks.
Which leaves us in an even tighter spot.
Dear buyer from the European Union reading this.
Don´t hesitate on getting your parts needed, there is just a narrow timeframe.
Some time in spring to summer i (we as other sellers) might not be allowed to
deliver your items within the European Union anymore then, because the threshold
is reached.
That means for you, further orders are only possible from January 2023 then,
or as a registered business with an confirmed VAT-ID (B2B-Sale).
Sorry for this, but my friends from the EU - if you need something, Hurry up.
For all other buyers - Exports outside the EU are not affected by this, and maybe
the only business left alongside domestic sales after spring/summer.
Have a nice weekend
Tom
|
|
| Author: | Teup | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2022 05:57 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 64 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| Thank you for yesterday! I really appreciate this initiative. Nice to see transparency
and honesty and feel like our input is taken seriously. Will definitely attend
again if there will be more sessions in the future!
In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear all,
The webinar reg. EU Distance selling took place today. First of all thank you
to every one who participated and shared very valuable input, questions, etc.
As promised below is a link to the recording of the meeting, what you are not
able to see in the recording are all the comments and questions, and there were
a lot! we will be taking some time to group the input and the questions and share
our responses to these with all of you.
Please find the link to the meeting recording here:
https://bricklink.s3.amazonaws.com/EU+Distance+selling-20220107.mp4
Have a great weekend!
In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear BrickLink member,
We have recently launched a new feature enabling EU distance selling on the BrickLink
site. Because we have had a number of questions and concerns expressed from some
of you, we are setting up an online sessions to take you through the new guidelines
in more detail as well as addressing your concerns. The online session will take
place this Friday at 9-10 am PST
During the meeting you will have the option to write additional questions in
the session chat and have them answered directly in the session to the best of
our ability.
In order to participate in the session you will need to sign up, in order to
sign up, please write to CE_Tanja and share the email you would like to participate
with and we will invite you to the session. The deadline for signing up is Thursday
1/6 at 9 am PST.
There is a limit of 350 participants. Participation will be on a first come first
serve basis. We will be recording the session for those of you that are unable
to participate, this way you will be able to watch the recording afterwards.
Kind regards,
The BrickLink Marketplace team
|
|
|
|
| Author: | CE_Tanja | | Posted: | Jan 7, 2022 22:02 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 186 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
|
BrickLink
ID CardCE_Tanja
|
| Location: USA, California |
| Member Since |
Contact |
Type |
Status |
| Feb 17, 2021 |
|
Admin |
|
|
| BrickLink Administrator |
|
| Dear all,
The webinar reg. EU Distance selling took place today. First of all thank you
to every one who participated and shared very valuable input, questions, etc.
As promised below is a link to the recording of the meeting, what you are not
able to see in the recording are all the comments and questions, and there were
a lot! we will be taking some time to group the input and the questions and share
our responses to these with all of you.
Please find the link to the meeting recording here:
https://bricklink.s3.amazonaws.com/EU+Distance+selling-20220107.mp4
Have a great weekend!
In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear BrickLink member,
We have recently launched a new feature enabling EU distance selling on the BrickLink
site. Because we have had a number of questions and concerns expressed from some
of you, we are setting up an online sessions to take you through the new guidelines
in more detail as well as addressing your concerns. The online session will take
place this Friday at 9-10 am PST
During the meeting you will have the option to write additional questions in
the session chat and have them answered directly in the session to the best of
our ability.
In order to participate in the session you will need to sign up, in order to
sign up, please write to CE_Tanja and share the email you would like to participate
with and we will invite you to the session. The deadline for signing up is Thursday
1/6 at 9 am PST.
There is a limit of 350 participants. Participation will be on a first come first
serve basis. We will be recording the session for those of you that are unable
to participate, this way you will be able to watch the recording afterwards.
Kind regards,
The BrickLink Marketplace team
|
|
|
| Author: | CE_Tanja | | Posted: | Jan 6, 2022 13:49 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 76 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
|
BrickLink
ID CardCE_Tanja
|
| Location: USA, California |
| Member Since |
Contact |
Type |
Status |
| Feb 17, 2021 |
|
Admin |
|
|
| BrickLink Administrator |
|
| Everyone that signed up should have an invitation now, if you have not received
it please let me know. Also feel free to check that the link is working ahead
of time.
In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear BrickLink member,
We have recently launched a new feature enabling EU distance selling on the BrickLink
site. Because we have had a number of questions and concerns expressed from some
of you, we are setting up an online sessions to take you through the new guidelines
in more detail as well as addressing your concerns. The online session will take
place this Friday at 9-10 am PST
During the meeting you will have the option to write additional questions in
the session chat and have them answered directly in the session to the best of
our ability.
In order to participate in the session you will need to sign up, in order to
sign up, please write to CE_Tanja and share the email you would like to participate
with and we will invite you to the session. The deadline for signing up is Thursday
1/6 at 9 am PST.
There is a limit of 350 participants. Participation will be on a first come first
serve basis. We will be recording the session for those of you that are unable
to participate, this way you will be able to watch the recording afterwards.
Kind regards,
The BrickLink Marketplace team
|
|
|
|
| Author: | watch505 | | Posted: | Jan 6, 2022 09:49 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 57 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| Tanya,
Thank you for your reply. I think the concern is the community was told this
issue was decided at a meeting and now it appears that bricklink is starting
over on a decision that was already made over a year ago:
Author: Admin_Russell
Posted: Jan 22, 2021 15:59
Subject: Re: US State sales tax - additional states
In Administrative, Admin_Russell writes:
Yes. We have determined this is a definite need for our customer base and we
are moving forward with it. The first step is to meet with our third-party service
who calculates the tax for us. Then we will need to set up a method of receiving
and retaining the exemption documents.
|
|
| Author: | CE_Tanja | | Posted: | Jan 5, 2022 16:54 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 85 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
|
BrickLink
ID CardCE_Tanja
|
| Location: USA, California |
| Member Since |
Contact |
Type |
Status |
| Feb 17, 2021 |
|
Admin |
|
|
| BrickLink Administrator |
|
| Dear all,
We are receiving a lot of sign ups for the meeting which is great! We are able
to have 1000 people in the session instead of the expected 350 so don't hesitate
to sign up if you haven't already done so.
We will be sharing a link with you no later than tomorrow 10am PST, should you
have signed up and not received a link by then, please let me know and I will
make sure to add you.
In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear BrickLink member,
We have recently launched a new feature enabling EU distance selling on the BrickLink
site. Because we have had a number of questions and concerns expressed from some
of you, we are setting up an online sessions to take you through the new guidelines
in more detail as well as addressing your concerns. The online session will take
place this Friday at 9-10 am PST
During the meeting you will have the option to write additional questions in
the session chat and have them answered directly in the session to the best of
our ability.
In order to participate in the session you will need to sign up, in order to
sign up, please write to CE_Tanja and share the email you would like to participate
with and we will invite you to the session. The deadline for signing up is Thursday
1/6 at 9 am PST.
There is a limit of 350 participants. Participation will be on a first come first
serve basis. We will be recording the session for those of you that are unable
to participate, this way you will be able to watch the recording afterwards.
Kind regards,
The BrickLink Marketplace team
|
|
|
| Author: | CE_Tanja | | Posted: | Jan 5, 2022 15:35 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 83 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
|
BrickLink
ID CardCE_Tanja
|
| Location: USA, California |
| Member Since |
Contact |
Type |
Status |
| Feb 17, 2021 |
|
Admin |
|
|
| BrickLink Administrator |
|
| Hi Andrew,
That is an option, for now we are planning a focus group meeting this month on
the Tax exemption topic with a smaller select group of sellers, in this meeting
we will ensure that we (including our Tax team) understand the need in details.
After this, we will involve the sellers to get a better understanding of the
number of sellers this would benefit by explaining exactly what is required in
order to be tax exempt.
The reason for going about it this way is to ensure that if and when we decide
to implement this, we are able to proper prioritize this with other features
based on the impact of the sellers in general.
More info on this to follow.
In Administrative, watch505 writes:
| | Tanya,
Will there be a future session regarding business to business sales and tax exemption
in the USA?
Kind Regards,
Andrew
|
|
|
| Author: | CE_Tanja | | Posted: | Jan 5, 2022 15:31 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 75 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
|
BrickLink
ID CardCE_Tanja
|
| Location: USA, California |
| Member Since |
Contact |
Type |
Status |
| Feb 17, 2021 |
|
Admin |
|
|
| BrickLink Administrator |
|
| Dear Dreambuilder71,
Thank you for your kind words, I am afraid this has no impact n the shipping
cost.
In Administrative, dreambuilder71 writes:
| | Hi Tanja and congrats on your almost first year at BrickLink. 🤗
Will this talk help us ship overseas at a cheaper price?
From Canada to, let's say England (UK), a small package of figs at only 400
grams cost $60! And a small set at 700 grams is $80! That's with tracking
if the buyer uses PayPal!
So I've had to stop shipping overseas cause of high shipping prices no one
will pay! 😥
Best regards,
James
In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:
| | Dear BrickLink member,
We have recently launched a new feature enabling EU distance selling on the BrickLink
site. Because we have had a number of questions and concerns expressed from some
of you, we are setting up an online sessions to take you through the new guidelines
in more detail as well as addressing your concerns. The online session will take
place this Friday at 9-10 am PST
During the meeting you will have the option to write additional questions in
the session chat and have them answered directly in the session to the best of
our ability.
In order to participate in the session you will need to sign up, in order to
sign up, please write to CE_Tanja and share the email you would like to participate
with and we will invite you to the session. The deadline for signing up is Thursday
1/6 at 9 am PST.
There is a limit of 350 participants. Participation will be on a first come first
serve basis. We will be recording the session for those of you that are unable
to participate, this way you will be able to watch the recording afterwards.
Kind regards,
The BrickLink Marketplace team
|
|
|
|
| Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Jan 5, 2022 10:21 | | Subject: | Re: EU distance selling - Online session | | Viewed: | 79 times | | Topic: | Administrative | |
|
| | | From Canada to, let's say England (UK), a small package of figs at only 400
grams cost $60!
|
Neither Canada nor the UK are in the EU, so I doubt that will come up in a session
about EU distance selling.
The original thread, and all the comments and concerns are here:
https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1315372
The EU distance selling feature tool was introduced as ... "We have released
our Distance Selling feature for sellers who plan to or have reached the EUR
annual 10 000 distance sale of goods threshold." If you (and me) are not in that
group, I doubt the session is for you (and me).
|
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|
)
)
Netherlands, Utrecht
United Kingdom, England
)
)
Canada, Ontario
Israel, Mehoz Tel Aviv
Spain, Comunidad Valenciana
)
)
Germany, Sachsen
France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine