Redisplay Messages: Compact | Brief | All | Full Show Messages: All | Without Replies| Author: | calsbricks  | | Posted: | Mar 4, 2022 00:34 | | Subject: | Re: Bricklink Product Family | | Viewed: | 49 times | | Topic: | General | |
| In General, Admin_Russell writes:
| | In General, calsbricks writes:
| | Product Family (Bricklink)
The vast number of categories that Bricklink incudes is great In some ways and
not so good in others. If you want to do a category analysis you will need lots
of paper or disk space and quite honestly it doesn’t make that much sense.
What we have done externally is set up groups of categories say for Bricks you
have modified, round, decorated etc. The same for Slopes, Tiles, Technic etc.
Our sales analysis automatically puts stats into each group as we sell items.
We have 10 families which is enough for us. We can drill down in each category
and get to the specifics e.g how many modified bricks did we sell at what value
etc, and from that we can look at individual parts.
Over our 11 years it has worked fine and gives us what we want and need. – In
inventory management terms it is like having a hierarchy where there isn’t one.
This is what we meant in our earlier post ' A Few questions'
|
A similar method was used recently in Studio and XP but people are rather loyal
to the category tree.
However, we have plans for a tag system, which will take the pressure off of
the tree and may eventually replace it as the primary method of searching the
catalog. We still need the tree to help maintain the catalog, but we certainly
need a more flexible system for everyday use.
|
Hi Russell nice to hear from you again
When and if tagging gets added we will see how that helps the situation. Tagging
is in operation in most modern sql based systems and it certainly helps in finding
things but not sure I see how it is going to pull together a members sales analysis
requirements in a way this would.
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 |
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Mar 4, 2022 00:31 | | Subject: | Re: Bricklink Product Family | | Viewed: | 29 times | | Topic: | General | |
| In General, peregrinator writes:
| | In General, 1001bricks writes:
| | This is - sorry - old relational database style.
|
There is no reason why a part can't exist in multiple categories even in
a relational database.
|
Thanks for adding your comments to the thread, and of course you are correct.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Mar 4, 2022 00:30 | | Subject: | Re: Bricklink Product Family | | Viewed: | 42 times | | Topic: | General | |
| In General, 1001bricks writes:
| | | | Over our 11 years it has worked fine and gives us what we want and need. – In
inventory management terms it is like having a hierarchy where there isn’t one.
|
Yes, but it's rigid, arbitrary, allows a part to be only in one Category.
This is - sorry - old relational database style.
Is this more a Slope than a Round, more a Tile modified than a Plate modified?
Why is it in this category, I would have seen the opposite!
A Tag system can show any part even in multiple categories.
Then, if you need basic arbitrary categories - just like right now, it's
not a problem.
|
I think you have misunderstood. The product family is not arbitrary it is defined
by each store to suit their reporting requirements and it is flexible enough
to accommodate everyone and anyone who wish to analyse their sales by category.
Far from being old relational database technique this is a standard feature in
most modern inventory management suites.
I apologise if I did not explain it thoroughly enough.
Hope this helps
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Mar 3, 2022 11:51 | | Subject: | Bricklink Product Family | | Viewed: | 184 times | | Topic: | General | |
| Product Family (Bricklink)
The vast number of categories that Bricklink incudes is great In some ways and
not so good in others. If you want to do a category analysis you will need lots
of paper or disk space and quite honestly it doesn’t make that much sense.
What we have done externally is set up groups of categories say for Bricks you
have modified, round, decorated etc. The same for Slopes, Tiles, Technic etc.
Our sales analysis automatically puts stats into each group as we sell items.
We have 10 families which is enough for us. We can drill down in each category
and get to the specifics e.g how many modified bricks did we sell at what value
etc, and from that we can look at individual parts.
Over our 11 years it has worked fine and gives us what we want and need. – In
inventory management terms it is like having a hierarchy where there isn’t one.
This is what we meant in our earlier post ' A Few questions'
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Mar 3, 2022 11:30 | | Subject: | Re: A Few questions | | Viewed: | 26 times | | Topic: | Help | |
| In Help, yorbrick writes:
| | In Help, crazylegoman writes:
| | In Help, calsbricks writes:
| | What, if anything, do you use the following for:
1. Superlot
|
I mainly use the superlot feature to sell parts together that are paired as right
and left halves.
David
|
Fortunately some progress has been made here, where there are parts that sometimes
you don't want to sell individually as it leaves you with the other half
that on its own is fairly useless. I remember doing a superlot for these parts:
as I didn't want to sell one side and get stuck with the other.
Whereas some years later this was added to the catalogue:
so now it can be sold as a whole.
I also used to try to superlot leg and torso assemblies where the print meant
the legs part was a bit useless without the torso but since superlots don't
show by default any more, stopped doing that.
|
The entire superlot feature needs revisiting. Dan based Bricklink on an auction
house system - that is not what it is any more. There does need to be a way to
bind product together but the best way eludes us at present. I look at it this
way. if two or more parts need to go together e.g hinges, wedge plates etc then
there should be away of doing that which also satisfies pricing guidelines and
appears for sale. Counter parts are another good example - two or more parts
going together get a unique part number ane are listed for price guide purposes.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Mar 3, 2022 11:05 | | Subject: | Re: A Few questions | | Viewed: | 22 times | | Topic: | Help | |
| In Help, 1001bricks writes:
| | In Help, calsbricks writes:
| | What, if anything, do you use the following for:
1. Superlot
2. Unsorted lots
3, Do you use tiered pricing if so do you need all 3 levels or do you need a
different approach to this
|
No for both; we do detailed orders for generic parts, end users.
| | 4. Would you use an overall trade discount (for example by buyer)
|
Yes, but we do it internally, asking the buyer a manual invoicing we provide
him with specific discussed rate.
| | 5 What about setting min and max stock levels by item or type
|
No.
| | 6 Would you like a product family grouping capability where you define which
categories go into each e.g. Bricks as a family would include all brick subcategories,
etc.) The same for tiles, slopes etc. Kind of like creating a hierarchy outside
the catalogue
|
No.
Better prefer a Tag system, like "Brick", "Modified", "Star Wars", "Technic"
- this way combining tags in search you can find the part.
|
Or a smarter "google-like" search, including auto-correction and statistical
| | analysis. Like searching for "Minifig Head Beard Red" will probably be more for
finding a red beard than a red head...
| | 7 Would you use a separate field for your item location (rather than remarks)
|
Some may, I guess.
| | 8. How would you like to deal with your inventory costs (Would you use LIFO,
FIFO or weighted average - ((LIFO - Last In First out; FIFO - First in First
Out))
|
Some may, I guess.
Sylvain
|
Thanks for taking the time to add your thoughts. I should have explained the
product family thing better. More on that at another time.
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Mar 3, 2022 10:54 | | Subject: | Re: A Few questions | | Viewed: | 21 times | | Topic: | Help | |
| In Help, peregrinator writes:
| | In Help, calsbricks writes:
| | What, if anything, do you use the following for:
1. Superlot
|
I used a superlot once for an assembly that was missing a piece (the forklift
from LL924, missing the spring) that I did not want to disassemble.
Never used it.
| | 3, Do you use tiered pricing if so do you need all 3 levels or do you need a
different approach to this
|
I've used it a couple of times. If I could recommend a different approach,
it would be tiered pricing for multiples.
| | 4. Would you use an overall trade discount (for example by buyer)
|
Like a promotional code?
| | 5 What about setting min and max stock levels by item or type
|
I personally can't see a need for it.
| | 6 Would you like a product family grouping capability where you define which
categories go into each e.g. Bricks as a family would include all brick subcategories,
etc.) The same for tiles, slopes etc. Kind of like creating a hierarchy outside
the catalogue
|
Possibly, my concern is that it would look terrible.
| | 7 Would you use a separate field for your item location (rather than remarks)
|
No - I don't even use remarks for this.
| | 8. How would you like to deal with your inventory costs (Would you use LIFO,
FIFO or weighted average - ((LIFO - Last In First out; FIFO - First in First
Out))
|
Weighted average
|
Thanks for taking the time to add your thoughts. Interesting
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| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Mar 3, 2022 10:53 | | Subject: | Re: A Few questions | | Viewed: | 24 times | | Topic: | Help | |
| In Help, jennnifer writes:
| | In Help, calsbricks writes:
| | What, if anything, do you use the following for:
1. Superlot
|
I used them for the accessory bags before they were added to the catalog.
I use them to list Used items I don't want to take apart.
I use them to keep some decorated items together to avoid difficult-to-sell orphans.
I use these to sell my filler bricks and pieces.
| | 3, Do you use tiered pricing if so do you need all 3 levels or do you need a
different approach to this
|
Just one tier for technic pins. I don't have enough quantity of anything
else to matter.
| | 4. Would you use an overall trade discount (for example by buyer)
|
No
| | 5 What about setting min and max stock levels by item or type
|
No
| | 6 Would you like a product family grouping capability where you define which
categories go into each e.g. Bricks as a family would include all brick subcategories,
etc.) The same for tiles, slopes etc. Kind of like creating a hierarchy outside
the catalogue
|
No
| | 7 Would you use a separate field for your item location (rather than remarks)
|
Sounds intriguing, but I wouldn't want to add any additional lines or formatting
to the order and inventory pages. There is already too much wasted space.
| | 8. How would you like to deal with your inventory costs (Would you use LIFO,
FIFO or weighted average - ((LIFO - Last In First out; FIFO - First in First
Out))
|
I don't use BL to track inventory costs.
| | Very interested in comments/thoughts
|
There ya go,
Jen
|
Thanks Jem/ All replies are helfpul. Getting a few pms as well which is beginning
to show a distinct difference between hobby and non hobby (which I expected)
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Mar 3, 2022 10:49 | | Subject: | Re: A Few questions | | Viewed: | 21 times | | Topic: | Help | |
| In Help, crazylegoman writes:
| | In Help, calsbricks writes:
| | What, if anything, do you use the following for:
1. Superlot
|
I mainly use the superlot feature to sell parts together that are paired as right
and left halves.
David
|
Understand - kind of like the old hinge pieces and pairs of arms etc. Hmmm
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Mar 3, 2022 10:48 | | Subject: | Re: A Few questions | | Viewed: | 26 times | | Topic: | Help | |
| In Help, StarBrick writes:
| | 1. Superlot - not in use
2. Unsorted - never used
3. Tiered pricing - never used
4. Would you use an overall trade discount (for example by buyer) - none
5. What about setting min and max stock levels by item or type - not used ever
6. Would you like a product family grouping capability where you define which
categories go into each e.g. Bricks as a family would include all brick subcategories,
etc.) The same for tiles, slopes etc. Kind of like creating a hierarchy outside
| | the catalogue - not of my interest
|
7. Would you use a separate field for your item location (rather than remarks)
- use the remarks field
8. How would you like to deal with your inventory costs - not as hobbiest 
I have seperate bankaccount for buying and selling and procuring stamps, packaging
material, storage containers etc.
Being a BL-member and running a shop is a hobby, not a means of income for me.
I think it would make a BIG difference when this shop would be my daily job and
income for sure. So not sure my response will help you in any way ..
|
Actually it helps a lot. Inventory management is a wide and complex topic but
not all things apply to all people. You help to emphasise that.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Mar 3, 2022 04:30 | | Subject: | A Few questions | | Viewed: | 197 times | | Topic: | Help | |
| What, if anything, do you use the following for:
1. Superlot
2. Unsorted lots
3, Do you use tiered pricing if so do you need all 3 levels or do you need a
different approach to this
4. Would you use an overall trade discount (for example by buyer)
5 What about setting min and max stock levels by item or type
6 Would you like a product family grouping capability where you define which
categories go into each e.g. Bricks as a family would include all brick subcategories,
etc.) The same for tiles, slopes etc. Kind of like creating a hierarchy outside
the catalogue
7 Would you use a separate field for your item location (rather than remarks)
8. How would you like to deal with your inventory costs (Would you use LIFO,
FIFO or weighted average - ((LIFO - Last In First out; FIFO - First in First
Out))
Very interested in comments/thoughts
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Feb 25, 2022 12:45 | | Subject: | Re: What, if anything, do sellers use lot id for | | Viewed: | 30 times | | Topic: | General | |
| In General, hpoort writes:
| | In General, Shiny_Stuff writes:
| | Unfortunately, this is rarely possible anymore because for some reason, BL mixes
up stuff into random order and that random order even changes from day to day.
There is NO logical reason for the mix-up to happen. It didn't use to happen,
but it does, even tho it means that the main BL database of shop listings is
corrupt somehow and is a failure of the system.
|
You are expecting an auto increment field and in stead get a field that provides
unique numbers, but not in order. From the database point of view, the only requirement
is for the field values to be unique.
For an auto increment field to function, there needs to be a single 'authority'
to provide these numbers. In a large database setup, that same authority may
become the bottleneck. Every add request for every user worldwide would need
to go through the same server. That system has been superseded by different setups
that can handle upscaling.
In an asynchronous setup (for load spreading), the numbers are assigned differently,
still guaranteed to be unique, but not necessarily in chronological order.
So it is not a bug, it is a feature that shows us that Bricklink now likely uses
an asynchronous setup for this part of the database.
|
All true and part of the infrastructure review. Is a separate database server
required for different modules e.g. catalogue. inventory etc ?
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Feb 25, 2022 12:42 | | Subject: | Re: What, if anything, do sellers use lot id for | | Viewed: | 23 times | | Topic: | General | |
| In General, Shiny_Stuff writes:
| | In General, calsbricks writes:
| | In General, Shiny_Stuff writes:
| | In General, calsbricks writes:
| | I know what the system uses it for but I am curious as to what sellers use it
for. It is unique per item (Item, colour, and condition). It has been around
since Dan put the software together (from an auction house system)
Just curious - if it wasn't there would that be a problem ?
I cam think of a couple of uses but they aren't all that important. Would
you want to track by lot (Cost analysis??)
|
One actual USE of the Lot ID by sellers is to create SUPER LOTS.
Sellers have to manually input the Lot ID of each item that goes into the super
lot in order to create that super lot.
https://www.bricklink.com/inventoryBind.asp?utm_content=subnav
|
|
| | | |
Also, after I manually add or upload new items to my shop, I sort my shop by
NEWEST Items to check for errors. So, I want everything to show up in the same
order I added them, which makes use of the Lot ID Number.
Unfortunately, this is rarely possible anymore because for some reason, BL mixes
up stuff into random order and that random order even changes from day to day.
There is NO logical reason for the mix-up to happen. It didn't use to happen,
but it does, even tho it means that the main BL database of shop listings is
corrupt somehow and is a failure of the system.
I hate it and it makes me quite annoyed. It definitely makes it difficult to
double check my new listings for errors or potential (price) adjustments.
Here is an example of items listed on the same day in the same upload batch that
SHOULD show up in numerical order by LOT ID number:
274240 270
274240 277
274240 263
274240 267
274240 265
274240 262
274240 256
274240 279
274240 274
274240 284
274240 269
274240 243
274240 271
274240 252
274240 246
274240 253
274240 247
274240 272
274240 255
274240 251
____
|
|
| | Understand completely - that needs to be addressed as lots of people do similar
things.
|
It _has_ been fixed in the recent past, but seems to also have been un-fixed
soon after:
https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1319587
|
One of the most common pitfalls when working with undocumented code. The current
development team are working very hard to resolve many of the spaghetti code
issues they were left with. That and dealing with the current barrage of compliance
issues (e.g. sales tax, VAT, etc)
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Feb 25, 2022 12:30 | | Subject: | Re: What, if anything, do sellers use lot id for | | Viewed: | 24 times | | Topic: | General | |
| In General, Shiny_Stuff writes:
| | In General, calsbricks writes:
| | I know what the system uses it for but I am curious as to what sellers use it
for. It is unique per item (Item, colour, and condition). It has been around
since Dan put the software together (from an auction house system)
Just curious - if it wasn't there would that be a problem ?
I cam think of a couple of uses but they aren't all that important. Would
you want to track by lot (Cost analysis??)
|
One actual USE of the Lot ID by sellers is to create SUPER LOTS.
Sellers have to manually input the Lot ID of each item that goes into the super
lot in order to create that super lot.
https://www.bricklink.com/inventoryBind.asp?utm_content=subnav
|
Understand completely - that needs to be addressed as lots of people do similar
things.
| |
Also, after I manually add or upload new items to my shop, I sort my shop by
NEWEST Items to check for errors. So, I want everything to show up in the same
order I added them, which makes use of the Lot ID Number.
Unfortunately, this is rarely possible anymore because for some reason, BL mixes
up stuff into random order and that random order even changes from day to day.
There is NO logical reason for the mix-up to happen. It didn't use to happen,
but it does, even tho it means that the main BL database of shop listings is
corrupt somehow and is a failure of the system.
I hate it and it makes me quite annoyed. It definitely makes it difficult to
double check my new listings for errors or potential (price) adjustments.
Here is an example of items listed on the same day in the same upload batch that
SHOULD show up in numerical order by LOT ID number:
274240 270
274240 277
274240 263
274240 267
274240 265
274240 262
274240 256
274240 279
274240 274
274240 284
274240 269
274240 243
274240 271
274240 252
274240 246
274240253
274240247
274240272
274240255
274240251
____
|
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Feb 25, 2022 12:28 | | Subject: | Re: What, if anything, do sellers use lot id for | | Viewed: | 24 times | | Topic: | General | |
| In General, runner.caller writes:
| | In General, calsbricks writes:
| | I know what the system uses it for but I am curious as to what sellers use it
for. It is unique per item (Item, colour, and condition). It has been around
since Dan put the software together (from an auction house system)
Just curious - if it wasn't there would that be a problem ?
I cam think of a couple of uses but they aren't all that important. Would
you want to track by lot (Cost analysis??)
|
When I export my inventory to excel, I use vlookup to match it with the copied
and pasted Price Guide summaries which are somewhat tied to the lot after pasting
the data into excel.
I then use that to set prices and re upload via xml.
I suppose I could just use the itemID for figures, but I'd probably need
to make a new cell that ties the ItemID and Color code to correctly vlookup pricing
for parts.
|
Understand what you are doing - things, as far as that goes, could get easier
as and when sellers tools come along.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Feb 25, 2022 11:46 | | Subject: | Re: What, if anything, do sellers use lot id for | | Viewed: | 36 times | | Topic: | General | |
| In General, qwertyboy writes:
| | In General, calsbricks writes:
So now that we are all on the same page -
Can you elaborate why you asked this question? I doubt you woke up this morning
thinking "Hmmm - this lot ID, why can we see it? Let's ask!". Are you doing
a BL database redesign for your BrickBill web site?
Niek.
|
Of coujrse
Thinking of how it can be used in the new search and update element of sellers
tools
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Feb 25, 2022 11:13 | | Subject: | Re: What, if anything, do sellers use lot id for | | Viewed: | 31 times | | Topic: | General | |
| In General, qwertyboy writes:
| | In General, calsbricks writes:
| | From a db design point of view it is quite rare for a unique identifier to have
as many external uses as we are now seeing.
|
On the contrary. When a shop puts up a lot for sale (say, a minifig), it is a
physical entity that has some form of representation in the BrickLink database.
If at one point we run out of numbers again for minifigs, the catalog admins
might decide to do a massive renumbering, effectively changing the product code
from say "sw112" to "sw0112". If a lot did not have a unique ID but instead depended
on its product code (combined with color, condition etc), the physical item that
this poor seller put up for sale (and used code/color/condition to track it in
their shop) could now be lost in their inventory.
So it makes 100% sense for shops to use lot IDs in some cases, as a lot on the
shelf is 100% uniquely tied to the entry that shows up in the BrickLink database
(regardless of what catalog admins decide to change).
From a DB design point of view, pretty much ALL of the DB records that identify
something should have a unique serial, even if you don't use it at the time
(and you might want to in the future). Since these are unique, it makes sense
to expose them to the outside world for people to make use of for whatever reason.
Niek.
|
Hiya Niek
Agreed
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Feb 25, 2022 09:53 | | Subject: | Re: What, if anything, do sellers use lot id for | | Viewed: | 25 times | | Topic: | General | |
| In General, peregrinator writes:
| | In General, calsbricks writes:
| | Do those variations in minifigs not have their own product id?
|
On BL? No, they don't. BL doesn't distinguish between torso variants
like: no prongs, short prongs, and long prongs (ribs). They do distinguish helmets,
but different helmet variants are acceptable even if they're not in the official
inventory (minifigure inventories don't allow for alternates).
For my own sanity I match helmets with thick chinstraps with torsos that have
prongs. But even there there are two varieties of thick-chinstrap helmets, one
with dimples and one without. So for, e.g.
I have three variations before even considering whether the space logo pattern
is faded, etc.
|
Interesting - well aware of no variants on minifigs but not so aware of the number
of variations you are mentioning.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Feb 25, 2022 09:52 | | Subject: | Re: What, if anything, do sellers use lot id for | | Viewed: | 26 times | | Topic: | General | |
| In General, 1001bricks writes:
| | | | Just curious - if it wasn't there would that be a problem ?
I cam think of a couple of uses but they aren't all that important. Would
you want to track by lot (Cost analysis??)
|
Yes, very important.
In case there seem to be an Inventory problem (on BL), you can check on 2 or
more invxml.txt downloads if the same lot ID has a changed qty, or if the same
physical lot changed of lot ID (which means it has been destroyed and recreated
with a new lot ID).
You can also use it to check if the Added date corresponds; the lot IDs are always
incremented, so the date must correspond. If you find an old lot ID with a recent
date, or the opposite, then there's something impossible.
And of course, as it's a unique identifier in BL, and it's linked to
many other tables, you just can get rid of it
|
Okay - inventory tracking as [part of sellers tools) should allow you to track
all movements. But when we will see that remains to be seen (if in my lifetime)
Basically it looks like there are many uses of the lot id by sellers above and
beyond the db usage for a unique idetifier.
|
|
| Author: | calsbricks | | Posted: | Feb 25, 2022 09:29 | | Subject: | Re: What, if anything, do sellers use lot id for | | Viewed: | 22 times | | Topic: | General | |
| In General, peregrinator writes:
| | In General, calsbricks writes:
| | In General, peregrinator writes:
| | I grade minifigures so when I list one I put a piece of paper with the lot ID
in the zip bag with the minifigure. So when I receive an order I can hover over
the item's image on the order detail page and make sure I'm pulling the
precise lot.
|
All our items include a product label which we create when we list so we do the
same thing but without lot id, purely prod id colour and category (file location)
|
That's normally sufficient for me, but in the case of minifigures I'll
often have 6-7 of the same product ID, color, and condition (Used) in various
stages of fading/wear. Particularly with Classic Space, where there can also
be other variations like chinstraps and whether or not there are torso prongs.
|
Do those variations in minifigs not have their own product id?
|
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