BrickLink Discussion Forum

In Selling, Nubs_Select writes:

try enabling
"Use invoice when an order can not be placed with Instant Checkout"
on this page
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/mystore/management.page

Thank you! When I went to that page, it was already enabled, but so was this
one, which I'm sure was the issue.

Author:

constructibles

Posted:

Mar 1, 2024 21:46

Subject:

Need help on ship method for manual invoice

Viewed:

99 times

Topic:

Selling

I'm hoping another seller that has faced this issue can point me in the right
direction. I have a buyer seeing "the seller can't ship to you with
any of the shipping methods available" (first image). I asked another seller
to see if they could get to checkout and it worked fine (second image). My
shipping method for Hold/Manual Invoice does not have any geographic restrictions
(third/fourth/fifth image).

So I'm stumped why this buyer is getting this message. Any suggestions?
-Jason

Author:

constructibles

Posted:

Feb 1, 2024 19:00

Subject:

Re: Bricklink API - Update Store Inventory

Viewed:

72 times

Topic:

Technical Issues

In Technical Issues, Admin_Russell writes:

In Technical Issues, BrickFreedom writes:

Hi

Have you made changes to the (Update Store Inventory -- PUT - /inventories/{inventory_id})
API request?

Previously you could call the API with the following parameters and would have
no issues:

['quantity' = '-2']

Now it's responding with:

["description":"String input must not be null","message":"PARAMETER_MISSING_OR_INVALID"]

Weirdly a couple of requests have completed successfully but most of the requests
are failing with the above error message. Can someone please advise what this
error is and if it's a bug that has been released into the API by accident?

We are closely monitoring the effects of changing the item number for 4 basic
parts earlier today. There have been reports that Brickstore is having issues
and now you are reporting about API.

Please take a look here for the 4 numbers that were changed:

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogReqList.asp?viewYear=&viewMonth=&viewGeDate=&q=&viewStatus=A&itemType=&viewAction=I

Russell, can you push an update for the database source used by BrickStore immediately
after each change?

I just opened BrickStore and it did a fresh "updating BrickLInk inventory"
and opened a file that had 3062b, 3068b and 3070b. Those were still valid in
BrisckStore and the umbrella IDs were not. Trying to update price guide on
the 'b' versions returned an error.

This might also have a similar impact on Bricksync if its pulling the same 'database'
file as BrickStore.

-Jason

Author:

constructibles

Posted:

Jan 30, 2024 21:14

Subject:

Variants Merge and the API

Viewed:

147 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Hello everyone, I’ve been reading up on the multiple threads about the proposed
merge of variants. Setting aside the pros and cons of the change, I have a
question that may have material impact for any stores that are using the API
function. From what I can read it appears that one step in the merge plan is
to actually merge lot numbers together in a sellers inventory. That can create
huge problems for API users, as there is no function to link an inventory lot
ID number to a different inventory number.

My recommendation would be to leave all lot IDs existing and not merge them,
but just change the part number on both lots to the new post-merge item ID number.
So, for example, if a seller had one lot of 3747a and another lot of 3747b, then,
after the merge they would simply have two lots of 3747, and be able to make
the decision to physically combine those, keep them separate with notes, or just
leave the two lots in place.

Can we please get some specific technical information on the proposed actions
within the database and as someone commented previously it may be worthwhile
to send a targeted email to all API users alerting them of the detail of the
change, as some may not be reading the forum.

Thanks. -Jason

Author:

constructibles

Posted:

Dec 26, 2023 23:08

Subject:

Re: ChatGPT creates amazing box art - experiences

Viewed:

41 times

Topic:

My Own Creation

In My Own Creation, Nubs_Select writes:

I just tried it and got these. It seems pretty cool

If anyone wants me to try any in specific let me know and I can try in the morning

I would totally buy this Atlantis set, lol.

Author:

constructibles

Posted:

Dec 18, 2023 19:31

Subject:

Re: Remove header when printing order page

Viewed:

34 times

Topic:

Help

In Help, Heartbricker writes:

Is there anyway to remove the header on the order page (what i circled) when
printing the page?
1- it seems redundant given that the order number is on the page.
2- it messes up our printable area.
Any help appreciated.
Thank you.
THB

You guys are a large enough store that you should be using the API. Make your
own pick lists for staff, controlling what you want to display, and even arranging
items in pick order based on your shelves/bins so staff start at one end and
finish at the other without going back and forth.

-Jason

Author:

constructibles

Posted:

Jun 12, 2023 19:18

Subject:

Re: Will the easy buy method ever be improved?

Viewed:

26 times

Topic:

Wanted

In Wanted, yorbrick writes:

¹ One classical analogy for these algorithms is to find the lowest spot in a
landscape, often with a marble.

Which works great so long as there are no local minima to get stuck in.

I remember about a decade or so ago someone shared a mathcad script for optimising
price. It took hours to optimise a relatively small order, when there were not
as many stores as there are today. I dread to think what would happen these days
for a larger order.

I think most buyers are happy with getting the parts they want at a reasonable
price in a relatively short time, rather than getting the absolute best deal
no matter how much time and risk they need to put into it. Even more so if it
means dealing with sellers you have used before or have a good reputation. The
best seller for an order is not necessarily the cheapest, if it takes them ages
to pick and pack or they send the wrong parts or have missing parts, and so on.

LOL, I remember this. I had MatLab installed and everything to run the script
and sometimes it would take 24 hours! So the "easy buy" working in
seconds was always pretty impressive to me.

We do large scale buying so I've actually done a side-by side test on how
close it gets to the optimal solution. My observations:
- I could get about 10% cheaper by manually selecting stores and filling carts
- It took a couple hours of my time
- You have to be very careful about screening out stores (for example, great
prices but 85% positive feedback)

So it really depends on how you value your time. if you want to put potentially
hours into it, you can get better solutions.

A couple tricks I learned to get the most out of Easy Buy that I will share:

1. Deselect the option to prioritize 'favorite' and 'coupon'
stores. You may like those sellers, but the algorithm might miss a better solution
by not looking at the broader field.
2. As you look through the proposed solution, if you see a store that you don't
like (new seller, unreasonable terms, etc.) you can 'least favorite'
that store then clear the results and re-run Easy Buy. Sometimes this actually
gets a better solution.
3. Enable the minimum buy not met option. Usually stores have this threshold
at $1 or $5. So if the solution includes one of these stores, just manually
add a few extra parts to get over the threshold (you can never have too much
Lego!). This is particularly important if your wanted list includes rare-ish
parts. That seller might have that part for $.75 vs $2 or $3 in a store without
limits or that the limits are met.

tl;dr; Spend 10-15 minutes tinkering with the Easy Buy results vs. trying to
do it all manually.

Author:

constructibles

Posted:

Mar 13, 2022 15:44

Subject:

Re: parts sent in food boxes

Viewed:

27 times

Topic:

Buying

In Buying, Greenbutterfly writes:

Hi all,

Is there a generic way I can put something on all my order requests without having
to manually send messages to each seller each time I buy?

I've recently had a spate of orders arrive in food boxes (e.g. muesli bar
boxes) - which is a huge problem for me since I have a bunch of food allergies
and intolerances and I'd really rather not have those set off by my Lego
orders.

Thanks and best regards,
-J

Ahh, brings back memories. We once received an order in an Apple Jacks cereal
box.

Author:

constructibles

Posted:

May 26, 2020 15:24

Subject:

Re: Why are these Hinges?

Viewed:

39 times

Topic:

In Catalog, 62Bricks writes:

Categories like Tile, Round, Decorated are based on three independently observable
attributes of a part, placed in a ranked hierarchy from general to specific.

1. Primary shape/type (tile)
2. Secondary shape/attribute (round)
3. Decoration (yes)

I really like this approach. We would end up with categories like:

Plate, Modified, Hinged
Brick, Modified, Hinged
Panel, Hinged

Makes it very logical and easy. Also it has the added benefit of potentially
reducing the quantity of parts in the 'modified' category by carving
off a couple larger sub-groups.

Author:

constructibles

Posted:

Feb 9, 2020 09:38

Subject:

Re: Description Standardization Note

Viewed:

43 times

Topic:

In Catalog, StormChaser writes:

And perhaps, when the next problem comes along, examining all of them again.
It almost makes a person think that there must be a better way . . .

Export the catalog to txt, and open in Excel. This will give you pretty much
unlimited ability to search. Write an Excel formula to find what you are looking
for. You can even write a formula to create the desired replacement title
if you like, then just copy paste the change back to BL.

Regexp is a little harder to do, but Google “Excel Regexp” and you’ll get some
examples how to create your own function Using Excel VB.

Author:

constructibles

Posted:

Feb 2, 2020 09:44

Subject:

Re: PUT COLOURS BACK & DISCUSS WITH LEGO

Viewed:

72 times

Topic:

In Catalog, tpr writes:

Hi

For now as we have more changes in discussion, can't we put the colours back
to how they were. I'm sure a few more days/weeks of flesh isn't going
to hurt us.

Then discuss with the Lego Company regarding changing all colours to their colours
- we are part of their group. What they say will be correct !!

tpr

Russell is a LEGO employee now, so would you like him to talk to himself?

Kidding aside, who exactly would you like him to discuss it with? BL reports
in under Julia, and Julia has been deferring to Russell on community-specific
decisions. The AFOLET also falls under Julia, but they are AFOL experts, not
BL historians. There isn't a single person establishing the vision for the
future (which is a whole different discussion topic).

I'm supportive of this change because its logical. I don't think BL
should change all names to match (imagine the chaos of green vs dark green).
I like the suggestion that TLG start using the more logical BL color names,
at least informally.

Author:

constructibles

Posted:

Aug 11, 2019 10:20

Subject:

Elements Exclusive to BaM

Viewed:

197 times

Topic:

Status:

Open