BrickLink Discussion Forum

In Suggestions, bje writes:

In Suggestions, searme writes:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

Besides - if you know sellers who are listing items they do not have on hand,
you must report those lots to BrickLink

I'd love to but how do you suggest I prove that, short of raiding seller's
home/shop?

Per your original post - you and other LUG members are aware of those sellers,
so you and your fellow LUG members all report those lots and wait for BL to sort
it out. You are not prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner and neither are you
the policeman. But it also does not help matters if you just talk among yourselves
about it. If you and all other members of your LUG really feel there is a real
serious problem here with a specific subset of sellers, you all report the problem
lots. I'm sure BL can investigate the matter evenhandedly.

On the other hand, if there is nothing in your original statement, then we do
not need this badge idea, as all you have to do is ask the seller to ship to
your timeframe and keep the proof as you require.

In addition to what Jean has mentioned you also need to be aware that the suggestion
program has not worked for a long time as development on the classic site is
no longer part of Bricklink's plans. They have agreed publicly to continue
to support it but all work (development) is being aimed at the "Future of Bricklink
e.g. Bricklink XP" as stated in the Presentation at Brickworld. When and if that
happens it appears the business model will change - to what is really unknown
at present with only very sketchy details available. That plus the fact that,
again publicly, Bricklink have stated they are somewhat in limbo over the future
direction they want to decide on means that modifying the classic site is even
further down the line for anything to be done.

Using the existing feedback system is really your only avenue to deal with things
like this. I would think most people agree that system is flawed, not used correctly,
and in need of a facelift - but it doesn't really appear that is likely.

Things can of course change and there are lots of us who want to see that happen
but for the time being use the tools that are already there.

Author:

bje

Posted:

Nov 26, 2019 07:20

Subject:

Re: "Fast Shipper" badge for Sellers

Viewed:

45 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, searme writes:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

Besides - if you know sellers who are listing items they do not have on hand,
you must report those lots to BrickLink

I'd love to but how do you suggest I prove that, short of raiding seller's
home/shop?

Author:

searme

Posted:

Nov 26, 2019 06:45

Subject:

Re: "Fast Shipper" badge for Sellers

Viewed:

31 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, axaday writes:

eBay has 4 or 5 parameters in the detailed feedback. But I'm not sure who
ever checks it.

If an universally visible badge would be dependent on a parameter, you wouldn't
even need to check that parameter manually. It's kind of the whole point.

Author:

searme

Posted:

Nov 26, 2019 06:44

Subject:

Re: "Fast Shipper" badge for Sellers

Viewed:

31 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

Besides - if you know sellers who are listing items they do not have on hand,
you must report those lots to BrickLink

I'd love to but how do you suggest I prove that, short of raiding seller's
home/shop?

Author:

axaday

Posted:

Nov 26, 2019 05:51

Subject:

Re: "Fast Shipper" badge for Sellers

Viewed:

28 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, searme writes:

What if we added a secondary feedback where instead of just writing if the service
was OK or not OK, the buyer also rates service speed between fast/regular/slow?
And sellers who are consistently rated "fast" by buyers get a badge? Still can
be misused, but should be harder to tamper with. The problem is definitely there
and the existing feedback doesn't solve it. If a dishonest store states they
ship in 5-15 days, you're obviously hoping for 5 and they're obviously
just making 15 look nice. Seriously, maybe set a limit for a maximum shipping
time? If a seller can't ship anything in less than 3 weeks, they obviously
don't have time to run a store OR they're not being truthful about their
stock.

eBay has 4 or 5 parameters in the detailed feedback. But I'm not sure who
ever checks it.

Author:

bje

Posted:

Nov 26, 2019 05:48

Subject:

Re: "Fast Shipper" badge for Sellers

Viewed:

35 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, searme writes:

In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:

I don't think it is necessary. If you have a bad experience then leave appropriate
feedback.

Having a badge will do nothing, as sellers will find a way around it. Plus it
will need policing, which is impossible unless everyone reports tracking information
to BL, which will increase postage costs for buyers. Plus the tracking information
will still need checking to find out if it is genuine.

The shops in question clearly prove that feedback is not reliable, as they only
have 10-20% of complaints and they tend to blacklist complainers to prevent them
from buying again. Yes, a small percentage of sellers will find a way around
anything, but I still believe that for majority of them, such a badge would be
reliable. Far more reliable than blindly trusting the seller, which is what we
are mostly doing right now. I've lost all faith in the feedback system -
consider that if a seller declares on his page that he ships in 5-15 days and
then he ships every order in 15 days (which is pretty much the case with some
shops), you still have no grounds for negative feedback. And I feel like a number
of buyers is simply afraid of giving a negative feedback.

With 800+ buy orders under the belt you should know that feedback is not in any
way designed to be any barometer of service standards. If the seller is not clear
on when he/she will ship, then message them prior to placing the order and ask
what the timeframe is. That way you do not ahve to trust blindly.

A real example of why feedback is such a difficult tool to use to assess sellers:
I have an outstanding order. I asked the seller to keep proof of shipping. After
two months I ask the seller for the proof of shipping. The seller did not keep
proof of shipping. The seller offers me a refund. I did not order a refund. I
paid for the shipping in trust. The seller has no proof that the money I paid
him for shipping was used as intended. That seller is batting 0 for 3 - he has
not done a single thing I have asked him to do. Yet, if I were to leave him negative
or neutral feedback on the facts right now it will be the end of the world for
him because in his head he thinks he has done right by me by offering a full
refund of the order.

I think that if it is that mission critical that the seller must ship the next
day, then tell the seller that when you palce the order and give him/her a clear
opportunity to cancel if they cannot fulfill the order to your expectations.

If a seller then chooses to accept the order and still gives you that level of
poor service, either do not buy from the seller again or bite the bullet and
leave clear feedback such as "seller promises to ship next day but does not".

Besides - if you know sellers who are listing items they do not have on hand,
you must report those lots to BrickLink so those can be removed and if there
are a sufficient number of those lots, so the sellers can be closed down by BrickLink.
If you say nothing, then you are helping the seller to circumvent the very issues
you are complaining about.

Author:

searme

Posted:

Nov 26, 2019 05:43

Subject:

Re: "Fast Shipper" badge for Sellers

Viewed:

28 times

Topic:

Author:

yorbrick

Posted:

Nov 26, 2019 05:19

Subject:

Re: "Fast Shipper" badge for Sellers

Viewed:

31 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, searme writes:

In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:

So BL goes for a badge for speed of shipping. That may lead to some sellers being
sloppy to make sure they qualify for that badge. So we need a badge for accuracy.
Plus for used parts sellers, we need a badge for quality of parts. And what about
a badge for quality of packaging, as some people don't package adequately.
And so on.

And all these badges need monitoring. Should it be down to the seller to declare
they ship within 5 days, or for the buyers to monitor this. And what about correctness
of order and so on - should a buyer declare this or the seller?

If you want a fast turn around, I suggest avoiding stores that state they will
ship in 5-15 days.

If a store has 10-20% of complaints, then I'd also avoid them.

As to a store blacklisting a buyer that complains, I don't see the problem.
If a buyer is upset with a store enough to leave them negative feedback, then
surely the buyer would not want to buy from that same store again. And if they
do, surely the seller has the right to stop them. If they didn't like their
purchase first time around, then why deal with that customer again if they are
just going to complain again at the service.

Author:

SurplusParts

Posted:

Nov 26, 2019 05:14

Subject:

Re: "Fast Shipper" badge for Sellers

Viewed:

33 times

Topic:

I honestly think that if the feedback system was used as it is designed to do,
then some of these problems would be eliminated.

What is the considered % for a top store. 100%? 99%? 90%?

That maybe is the problem. Everyone wants 100% and they don't want negative
feedback. They say they are happy for constructive feedback, but the reality
is that they don't really, unless it is positive. And some stores use some
bad methods to keep that score up.

Imagine if a top store was only 90%. Then people may be more likely to give
honest feedback as it would be less likely to ruin their perfect score.

I recently had a buying experience on Bricklink that i would consider neutral.
Wasn't disastrous, but was certainly not good. However i felt that i couldn't
leave that kind of feedback because i am a seller too, and i didn't want
to receive the same in return. Retaliatory feedback is a big problem.

But as mentioned above, sellers could just mark the shipment as shipped and it
would make no iota of difference.

I think that honest feedback is the only really way to go, but i am guilty of
the opposite myself so i won't be holding my breath that this will happen
any day soon.

Anyway, just my thoughts.
Douglas

Author:

searme

Posted:

Nov 26, 2019 04:36

Subject:

Re: "Fast Shipper" badge for Sellers

Viewed:

43 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:

Author:

yorbrick

Posted:

Nov 26, 2019 04:26

Subject:

Re: "Fast Shipper" badge for Sellers

Viewed:

43 times

Topic:

Author:

Rob_and_Shelagh

Posted:

Nov 26, 2019 04:21

Subject:

Re: "Fast Shipper" badge for Sellers

Viewed:

47 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, searme writes:

Dear Bricklink,

There are certain dishonest shops that really ruin the BL experience for shoppers.
It's hard to prove, but some sellers apparently sell pieces they don't
have in their stock and only order them from elsewhere when you place an order
with them. Apologies if that sounds like unfounded accusation, but my LUG is
aware of a number of shops whose stock is always suspiciously similar to current
LEGO PaB stock, who delay shipping when PaB runs out of stock, and who generally
take around 3 weeks to ship anything, no matter how common and widely available.
Because I see no reliable way to denounce such sellers, I suggest a different,
easily implemented solution. Just like sellers who offer instant checkout are
marked with a special badge, why not create another badge that marks sellers
who ship e.g. 3 days after payment on average? We as buyers have no access to
sellers' shipping times, we can only look up their feedback and see if people
are complaining about slow service. But your system has dates of all payments
and shipments. Simply calculate days between payment and shipping for all seller's
orders and you can get a nice average. And I'm sure this average is going
to show that certain shops typically ship after 2-3 weeks while others ship after
2-3 days. Hell, I had a seller ship an order 30 minutes after payment once. Quality
service deserves recognition, and we as buyers deserve the right to be informed
whether a particular seller provides such service or not. Transparency is the
name of the game. Right now there in no reliable way to determine that, and picking
a wrong seller can mean that your MOC will get hold up for weeks.
I sincerely hope that you will consider this simple, easy to implement request
that would drastically improve Bricklink's overall transparency for buyers.

This has been mentioned before and I certainly support identifying and warning
buyers of stores who do not operate by the rules of the site - you must have
all listed stock on hand.

The suggested solution however is not foolproof as cheating stores can simply
mark orders as shipped before they have been. IMO Bricklink should force sellers
to commit in their terms to shipping lead times at least so buyers can avoid
slow (for what ever reason) stores if they need parts quickly. Unfortunately
with any system there will always be stores that try to cheat as well as genuine
postal delays to deal with of course.

As a lug you can at least share your data with other members so they can least
favourite these stores and favourite those who have proven to ship as promised.

Robert

Author:

searme

Posted:

Nov 26, 2019 04:10

Subject:

"Fast Shipper" badge for Sellers

Viewed:

163 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

Captain_Q

Posted:

Nov 25, 2019 04:25

Subject:

Re: streamline payment process

Viewed:

33 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Akhoover writes:

The process for payment, when buying from multiple vendors should not be so time
consuming. I purchased from 21 vendors, still waiting to hear from one. but the
checkout time was very lengthy, possible look at how amazon checks out.

As BrainOfTheBrick has stated, Bricklink is not like amazon but, imo, more like
a Lego flea market with thousands of different stores with a lot of different
styles of selling. Amazon can combine all your items into one purchase and potentially
combine shipping for some items, if applicable.

If you are looking for quicker ways to purchase on Bricklink then you could stick
to the Bricklink stores that use "Instant Checkout", signified by having a lightning
bolt. That way you don't have to wait for a store owner to send you a manual
invoice.

Regards,
- CaptainQ

Author:

Brickwilbo

Posted:

Nov 25, 2019 01:37

Subject:

Re: streamline payment process

Viewed:

28 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Akhoover writes:

Check your email spam folder for invoice emails from @Bricklink.
Probably at least a few of those 21 stores use instant checkout, Bricklink automatically
sends invoices.

Author:

BrainOfTheBrick

Posted:

Nov 24, 2019 22:06

Subject:

Re: streamline payment process

Viewed:

36 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Akhoover writes:

You really shouldn't compare amazon and BrickLink. They are two completely
different sites which run completely differently.

Author:

Akhoover

Posted:

Nov 24, 2019 21:58

Subject:

streamline payment process

Viewed:

78 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

normann1974

Posted:

Nov 23, 2019 09:58

Subject:

Part out value in local currency

Viewed:

98 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

If I'm not logged in (which I'm not on my phone), the POV page

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogPOV.asp

shows prices in USD. Unlike the price guides on all other pages which show my
local currency (DKK). This means when I'm at a store, I must use a calculator
to convert the POV's to DKK. This is rather annoying. Please fix it.

/Jan

Author:

axaday

Posted:

Nov 20, 2019 20:10

Subject:

Re: Daily and monthly downtime - I'd like to help

Viewed:

100 times

Topic:

My sister gave me that cat in your sig pic for Christmas last year. I just recently
finished it. I delayed a long time because I couldn’t tell from the instructions
what it even was.

In Suggestions, JusTiCe8 writes:

Hi,

not sure it is the right place for this and most importantly, if company such
FB can afford such a yearly uptime, is because they know how to do their job
right (at least in the server architecture). Plus, the lower the downtime is,
the higher it cost, 99% is a lot more cheaper than 99.9999%, 1% of a year is
quite 3.6 days off. Lowest downtime are a few hours or even minutes.

The cheapest and easiest way to remove downtime almost completely would be to
set-up a mirror of everything (web server mostly) they have now, upgrade one
while leaving the other running with old stuff, do the switch (here could be
a minor downtime), then upgrade the other and finally enable both together.

Anyway, we don't know how things has been setup behind the scene and how
they are actually managed, except it is not done according to BL expectations.

In Suggestions, Ethan1701 writes:

Hey,
I'm a database administrator (Business intelligence specifically), and I'd
like to help eliminate the daily and monthly downtimes. The way I see it, if
Facebook can have an uptime of 99.9999% while rolling out new features, so can
BL.

Hit me up, I'd love to know what the downtimes are for, and help see if we
can design a better solution for those needs.

Author:

Sadler_Bricks

Posted:

Nov 20, 2019 19:46

Subject:

Re: Daily and monthly downtime - I'd like to help

Viewed:

67 times

Topic:

Yes I would agree it would be nice but not sure that BL has the funds such as
a FB but would be nice to see some good improvments on this site as it has some
massive opertunity and doesn't seem like they have capitalized on all that
opertunity but maybe in due time we will see some great changes to make the site
improved for everyone's experience

Sadler_Bricks

Author:

Stonemonkey1974

Posted:

Nov 20, 2019 13:36

Subject:

Re: Better time information on maintenance

Viewed:

50 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, sonnich writes:

Yesterday at the post office I needed some adresses from BL it was under maintenance
- it said

Maintenance Time : Nov 19, 2019 12:00 PM - 04:00 PM EST

When is that according to GMT?

Please add times in GMT at the rest of the world uses - I have no idea what EST
is, not have the majority of the world.

Google (other search engines are available) is your friend

Author:

HarryPotter71

Posted:

Nov 20, 2019 13:24

Subject:

Re: Better time information on maintenance

Viewed:

45 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, sonnich writes:

Yesterday at the post office I needed some adresses from BL it was under maintenance
- it said

Maintenance Time : Nov 19, 2019 12:00 PM - 04:00 PM EST

When is that according to GMT?

Please add times in GMT at the rest of the world uses - I have no idea what EST
is, not have the majority of the world.

EST = Eastern Standard Time

Author:

yorbrick

Posted:

Nov 20, 2019 04:30

Subject:

Re: Better time information on maintenance

Viewed:

58 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, sonnich writes:

Yesterday at the post office I needed some adresses from BL it was under maintenance
- it said

Maintenance Time : Nov 19, 2019 12:00 PM - 04:00 PM EST

When is that according to GMT?

Please add times in GMT at the rest of the world uses - I have no idea what EST
is, not have the majority of the world.

Could you have just looked it up, for example, here:
https://time.is/EST

If they add GMT, then no doubt others will want their time zone too. It makes
sense for BL to stick to one time - BL time - and do all times in that.

Author:

sonnich

Posted:

Nov 20, 2019 03:25

Subject:

Better time information on maintenance

Viewed:

150 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Yesterday at the post office I needed some adresses from BL it was under maintenance
- it said

Maintenance Time : Nov 19, 2019 12:00 PM - 04:00 PM EST

When is that according to GMT?

Please add times in GMT at the rest of the world uses - I have no idea what EST
is, not have the majority of the world.

Author:

JusTiCe8

Posted:

Nov 15, 2019 15:04

Subject:

Re: Suggestion for extra function in Bricklink

Viewed:

72 times

Topic:

Funny how idea flows in the ether as I think of a similar feature but a bit more
from a practical point of view. I encounter the same issue with the mini/micro
Serenity by Brothers Bricks which use a medium dark flesh modified tile on top
to hold the 3x3 dish, which I don't have obviously

, and while building
it I've figured out colour doesn't not matter at all, one part bought
quite uselessly.

So, I have imagine an invisible brick detection feature, maybe by using a light
source in a brick and by some kind of occlusion, or whatever the right name
is, calculations (lights vector can be computed and some algorithm could be use
to see if the light vector hit a face of a 3D object as it is done for "basic"
rendering technique like in deferred rendering).

If the light source is not visible from outside = bingo, the brick could be any
colour.
If not, its colour actually matters (if the builder also care of following designer
guidelines).

I don't have work enough in 3D rendering to get any kind of solution, I still
offer a way which can actually be done I guess.

In Suggestions, JLvL writes:

Hello,

Over the las couple of months i have designed some cars in Studio.
Some bricks in the middle may have a different color than the color I am currently
building. So if the color doesn't matter you select 'not applicable'
for that specific brick.

It always takes quite some time to figure out in the wanted list which bricks
should be on not applicable. I think it is much easier to include the 'color'
not applicable in the list.

As an extra function it is then useful to be able to choose the color of the
'not applicable' bricks. For example, if you are building a model in
red, you can set the 'not applicable' bricks to yellow. Because of the
contrast between these two colors you keep the overview on the model.

Greetings,

JL

Author:

SylvainLS

Posted:

Nov 15, 2019 12:23

Subject:

Re: Suggestion for extra function in Studio

Viewed:

37 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, JLvL writes:

Hello,

Over the las couple of months i have designed some cars in Studio.
Some bricks in the middle may have a different color than the color I am currently
building. So if the color doesn't matter you select 'not applicable'
for that specific brick.

It always takes quite some time to figure out in the wanted list which bricks
should be on not applicable. I think it is much easier to include the 'color'
not applicable in the list of colors in Studio.

As an extra function it is then useful to be able to choose the color of the
'not applicable' bricks. For example, if you are building a model in
red, you can set the 'not applicable' bricks to yellow. Because of the
contrast between these two colors you keep the overview on the model.

Agreed… but the dedicated forum for Studio is http://forum.bricklink.com/

Author:

JLvL

Posted:

Nov 15, 2019 11:58

Subject:

Re: Suggestion for extra function in Studio

Viewed:

32 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, JLvL writes:

Hello,

Over the las couple of months i have designed some cars in Studio.
Some bricks in the middle may have a different color than the color I am currently
building. So if the color doesn't matter you select 'not applicable'
for that specific brick.

It always takes quite some time to figure out in the wanted list which bricks
should be on not applicable. I think it is much easier to include the 'color'
not applicable in the list of colors in Studio.

As an extra function it is then useful to be able to choose the color of the
'not applicable' bricks. For example, if you are building a model in
red, you can set the 'not applicable' bricks to yellow. Because of the
contrast between these two colors you keep the overview on the model.

Greetings,

JL

Author:

JLvL

Posted:

Nov 15, 2019 11:55

Subject:

Suggestion for extra function in Bricklink

Viewed:

119 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

JusTiCe8

Posted:

Nov 14, 2019 08:40

Subject:

Re: Daily and monthly downtime - I'd like to help

Viewed:

118 times

Topic:

Author:

Ethan1701

Posted:

Nov 14, 2019 06:52

Subject:

Daily and monthly downtime - I'd like to help

Viewed:

141 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

cycbuild

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 17:01

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

73 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

There are certainly some improvements to be made - pinning posts, notification
/ subscription plans, ability to edit or completely remove posted material -
but most of what you are asking for here can already be done.

First, the BrickLink Discussions Forum is actually many individual Forums all
joined together, including hidden Forums backstage for our community admins.
If you don't wish to read everything, start on this page and read only what
interests you:

https://www.bricklink.com/messageTopics.asp?utm_content=subnav

Second, you can customize the Forum to your exact specifications, including viewing
each thread without the replies. You can also block certain Forums (e.g. sales
posts). See the settings on this page:

https://www.bricklink.com/messageFilter.asp?viewFrom=P

I've never seen a Forum with this level of user customization, and I believe
most members don't even know about these options. Try out these suggestions
and see if that helps your impression.

I have been reading the Forum consistently for over 10 years, and I've noticed
that like rainy and dry periods with the weather, Forum participation ebbs and
flows with time. And if by "community involvement" you mean people like Foster
and Dan/Jon beating each other up on a regular basis, that sort of behavior isn't
tolerated anymore.

It might benefit the regulars and newcomers if this was added to the top of the
forum with links below to a shortlist of FAQs. And a hide option, if possible.

https://www.bricklink.com/help.asp?helpID=126

Author:

SylvainLS

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 14:25

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

36 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

[…]

My point was that forum.bl.com uses a modern, off-the-shelf, forum engine (and,
if I’m not mistaken, phpBB (it uses the Ariki style, designed for phpBB 3.0)).

So BL knows about and has experience with modern, off-the-shelf, forum engines

And our experience has not been good. Very difficult to manage, and a real challenge
to customize.

Yes, that’s why new ones are always popping up.

We had a bug for over year that prevented us from deleting any
post.

And there are no notifications for private messages (took me months to see I
had some), and those can’t be deleted (well, you can, but they are still there).

I actually rather like the mailing-list / usenet look of this old forum. And
the macro tags and the inventory change messages….

Author:

Admin_Russell

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 14:11

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

68 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

[…]
Just like to add that our forum has all the functionality of this one as well
as the ability to edit, add attachments, conduct polls, plus more and its free
software - phbbs forum. It took our web guy an hour or so to get it installed
and me about a day to learn all about it (and I still don't know all there
is to know) […]

Take a look at http://forum.bricklink.com/ ….

From the front page:

Most users ever online was 20 on Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:25 pm

That was around the time ADP was announced.

And our experience has not been good. Very difficult to manage, and a real challenge
to customize. We had a bug for over year that prevented us from deleting any
post.

Author:

SylvainLS

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 13:56

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

33 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

Take a look at http://forum.bricklink.com/ ….

From the front page:

Most users ever online was 20 on Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:25 pm

That was around the time ADP was announced.

Author:

Admin_Russell

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 13:35

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

71 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

Take a look at http://forum.bricklink.com/ ….

From the front page:

Most users ever online was 20 on Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:25 pm

That was around the time ADP was announced.

Considering that was from 35 total users at that date and we have a very restricted
membership that isn't worrying. We are still growing there and as things
develop I am sure more will participate. I am not purporting that our forum is
better than this one far from it, but at the same time it shows what can be done
in a short space of time where there is a will.

My quote was from the Studio Forum, not your Forum.

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 13:31

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

34 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:

I don't monitor all the most used AFOL forums, but my impression that the
BrickLink Forum has been the leading and most active AFOL forum for a long time
now, despite it's archaic appearance and limitations. To the extent that
that is true, we don't want to break something that is performing so well.

I don't think it is, at least not for general LEGO discussion, MOCs, new
sets, etc. Eurobricks is more active and has way better content than here.

However, the BL forum is the most active and leading forum when it comes to Bricklink
issues, and aspects of buying and selling on BL. And isn't that primarily
what it should be? A forum that supports BL users with issues when using BL.

So what if the forum is a bit old fashioned looking. It is functional, I'd
hate to lose things like the easy tagging in of sets, parts and minifigures,
and so on.

Sorry for this

Author:

yorbrick

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 13:24

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

40 times

Topic:

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 13:07

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

36 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

Take a look at http://forum.bricklink.com/ ….

From the front page:

Most users ever online was 20 on Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:25 pm

That was around the time ADP was announced.

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 13:02

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

42 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

You use the word "richer", but in some ways BrickLink's Forum is much richer
than these one-size-fits-all applications. It is fully integrated with the site
- Inv Change requests, Catalog and suggestions, moderator tools, messaging system,
macro tags, ID cards, and the list goes on and on. Sure, you can set up something
cheap and quick, and because it is new, it has some richer features. But overall,
if we did something like that, it would severely cheapen the BrickLink experience.

It's true that the Forum (as well as all the old code on the site) needs
to be completely rewritten and possibly redesigned. But we need to be sure while
doing that that we don't water down a core feature that made the site great.

So does this mean that is what is going on? Or is the focus still the new tangent
XP?

I don't monitor all the most used AFOL forums, but my impression that the

BrickLink Forum has been the leading and most active AFOL forum for a long time
now, despite it's archaic appearance and limitations. To the extent that
that is true, we don't want to break something that is performing so well.

I think the OP first and susbsequent messages has shown statistically that the
forum is not being used as much as t it had been in the past, and whilst I agree
it is a little like the weather, constantly changeable, he may have a point from
strictly the number side. Don't get us wrong - we enjoy using the forum -
it is really the only communications that goes on on the site, other than comms
via the messaging system.

Still, as we and others have said there are many more important things to be
done than the forum or messaging. My earlier point was it could be done quickly
and easily with plug ins (which is the way most modern software is put together.

Mo one, anywhere can do it all, not today, anyway. Dan and Eric had a head start
and brought this site to what it is today and we, like many others will not forget
that. Of course, improvement and updating is needed, but where and what that
transpires to be is currently outside of our knowledge.

Author:

Admin_Russell

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 12:55

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

82 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

Take a look at http://forum.bricklink.com/ ….

From the front page:

Most users ever online was 20 on Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:25 pm

That was around the time ADP was announced.

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 12:53

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

27 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Leftoverbricks writes:

We must not forget their promise to the users after their acquisition

"Message from Jung-Ju “Jay” Kim, founder of the online game company Nexon, incoming
owner of BrickLink.com:

(As of June 5th, the Hong Kong-based company Bricklink Limited has acquired the
assets of BrickLink.com. Bricklink Limited is a subsidiary of NXMH.)

Dear BrickLink Community,

I am extremely pleased to be taking over the operations of BrickLink.com. I’ve
been a LEGO fan for 40 years and an avid user of BrickLink.com for over a decade.
My first plans are to upgrade the website, and do our best to make users happier
and more prosperous, while staying true to the original vision of BrickLink.com
founder, Daniel Jezek. We will work hard in order to ensure that BrickLink.com
becomes stable, secure and as user-friendly as possible.

I want to sincerely thank the family of Daniel Jezek, especially his mother Eliska,
as well as the BrickLink.com Community, for the opportunity to upgrade and operate
such a beloved website as BrickLink.com. In order to expedite the process of
renovating BrickLink.com, I and Bricklink Limited will be asking users to e-mail
us with their ideas for the improved functionality of the site, as well as any
current issues that need to be addressed in order to provide users with the best
possible selling and buying experience. We’ll establish those lines of communication
very soon.

Thank you for your continued patronage and support of Brick"Link.com

Jung-Ju Kim, incoming owner of BrickLink.com

Not really sure we have seen any of the promises turn into reality, but willing
to listen to debate about that.

In the past two years or so the owners of Bricklink showed no interest whatsoever
in changing the old 1990's code. Maybe they think 'don't change a
thing while it's working'.

Their wording was 'Spaghetti code' at the Brickworld conference in Octboer
of last year.

Changes to the forum?
This will not happen.
I wish it would.
But I'm sceptical.

As are we all

BL is really something special: it's outdated but yet thousands of sellers
earn a nice income using the outdated interface.
So I can understand BL's POV: never change something that already works fine.

I think they have bent that guideline several times with updates to the system.

But it's bad anyway. BL is 1990. We need 2019!

They should have started that with a proper system analysis and design project
coupled with liaison with the membership. (It was over 6 years ago and re-doing
this site is not a 6 year development project,

Author:

Admin_Russell

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 12:50

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

84 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 12:46

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

26 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

Take a look at http://forum.bricklink.com/ ….

That is a more up to date forum but as we are not either users or interested
in stud.io we don't see it.

Does prove they can do it if they want to, but that also shows where their focus
is and it isn't the classic site.

Author:

SylvainLS

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 12:30

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

32 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

Take a look at http://forum.bricklink.com/ ….

Author:

Leftoverbricks

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 12:28

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

29 times

Topic:

I agree, the Forum needs an update.

The forum and many other parts of this site are written in extremely old code
and it would require lots of time and effort for programmers to change this.
It's not like changing old code, they have to develop a completely new environment
from scratch. To make the forum 2019-proof they also have to make the forum responsive
for phones and tablets.

In the past two years or so the owners of Bricklink showed no interest whatsoever
in changing the old 1990's code. Maybe they think 'don't change a
thing while it's working'.

Changes to the forum?
This will not happen.
I wish it would.
But I'm sceptical.

BL is really something special: it's outdated but yet thousands of sellers
earn a nice income using the outdated interface.
So I can understand BL's POV: never change something that already works fine.

But it's bad anyway. BL is 1990. We need 2019!

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 12:08

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

60 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

In Suggestions, Nathan123 writes:

It seems the forum isn't getting the same kind of community involvement as
it once did. It is fairly common to see less than 100 messages per day and I
had to go back to July to find a day that had over 200. The way the forum works
right now it can be very frustrating and time consuming finding posts of interest
as even new posts get buried quickly under 2 or 3 more active posts and that
makes it difficult to participate in the forum if you do not have the time to
browse or search through it. In terms of utility the bricklink forum is not as
easy to use and enjoy as say brickset forum. There are a lot of good parts of
the BL forum but I feel it is largely being ruined.

My suggestion is that when a post is responded to the post itself moves to the
top but it doesn't show up as a new message, so if a post is made and has
10 replies it will still just look like one post on the forum. I would also like
to recommend that certain categories get put into a different area apart from
the forum so maybe for example buying and selling, inventory change requests,
and sales posts could be seperated from the rest so they don't bury the rest
of the posts out there and stagnate the forum.

The goal would be to allow more people and ideas to participate in the community.

Hi Russell and thank you for your comments on this topic (which isn't ours)
as you can tell.

Just like to add that our forum has all the functionality of this one as well
as the ability to edit, add attachments, conduct polls, plus more and its free
software - phbbs forum. It took our web guy an hour or so to get it installed
and me about a day to learn all about it (and I still don't know all there
is to know)

The Bricklink forum and messaging system , as you know, are well out of date
and whilst most of the regular members love this archaic piece of software (and
we have a liking to it as well), newer users are used to much richer applications.

There are lots of things that are more important than the forum and as you have
said in many comments here development time is at a premium whilst the company
determines which direction(s) it is going to take for the future. Might not be
a bad idea to keep the members informed - I know that kind of contravenes current
policy but it would engender a lot more respect for what is happening or about
to happen.

I have been a member for a long time now both as a buyer only (3 years before
we became a store) and nearly 9 years as a store, and feel, like most, that we
are kept in the dark about what is happening with the site. As for earlier times
and forum discussions/debates etc, we remember most of them - but again most
of those members are no longer involved with Bricklink. We get PM's from
some of them from time to time when they read something on the forum and want
an insiders view (Not really sure why they believe we have an insiders view but
still). It is nice to hear from them and we try to comment on what they are asking.

Life, forums, business , relationships are all about multi-directional communications
and this site is no different than any others. Keep your customers happy and
you will grow and prosper - give them cause for concern and you will not see
the real benefits you are looking for, regardless of the dir4ection you choose
and we all kow no one can do it on their own.

Bill & the Team @ Calsbricks.

Author:

Adjour

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 11:50

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

25 times

Topic:

LOL you are the OP.

Ok you changed my mind, we could use forum flair in addition to editing.

Author:

Adjour

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 11:47

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

32 times

Topic:

Please don't get hung up on me saying "hundreds". Its just an example in
reply to the OP who is musing about why there isn't more traffic on the forum,
and wrongly, IMO, blaming it on the forum template.

You can't argue the fact that, like I said, "wholesome" posts are almost
completely ignored here. If people really want more forum participation,
then they need to stop treating other users they do not know yet like
they are stereo instructions and reach out and be friendly. It is my opinion
that the issues presented by the OP is not a template issue.

The issue in my opinion is that there isn't enough
interest to get more people using the forum

This is exactly my point.

Author:

Adjour

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 11:43

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

32 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, Adjour writes:

[…]
I remember a regular member posting a very nice collection photo because they
were excited about finishing or near finishing it iirc. I think it got two replies...

On Reddit, that same post would have got hundreds of positive replies. […]

On the other hand, 200 comments of “Good!” and “+1” aren’t fun to read either

To you maybe, but to the OP posting something personal, I'm sure they would
be thrilled. 200 is hyperbole for this site, anyway

I also believe that, as there are other forums that specialize in that sort of
posts, by comparison and by BL’s very nature, BL’s forum will always seem more
oriented towards selling/buying or cataloguing than MOCing or other news.

Right, which is why I don't get these occasional "omg where has tHe fAmIly
GoNE?" posts I see on here occasionally. If people really miss a wholesome forum
that "used to" exist, they should be reaching out to new member and stop acting
like this is some sort of old timers club. (not everyone obviously).

Heck, look at this post and how many replies it has. Lol

Author:

maxx3001

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 10:14

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

52 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

The captain has therefor cordially invited you to dine at the ship's main
table once it is upright and our onboard chef can manage to cook you dodo a la
efof.

Regards

Paid for by Pals Tours

Excellent.

You brightened my morning considerably.

Jen

+1

Maxx

Author:

Nathan123

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 10:08

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

40 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Adjour writes:

My personal opinion is the format is largely fine. I modded for years on a v
bulletin based board and the only real feature I miss is editing ability.

What I noticed is wholesome posts are largely ignored here. People posting mocs
or collections are almost completely ignored while drama posts create long chains
of comments

I remember a regular member posting a very nice collection photo because they
were excited about finishing or near finishing it iirc. I think it got two replies...

On Reddit, that same post would have got hundreds of positive replies.

I know personally I've had a few cool post ideas, but I know if it's
not negative or dramatic they will only be met with crickets.

Again, just my opinion

The difference in size is probably why there could be hundreds of positive comments
and upvotes while being met with silence here. Here there cannot be more than
a couple hundred people looking at the BL forum for any significant amount of
time from day to day. The issue in my opinion is that there isn't enough
interest to get more people using the forum but the other problem is that if
more people were to use the forum it would become harder to use as posts would
get buried that much faster.

Author:

SylvainLS

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 09:48

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

46 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Adjour writes:

On the other hand, 200 comments of “Good!” and “+1” aren’t fun to read either

Author:

Adjour

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 09:37

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

43 times

Topic:

Author:

jennnifer

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 09:36

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

46 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, bje writes:

The captain has therefor cordially invited you to dine at the ship's main
table once it is upright and our onboard chef can manage to cook you dodo a la
efof.

Regards

Paid for by Pals Tours

Excellent.

You brightened my morning considerably.

Jen

Author:

Hsousa

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 09:19

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

40 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, paulvdb writes:

In Suggestions, Hsousa writes:

Hello there, thank you for replying.

However I wanted to know if there's a way of, when clicking on a thread,
displaying the entire thread? There's an additional click on the "Entire
thread on one page" link every time I want to read a thread.

To rephrase, I want to open the foruns in "Compact" mode (done), but open the
threads in "Entire thread on one page". Is it possible?

You can click on the text bubble icon in front of the topic title to display
the entire thread on one page.

Cheers, that helped !

Author:

paulvdb

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 09:16

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

44 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Hsousa writes:

You can click on the text bubble icon in front of the topic title to display
the entire thread on one page.

Author:

Hsousa

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 09:10

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

45 times

Topic:

Author:

Nathan123

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 04:23

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

63 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:

In Suggestions, Nathan123 writes:

Thank you for this information! I had no clue those options already existed although
I probably should have. It could be that the forum is just in one of those periods
of decreased participation but from the stats it doesn't seem like it has
really changed all that much in about 9 months...to me it seems it should be
busier and for whatever the reason is, it is apparent the forum just has not
grabbed people's interest.

Author:

bje

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 03:25

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

52 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, maxx3001 writes:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

In Suggestions, Nathan123 writes:

I love the way this old Forum works. Sorry if I am in the minority. I would argue
that the lack of community involvement is directly related to the management's
antipathy.

Jen

+ several

+ a number of mine

If management is lacking, why use the forum, you can ask, suggest all you like,
it won’t change a thing.

BrickLink is going the way of the Dodo, while sailors are eating on.....

snip

Good Morning Sir

We have forwarded the concerns you raised about your paid for passage on the
good ship "Indifference" to the owners, White Star Line.

As your travel agents, let us at this time say that we were extremely concerned
about your reports of experiencing a sinking feeling whilst using ship ameneties.

White Star Lines in fact assured us this state of affairs is entirely normal.
The ship is in fact keeled over and at no point in time should passengers be
concerned as this is a permanent feature of the ship. The captain and staff should
have assured you that the line had the ship built for the express purpose of
setting a world record for the time it takes for keeled over ship to self-right.

Your request for a waiver of fees for passage has, as a result, regrettably been
denied as the owners are of the view that the reasonable amount you paid for
passage cannot ever be negated by the fact that you expect far too much in life.
The captain has therefor cordially invited you to dine at the ship's main
table once it is upright and our onboard chef can manage to cook you dodo a la
efof.

Regards

Paid for by Pals Tours

Author:

Admin_Russell

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 03:12

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

124 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Nathan123 writes:

Author:

Nathan123

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 02:37

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

41 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, maxx3001 writes:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

In Suggestions, Nathan123 writes:

I love the way this old Forum works. Sorry if I am in the minority. I would argue
that the lack of community involvement is directly related to the management's
antipathy.

Jen

+ several

+ a number of mine

If management is lacking, why use the forum, you can ask, suggest all you like,
it won’t change a thing.

BrickLink is going the way of the Dodo, while sailors are eating on.....

At this point it is just a money generating donkey, pulling a load to heavy for
its back

Why not ask though? Maybe it is unlikely anything improves but if no one wants
improvements then it will never happen. Wanting the forum to be more interesting
and grow the number of people wjo use it seems like is shouldn't be beyond
expectations.

Author:

Nathan123

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 02:26

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

41 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, JusTiCe8 writes:

In addition to what others wrote, you can click on "all" link on top and you'll
get new replies to old topics.

The whole website needs work, but forum is far down below the needto list I guess.

In Suggestions, Nathan123 writes:

It seems the forum isn't getting the same kind of community involvement as
it once did. It is fairly common to see less than 100 messages per day and I

[...]

The goal would be to allow more people and ideas to participate in the community.

The forum itself doesn't generate very much business or interest for that
matter but if we don't ask for improvements we shouldn't be surprised
when nothing happens.

Author:

Nathan123

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 02:21

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

37 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

In Suggestions, Nathan123 writes:

I love the way this old Forum works. Sorry if I am in the minority. I would argue
that the lack of community involvement is directly related to the management's
antipathy.

Jen

You don't have to apologize for having a different opinion. My point is that
the forum needs help.l It looks like the forum is getting less and less use despite
supposedly more people signing up as buyers than ever before.

Author:

maxx3001

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 01:37

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

58 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

In Suggestions, Nathan123 writes:

I love the way this old Forum works. Sorry if I am in the minority. I would argue
that the lack of community involvement is directly related to the management's
antipathy.

Jen

+ several

+ a number of mine

Author:

JusTiCe8

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 01:31

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

39 times

Topic:

It seems the forum isn't getting the same kind of community involvement as
it once did. It is fairly common to see less than 100 messages per day and I

[...]

The goal would be to allow more people and ideas to participate in the community.

Author:

calsbricks

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 01:28

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

49 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

In Suggestions, Nathan123 writes:

I love the way this old Forum works. Sorry if I am in the minority. I would argue
that the lack of community involvement is directly related to the management's
antipathy.

Jen

+ several

Author:

jennnifer

Posted:

Nov 8, 2019 01:13

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

73 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Nathan123 writes:

I love the way this old Forum works. Sorry if I am in the minority. I would argue
that the lack of community involvement is directly related to the management's
antipathy.

Jen

Author:

Nathan123

Posted:

Nov 7, 2019 22:48

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

57 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, dearlydeparted writes:

I agree that the forum can be tedious. The interface and lack of features compared
to other sites is antiquated. Would be nice to be able to edit for one and a
notification feature with link when someone responds to your post - just to name
a few.

Those are good ideas! I guess the forum already has a button to hide the replies
but it doesn't move the posts up and I would argue it should be the default
setting. If people don't see something that interests them right away they
are not as likely to stay, read, and participate.

Author:

legoman77

Posted:

Nov 7, 2019 22:45

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

57 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Nathan123 writes:

It seems the forum isn't getting the same kind of community involvement as
it once did. It is fairly common to see less than 100 messages per day and I
had to go back to July to find a day that had over 200. The way the forum works
right now it can be very frustrating and time consuming finding posts of interest
as even new posts get buried quickly under 2 or 3 more active posts and that
makes it difficult to participate in the forum if you do not have the time to
browse or search through it. In terms of utility the bricklink forum is not as
easy to use and enjoy as say brickset forum. There are a lot of good parts of
the BL forum but I feel it is largely being ruined.

My suggestion is that when a post is responded to the post itself moves to the
top but it doesn't show up as a new message, so if a post is made and has
10 replies it will still just look like one post on the forum. I would also like
to recommend that certain categories get put into a different area apart from
the forum so maybe for example buying and selling, inventory change requests,
and sales posts could be seperated from the rest so they don't bury the rest
of the posts out there and stagnate the forum.
The goal would be to allow more people and ideas to participate in the community.

Nope. I am old and hate change of any kind. My middle name is Luddite.
John P

Author:

dearlydeparted

Posted:

Nov 7, 2019 22:28

Subject:

Re: Forum Reforms

Viewed:

65 times

Topic:

Author:

Nathan123

Posted:

Nov 7, 2019 21:43

Subject:

Forum Reforms

Viewed:

304 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

xboxnissan

Posted:

Nov 5, 2019 17:45

Subject:

Personal Inventory, Shareable

Viewed:

81 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Just like Discogs where you can put into an inventory what you have (they name
it collection), it would be interesting to have such a feature.

It's basically a display without having to sell (i.e. right now you have
to be a seller to have an inventory).

I'm using currently wish list of the set I got at the moment and transfered
them into another wish list once I was done rebuilding it... I mean it works
but it's not exactly what wish lists are for!

Author:

phinto

Posted:

Nov 5, 2019 14:06

Subject:

Re: Bricklink Discord

Viewed:

70 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, phinto writes:

In Suggestions, DerekThomasp89 writes:

I recently upgraded the discord channel to add a few new channels, were still
looking for members to make this server a success.

Please come on over and join us

we don't bite.. hard

https://discord.gg/xhTDz3s

hey... I need a reinvite for bricklink server

https://discord.gg/XtQryK7

Author:

phinto

Posted:

Nov 4, 2019 16:08

Subject:

Re: Bricklink Discord

Viewed:

88 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, DerekThomasp89 writes:

I recently upgraded the discord channel to add a few new channels, were still
looking for members to make this server a success.

Please come on over and join us

we don't bite.. hard

https://discord.gg/xhTDz3s

hey... I need a reinvite for bricklink server

Author:

phinto

Posted:

Nov 4, 2019 15:23

Subject:

florecent trans-colors

Viewed:

120 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

we are working on a new generation of creativity
the first image are the kanohi custom i made for Bionicle kanoko.
we love to have new florescent trans-colors.
we have red-orange, neon-lime, florescent-medium-blue. the rarest of all are
neon-bright-yellow and hot-dark-pink that needs work because its not like the
one I remember. because its too dark, and the real deal really pink. described
in the 2nd image.
plus, we need new florescent colors
like... different colors that glow under UVlight. as described in the 3nd image
I got from google.

so the new colors we want/need to try are

neon-turquoise = (neon-green & medium-blue)

florescent-lavender = (hot-pink & medium-blue)

bright-coral = (hot-pink & red-orange)

I hope you like my ideas.

Author:

VOTB

Posted:

Oct 31, 2019 20:25

Subject:

Re: Adding box contents for sets?

Viewed:

47 times

Topic:

I have a source where occasionally I have just a giant tub of bags (no boxes
no instructions). The price per pound is only worth it if they are decent so
I want to hunt out the good ones.

The best I have come up with identifying a set by looking at some unique parts.
Then on brothersbrick.com find their review. They usually will lay out all
the bags and take a photo. I can usually identify what I have pretty easily.

I scored the last time and spent $70 and got $890 worth of parted out pieces.
This is not normal but it just worked out. On the other hand, I have just grabbed
$50 by weight and parted them out for $75.

When you have a full set it is much easier to part out than one bag of an unidentified
set. Plus multiple bags will usually lead to higher lot counts.

Author:

randyf

Posted:

Oct 31, 2019 09:28

Subject:

Re: Adding box contents for sets?

Viewed:

44 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:

For example: I have a Legofactory "SKYLINE" SET #5562 new open box with just
one numbered bag missing all the other numbered bags are present and sealed.
Trying to determine what pieces are missing from the set is quite a challenge!

Look in the instructions. When you come to a page for which you don't have
the bag, then you know which bag is missing. The following pages will be the
parts you are missing.

Unfortunately, the instructions for that set do not do that.

Author:

mzehnder

Posted:

Oct 31, 2019 09:23

Subject:

part condition "damaged"

Viewed:

132 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

It would be nice not only to have a "new" and "used" condition but also a "damaged"
for parts. E.g. the 2490px2 often has broken clips and is still sold. But searching
for intact parts is a bit time consuming.

I didn't find out if someone else already asked for this feature.

Author:

yorbrick

Posted:

Oct 31, 2019 05:24

Subject:

Re: Adding box contents for sets?

Viewed:

39 times

Topic:

I'm not sure how many folks would be interested in that information, but
in the last year I've probably had questions on the contents for close to
10 different sets.

What are you doing with the sets? If you are parting them out, then it is not
really needed. If you are building them, again it is not needed. I can only see
it will be useful if you want to sell the set as a new but opened set although
then you will either have to try to buy a complete sealed bag or buy the new
parts that were in that bag. For the latter case, one bag will still be open
so the value of that set is not really going to be any different to a set in
which all the bags were opened to check the inventory.

It seems a lot of work to do this for every set for under 10 sets per year, when
there are other ways of selling / using those sets.

It also doesn't fit in with the idea that the base inventories for new sets
could be extracted from LEGO's main server, with extras added when inventories
are checked (which I think was planned at some stage) as LEGO doesn't give
this information by bag.

Author:

yorbrick

Posted:

Oct 31, 2019 05:14

Subject:

Re: Adding box contents for sets?

Viewed:

45 times

Topic:

Look in the instructions. When you come to a page for which you don't have
the bag, then you know which bag is missing. The following pages will be the
parts you are missing.

Author:

wittco

Posted:

Oct 31, 2019 02:37

Subject:

Re: Adding box contents for sets?

Viewed:

38 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, wittco writes:

In Suggestions, sbpyrat writes:

I was wondering if there'd be a possibility of adding box contents to LEGO
sets on here. Something like listing the number of each bag, unmarked bags/unbagged
parts, etc.

I deal with a lot of secondhand sets and come across sets with open boxes (or
like today no boxes), but sealed bags of parts. Today I scored 14/17 numbered
backs for set 10237 Tower of Orthanc. I almost missed out on getting the second
bag #3 because it didn't obviously go with the other bags. Thankfully I
was able to find an old unboxing video on YouTube and figured out I'm missing
3 numbered bags (#1, #4, and one of the two #5s), plus the unnumbered eagle bag.
But usually when I'm in this situation, I haven't been so lucky. It's
especially tricky with sets that have unnumbered bags. I usually end up opening
them to do the inventory if I'm uncertain, but it would be nice to keep them
sealed and be able to know what was missing.

I'd be willing to provide the list for any new sets I open, if it might help
someone else out down the line. It seems like a fairly easy thing and I'm
surprised that, at least as far as I'm aware, there isn't somewhere to
find this information easily (at least for modern sets). Bricklink seems like
a natural place for this information to exist.

I'm not sure how many folks would be interested in that information, but
in the last year I've probably had questions on the contents for close to
10 different sets.

Anyway, I'm not even sure if this is the appropriate place to mention it,
but I thought I'd give it a shot.

I would "love" a function like this. I buy a lot of older collectible sets many
times with unopened bags. Figuring out what is in specific "bags" (numbered or
un-numbered) let alone figuring out what pieces are missing knowing that a specific
numbered bag is missing presents a real challenge!

Author:

wittco

Posted:

Oct 31, 2019 02:35

Subject:

Re: Adding box contents for sets?

Viewed:

35 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, wittco writes:

In Suggestions, sbpyrat writes:

Author:

wittco

Posted:

Oct 31, 2019 01:43

Subject:

Re: Adding box contents for sets?

Viewed:

43 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, sbpyrat writes:

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Oct 30, 2019 07:39

Subject:

Re: Adding box contents for sets?

Viewed:

36 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Teup writes:

In Suggestions, sbpyrat writes:

I see why you need it, but I wouldn't count on this happening. Changing from
set inventories to bag inventories would mean multiplying the entire inventory
database by, what, a factor 5? Moreover, all set inventories will need to be
compiled manually without the help of the inventory list in instructions or on
boxes. It would be a heck of a lot of continuous work (are you going to do it?),
and per set it will only ever be consulted a handful of times (if ever).

You're not the only one who ran into this, and I'm not saying it's
necessarily a bad idea, but my advice would be.. I wouldn't wait for this

Besides, I think you can figure out what you're missing from the instructions?
As far as I know most sets are built a bag at a time, so if you follow through
the episode for the bags you're missing you should be able to get yourself
a list of parts you're missing. Haven't done this but could work?

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Oct 30, 2019 07:37

Subject:

Re: Adding box contents for sets?

Viewed:

44 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, sbpyrat writes:

Author:

Soviet

Posted:

Oct 30, 2019 04:52

Subject:

Re: Adding box contents for sets?

Viewed:

51 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, sbpyrat writes:

It looks like it's requested a lot and indeed would be very useful for people
completing sets. But it would require a lot of work from the community to painstakingly
create such information for every set. It would also need additional funcionality
from the site so I don't see it happening in this millenium.

Author:

sbpyrat

Posted:

Oct 30, 2019 02:15

Subject:

Adding box contents for sets?

Viewed:

101 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

SylvainLS

Posted:

Oct 27, 2019 15:59

Subject:

Re: Four New Stud.io Pieces

Viewed:

41 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, FlamesFire101 writes:

Four pieces that I would like to see added are:

Black Large Figure Torso Skeletal with Gear Hips / Waist / Bottom

Pearl Dark Gray Large Figure Torso Skeletal Connector with 2 Ball Joints

Flat Silver Bionicle Armor Uniter with 2 Pin Holes on Front, Axle and Pin Holes
on Sides

Pearl Gold Bionicle Armor Uniter with 2 Pin Holes on Front, Axle and Pin Holes
on Sides

These four would be very good for 2016 uniter mocs, as it is currently difficult
to make them

Use the dedicated forum for Studio: http://forum.bricklink.com/
There’s a whole subforum for missing parts.

Author:

FlamesFire101

Posted:

Oct 27, 2019 15:24

Subject:

Four New Stud.io Pieces

Viewed:

64 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

SylvainLS

Posted:

Oct 27, 2019 07:33

Subject:

Re: Stud.io Piece not found and needs to be added

Viewed:

40 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, november3 writes:

stud.io is missing some pieces which I know but it has the majority of star wars
custom peices exept for 1 and heres 1 I need:

Trans-Red Dish 4 x 4 Inverted (Radar) with Solid Stud with Radial TIE Fighter
Cockpit Pattern

Use the dedicated forum for Studio: http://forum.bricklink.com/
There’s a whole subforum for missing parts.

Author:

november3

Posted:

Oct 27, 2019 00:45

Subject:

Stud.io Piece not found and needs to be added

Viewed:

58 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Author:

popsicle

Posted:

Oct 18, 2019 13:20

Subject:

Re: Custom minis

Viewed:

123 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, AZbrickGUY writes:

Hey all,
Has there ever been a spot for custom minis? Any way we could add
a spot? Mainly MOC out of existing parts that are out there. Not hand made or
painted parts. Thanks.

I’d support it. I’s been put forth and discussed from time to time, but never
implemented.

As long as all the parts are genuine Lego, I vote yea.

But then again, I have skin in the game: https://store.bricklink.com/popsicle&itemID=132920648

-Cory

Author:

cycbuild

Posted:

Oct 18, 2019 06:23

Subject:

Re: Custom minis

Viewed:

32 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:

In Suggestions, AZbrickGUY writes:

Hey all,
Has there ever been a spot for custom minis? Any way we could add
a spot? Mainly MOC out of existing parts that are out there. Not hand made or
painted parts. Thanks.

Yes, you can add them to your store as a custom figure.

I don't understand the system in place, because the only minifigures in the
MOC character category are pad printed. And if you visit the Custom Items,
the actual mini MOCs are still buried by the homebrew plastic listings.

There's probably wide community out there, looking for this. Eurobricks enthusiasts,
for one. There's definitely overlap with BrickLink there. Personally, I keep
posting figgy projects in the forum and people still click on those (thank you),
so maybe we'd see more mini MOCs if there was a proper place for them?

Author:

yorbrick

Posted:

Oct 18, 2019 04:49

Subject:

Re: Custom minis

Viewed:

28 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, AZbrickGUY writes:

Hey all,
Has there ever been a spot for custom minis? Any way we could add
a spot? Mainly MOC out of existing parts that are out there. Not hand made or
painted parts. Thanks.

Yes, you can add them to your store as a custom figure.

Author:

cycbuild

Posted:

Oct 18, 2019 00:40

Subject:

Re: Custom minis

Viewed:

42 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, AZbrickGUY writes:

Hey all,
Has there ever been a spot for custom minis? Any way we could add
a spot? Mainly MOC out of existing parts that are out there. Not hand made or
painted parts. Thanks.

+1

It would be nice to have a distinction between customs and MOCs. Add a minifig
category to the MOC Shop?

Author:

AZbrickGUY

Posted:

Oct 18, 2019 00:20

Subject:

Custom minis

Viewed:

114 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

Hey all,
Has there ever been a spot for custom minis? Any way we could add
a spot? Mainly MOC out of existing parts that are out there. Not hand made or
painted parts. Thanks.

Author:

Emporiosa

Posted:

Oct 17, 2019 17:56

Subject:

Re: Very necessary suggestion?

Viewed:

85 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, axaday writes:

They aren't getting added or approved anymore, except in special circumstances.
A SWAT van won't qualify.

I agree with the suggestion. I'd like to see any vehicle that someone submitted
get approved and inventoried and added to the set inventory. But I think the
ones that were added didn't sell really well or for more than their parts,
so Bricklink didn't see it as worth the time.

In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:

In Suggestions, net1986 writes:

Hello! I'm net1986 from South Korea!
I would like to suggest something today.

First of all I apologize for my poor English grammar, please understand.

This is what I would suggest this time.

"I wish there was function to view information of just part product from the
set, Not whole set. And function to order those just part product."

For example,
1. I want to get only police swat van from set 60008 Museum Break-in.(don't
need any part like figs or Museum)
2. But there is only brick information for whole set(Unnecessary a lot of information
confuses me)
3. It takes a lot of hard work to analyze for only just the swat van.
4. And It's very hard to order each part brick for the van

What I mean is that I wish there was a function to view a only part product(just
swat van of set 60008)and I wish I would order those part in way "easy buy".

I know that the "east buy" function already exists.
It's very helpful for restorers.
But now, It adjust only set product or MOC product as I know.

So, I wish the "easy buy" function is more enhanced(add part product from set)

I hope you guys understand my words.
reply me, thanks.
Best regard,

This already exists, for some sets, via special assemblies.

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?catType=P&catString=961

But still, someone has to go through the manual working out what parts are needed
for each assembly.

I actually added a couple of special assemblies such as the Whomping Willow and
the Ford Anglia, and being one of the one sellers for each, those sold almost
immediately, even after listing them again. Another one I did was the Giant Ant-man
- sold 2 of them instantly after posting them.

But as Randy mentioned, it sounds like a nightmare for them to try to manage
so I can understand why they only did a small test run. It's unfortunate
though, because a site like BL is perfect for people looking for just these parts
of the sets.

Author:

maxx3001

Posted:

Oct 17, 2019 12:06

Subject:

Re: Very necessary suggestion?

Viewed:

46 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, net1986 writes:

In Suggestions, Teup writes:

In Suggestions, net1986 writes:

Maybe this would have drawbacks of its own, not sure if it's a good idea
but I'm just thinking out loud...

That's why I suggest !!

I think My idea is good for seller who sell incomplete set and good for buyer
who want to collect for just part product from set.

Anyway, thanks for your agree
and I'm very moved for the you guys' reply
(This is my first post of Forum in using foreign language)
Have a nice day

And it was well written and structured, thank you

Author:

randyf

Posted:

Oct 17, 2019 11:18

Subject:

Re: Very necessary suggestion?

Viewed:

48 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, axaday writes:

I agree with the suggestion. I'd like to see any vehicle that someone submitted
get approved and inventoried and added to the set inventory. But I think the
ones that were added didn't sell really well or for more than their parts,
so Bricklink didn't see it as worth the time.

Actually, the reason they are on hold for further additions is due to site limitations
that make it very hard for the inventories of these items to be administered.
The main limitations are two-fold: (1) these inventories cannot have alternates
at present so alternates must be tracked through inventory notes, and (2) these
inventories must be manually kept in sync with set inventories when changes are
made to the set inventories that they are in. You can see that if we rapidly
expanded these additions to the catalog, it would quickly become an administration
nightmare.

Cheers,
Randy

Author:

SylvainLS

Posted:

Oct 17, 2019 11:11

Subject:

Re: Very necessary suggestion?

Viewed:

30 times

Topic: