BrickLink Discussion Forum

Status:

Open

49699 Panel 1 x 6 x 4 1/3 with Window and 4 Pin Holes
Parts: Panel

I can't discover anything panel-ish about this part. I'd say it's
window, door, technic, other, vehicle, or pretty much anything except a panel...

What do you think it should be?

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Oct 9, 2019 08:58

Subject:

Re: Negative Quantity / Stockroom

Viewed:

51 times

Topic:

Any admin to comment on this? I would also really like to know.

In Inventories, BrickFlo writes:

No reaction on any channel until now.

In Inventories, Leftoverbricks writes:

In Inventories, BrickFlo writes:

Good morning and Greetings from Germany

Tonight I got that order as shown. Every ordered part is physically in my shop
and I can do the order without problems.

But of course, I'm kind of scared about the negative quantity left?!?

With kind regards,
Florian

Nobody to comment on this?

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Oct 9, 2019 07:55

Subject:

Re: releasing items from the stockroom

Viewed:

33 times

Topic:

In Inventories, kelmgo writes:

Is there any way of releasing (listing) the entire contents of a stockroom in
one hit or do I have to list every item individually

You wrote "a stockroom", so maybe you have the multiple stockrooms option switched
on, but if you only have one stockroom, this is how to change the availability
status:

On your inventory page, at the bottom there's "Update My Inventory:".
Select the radio button for "Change availability status to X Store Item Stockroom
Item"
In the dialog below, change "update only items in above selected categories"
to "Update my whole inventory". Then click "submit changes".
It's truly horrible interfacing, and extremely error-prone, but if you sit
tight you'll get through it

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Oct 8, 2019 11:52

Subject:

Re: How rare is a flat silver 2x4 brick?

Viewed:

44 times

Topic:

In Colors, Devil.R writes:

In Colors, Teup writes:

In Colors, Devil.R writes:

In Colors, tonnic writes:

In Colors, Devil.R writes:

In Colors, Teup writes:

In Colors, mmookk61 writes:

In Colors, maxx3001 writes:

Since you all are discussing one private trade, should you both be discussing
this in pms?

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)?

Btw, we were discussing this 2 hours ago on here and one of us is new to the
site.....

Relax and the symptons will subside.

Maxx

I apologize. You are right. Every transaction has a right to be discussed in
the forums and not via private messages, errr, I mean your PMS. We are all in
your circus and are your Monkeys

Note that private trades, as in: trades outside the Bricklink order system, are
not allowed, and are therefore not allowed to be discussed at all - whether in
the forum or in private messages. That would be fee avoidance. That's why
Maxx is asking for it to go via Bricklink order.

On the other hand, this isn't a transaction that involves money, and I'm
not entirely sure what the policy is on that.

I will buy his listed items, he will pay fees, and we both hope the postman isn't
having a bad day?

A remark of this kind would worry me a bit.

I would send any client six pictures, before end-sale.
They would also receive the tracking number on that day.
Geez.

I'm not as discouraged as you're trying to make me.
If anything, this reflecting poorly on yourself.

I'm nothing but honest and upfront. I have provided multiple pictues for
any potential buyer - I am unsusceptible to bullying.

Admin should look into your behaviour?

If anything they'd be more concerned about some posting over 30 replies to
a single topic. The whole forum is flooded with your topic now, the others have
mostly disappeared at this point. A simple trade like this really shouldn't
take such massive amounts of messages...

I like to respond to every complainant personally, which I've done.
I don't see a single problem?
I haven't attended to this post in over thirty six hours.
Gee wizz.

I'm nothing but personable and accomodating, provided pictures and comments
to every single respondant - most of which have been nothing but positive.

I'm still not discouraged.

Bricklink can evaluate this entire thing however they want.
I still love a Bricklink.

Apparently.

And another seven messages - you don't get it yet so I will repeat my advice
again: Please use fewer messages for more content. It saves people time reading
these posts and it makes it much easier to navigate the forum. Thanks in advance.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Oct 8, 2019 09:38

Subject:

Re: How rare is a flat silver 2x4 brick?

Viewed:

56 times

Topic:

In Colors, Devil.R writes:

In Colors, tonnic writes:

In Colors, Devil.R writes:

In Colors, Teup writes:

In Colors, mmookk61 writes:

In Colors, maxx3001 writes:

Since you all are discussing one private trade, should you both be discussing
this in pms?

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)?

Btw, we were discussing this 2 hours ago on here and one of us is new to the
site.....

Relax and the symptons will subside.

Maxx

I apologize. You are right. Every transaction has a right to be discussed in
the forums and not via private messages, errr, I mean your PMS. We are all in
your circus and are your Monkeys

I will buy his listed items, he will pay fees, and we both hope the postman isn't
having a bad day?

A remark of this kind would worry me a bit.

I would send any client six pictures, before end-sale.
They would also receive the tracking number on that day.
Geez.

I'm not as discouraged as you're trying to make me.
If anything, this reflecting poorly on yourself.

I'm nothing but honest and upfront. I have provided multiple pictues for
any potential buyer - I am unsusceptible to bullying.

Admin should look into your behaviour?

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Oct 6, 2019 17:07

Subject:

Re: How rare is a flat silver 2x4 brick?

Viewed:

100 times

Topic:

In Colors, mmookk61 writes:

In Colors, maxx3001 writes:

Since you all are discussing one private trade, should you both be discussing
this in pms?

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)?

Btw, we were discussing this 2 hours ago on here and one of us is new to the
site.....

Relax and the symptons will subside.

Maxx

I apologize. You are right. Every transaction has a right to be discussed in
the forums and not via private messages, errr, I mean your PMS. We are all in
your circus and are your Monkeys

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 24, 2019 19:10

Subject:

Re: Search setting: seller location filter

Viewed:

45 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Nowaker writes:

You might be blocking out a huge part of Bricklink that could have just what you are looking for.

I value predictable shipping prices and fast delivery. I don't know what
to expect when ordering from other countries.

Go for the sellers with Instant Checkout. This is indicated by a lightning bolt
icon behind the store name. All added charges will be calculated realtime so
at checkout you see exactly what you will pay.

Normal sized orders from the NL to the US typically take 4 days to arrive. From
other countries it may be a bit longer, but anyway, a couple of days faster shipping
may not always outweigh the price difference.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 17, 2019 13:18

Subject:

Re: Request a Quote

Viewed:

51 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, MidwestBrick writes:

In Suggestions, Teup writes:

In Suggestions, kelmgo writes:

I am after a few pieces to complete a few kits and am going from one checkout
to another, then to another and then cancelling the orders (before payment) because
the vendors haven't got the "Request a Quote" provision set up.
Clearly it would save a lot of stuffing around if you know the full cost incl
P&H before hand.
Even better - there should be a little icon or something next to the vendors
name to indicate whether they send quotes or not so you don't have to go
through the checkouts to find out right at the end.
This is what I'm experiencing in Australia

Part of what you suggest exists: Stores with a thunderbolt icon have instant
checkout, which means that you see the grand total before you order. There isn't
an icon to distinguish quote sellers from non-quote sellers, however. But even
if there would be such an icon, I'm not sure it would do sellers justice,
as a non quote seller may have a very clear table of shipping costs, which could
be just as good or better than asking a quote.

I disagree and think it is a valid request to include an icon so shoppers know
they can get a quote from that store immediately instead of having to look for
it or go through the check-out phase.

Using IC is impossible to hit on every scenario and even sometimes the IC may
work, but a buyer still wants to use the Quote system because maybe the IC is
charging too much. There is nothing wrong with a buyer double-checking to see
if their order actually fits in a cheaper shipping option than what IC is calculating.

Those are problems of IC.. but a relevant point because it makes the thunderbolt
misleading. Maybe the system should be made such that if an order doesn't
qualify for IC, the seller by definition has to quote.
My IC works properly: It works on every order and the calculations are correct.
It is always possible to make IC work (if nothing else, you could even charge
1 rate for all orders, after all). But I agree it is not always desirable, for
those sellers who have very significant and unpredictable shipping charge fluctuations
because of a complicated postal service. I expect most of them will have no obligations
against quoting, so an obligatory quote alternative should be ok.. that way,
the thunderbolt is not misleading.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 17, 2019 12:38

Subject:

Re: Request a Quote

Viewed:

43 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, kelmgo writes:

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 15, 2019 14:24

Subject:

Re: Search setting: seller location filter

Viewed:

57 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Nowaker writes:

I'm interested to see offers from United States only.

Each time I'm on a hunt for something, I have to open the filtering options
and select selector location United States.

Please make it possible to set a default filter for all searches. It should be
available here: https://www.bricklink.com/searchSettings.asp?viewFrom=P

This will improve the shopping experience immensely.

Thank you.
-Nowaker

If it would make that much difference, it sounds like you are constantly searching
US only. While I get that it is useful to filter on your own country some of
the time, are you sure that you never want to order something from sellers
in other countries? From what I understood US shipping is expensive, there are
no import duties (correct me if I'm wrong), you don't have to pay VAT,
so ordering abroad can get you some pretty good deals. You might be blocking
out a huge part of Bricklink that could have just what you are looking for.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 12, 2019 20:15

Subject:

Re: Change time zone

Viewed:

46 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, hpoort writes:

In Suggestions, HallBricks writes:

It would be great if I could change the time zone on BrickLink. Maybe not the
most necessary feature, but it feels like it wouldn't be that difficult of
a thing to implement.

Have you ever thought about it's complexity?

Very simple: everything is stored in UTC and presented in a local/chosen TZ.

The UTC → local TZ conversion is done with a standard, well tested library.

There. The complexity is outsourced.

Besides, it’s just about presentation. Official times are those in the database,
on the server, in UTC.

See Tom Scott's YouTube
episode about implementing time zones in programming:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5wpm-gesOY

I stopped watching after he began talking about DST (“autumn in England”).

And that’s absurd. He talks about a programmer who:
1. doesn’t know what TZs are,
2. adds cases one by one instead of, finally, learning what’s it about,
3. and thus reinvents the wheel, spoke by spoke.

Yes, timezones are complex (and involve politics, therefore also totally insane)
and that’s why you don’t cobble up something in your garage.

Yes, timezones change frequently (remember, politics), but you just update the
TZ data the library uses.

One could do the same kind of video about 3D geometry or any other complex or
complicated but already well known feature.

Just showing a given UTC time in a chosen TZ should be easy peasy.

I thought it would be a sarcastic video. As you say, there's really no need
to reinvent the wheel, this has been done so many times over there must be plenty
of resources you can use very easily.
BrickOwl has timezones, other market platforms have timezones, forums have timezones,
social media have timezones.. and it all works without issues. Bricklink is really
the odd one out.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 12, 2019 12:52

Subject:

Re: Change NPB Timeline

Viewed:

30 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, mscheaf writes:

In Suggestions, Teup writes:

In Suggestions, MidwestBrick writes:

I had enough of these in the last few weeks that waiting 2 full weeks is painful
to complete them.

I don't mind the 1 week to pay before it is started. But another full 7 days
to complete the NPB is not necessary.

I would propose 3 additional days and that is it. Let us get our stock back
in our stores to sell to someone else instead of being held at our will for 14
full days when 10 is plenty enough.

I can't be the only one that feels this way and 14 days might have worked
10-15 years ago when access to Smart-Phones wasn't as widespread, but these
days, you can't go far without having the ability to respond. Thanks

I don't know about other countries but over here 14 days is a widely accepted
standard term for invoices to be paid. Sometimes it's longer, but it's
never less than 14 days. I wouldn't find it professional if a company gave
me an invoice that had to be paid in less than 14 days.
Also, inventory moves slowly and parts typically take over a year to sell. I
don't see how a few extra days for a fraction of the inventory are so important.
Bricklink downtime should be a way bigger concern.

In USA bills due upon receipt are quite common, especially for medical bills.
Also, I often get bills in the mail for various things that are due in less than
2 weeks. Again, if you can't afford it, don't buy it. This isn't
water or medicine or food. It's a freaking luxury item toy.

Maybe it's a cultural difference. If the code of conduct is different in
the US, then I do understand you'd expect Bricklink to match with that.

As for freaking luxury toys, today I got an invoice from Lego.com in the mail
that is due in 18 days. That's pretty usual to me. I wouldn't want to
seem less professional than Lego.com. An invoice with a number below 14 days
would feel pushy to me based on what I am used to.

Anyway I do question how big a deal it is. Customer service costs money. And
of all aspects of customer service, patience is pretty much the cheapest one.
The average value of a Bricklink order is approximately $20. Let's say you
are always having one NPB going on constantly all throughout your Bricklink career.
I would say: Spend $10 (part selling value: $20) one time on a set, and call
it the NPB buffer. That compensates the $20 worth of inventory that is constantly
being blocked by NPBs. Maybe I'm too clinical and calculating but as far
as I can see that solves the problem

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 12, 2019 11:26

Subject:

Re: Change NPB Timeline

Viewed:

31 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, manganschlamm writes:

In Suggestions, MidwestBrick writes:

OK then in return I propose that we buyers can initiate and complete NRS and
NSS after proportionally shorter time. If sellers want to give us buyers less
time to make the payment, then they should also have less time to issue invoices
and ship. Something for something. As a side note, I would like to mention that
in Europe many payments are still made by conventional bank transfer, which may
take few days to complete (and will only be processed on business days).

Final comment: Sellers that want to push for high-speed payment should accept
the fact that for 99% of buyers this is a hobby whereas for a considerable fraction
of sellers it is a full- or part-time business. We buyers typically have a normal
job and need to find the time to do things related to BL.

+1

14 days is the basic level of customer service. And if nothing is defined in
the terms, the legal term is even 30 days.

14 days is also the legal amount of time a buyer has to change their mind about
an order and return it. It wouldn't make much sense to me to on the one hand
force a buyer to pay quicker than 14 days when after that they still have a couple
of days they can get their money back.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 12, 2019 11:21

Subject:

Re: Change NPB Timeline

Viewed:

41 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, MidwestBrick writes:

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 12, 2019 11:16

Subject:

Re: Change time zone

Viewed:

42 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, HallBricks writes:

It would be great if I could change the time zone on BrickLink. Maybe not the
most necessary feature, but it feels like it wouldn't be that difficult of
a thing to implement.

...and actually know when stuff happened on Bricklink? Like knowing when messages
between buyers and sellers were sent, or when an order status changed?! No
way, don't mess with cultural heritage! The internet's last forum without
timezones. It's like living in history! (also because, well, the time stamps
always indicate an earlier time than it is here)

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 11, 2019 09:02

Subject:

Re: Can we have another order status?

Viewed:

47 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, edk writes:

In Suggestions, Teup writes:

In Suggestions, irdroid3 writes:

It would be useful to have an Order status to go between "Received" and "Complete"
- something like "Queried" or "Querying" - for when I have started a communication
with the vendor - it's almost complete, but maybe a part missing?
Cheers, Ian
.

Yes, this has been suggested several times over the years and it would definitely
have been a useful feature. Also (maybe especially?) for me from a seller's
perspective, because I feel uncomfortable when I've asked the buyer a question
and I am not sure if they are waiting for their order or if they are aware that
I am asking a question first.
I'd call it "awaiting response". Maybe a dual one to make it clear who's
the one who should be responding

But I think just one should've worked
too. Could be connected to the green dot notification in the upper right corner,
to the party who's supposed to respond.

Not assuming Bricklink will change anything, but perhaps we'll see it in
some future under a different management or something like that.

Then add.

invoiced
payment pending
payment in the mail
payment iniated
awaiting buyer response

Those mostly already exist in the interface - invoiced by the invoice icon, payment
pending by the grand total in regular letters, payment initiated by the grand
total in bold letters (but it's a bit cryptic.. interface could've been
better..).

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 11, 2019 07:59

Subject:

Re: Can we have another order status?

Viewed:

47 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, irdroid3 writes:

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 9, 2019 16:51

Subject:

Re: More stockrooms!

Viewed:

47 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

In Suggestions, Teup writes:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

We won't be signing up for xp either - it isn't aimed at our type of
store - its target is a large one - the 'Soccer Moms' so to speak who
want a set for little Johnny for xmas and do not need the complications of Bricklink
to hamper them.

(...)

Apparently xp requires Instant Checkout (not a problem for some), also requires
Paypal for Marketplaces (Again not a problem for some) but little else is known
about it.

And this is where it goes totally wrong. On the one hand, they seem to aim at
the broad casual consumer market, on the other hand, they force a highly specific
online-business-insiders-only payment method. If I would go to the local supermarket
and ask random people if they have bought something online last week, lots of
them are going to say "yes". If I ask them if they used PayPal, pretty much all
of them are going to respond "what's PayPal?"
And then I haven't even touched on PayPal's plan to dramatically increase
transaction fees by next month, which ruins their competitiveness compared to
other payment methods (but they are trying to circumvent the free market principle
by forcing sellers not to disclose the fees to buyers in as many countries as
possible, and encouraging the buyers to ask for PayPal because it is "free")

If they will implement a relevant payment method, then I will participate in
XP (for the Dutch market, the 4th largest country on Bricklink, this is iDeal).
If they don't, I won't. I'm done trying to make Bricklink see reason.
iDeal is one of the main reasons that I set up my own webshop, and now that I
have it, I don't really care what Bricklink does anymore. If they are not
going to add iDeal, that's just going to be more Dutch consumers for me in
my webshop

Hi Teup

Never heard of Ideal - is that Dutch only? Irrespective of that the business
model of xp does not suit our store and we wouldn't adopt it whatever happens.
We are not into selling large one-off sets at bargain prices - ours is a part
shop from top to bottom. Our orders average several hundred items and over 50
lots - that isn't going to be bought by a google search result which is what
we believe BL are trying to bring about. Instant checkout doesn't' work
for our store either and with over 40,000 items without dimensions in the catalogue
it is fair to say, probably never will - it is not designed well around shipping
methods and was not built to be adaptable (zip code pricing in the USA - The
largest market on BL), volume and weight based in the UK and most of Europe.
We have 14 different box sizes 3 large letters, and 11 small parcels, we never
ship a medium parcel as that is too costly so we are using multiple small parcels
to deal with weights over 2Kg and yes I know this could be set up but what a
hassle a different delivery method for each box type (each box has a different
tare).

We also have no concept of Bricklink dealing with our funds by way of Marketplace.
Far too many things against it for us to even consider it,((we know they have
claimed they are not into that, but who knows what might happen if we all give
them the right to do that)). but then it might suit some - that will only be
found out as and when they launch it, as unfortunately no communications is the
norm for the site - so no one will know what it is about til they launch it and
based on previous launches it will be some time before it would be 'bug free'
so to speak.

IC, in our view, needed to be regionalised and much more flexible in its design.
It works for some and that is great, and not for others, which is a shame, but
that is how they have done it. No talking, no discussion, no customer agreement,
here it is - if you don't like it tough, - that is what you are getting.
And the funny thing is BO launched with it and it is much smoother over there
and far fewer complaints about missing bits.

I can say without reservation that we will not be adopting xp at any time.

I see, I think all in all it's a fair bottom line that this is just a plan
that was cooked up at someone's desk who just figured this would be kinda
cool - ignoring the massive wealth of knowledge, needs, suggestions, etc etc
that the community can offer, if you are looking for inspiration of what direction
to take Bricklink.

IDeal is Dutch only, yes. It's not a 3rd party by the way, it's simply
the default online interface for bank transfer, which is the preferred (and free!)
payment method. So every Dutch citizen has it, it does not require setting up
an account (other than a bank account), it does not require anything, all people
readily have it and can use it very easily. The transaction costs that I pay
for it in my webshop are €0.29 fixed price. Way cheaper than PayPal, and for
larger businesses I think it's virtually free.

That's my example of Bricklink doing its own thing without caring to listen,
and I am sure a lot of us have such examples. That's why I prefer Bricklink
just keeps on sleeping and not come up with ideas. They just don't seem to
be thought through in a professional way. An admin recently mentioned that Bricklink
is considering prices here to be really low. If anything, a bit too low. What
do you think will happen with XP where the individual store is all but taken
out of the equation? Even more downward pressure on prices. If you want higher
prices, you need to give stores space to profile themselves as unique individuals,
instead of stripping all that away and comparing them by price only.

I'm not talking about what I want here, I just see that Bricklink
wishes prices to be higher and at the same time develop something which will
push prices down. The MOC shop, the Chinese translation if anyone remembers that,
Bricklink XP, and - according to some of the members - the AFOL Designer program:
Just random side projects that weren't thought through and don't have
any consistent vision behind them in terms of what direction to take Bricklink.

Well enough talk about Bricklink from me for now, I'm back to order picking
and I don't want to be framed like someone who just complains. Alot about
Bricklink is pretty awesome. I just prefer it to be left alone if the alternative
is random changes that are not serious and not professional. And I have some
good hope it will. XP is not here yet, so so far everything is just fine and
business as usual

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 9, 2019 16:30

Subject:

Re: More stockrooms!

Viewed:

29 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, runner.caller writes:

In Suggestions, Teup writes:
And then I haven't even touched on PayPal's plan to dramatically increase
transaction fees by next month,

WHAT!? Are you talking the 2.2% to 2.9%?

Nope, the 3% to 5%

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 9, 2019 09:55

Subject:

Re: More stockrooms!

Viewed:

42 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:

(...)

Apparently xp requires Instant Checkout (not a problem for some), also requires
Paypal for Marketplaces (Again not a problem for some) but little else is known
about it.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 9, 2019 06:44

Subject:

Re: More stockrooms!

Viewed:

49 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, nologolego writes:

But most importantly, it is sad to think we have no pilot or crew for Bricklink.
Is it fated to crash and burn eventually? Do we need to get our parachutes
ready?

I think it will be ok

I am more afraid of stupid changes than of Bricklink's
inertia. I'm not going to participate in this new Bricklink XP they're
developing, and I wish they hadn't come up with that idea. Anyway, as long
as Bricklink is just asleep it's fine by me. It's not dying, just sleeping

It generates money so if anything would happen to it, even the least interested
management would take measures keep it running.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 9, 2019 05:28

Subject:

Re: More stockrooms!

Viewed:

57 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Shintaku writes:

I personally am fine with three but I've heard people complaining that 3
stockrooms are very few, as you can have a lot of wanted lists, a lot of featured
items, it's limitating that you only have 3.

I don't think it would be dramatic to increaase this number.

What do you thinK?

I don't get the idea of "multiple stockrooms" in the first place. The way
I see it, it is a binary thing: something can either be for sale or not for sale.
(Maybe a second Schrödinger's stockroom for items that are neither for sale
nor not for sale?

)

If I understand it correctly, multiple stockrooms are kind of like tagging items
with remarks. The remarks feature already exists. It's overlapping functionality.
I'm guessing multiple stockrooms are needed for inventory operations that
apply to one tag only, and the remarks field is not available for this operation?
Then Bricklink should have made the remarks field available to that operation.
That way, the whole multiple stockrooms thing could have been abolished and at
the same time you would have kept all the functionality. It's like you can
define an infinite number of "stockrooms", but in your remarks.

(Bricklink's cockpit is abandoned and we're left to our own devices,
it's not like it will change of course.. so I say "could have been"

)

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 7, 2019 13:00

Subject:

Re: found wrong category

Viewed:

29 times

Topic:

In Catalog, SylvainLS writes:

In Catalog, Teup writes:

[…]
So if printed parts never even have a different category than their parent part,
why is it apparently needed that these parts are assigned a category manually? […]

There are lots of reasons why something isn’t automatized. The main ones are:
1. You have to realize it’s stupid work.
2. “You can automatize that?!” The users don’t even know they can ask for it
to be done.
3. And, of course, “there’s something else more urgent to do.”

You thought about it because you’re lazy (in a good way

) and you needed to
do the job yourself.

You're probably right, a lot if this may have to do with the fact that catalog
work is unpaid work for Bricklink. Why waste time on making something that's
free less work?

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 7, 2019 11:38

Subject:

Re: found wrong category

Viewed:

37 times

Topic:

In Catalog, FloathBricks writes:

Hello everybody,

Hope the post is right here. I found an article that is listed in the wrong category:

3626cpb2423 is listed under "Mini Doll, Head". Should actually under "Minifigure,
Head"

Greetings
Florian

Interesting. Why can printed versions of parts even have different categories
than their parent part? Is there even a case where that is needed? I can think
of one case: 2 x 2 x 2 Slopes with dress prints could go under Minifig,Bodypart
(or better: change the "legs assembly" category in "lower body" and move all
short legs, mermaid tails and ghost lower bodies there too). But even in this
case, those parts are simply "slope".

So if printed parts never even have a different category than their parent part,
why is it apparently needed that these parts are assigned a category manually?
It's just extra work and extra risk of error. In my own webshop's catalog,
the data of the non printed parent part is used as much as possible. That saved
me a whole lot of work.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 4, 2019 18:11

Subject:

Re: Add "Part Out Value" Link to Set Entry Page

Viewed:

41 times

Topic:

Ah, I didn't read properly

Yes, that should already cause a whole lot
less burden.

Good thing that at least the link to the part out value result page is directly
accessible and editable without having to go through the "get value" button.
That way, at least some of us that have some programming or perhaps Excel or
other skills are able to save a bunch of clicks. Seller tools aren't coming
to it seems we all have to make our own

But yes, I think I agree this would
be a good feature.

In Suggestions, speshy writes:

In this suggestion I'm suggesting a simple link at each set's page (probably
the better function would be a button). Clicking on it would provide the same
function as navigating through Market Price Guide entering the set's
number, then clicking "Get Value". It doesn't need to be information saved
on the page, but if I'm looking at a set on BL and wondering what its part
out value is, I should be able to find out quicker than taking the above steps.

K

In Suggestions, Teup writes:

In Suggestions, speshy writes:

I'd like to suggest that each set's "Part Out Value" be linked directly
from its Set Entry page (assuming 6 mo. value of "new" parts). It would remove
a few annoying clicks to obtain a set's part out value after browsing it
in the catalog.

Thanks,

K

I'm not an expert but I think this would be too heavy for the website. Even
asking 1 part out value the system needs to process all priceguide data of all
parts in that set. If a totally random user would be browsing through 10 sets,
that whole process has to happen 10 times. It's only useful for sellers and
only at those moments that they want to purchase something, so I think it would
be an overkill of constant processing on the server for a small advantage.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 4, 2019 16:52

Subject:

Re: Add "Part Out Value" Link to Set Entry Page

Viewed:

21 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, speshy writes:

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 3, 2019 13:28

Subject:

Re: download as XML actually saves as a TXT file

Viewed:

30 times

Topic:

In Inventories, Jallington59 writes:

In Inventories, Teup writes:

In Inventories, Jallington59 writes:

Hi,
Trying to export my inventory into an xML file.
The download option offers XML as a format, but when the file saves, it is a
.txt file.

I cannot use TXT files with other sites so I need to know if there is a way to
truly pull my inventory as XML.

thanks

XML is not a file type, it just refers to a way to structure data in plain text.
It only means that item data is placed in between tags with pointy brackets.
A file in XML formatting can have any kind of extension: txt, xls, html, ...

If you need another extension, you can just rename the file. If that doesn't
work, then probably you need something else than an XML formatted file. What
do you need it for?

Thank you.
I am trying to copy my inventory over to Brickowl. They ask for XML files.
I get "Lot ID" errors from every format I've used

Ah yes. I've written my own converter for this. But you can use Brickstock:
Brickstock can read Bricklink xml formatted files, and save them as bsx. That
bsx file should be fit for upload on BrickOwl.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Sep 2, 2019 18:27

Subject:

Re: download as XML actually saves as a TXT file

Viewed:

27 times

Topic:

In Inventories, Jallington59 writes:

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Aug 30, 2019 16:39

Subject:

Technic heads: Do the categories make sense?

Viewed:

93 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

I'm not super technical and as a kid I was terrible at making anything out
of Technic Lego so in spite of my dad's efforts I quickly abandoned it and
never picked it up again. But I'm seriously wondering if the Technic categories
make any sense at all. I'm not good at the jargon and especially not in English,
but here's my observation:

- There's a category called "Link", which includes belt/chain items as well
as suspension parts. Is that just a random semantic, well, "link" between these
parts?
- It seems like there's a whole family of parts that have to do with driving/gears
- clutches, gearboxes, driving rings, changeover catch.. all of these parts are
scattered across categories but I think they are supposed to work together.
- There's a category called steering but it seems to be about wheel suspension
as well as, well, steers. And then there are suspension arms in both "Link" and
in the generic "Technic" category that I think are equally involved in this stuff.
- There's a generic "Technic" category which includes very random items.
While there was a fanatic impulse of emptying out the "(other)" category, apparently
the "Technic" category is still full of randomness. And it's now the biggest
Technic category (if you don't count decorations). That isn't very helpful
is it?

So... I never used this stuff, but a question to the Technic pros: Do you find
that the Technic categories make sense to you, or is it just a fairly random
division that you just memorised the way it is? Should it be improved?

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Aug 26, 2019 19:04

Subject:

Re: Do part numbers change?

Viewed:

44 times

Topic:

In Catalog, SylvainLS writes:

In Catalog, Teup writes:

[…]
€20 I spent on a programmer

That’s what, one pizza and a coke?

The programmer only asked for €13 for the tasks I gave him but I added a tip,
considering that programmers are usually too expensive and too busy

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Aug 26, 2019 19:01

Subject:

Re: Do part numbers change?

Viewed:

47 times

Topic:

In Catalog, 62Bricks writes:

In Catalog, Teup writes:

I'm working on my own webshop and want it to synchronise well with my Bricklink
store. My software seems to work pretty well, but now I'm wondering, does
it happen that names/numbers of parts change on Bricklink, and if so, how often
does that occur? I want to gauge how necessary it is to do some extra coding
to accommodate for this.

Possibly you should be made aware that Bricklink considers its part names and
numbers to be its own proprietary information, and that using them on your own
commerce site might draw unneeded problems. They have taken action at least once
in the past to require another site to stop using the Bricklink part numbers.

As a result, other sites choose to come up with their own part numbering system,
or they use the LDraw names and numbers, which can be used freely with the proper
attribution.

Of course many BL numbers are the numbers actually molded on the parts by LEGO,
and these are probably safe to use. Also, many BL part names and numbers are
from LDraw. These should also be safe to use.

Thanks for the advice. Actually I'm not "using" Bricklink part numbers -
my sync system just needs to know what is what, so for that part, it's essential
that my software is able to "speak Bricklinkish" - I imagine that's the same
for BrickOwl and for Brickstock. I don't use it in the shop itself for the
customers. Names/descriptions I'm not using at all, I've described them
in Dutch (which was the most exhausting part of the job

)

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Aug 26, 2019 17:05

Subject:

Re: Do part numbers change?

Viewed:

34 times

Topic:

In Catalog, Andrsv writes:

In Catalog, Teup writes:

I'm eager to hear more about your webshop. As far as I've understood
you've been dreaming about it for quite some time now, and finally your on
the way. Do you have something to show? Screenshot? Do you have a markedplan?
How do you decide which features to add? How big development team have you managed
to put together?

Good luck

Thanks! You're right! Someone I know put me on the right track with a content
management system that's featured in my hosting package. I'm essentially
able to do it all by myself, thanks to the versatile system, a bit of programming
skills I do have, and €20 I spent on a programmer to tweak some things

It
has been a huge amount of work so far, 1. tweaking the store, 2. writing software
that turns inventory files that I download from Bricklink into the format I need,
3. writing an entire database of all parts and 4. finding rights free pictures
of everything. I really don't want to take anything from Bricklink that was
given by contributers and isn't mine, so I'm really working like crazy
these weeks

I won't go sharing much of it, as I don't want to border on inviting
to buy outside of Bricklink. But anyway my main idea is to make a very white,
minimal site with good overview, and make it all Dutch. I'm going to try
to focus on the Dutch market, since I believe there's an untapped market
there for people who aren't insiders but would buy from a friendly accessable
webstore they can understand easily, and use the payment method they're comfortable
with that isn't featured on Bricklink. Also, having my own store means I
can go and advertise it everywhere. That's alot better than constantly having
to tell people that my store is on some platform called Bricklink.

I don't know if I'm right. I could be wrong, but if so, it'll just
mean one wasted summer

If I am right, I could be having some great business
and stability for many years to come. But probably I will be having to boost
my inventory alot more in order for my store to be significant enough by itself.
I hope hierachical category system and independent filters for many part properties
are going to be selling points.

I was willing to gamble some €2000 on having someone build me a store, so if
everything fails, I'm fine with just having wasted a lot of time and still
have all my money - except from the €20

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Aug 26, 2019 16:52

Subject:

Re: Do part numbers change?

Viewed:

30 times

Topic:

In Catalog, Hygrotus writes:

In Catalog, Teup writes:

Here you can check how frequently item numbers are changed

all logs from the beggining of Bricklink
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogReqList.asp?nID=&viewDate=Y&viewType=E&viewStatus=A&viewAction=I
In this time was 23844 changes in numbers

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

Thanks Marek, that's useful! Looks quite intimidating anyway, all those changes.
I've now put a module into place that recognises "new" parts that have new
part numbers but are linked to previously existing LotIDs in my inventory. It
then adds the new part and updates the lot with the old part number to zero quantity.
I think that should do the trick

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Aug 26, 2019 15:37

Subject:

Re: Do part numbers change?

Viewed:

35 times

Topic:

In Catalog, yorbrick writes:

In Catalog, Teup writes:

I imagine most parts now have the correct numbers but minifigure can change,
like the extra 0 in SW figs.

Yes, I noticed some added 0's in the pattern numbers of some parts, because
the Bricklink number did not match with what Rebrickable thought was the Bricklink
number. I wonder how regularly such things happen. If it's a rare thing then
I should be fine just whiping and reuploading my entire webshop once in a while,
but if it's regular I should think of some way to update these items specifically.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Aug 26, 2019 15:27

Subject:

Do part numbers change?

Viewed:

125 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Aug 18, 2019 10:39

Subject:

Re: Specific Lots -> Specific Countries

Viewed:

17 times

Topic:

In Inventories, WhiteHorseMatt writes:

In Inventories, Cheshire_Bricks writes:

Hi,

Just wondering if you're able to make specific lots only available to specific
countries?

I'm looking to sell some sets but I want to set them to UK only (if you can
do this then how?)

Thank you in advance for any help!

How about manually setting the dimensions of the sets to something huge, and
then allocating a postage method for that size that's UK only. And adding
something in the comments to that effect as well.

Matt

The part will still show up in the listings however, together with a "seller
ships to me" message. It's clever but it also kind of breaks the Bricklink
interface.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Aug 13, 2019 13:24

Subject:

Re: Why can't I enlarge pics anymore?

Viewed:

58 times

Topic:

In Catalog, QA_Rachel writes:

In Catalog, firestar246 writes:

So you used to be able to click on the picture of a piece in the catalog, sort
of a quick view. You'd see the years it was made, any sets/minifigures the
piece was in, etc. You all know what I'm talking about. Well, a few days
ago I couldn't do it anymore. I've tried three different devices.

Why would they make such a horrible change for? I rely on that heavily when listing
minifigure parts to make sure I have the correct listing. This is going to make
this job twice as long now.

The zoom-in bug was fixed a few weeks ago but it seems that a recent site update
may have reverted the fix. I'll forward the information to someone on our
development team to take a look. I'll let you know once we've resolved
the issue.

Thank you!

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Jul 26, 2019 11:19

Subject:

Re: Either a bonafide brain-fart, or a seizure...

Viewed:

44 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, Teup writes:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, cycbuild writes:

In Suggestions, Teup writes:

In Suggestions, cycbuild writes:

Sylvain has spent a lot of time familiarizing himself with BrickLink, and is
a frequent contributor here. There's no need to be so relentlessly dismissive.

I agree. But in all fairness we can't ignore the question in the back of
our minds: When is this guy finally going to buy some more LEGO?

My wallet has the reverse question

Though getting around 700€ of LEGO for around 15€ thanks to coupons and destocking
made us both quite happy a couple months ago

Wow!

Then my question changes... Why is this guy not selling any LEGO?

What, with all the problems you sellers continuously whine about on the forum?

Besides, MY precious, MINE!

You're here discussing its problems out of your own free will, who's
silly now?

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Jul 26, 2019 10:08

Subject:

Re: Either a bonafide brain-fart, or a seizure...

Viewed:

47 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:

In Suggestions, cycbuild writes:

In Suggestions, Teup writes:

In Suggestions, cycbuild writes:

Sylvain has spent a lot of time familiarizing himself with BrickLink, and is
a frequent contributor here. There's no need to be so relentlessly dismissive.

I agree. But in all fairness we can't ignore the question in the back of
our minds: When is this guy finally going to buy some more LEGO?

My wallet has the reverse question

Though getting around 700€ of LEGO for around 15€ thanks to coupons and destocking
made us both quite happy a couple months ago

Wow!

Then my question changes... Why is this guy not selling any LEGO?

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Jul 26, 2019 09:09

Subject:

Re: Either a bonafide brain-fart, or a seizure...

Viewed:

40 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, cycbuild writes:

Sylvain has spent a lot of time familiarizing himself with BrickLink, and is
a frequent contributor here. There's no need to be so relentlessly dismissive.

I agree. But in all fairness we can't ignore the question in the back of
our minds: When is this guy finally going to buy some more LEGO?

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Jul 25, 2019 18:36

Subject:

Re: Either a bonafide brain-fart, or a seizure...

Viewed:

44 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, popsicle writes:

In Suggestions, randyf writes:

In Suggestions, popsicle writes:

Wayne's post and others like it, https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1150409
brings to mind an idea that briefly visited my headspace some time ago:

A type of reverse want list. That is, a way that sellers could peruse the current
want lists to specific buyer's needs, to then as a seller, proactively engage
members like Wayne with offers on items they have on their want list.

Kinda like amping-up the want list and selling process, by getting the sellers
more involved in increasing their sales by actually selling

It's just a rough draft of an idea. Limitations, restriction and other refinements
of the idea, expected.

But hey, BL shot-callers, it speaks directly to upping the sales numbers!

-Cory

As long as I could opt out of it, I would be all for it. I don't need sellers
spamming me with offers of things on my want list.

Of course, always the ability to opt-out, I agree.

Very good input, Randy

I think it would rather be on an opt in basis, because doing it by default would
be privacy violation. Reminds me of the trouble Amazon is in over looking into
its sellers sales data. Anyway, not a bad idea, when it's based on buyers
explicitly choosing to publish their wanted list.
Anyway, seller tools was cancelled, so there's not much chance for this
or any other smart suggestion over the past years to see the light of day. Better
to try it over at BO, they certainly like to discuss such ideas and look into
options of implementation.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Jul 24, 2019 06:50

Subject:

Re: Plant 2417?

Viewed:

50 times

Topic:

In Catalog, Biscuit_head writes:

Sustainability: avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain
an ecological balance.
They're using less crude oil by no longer using it to make plant peices.
They could possibly make all of the parts from plants instead of oil once they
find enough sugar cane farms that can keep up with the demand.

I guess producing crude oil generates a lot of emissions. But I wonder how much
less emissions their new production process really involves. I guess it kind
of stands or falls with that.
The end result is the same: polyethylene, which is basically a polluting substance.
But that's if you throw it away, of course, and thankfully LEGO is far from
single use. But the amount of parts LEGO pumps out of their machines per day
is staggering and it has to go somewhere eventually.

I would be more impressed if LEGO invested in degrading plastic. Not making parts
that degrade, I mean, but degrading the durable high quality parts with some
special process. I don't know about ABS but scientists already discovered
caterpillars that are able to digest polyethylene. If LEGO had some scheme you
could send in old and broken parts in exchange for some VIP points of whatever,
and they'd degrade or recycle it, then we'd be talking.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Jul 23, 2019 17:47

Subject:

Re: Plant 2417?

Viewed:

48 times

Topic:

In Catalog, TallyToyBricks writes:

How are the 2417 plant leaves different from the "plant based" 2417?

Thanks

It's the same plastic: Polyethylene. It's just made from fresh plants
rather than from dinosaurs (oil). But it isn't biodegradable in any way and
as far as I can see doesn't have much merit in terms of sustainability or
the environment.

"The new sustainable LEGO elements are made from polyethylene, which is a soft,
durable and flexible plastic, and while they are based on sugar-cane material,
they are technically identical to those produced using conventional plastic."
(and a bit of marketing blabla about sustainability)

https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news-room/2018/march/pfp

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Jun 11, 2019 19:25

Subject:

Re: Have all members pay BL $1 to buy and/or sell

Viewed:

41 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, skybound13 writes:

As a recent new member, would I have paid $5.00 (or whatever) for a lifetime
BrickLink membership? The concept would have bothered me a little at first,
but yeah, I would have paid because I wanted buyer privileges. If that fee were
refunded back after so many orders, great, if not, not a big deal really.

Hmm, as I think more about it, such a payment would at least confirm that a buyer
is a real person and has a means by which to pay for orders online.

I think you may be pretty exceptional in this. While you are right it could be
a good decision to pay it, I think that the vast majority of people will not
realize it and be turned away by it. The current situation with so many consumers
unwilling to sign up for Bricklink is bad enough as it is.. even creating an
account and learning to navigate the site is already too much for alot of regular
consumers. Let's not make Bricklink's weak point even weaker. People
want to find their products and then buy them by clicking on them and entering
their address. Not go through some strange process of paying a fee for "being
a member" of something they don't (yet) care about..

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Jun 11, 2019 19:19

Subject:

Re: Have all members pay BL $1 to buy and/or sell

Viewed:

63 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, firestar246 writes:

Don't agree with this at all. This will do nothing except make a lot of people
mad. Ever since I set up instant checkout about a year ago, I've had only
2 NPBs I can think of; one of them what an international buyer, that when I contact,
said that the shipping was too high so I cancelled. The other I never got a response.

So non-paying buyers aren't really a big deal if you have your store set
up correctly.

Agreed. It sounds absurdly consumer unfriendly and frankly hard to take seriously.
Imagine going to the supermarket and being charged $1 upon entry that will not
be refunded. In the EU, consumers can cancel or return purchases for full refunds.
It's considered a vital part of commerce. It would certainly scare off buyers
if they were forced to agree to this. Also, it would require new buyers to set
up a PayPal account and send money to it before placing their first order, which
they are just not going to do.

And yes, NPB's are just not really a big deal. All stores have to deal with
returns, it's part of business. Wanting to eliminate it 100% sounds like
lazy thinking from the seller's perspective. What's next? "Let's
trap all buyers inside of this mall so they don't go out without buying our
products"

Author:

Teup

Posted:

May 13, 2019 14:45

Subject:

Re: Fair, safe and legal trading = BL principles

Viewed:

48 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:

- Full acceptance of cancellation without penalty and without reason required

This issue has been around for years (as has the thread!). There is no legal
right to cancellation without penalty. The buyer has a right to cancel,
but that does not mean that they can order, then cancel. Order, then cancel.
And so on without penalty. If a buyer becomes a problem for a store (whether
on BL or elsewhere), the store is legally entitled to stop selling to them. It
is the same with feedback - feedback does not affect the right to cancellation.
Just because a buyer has a right to cancel, it does not take away the right a
seller has to leave feedback or file a NPB. Of course, if a buyer is responsive
and asks for a cancellation, then many decent sellers will allow cancellations
and they may be more lenient than if the buyer just doesn't pay. But if a
buyer orders then cancels, orders then cancels, orders then cancels, it wouldn't
surprise me if the buyer gets blocked from buying from that store.

Well, yes, you are right. The seller has to cancel when requested but is entitled
to taking any measures they like. Especially since this Bricklink world is slightly
different from regular online retail as a lot of labour goes into getting an
order together.
Maybe the "without penalty" part wasn't phrased to well. At least I would
like the language to change. Because right now some sellers write things in their
terms like "I don't accept cancellation requests" or "orders are legally
binding contracts" or stuff like that. I think there's an important distinction
between discouraging it / considering it rude or something like that on the one
hand, and making buyers believe they have no actual choice but to pay up on the
other hand. The latter is basically misinformation about the rights that consumers
have. I think vulnerable/naive consumers should be protected by at least being
offered store terms that don't obscure their rights.

And last but not least:

- Being responsible for lost shipments - meaning full refund or resend if anything
goes missing

And no problem there, and this holds if the buyer pays with paypal anyway. Although
if BL start asking for proof of delivery routinely, this may change smaller orders
as sellers start charging for this.

I think Bricklink could do two things in all this: 1. Enforcing by being involved
with the actual transactions, which might be complicated and costly (although
that is not an excuse it is not needed - perhaps it is) and/or 2. Simply moderate
store terms ahead of any transactions a store may be involved in. That's
not too much manual work, and we live in an age where computers can recognize
actual people in photographs, so I'm pretty sure some algorithms can be put
together to spot illegal store term claims. Even with a simple search operation
it's easy to spot them.
I think the main problem has to do with stores having illegal terms more than
store having legal terms but not keeping to them. Once the store terms are sound,
buyers will be able to call out and spot bad sellers pretty easily whenever they
cause trouble that's not in line with their own terms.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

May 13, 2019 04:52

Subject:

Re: Fair, safe and legal trading = BL principles

Viewed:

103 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:

This suggestion is a summary of my recommendations, plus input from others' many
private messages I received on this over the last few days that I would like
Admin to consider in the site upgrade.

BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION:-

The BrickLink site has always required its' members, both buyers and sellers,
to trade legally and fairly. This is an essential aspect of the site's reputation
which makes it an attractive venue for buyers and sellers to trade here with
confidence and safety. The continued success of the site and enjoyment of it
experienced by its' members both depend heavilly on this being maintained.

The site continues to grow rapidly and welcomes many mew members, both buyers
and sellers every day. The financial success of the site has indeed secured its'
future beyond the loss of its' inspired founder. In the early days, this site
was a small community and the founder members and early adopters clearly did
a great job in building the principles of the site and policing it in a self-regulatory
way. For the most part this still works today but, as is demonstrated in the
many threads recently, some (buyers and sellers) are falling short of those principles
and indeed the law! This may be driven by the vast increase in membership which
makes this place less "personal" for some and combined with this; the laws and
regulations covering internet trading become more and more complex as governments
focus on the explosion of such trading and their need to close tax loopholes
and try to protect their consumers from substandard trading and scams.

I believe the site and ALL its' members (except for any that come here to do
unfair or illegal trading) will benefit from a more developed policy on safe
and legal trading for both their own protection and for the reputation of the
site in general which should help promote its' continued growth and success.

The following suggestions are simply my thougths on "how" some of the issues
might be addressed taking into account the direct input I have had from several
other members as well as many forum threads over the years but some recent ones
in particular:-

SUGGESTION #1 - EXPAND ON THIS IN TOS:-

TOS #11 REQUIRES the following.

"General Compliance with Laws:
You shall comply with all applicable laws, statutes, ordinances and regulations
regarding your use of our service and your listing, purchase and sale of items."

Whilst this "covers" the site in demonstrating to authorities its' intent not
to encourage illegal behaviour, in practice it does little or nothing to:

1. Help inform its' members about what those laws might be and where to find
out about them. Many of the problems here (for buyers and sellers) are caused
by a complete lack of knowledge on the relevent laws.

2. Provides no penalty for breaking them which unfortunately is the reason why
some of the intentional law breakers are comming here.

I suggest changing the TOS #11 to spell out some of the specific laws that members
need to comply with, namely:

Customs - sellers are required to complete customs documents as required by law
honestly and accurately which, for the purpose of selling here, means declaring
the sales value of the goods as stated on the invoice and NOT misprepresenting
commercial sales as gifts.

Compliance with local advertising, selling and consumer protection laws - sellers
are required to comply with all relevent laws applicable to their selling activities.

Taxation - prior to listing any items for sale, sellers are advised to check
the rules in their country relating to any taxation they may need to charge their
customers (e.g. sales tax, VAT as applicable) and any requirements to declare
to their tax authorities any sales activity they conduct on this site.

SUGGESTION #2 - MAKE CUSTOMS FRAUD A REPORTABLE OFFENCE:-

Just as we can report listings that do not comply with the TOS, have a similar
funtion where:

1. Sellers can report (with evidence e.g. private message) to Admin that a buyer
requested a fraudulent customs declaration.

2. Buyers can report (with evidence e.g. private message or something in sellers'
terms) that a seller is offering a fraudulent customs declaration.

3. If a penalty is given, just like an NPB or NSS, a buyer or seller can have
feedback removed if it was given in relation to a transaction subject to the
penalty.

4. A buyer or seller has the right to cancel an order without penalty if subject
to a validated request for customs fraud.

Validated reports would result in a penalty ranging from 1st warning, through
temporary suspension of buying or selling rights, to membership termination for
repeat offenders.

SUGGESTION #3 - HAVE A HELP GUIDE ON SAFETY AND THE LAW

Which members have to declare they have read before they can buy or sell on the
site.

Unlike eBay which has legal resources in many of its' markets, BL has a central
Administration which cannot be expected to be expert on these matter in all geographies.

Perhaps we cound have voluntary "country Admins" for this purpose who would be
responsible for maintaining content with an opening statement relevent to their
market and a number of (official government only) links to any laws relating
to internet buying and selling in their country and the official taxation and
customs sites for their country. This must have a legal disclaimer saying these
Admins and the site are not giving legal advice and it is the ultimate responsibility
of the individual member to ensure he/she complies with all applicable laws.

SUGGESTION #4 - HAVE SOME FUNCTION TO PROMPT BUYERS WHEN BUYING INTERNATIONALLY
-

When you put something in a cart of a store not in your country, you are prompted
to look at a page that says something like:-

"You are about to purchase from a store located outside of your country, you
are advised to check if you may be liable for any customs charges relating to
importing this item into your country WHICH ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY before committing
to this purchase. Purchasing from overseas may also limit your rights as a buyer."

Obviously, this needs some more thought! I would not want this message for EVERY
item I put in a store cart, maybe just the 1st one for example. Maybe give an
option "do not show this message again" after a couple of hits on it within a
certain time period.

SUMMING IT UP FOR ME:-

None of this changes anything that is not the intent of the current TOS.

It is not to differentiate between "private" or "business" sellers for any purpose
of promoting one above the other, although for UK at least and many EU countries,
Gareth's suggestion on that would help keep sellers on the right side of the
law so I still support that too. There does seem to be some differences of definition
on that between countries which would need to be addressed further.

This is intended to HELP buyers and sellers comply with their laws and avoid
some of the risks many are taking now through ignorance of them. Being reported
for falling foul of a law or being caught not complying with it in most cases
carries penalties that most people would be pleased to avoid if given a chance
and informing them better simply helps to avoid that possibility

I would be happy to do more work on this if required as I am passionate about
keeping this a safe, respected place with trading standards that we can ALL be
proud of and enjoy.

CONGRATUALTIONS YOU GOT TO THE END OF THIS POST -

Thank you very much for your time!

Robert

I very much agree with your introduction, and I can't say I disagree with
the rest, but to me the issue of customs delcarations seems really minor and
anecdotal - people are usually talking more about the issue in theory than about
actual occurences of it, and I wonder how much money in the history of Bricklink
has been actually saved by inaccurate forms.

For me much more immediate concerns that comes to mind when reading your introduction
are the following, because when I go over various random EU store's terms
MORE THAN HALF of the sample is not legally compliant with at least
one and usually multiple ones of the following rules:

- Full acceptance of cancellation without penalty and without reason required

- Accepting returns and refunding the buyer including the postage cost and the
postage cost of sending it back

- Not charging more for transaction fees than the transactions actually cost

And last but not least:

- Being responsible for lost shipments - meaning full refund or resend if anything
goes missing

These laws apply to all EU stores, regardless of the legal form of the store.
Here on Bricklink we sell in stores (selling through the forum is not even allowed).
Therefore, all of the above is applicable and in my opinion should be enforced
by Bricklink.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

May 2, 2019 04:40

Subject:

Re: Coral

Viewed:

58 times

Topic:

In Colors, qwertyboy writes:

FYI -

Just came across a bunch of these parts in color coral:

27507 Tile, Round Corner 4 x 4 Macaroni Wide
Parts: Tile, Round

It looks like there are two distinct shades. One exactly matches coral color
for this part we have:

41740 Plate, Modified 1 x 4 with 2 Studs with Groove
Parts: Plate, Modified

The other one is lighter - less saturated. TLG calls the new color "vibrant coral".
The lighter shade could almost be called "regular coral".

Or of course another
instance of bad quality control.

I can see if I can make a pic later.

Niek.

Coral: What an unfortunate name for a colour. If there's one thing in the
world that can have every colour imaginable... it's coral. But apparently
that's just me, because Google tells me it's a thing. I'd go for
salmon or something like that.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Apr 22, 2019 12:06

Subject:

Re: Random Stockroom Items

Viewed:

36 times

Topic:

In Inventories, antiquer88 writes:

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could tell me why random items show up as stockroom
items in my inventory. I have no items I have intentionally marked for retention
in stockroom, yet every Monday I go to my inventory and delete random items that
have shown up as zero count stockroom items.

Is this something I have done in error, or is it a system problem?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Stan.

It's one of those persistent problems that Bricklink is trying to fix. I
think something is really wrong in the bug fixing department, it seems their
ability to isolate a problem and target it effectively with a fix is really compromised.
Previously there was an issue with remark fields being deleted and it also took
a very long time and was also "fixed" in an "ok this time it really seems to
work but if you have problems let us know" way.
Several people have reported this issue. Hope for you guys they will do something
about it.

Author:

Teup

Posted:

Apr 20, 2019 09:32

Subject:

Re: What do the ! and * symbols mean under image?

Viewed:

40 times

Topic: