BrickLink Discussion Forum

In Taxes, yorbrick writes:

In Taxes, Hm79.botay writes:

Hello,

Is there any country that does not tax Lego imports?

Yes, the USA doesn't. However, individual states charge sales tax.

USA imports are exempt under the Section 321 de-minimas rule, up to $800
USD per day. If someone orders a large amount of LEGO from a single non-USA seller,
and they ship it all in one package with a proper customs declaration form, then
the Section 321 rule does not apply.

The seller could, in theory, break it up into multiple packages and ship them
spaced out to avoid this.

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Apr 29, 2024 07:26

Subject:

Re: US sellers: Shipping methods update

Viewed:

43 times

Topic:

Administrative

In Administrative, dcarmine writes:

I changed to the new API last Wednesday and all orders stopped. I don't
think it's working yet? No way for me to tell exactly, I changed mine back
to a my manual chart. Maybe you can test it on your side.

Thanks
Donna

An observation, is that orders (without any shipping method changes) went into
a very slow patch for a several days. Do you have a test account ? Might be worth
putting a few things into a shopping cart and see if they calculate correctly,
and based upon the correct zone.

What is not clear (from the announcement) is ... how is BL arriving at the zone
(and the correct postage). The old API method pre-dated when USPS switched to
zone based PM and FCPS. With the new system, you can do it via a API call to
USPS or by loading your own tables and doing a 2-step table lookup (one lookup
for the ZIP-code to zone calculation and one lookup for the actual postage values).

More recently USPS has applied a need for package dimensions, because larger
packages get surcharges. Presumably the API calls also have to supply package
dimensions, else then will generate incorrect results (or possibly refuse to
generate any result). Any table lookup methodology should also need to be sensitive
to package size (because large packages have surcharges).

If BL is using the API calls, then the package dimensions would be a requirement
(just like they are on Pirate Ship). I hope someone from BL can enlighten us
about how this was implemented.

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Apr 24, 2024 18:05

Subject:

Re: How does USPS even operate? A short rant.

Viewed:

51 times

Topic:

Shipping

In Shipping, kzinti writes:

Received a high dollar order on Feb 10th. Pulled, Packed, Invoiced, Paid, Posted
all in about 24 hours. Post office received package on Feb 11th. As it's
an international shipment, it goes through the Chicago International Distribution
Center on the evening of Feb 16th. Then it basically disappears until April 12th.
No one knows where it went, how it got there, what cruise line it detoured through,
nothing. Here's what the time interval looks like on the USPS tracking page
looks:

- Processed Through USPS Regional Facility
CHICAGO IL INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER
February 16, 2024, 7:43 pm

- Processed Through Facility
NETHERLANDS
April 12, 2024, 9:46 pm

Did they travel through the Bermuda triangle? Where did it go? I cannot express
the amount of appreciation I have for an understanding customer who paid so much
for this order, and then patiently waited almost two months for a tracking update
from USPS. TWO MONTHS! It's almost like the postal service is purposefully
trying to kill off international business opportunities. First with huge price
jumps, then with a decreased level of service that borders on apathy.

The postal service told me that after it leaves the US there's not a lot
they can do, 'it's out of our hands'. Why offer tracking at all when
it's of little use? And when I asked them about filing a case for a missing
package, they tell me that it has to be missing at least 60 days before I can
file as a missing package. Insane, absolutely insane. Going to send a Christmas
box of dog poop to Mr DeJoy... through Fedex.

Based on a de-minimas amount of information that I am aware of ... When it clears
an ISC (Chicago, Miami, whereever) it is typically loaded into a shipping container
(ULD for air, probably TEU for sea cargo) then it is not tracked until the receiving
agency gets it, and finds the time to enter it into their system. Some national
post offices do better and some do not [1]. In any case, the national post office
should have a manifest of what is in a particular shipping container, because
USPS knows that. Somewhere in all of this is inbound customs inspections.

As a complete side issue (but still illustrative) over the last 6 months I've
placed 12-15 orders for electronics components from a large distributor in China.
All but the first couple of small orders went via FedEx International Economy.
Typically, the package would get to some FedEx warehouse in HK, then appear to
just sit there. But in actuallity, it was (sometimes) already in transit. I've
watched them transit thru Anchorage, Seattle, Chicago, and one or two other landing
points. A FedEx rep told me that the inbound customs clearance was happening
in Memphis. Tracking said otherwise. So it's not just USPS. I've seen
these orders take 3 days to move from HK to my receiving box, and I've seen
9 or 10 days. Unless I was willing to pay for the premium level service, it gets
there when it gets there.

Nita Rae

[1] and some countries, in less traveled parts of the globe, don't even attempt
to deliver to your street. You have to go to the post office (with fingers crossed)
and ask if they have seen any packages with your name on them. What we have here,
is worlds better.

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Apr 24, 2024 17:50

Subject:

Re: US sellers: Shipping methods update

Viewed:

41 times

Topic:

Administrative

In Administrative, CE_Anastasia writes:

Dear BrickLink sellers in the United States,

We have removed these outdated API-based shipping methods:
• Domestic USPS First-Class Packages (retail),
• Domestic USPS First-Class Packages (commercial).

Starting from today, you will be seeing the following shipping methods in your
Store Settings instead:
• USPS Ground Advantage (commercial),
• USPS Ground Advantage (retail),
• USPS Priority Mail (commercial),
• USPS Priority Mail (retail).

As usual, you can access the new USPS rates for Courier API methods upon selecting
each method in the Rate Chart.

Thank you,
The BrickLink Team

This is great news ! Now, will they (the new and improved methods) correctly
identify and select the zone (as determined by the first 3 digits of the seller's
zip and the first 3 digits of the buyer's zip) ? All of the Priority Mail
methods (ignoring flat rate) and all of the Ground Advantage require knowledge
of the zone.

The old API methods did not identify/use the zones.

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Apr 12, 2024 07:25

Subject:

US Tax Exemptions

Viewed:

162 times

Topic:

Taxes

Yesterday I received two messages from one of the BL CE accounts, informing me
that US sellers are now able to submit their reseller certificate, in order to
be allowed tax exempt purchases.

I'm seeing no announcement about this in the Community. Is this official
? Personally, I do not see myself making use of it going forward, as I don't
wish to acquire additional inventory.

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Apr 8, 2024 07:13

Subject:

Re: Order Item Removal Requests Too Complicated!

Viewed:

23 times

Topic:

Problem

In Problem, infinibrix writes:

My customers always seem to have trouble following the process of approving an
item removal request therefore can these steps not be simplified?

Two thoughts ...

Dan designed the IRR to be fair to both parties, and to protect BL from IRR being
used to evade fees. That was 20+ years ago. Back then, sellers and buyers had
(roughly) the same level of expertise with BL. Times have changed, and that is
no longer the case. Most sellers today have much more expertise than the average
buyer. The way of doing an IRR needs to be revised

Part of the entire flow, has to do with payments. Back when IRR was designed
into the system, IC did not exist. Maybe 5 or 6 years back, I asked that BL allow
us to do 2-step payments (authorize then capture). That has not happened. With
a proper 2-step system, the buyer could be given X hours to revise the order,
then the capture would automatically be done (and revisions would be sealed).
That would greatly simplify the flow (and bring it in line with how many other
e-commerce sites operate). We can only dream.

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Mar 27, 2024 11:36

Subject:

Re: How should I react to NPB?

Viewed:

31 times

Topic:

Help

In Help, salbuchim writes:

I am a buyer and
I made an order on March 7th
the price of total item total was around 120 euros
this seller didnt answer me for a week

then charged me 90 euros for the shipping

What was it you ordered, parts, sets, or a combination ?

If it was sets only, and in original boxes, the shipping might well have been
high. Cost of order does not have a direct relationship to cost of shipping,
especially when it involves international shipping.

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Mar 25, 2024 20:54

Subject:

Re: Another scam

Viewed:

113 times

Topic:

Announce

In Announce, jandbbricks writes:

Just received an email from blservice@briicklinks.com (notice the two ii in the
name) telling me someone has signed into my account. There are links for contacting
support and/or logging out of all devices. Both require you to enter your password.

The IP address in that bogus email belongs to ...

inetnum: 26.0.0.0 - 26.255.255.255
organisation: Defense Information Systems Agency
status: LEGACY

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Mar 21, 2024 18:31

Subject:

Re: How many mistakes in an order are OK?

Viewed:

46 times

Topic:

Buying

In Buying, BrickBonder writes:

-If you receive an order containing a printout with a hand-written check mark
next to each lot, consider favoriting that seller. Those sellers are rare and
almost never make mistakes.

Oddly, that is how I do my orders. Each line item is checked, using a basic no-name
Chinese fountain pen. Ink I'm using is Noodler's Lexington Gray.

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Mar 21, 2024 16:55

Subject:

Re: WARNING! Login from new device phishing emai

Viewed:

79 times

Topic:

Problem

In Problem, chetzler writes:

BE DILIGENT! I’m a pretty suspicious person when it comes to online activity,
but, in my groggy state when I woke up this morning, I almost fell for a phishing
scheme presented as a very authentic looking email.

There are a couple of takeaways from that ... first, steer away from the need
to reply IMMEDIATELY to anything you see prior to your first cup of java, tea,
or whatever. Second, do not trust any link that comes in an email, unless a site
is sending you a validation link, has told you it was just sent, and you just
received it. Everything else, including smishing attempts within SMS texts should
be considered suspect dangerous, and unreliable.

The whole paradigm of social engineering attacks is to make you react without
thinking it all the way thru. Take the slow paranoid path, log into the site
using a known good bookmark, and ignore any links that come via dangerous paths
(no matter how real they appear).

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Mar 21, 2024 16:45

Subject:

Re: WARNING! Login from new device phishing emai

Viewed:

59 times

Topic:

Problem

In Problem, randyf writes:

And judging from the people who are receiving phishing emails (e.g I'm not),
the phisher is probably part of an online BrickLink group somewhere else (Facebook?
Discord?) that all of you are also part of or maybe they ordered from all of
the phishees in the past and already have all of your contact information to
use.

I have not received these phishing emails. That said, I am not a member of any
online BL groups, other than reddit, where I visit infrequently. So there may
be something to this theory.

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Mar 21, 2024 07:23

Subject:

Something to keep in mind about picture reqs

Viewed:

136 times

Topic:

If you are using a modern smartphone to satisfy picture requests, it is very
likely that the pictures contain location data as to precisely where you were
located when you took the picture. Unless you turn that off, or strip the EXIF
data, you are telling the recipient where you store your inventory.

Something to keep in mind.

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Mar 8, 2024 15:02

Subject:

change 45535

Viewed:

90 times

Topic:

Catalog Requests

For:

Catalog Associate

Status:

Open

Please add a note to part ID 45535 that some were sent out from the factory in
an alternate format: Without the outer circle, but including the three masks
and the center sprue, all loose packed in a clear bag.

In one sense, the image on the item makes a presumption that all new parts will
include the outer circle with the masks attached to it. That is not the case.

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Jan 24, 2024 16:23

Subject:

Re: Important proposal regarding catalog variants

Viewed:

55 times

Topic:

Catalog

In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:

Hello everyone,

As a platform, we have decided to take a hard look at some of the mold variants
that we are currently asking you to recognize. For sellers, more variants means
extra sorting and extra work while pulling orders, plus the issues that arise
from variant misunderstandings.

For buyers, excess variants mean that it's harder to assemble a wanted list,
find stores, and ultimately obtain the parts you are looking for.

I have put together a quick Help page to outline these proposed changes:

https://www.bricklink.com/help.asp?helpID=2625

Notice the date on this is coming up quickly (Feb 1), so I'm not giving a
lot of time for discussion. I'm aiming for about 1 week of discussion and
then we'll give sellers 2 weeks to adjust the descriptions on affected items
if they wish to retain the distinctions.

I plan to construct a full FAQ page with answers to all your questions. This
will serve to inform users about what was done here in February 2024, and also
help point the catalog in the right direction in the future.

To get started, I'll list a few here:

1. This sounds like you're dumbing down the BrickLink catalog to make
it easier for new users. Is that what is going on?

Not really. There are many, many other variants we expect people to sort and
care about. These ones don't really seem to matter much, and some of them
(e.g., the minifigure heads) actually cause problems for the catalog that cannot
be corrected otherwise.

2. What if I really care about a certain variant that is going away? Can I
still buy and sell that variant?

Absolutely! You can add notes to your listings to make them as "determined"
as you wish. Buyers can still search within notes for extra details, or they
can simply observe them as they browse listings.

3. How do I know which exact variants will be merged? I only see one example
in each category.

Please ask in this thread and I can be very specific. Usually we are talking
about a handful of parts and the printed versions.

4. Has a merge like this ever been done before?

Yes, there was a precedent - the Headlight Brick with Slot:

https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1016584

It was marked for deletion a few years ago and was finally merged last August.

5. Are these the only parts up for consideration, or are there other variants
that will be merged as well?

This is all for now. Based on how well this goes, we may elect to remove other
entries later. However, we will keep all functional variants and important cosmetic
variants.

I was unaware this was about to happen (because I was away for a month).

My first reaction, is that this is being done to simplify the number of catalog
entries (by not making one for each variant), which in some ways is a good thing.
My second reaction, is that this is a way to not touch the catalog schema, and
to keep the catalog effectively flat. That keeps the underlying code from having
to undergo large scale renovation, but it also opens the door to a variant description
structure that is ad-hoc, and may end up being inconsistent (across multiple
sellers). How one seller describes a variant may not be how another describes
the same variant (and potentially language differences get into this). This is
a Hobson's Choice of a problem. This is no clear solution that will
keep everyone on the straight and narrow. I'm not sure if I will take the
time to distinguish the variants (as in some situations I have already made the
decision to not be a variant specific seller). Part of this goes back to the
price that common parts are fetching vs the time required to meet the standard.

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Jan 20, 2024 11:20

Subject:

I'm doing a SMH

Viewed:

275 times

Topic:

I am looking at the ID card of a member. The member has been on site slightly
more than 3 years. Thus far, they have racked up 189 negatives and 152 neutrals.
Their selling privileges are still green/intact. There is some evidence (based
on contra-feedback from another member) that they may have been suspended at
some point. Did they not solve the reasons that triggered all those negatives,
or only the ones that got them suspended ?

Obviously the information is there for a buyer to see, but how many check FB
and how many just hit Easy Buy ?

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Jan 16, 2024 07:01

Subject:

Re: Drop shippers how does it really work?

Viewed:

53 times

Topic:

In General, eracine writes:

Just trying to figure out how people drop ship for parts and figs. I have as
I am sure a lot of us had the orders where there are notes saying please don't
leave a packing slip ect. We have processed over 100 of these orders between
both platforms.

Someone is listing items on another venue (Amazon, eBay, etc). They list them
there, and pretend they hold inventory (when they do not). When a sale arrives,
then they want you to do the shipment (from your inventory).

Keep in mind, they are selling elsewhere, at a much higher price, and have virtually
zero overhead (because they have nothing invested in inventory, you do).

Telling you to not include paperwork is to protect them from site rules where
they are listing/selling. Once upon a time, if paperwork showed a lower price,
Amazon (under the A-Z rules) would force the sales price to match the paperwork.
The other reason is that they do not want the buyer to know that you (or BrickLink)
even exist. They are likely violating the site rules elsewhere, requiring them
to either hold inventory, or to have a formal agreement with you to do drop shipping.

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Dec 10, 2023 07:30

Subject:

Emergency Brake

Viewed:

176 times

Topic:

Suggestions

Status:

Open

Vote:

[Yes|No]

This is a suggestion to give sellers a mechanism to do a hard shutdown of their
store, at any time day or night, week or weekend, if they have lost control for
unexpected reasons.

The emergency break would be a one time, BL generated sequence, that is very
long and random (similar to a MD5 hash). Once generated and verified, the seller
would store it offline in case ever needed if an emergency should arise.

Usage of the emergency brake feature would not require the seller to have password
access, because the password access could have been compromised. The length of
the emergency token would allow BL to relate to a specific store without any
chance of ambiguity.

Once the emergency brake has been pulled, the seller's store is locked, password
is no longer active, and seller must converse / authenticate with the help desk
to begin the process of resetting the password and remediating the cause. It
is a mechanism to prevent further damage (to the store, to unsuspecting buyers,
and to BL's reputation).

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Dec 10, 2023 07:18

Subject:

Re: First time!

Viewed:

46 times

Topic:

In General, BrickOutLoud writes:

We have been selling lego for many years now but we have never kept a set until
now. We built it this week. Lots of foo fighters playing in the background,
probably more beer than was required (lol), and a cat helper that just does the
opposite of helping lol. Just want to say Happy Holidays to all of our lego
brothers and sisters. We are looking forward to next year and we hope you are
too!

For many years I kept this set assembled and on display in the living room ...

6263-1 (Inv) Imperial Outpost
195 Parts, 4 Minifigures, 1995
Sets: Pirates: Pirates I: Imperial Guards

One day I came to the conclusion it was a dust magnet, so it was disassembled
and placed back in the box.

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Dec 10, 2023 07:14

Subject:

Re: 3% handling charge

Viewed:

45 times

Topic:

Buying

In Buying, Erikmax writes:

I ordered two 200 euro sets. To my surprise there was besides the postage costs
a 12,17 handling fee on the invoice what i did not expect. Yes it was mentioned
in the terms -3% handling fee- but I did not notice it, I am a very frequent
buyer but never have seen such a practice before.

I regard it fair when someone adds external costs such as paypal charges and
packing costs. But this is simply a raise of the price. In my view orderpicking
costs simply should be included in the product price. And charging over 12 Euro
(the handling was also calculated over the postagen costs) for 'picking'
two sets looks as bit adsurd to me.

Maybe I am wrong...the same set was offered from two anothe Dutch dealers for
200 euro
as well. But a surcharge of 3% on the price makes the pricelist less transparant
as well.

You are correct. It is one of the shortcomings of BL that the proposed totals
do not reflect charges buried in the seller's terms/policies.

Nita Rae

Author:

cosmicray

Posted:

Dec 9, 2023 13:56

Subject:

Re: Requirments for new sellers

Viewed:

49 times

Topic:

Suggestions