BrickLink Discussion Forum

In Administrative, infinibrix writes:

In Administrative, Captain_Q writes:

In Administrative, randyipp writes:

In Administrative, leopard37 writes:

Perhaps that seller is selling so well they have no time for the forum...

Agreed, someone with nearly 10k feedback in a year seems like a member who might
have some decent input as to what sellers might need.

Besides, I think calsbricks makes up for this member never using the forum, haha

I agree, not everyone of the panelists needs to be the exact same and if one
of them does not post much on the forum, then does it matter?

But dang! Someone with 10k feedback in a year probably has some useful insight.

I fear by replying to you all I will only end up in further trouble so I will
try to generalize my response so it reflects on future chosen panel members as
a whole rather than targeted at existing panelists though it should be said that
all your replies have skirted around my main concern/issue to which I cannot
further discuss for obvious reasons?

Of course it goes without saying that any member whether they do or don't
post on the forum may still be a valuable asset to the panel however those that
already engage with the community to either offer help to others be that identifying
parts, sharing advise/knowledge and contributing to the catalog I feel would
add even more value to any panel not least because that extra layer of passion,
enthusiasm for the site and engagement with the community already exists which
can only be a good thing but yes I accept some sellers may be doing so well and
be so busy that they don't have time for the forum(though being a panelist
in itself takes up time right?)

however (and yes I'm generalizing again here and not targeting!) if a panelist
is given that special privileged benefit of speaking on behalf of the community
then being a community based role I feel a certain level of buying/selling ethics
should also be expected and taken into consideration within that selection process
likewise I wonder whether inactive users not currently using the site for its
primary use of buying/selling can actually add as much value insight into issues/problems
compared with users that are currently actively buying/selling and experiencing
problems on the site and whilst I accept that BL is also used by many members
as just a reference source having awareness of current buying/selling issues
are an important aspect of helping towards improving to the site

Overall I feel my observations are fair and relevant even though others may disagree
but in the spirit of the chosen panelists and at the request of the admins I
will respect their wishes by not engaging in any further discussion on the matter!

Dear Infinibrix,

Thank you for your input! This seems like a good occasion to share a bit of information
about the concept we are currently introducing called Community Voice. The Marketplace
Panel is one of many initiatives under this umbrella. We will be introducing
a Studio and a Catalog panel within the next month as well and I invite anyone
who would like to be a part of either of these panels to let me know, even if
someone is not selected for the first Panel, we will be partially exchanging
the Panel members annually in order to apply fresh perspectives to apply as broad
a representation as possible. Also, once we get this up and running, we are planning
to increase the size of the Panels.

These are new initiatives on BrickLink and all the input that you and others
share is valid and valued, and will be taken in to account. Thank you!

If you or anyone else prefers to share their input with me directly, I welcome
that and look forward to more great input.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Jun 1, 2021 07:49

Subject:

Re: Marketplace Panel meeting minutes

Viewed:

73 times

Topic:

In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:

In Administrative, Teup writes:

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

This is pretty impressive Tanja, thanks for sharing this and for coordinating
these efforts!

Just a bit of input on this one:

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

One obvious reason (which I have been stressing and repeating more times than
I could count

) is.... Bricklink better payment methods!! PayPal has just become
too expensive. Catch up with BrickOwl here. A year ago I had a call with the
team and raised this point, they said they were working on it, but sadly still
no results. The Netherlands, and I think a bunch of other countries, have onsite
interfaces for bank transfers. Once that is implemented I can guarantee Dutch
domestic offsite payments are gonna drop by at least 90%.

Also I would add, fix the bugs!

Very good to hear there was some space for
people to share their frustrations and that they are taken seriously now. IMO
the best thing BL could possibly do is prioritise a good bug report&fixing infrastructure.
I myself have reported a bunch of bugs over time, through the report system,
through email, and through the forum, and even when I got affirmative response
through those channels, most are still unfixed. I feel like Bricklink has bug
reports scattered all over the place and there is just no structure. Only once
bugs are dealt with efficiently, the next step is to think about improvements
and new features - that's my opinion at least. Bricklink needs to respect
its own core functionality. I don't need a store with fancy storefront features
as long as I can't even list my stock because it's impossible to part
out large sets due to site timeouts!

To be honest I pretty much gave up on Bricklink and sell elsewhere now, but I'm
still available to give input or be in a panel (I owe Bricklink that much) and
will definitely come back if Bricklink becomes a convenient option for me again.

Hi Teup,

Thank you for taking the time to share this input! Yours and everyone else's
input will be taken in to account and I agree, it is not new input, it is something
that we are aware of and that we are making an effort to solve. I am sorry to
hear that you have given up on BrickLink. Hopefully we will be able to apply
the needed changes and once again welcome you back on BrickLink as a Seller,
perhaps as a Panel member in the near future.

/Tanja

Thank you for your feedback Tanja, I'm available for a panel anytime. Good
luck!

Author:

CE_Tanja

Posted:

Jun 1, 2021 07:36

Subject:

Re: Marketplace Panel meeting minutes

Viewed:

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Topic:

In Administrative, Teup writes:

In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:

Author:

infinibrix

Posted:

Jun 1, 2021 06:47

Subject:

Re: Marketplace Panel meeting minutes

Viewed:

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Topic:

In Administrative, Captain_Q writes:

In Administrative, randyipp writes:

In Administrative, leopard37 writes:

Perhaps that seller is selling so well they have no time for the forum...

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Jun 1, 2021 06:35

Subject:

Re: Marketplace Panel meeting minutes

Viewed:

106 times

Topic:

In Administrative, CE_Tanja writes:

Author:

Captain_Q

Posted:

Jun 1, 2021 01:42

Subject:

Re: Marketplace Panel meeting minutes

Viewed:

85 times

Topic:

In Administrative, randyipp writes:

In Administrative, leopard37 writes:

Perhaps that seller is selling so well they have no time for the forum...

Author:

wildchicken13

Posted:

Jun 1, 2021 01:08

Subject:

Re: Marketplace Panel meeting minutes

Viewed:

68 times

Topic:

In Administrative, tEoS writes:

I may be wrong about Studio, but I thought that LDD was still very active at
that time.

Studio may have been a worthwhile investment in its own right. Still, that was
likely resources that may have been better used for improving the marketplace,
which is BL's primary function.

If I recall correctly, Studio was released in December 2016, shortly after the
LEGO Group announced that they would stop supporting LEGO Digital Designer in
January 2016, although they have made a few updates since then. However, LDD
doesn't work on more recent versions of macOS, so many have been forced to
switch to Studio. I can't say for sure how many BrickLink sales are generated
in whole or in part by Studio projects, but I can say for sure that many of the
BrickLink orders I place are. But I agree with you in that BrickLink is first
and foremost a LEGO marketplace and that should be its primary focus.

Author:

brickbiters

Posted:

Jun 1, 2021 00:55

Subject:

Re: Marketplace Panel meeting minutes

Viewed:

82 times

Topic: