Redisplay Messages: Compact | Brief | All | Full Show Messages: All | Without Replies| Author: | Daddy_Daughter  | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 23:58 | | Subject: | *****DAILY BUGLE***** | | Viewed: | 5 times | | Topic: | Sales | |
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| Lots of Daily Bugle sub builds available! Lots of rare, interesting, hard to
find, and retired sets available in store!
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| Author: | Schuler | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 23:44 | | Subject: | Re: Mega Bloks | | Viewed: | 10 times | | Topic: | General | |
|
| In General, Drevil44 writes:
| | I apologize for my earlier rant.
|
Your apology is appreciated but unnecessary: I respect your passion for your
favorite brand!
Keep on building!
|
 |
| Author: | Drevil44 | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 22:39 | | Subject: | Re: Mega Bloks | | Viewed: | 21 times | | Topic: | General | |
|
| In General, Schuler writes:
| | In General, Drevil44 writes:
| | I can't believe that Mega Bloks has never been sued out of existence by Lego
for copyright infringement of their design/product.
|
LEGO has attempted for decades to sue its legitimate competitors into oblivion
but has failed in every substantive case. One rare (and entirely correct) victory
for LEGO came decades ago when competitors were barred from claiming "works with
LEGO" on their products' packaging. Now those competitors
LEGO has also rightly won a number of lawsuits against illegitimate competitors
that have illegally used patent-protected designs
Following numerous definitive rulings that the studs-and-tubes design is not
protected by trademark or copyright, competitors are free to use and expand upon
that design, in part because LEGO itself dubiously acquired the original design
for their iconic brick. They modified it, of course, but the same can be said
for legitimate competitor brands that have also modified their designs.
I would argue further that competition in this regard is very good for the consumer,
because without it LEGO would have little incentive to improve, and I think that
we can agree that LEGO has improved magnificently over the past two decades or
so (notwithstanding Jack Stone and a few other blips).
| | I can't tell you the countless hours I have spent separating non-Lego from genuine Lego parts only to dump these fraudulent pieces into the garbage.
|
They're not fraudulent unless they're claiming to be LEGO. To date,
no Mega Construx set has copied any LEGO set, and Mega has certainly never claimed
to be LEGO.
| | Family members who give these Mega Blok sets to their children/grandchildren/nieces
/nephews etc., are proliferating a continual crime in my opinion.
|
I feel the same about the way that LEGO has muscled numerous licenses from its
competitors and has used its market presence to pressure retailers and even the
US government to suppress legitimate competition.
| | These inferior products may at the onset look like they can be combined with the Lego system of bricks, but in actuality ruin the building experience that that child might
have otherwise enjoyed if using pure Lego only.
|
I have a similar experience when I find an unexpected LEGO brick tainting an
otherwise pure assortment of Mega elements. YMMV.
|
I apologize for my earlier rant. You all make very good and valid points about
the history of building bricks and the validity of good industry competition.
I guess I was caught in a moment of weakness and it was not my desire to offend
anyone. Thank you for bringing all these fine points to my attention and setting
the record straight.
|
|
| Author: | magicalbricks24 | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 21:28 | | Subject: | Re: Tracking and order pulling accuracy | | Viewed: | 28 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, yorbrick writes:
| | In Selling, Sgt._MacSquinch writes:
| | I've probably placed 60+ orders over the last few months. I can say without
exaggeration that on at least 40% of those orders, there was no tracking number
provided. It's annoying enough when a seller can't be bothered to put
it where it belongs on the order form for the customer, but when I then go to
Paypal looking for one, and it isn't there, a simple annoyance becomes an
aggravation. Not providing tracking for customers shows an indifference to the
needs of the customer. That, and it's just plain lazy. There's also the
matter of sellers not bothering to check the merchandise for accuracy before
shipping. Twice in the last month I've had to deal with Batman figures, ordered
for a specific cape type, arriving with the wrong capes. Again, this is lazy.
Any kind of business that sells something has even the most basic quality control
practices in place. One can certainly tell the difference between pro sellers
who take what they do seriously, and the fly-by-night pop-up stores that are
just here to get the most bang for their bricks while they unload their unwanted
Lego. These lackluster sellers are contributing to an overall downturn, IMO,
in what should be a pleasurable buying experience, and frankly, I don't believe
the platform should continue to offer them the privilege, if they continue to
make customers unhappy. Go to Craig's List, place an ad in the paper, have
a rummage sale - whatever. Just take your bricks, your laziness, and your ineptitude
elsewhere.
|
If this is happening on 40% of your orders, why do you leave negative/neutral
feedback for so few of these bad orders?
|
I have received tracking for almost every order I have placed recently (Probably
around 20-25 orders), but I can say that there have been multiple time where
I have received an order from a large seller and their used part that was marked
as "Great Condition" will be covered in marks/scratches. The other new thing
is sellers using one bag and throwing every part in them (Regardless of condition,
type of part, or if the part is printed.) I understand that there will always
be some sellers that do things poorly, but I think it is getting worse and worse.
Especially when so many sellers charge a fee of around $1-1.50 as a "supplies/packaging
fee". I understand charging a small fee to cover supplies, but $1.50 per order
when they use what seems to be reused bags/packaging is so annoying. I wish
sellers would take the small amount of time that is necessary to do things right,
but I guess that is a lot to ask...
-Nicholas
magicalbricks24
|
|
| Author: | calebfishn | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 21:04 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 42 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
|
| In Announce, patpendlego writes:
| | In Announce, calebfishn writes:
| | Profit is not harming the planet. Exploitation is.
|
Profit is exploitation. Profit means taking more than it has cost you. By definition
that is exploitation, consient deliberate exploitation. Letting someone else
pay more than it has cost you. On purpose. And getting away with it. We have
made it legal. Amazing.
| | That is an interesting moral judgement. Based on your view, if I have something, and you want it, I should not receive anything more for it in exchange than what I originally paid for it.
|
|
Let's take an example of a piece of wood. Suppose I pay ten dollars for some
boards. And then I make it into a nice chair. You want the chair, and so I must
sell it to you for the same ten dollars I paid for the wood?
The problem is that the system you advocate has never worked anywhere in the
world in history. (Except under coercion, leading to economic disaster and famine).
I guess theoretically it would be fair if we made an even trade, such as if I
happened to have a dozen eggs and you happened to have a loaf of bread that was
worth the same amount. Seems fair, but there is no incentive for me to keep on
farming eggs, or for increasing the amount of eggs I farm. The result is the
next time you come to me to trade for eggs, I will probably say: "Sorry, I only
bother farming enough eggs for myself and my family" and as a result you go without
eggs. Or, if its bricklink, you go without lego parts because the sellers don't
have an incentive to source and sort bricks beyond what I need for myself.
As I said, it is an interesting, though impractical, theory.
|
|
| Author: | Schuler | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 20:45 | | Subject: | Re: Mega Bloks | | Viewed: | 28 times | | Topic: | General | |
|
| In General, bearly30 writes:
| | This site is amazing!! I used the inventory area to put all my nephews sets back
together, as the legos were just a total mess. I was wondering if anyone knows
of a site in which to find instructions or the brick inventory of Mega Bloks.
I am trying to sort the pieces to find them all for the set. It is an older set
. It is called Mega Bloks Build A Bakery. Contacted the company but that information
is unavailable as the set is a few years old. Thanks a bunch!!
|
That's a cute little set! Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of info
on the First Builders line. The MEGABLOKS website has a page for the set, as
I'm sure you've discovered, but it doesn't include a PDF of the instructions.
I've had some success in obtaining even quite old instructions from the company.
Did you know that this set was released under two different numbers? It was
set 81325 prior to Mega's acquisition by Mattel and CXN68 after. Maybe you
could resubmit your request to Customer Service using one or both of those numbers?
I found a brief YouTube video review of the Bakery, and it appears that the set
includes more parts than are needed to build what's shown on the box art.
So you can probably figure out most of the main parts from the cover, but the
random extras might be hard to determine.
You might still check out The Bloks Forum as suggested upthread. Most of our
info pertains to the LEGO-scale bloks, but one of our members might be able to
offer some help with the CXN68.
Good luck!
|
|
| Author: | skeletonwizard8 | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 20:37 | | Subject: | Is there a wanted list notify maximum? | | Viewed: | 31 times | | Topic: | General | |
|
| Is there a max number at which you can have wanted list notify items set up?
There is a lot of stuff I need in a certain quantity or at a certain price and
i don’t want to waste time setting it up
|
|
| Author: | Brickitty | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 20:34 | | Subject: | Re: Tracking and order pulling accuracy | | Viewed: | 19 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, yorbrick writes:
| |
US customers or EU customers? Using tracking here is not that common, especially
for low valued items. Delivery confirmation is more common but that is not tracking.
It doesn't help the buyer much, as it doesn't update until after the
package has been delivered. I never bother giving tracing (no k) numbers to buyers
when I use delivery confirmed items.
If US customers rely on tracking to know when a package will be delivered or
when to collect from a PO box, then it is understandable if they are used to
expecting it on every package. Whereas if you are not used to using it, it doesn't
matter too much. It is not that big a deal to people that don't expect it.
Especially if the 'free' service ends up costing more.
|
I'm not sure why you're taking this position, beyond a possible rise
in prices? Which I doubt would be necessary -- I've seen domestic EU
shipping costs, and they're comparable to domestic USPS First Class costs.
It's the obvious consumer-focused choice. There is no downside to consumers,
only to public/private postal services and their budgets. And it's not just
about a buyer looking up tracking. It gives peace of mind, and it's a way
to hold both buyers and sellers accountable through an independent service. I
never have to worry about buyers lying about package arrival, because even if
PayPal decides to give the buyer a refund, as a seller I'll still get compensated
by PayPal through Seller Protection as long as tracking shows it was delivered.
Yes, your delivery confirmation service would serve the same function... but
everything is scanned. I didn't mean all mail. I meant us, our phones, our
faces, our driving habits, our internet habits, virtually everything. And it's
only going to increase in the future. At some point in the future, all mail worldwide
will certainly be scanned. That's the future of everything. So why not now?
As a U.S. buyer and seller, I assure you, tracking services are useful, practical,
and very appreciated by consumers. Not because it's an expectation, but because
it just. makes. sense.
|
|
| Author: | Eli_n_Me | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 20:33 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 21 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
|
| In Announce, zorbanj writes:
| | In Announce, psusaxman2000 writes:
| | To me it sometimes feels like a sense of entitlement and not realizing that you can't always get what you want.
|
But if you try sometimes, well, you might find you get what you need.
Sorry, I couldn't resist 
|
I had the same thought. 
|
| Author: | KiwiBricks46 | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 20:31 | | Subject: | Keeping prices at average levels | | Viewed: | 49 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| Hello all
Is there a way to keep all my prices at past 6 months sales average, with out
periodically changing them manually, ever 4 weeks or so. If so is there also
way to exude certain lots from that. I have used items with prices relating to
their condition.
Cheers Kiwibricks46
|
|
| Author: | Schuler | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 20:31 | | Subject: | Re: Mega Bloks | | Viewed: | 19 times | | Topic: | General | |
|
| In General, Drevil44 writes:
| | I can't believe that Mega Bloks has never been sued out of existence by Lego
for copyright infringement of their design/product.
|
LEGO has attempted for decades to sue its legitimate competitors into oblivion
but has failed in every substantive case. One rare (and entirely correct) victory
for LEGO came decades ago when competitors were barred from claiming "works with
LEGO" on their products' packaging. Now those competitors
LEGO has also rightly won a number of lawsuits against illegitimate competitors
that have illegally used patent-protected designs
Following numerous definitive rulings that the studs-and-tubes design is not
protected by trademark or copyright, competitors are free to use and expand upon
that design, in part because LEGO itself dubiously acquired the original design
for their iconic brick. They modified it, of course, but the same can be said
for legitimate competitor brands that have also modified their designs.
I would argue further that competition in this regard is very good for the consumer,
because without it LEGO would have little incentive to improve, and I think that
we can agree that LEGO has improved magnificently over the past two decades or
so (notwithstanding Jack Stone and a few other blips).
| | I can't tell you the countless hours I have spent separating non-Lego from genuine Lego parts only to dump these fraudulent pieces into the garbage.
|
They're not fraudulent unless they're claiming to be LEGO. To date,
no Mega Construx set has copied any LEGO set, and Mega has certainly never claimed
to be LEGO.
| | Family members who give these Mega Blok sets to their children/grandchildren/nieces
/nephews etc., are proliferating a continual crime in my opinion.
|
I feel the same about the way that LEGO has muscled numerous licenses from its
competitors and has used its market presence to pressure retailers and even the
US government to suppress legitimate competition.
| | These inferior products may at the onset look like they can be combined with the Lego system of bricks, but in actuality ruin the building experience that that child might
have otherwise enjoyed if using pure Lego only.
|
I have a similar experience when I find an unexpected LEGO brick tainting an
otherwise pure assortment of Mega elements. YMMV.
|
|
| Author: | Eli_n_Me | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 20:16 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 22 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
|
| Couldnt agreemore to most of this thread.
In Announce, firestar246 writes:
| | In Announce, calebfishn writes:
| |
Profit is not only needed for the survival of an individual business, it is essential
for making any type of consumer good dependably available and affordable. Just
think about Soviet Russia in the 1970's where people lined up for hours hoping
to find a loaf of bread and a bottle of vodka on the grocery store shelves. Without
incentive, people are not going to work at making consumer goods available and
affordable. Without the ability to profit from their work, Bricklink sellers
would not be spending hours sourcing, sorting, and listing parts for the AFOL
community to purchase. The variety of parts and sets available on Bricklink would
be much less and pricing would be variable and unpredictable.
For those who think that profit is immoral when it comes from selling toys, let's
all be thankful that Lego doesn't think that way, or we'd have no lego
at all.
|
This is what I like about (most) of the sellers here: they actually have a head
on their shoulders and a brain in it. You hit the nail on the head.
|
|
|
| Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 19:43 | | Subject: | Re: Tracking and order pulling accuracy | | Viewed: | 30 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, Brickitty writes:
| | In Selling, yorbrick writes:
| | | | I hear you. As a buyer, I was frequently frustrated by these issues too. Some
U.S. sellers wouldn't send tracking even when asked for it (and the EU really
needs to catch up with the U.S. -- for once -- by regulating and requiring
free tracking on all packages sent by public postal service).
|
Why would the EU need to force paid for (but labelled as free) tracking on every
parcel when many customers do not care about tracking a parcel en route?
|
It's 2021. Everything is already scanned, at least for internal purposes.
Why wouldn't they, if they were actually consumer-focused?
|
Everything is not already scanned. We're no longer in the EU, but a number
of packages delivered here don't have barcodes on.
| |
And many customers do care. I can't pull a percentage out of my pocket, but
it's certainly a significant number judging by the amount of questions I've
gotten around tracking from my last few hundred orders even AFTER adding the
tracking number to the order page and emailing it to them.
|
US customers or EU customers? Using tracking here is not that common, especially
for low valued items. Delivery confirmation is more common but that is not tracking.
It doesn't help the buyer much, as it doesn't update until after the
package has been delivered. I never bother giving tracing (no k) numbers to buyers
when I use delivery confirmed items.
If US customers rely on tracking to know when a package will be delivered or
when to collect from a PO box, then it is understandable if they are used to
expecting it on every package. Whereas if you are not used to using it, it doesn't
matter too much. It is not that big a deal to people that don't expect it.
Especially if the 'free' service ends up costing more.
|
|
| Author: | firestar246 | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 19:34 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 37 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
|
| In Announce, patpendlego writes:
| | Profit is exploitation. Profit means taking more than it has cost you. By definition
that is exploitation, consient deliberate exploitation. Letting someone else
pay more than it has cost you. On purpose. And getting away with it. We have
made it legal. Amazing.
|
This is the most ridiculous comment I have seen in a long time, and that's
saying something with the recent Designer Program thread.
Time = money. The electricity company spends time generating my electricity.
They deserve compensation for their work; and they get it in the form of an electric
bill. Then there's all the other countless bills we all get. Explain, if
profit was illegal, how I am to run a business and support a family by paying
bills and supplying them food.
Me and my workers spend lots of time parting out sets, organizing them, purchasing
containers, etc. How am I supposed to pay them without profit? How am I supposed
to buy materials that I have no plan to sell without profit from the items I
do sell?
Profit isn't taking, it's earning more than what you previously had.
I'm pretty sure you weren't born with the device you used to make that
comment. At some point, you managed to acquire it. That's profit. Your house
and everything in it is profit. Your food that you eat is profit. The whole world
needs profit to survive. Without profit, we'd be like newborn babies, without
clothes and possessions, as that is what we started like.
|
|
| Author: | Brickitty | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 18:57 | | Subject: | Re: Tracking and order pulling accuracy | | Viewed: | 33 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, yorbrick writes:
| | | | I hear you. As a buyer, I was frequently frustrated by these issues too. Some
U.S. sellers wouldn't send tracking even when asked for it (and the EU really
needs to catch up with the U.S. -- for once -- by regulating and requiring
free tracking on all packages sent by public postal service).
|
Why would the EU need to force paid for (but labelled as free) tracking on every
parcel when many customers do not care about tracking a parcel en route?
|
It's 2021. Everything is already scanned, at least for internal purposes.
Why wouldn't they, if they were actually consumer-focused?
And many customers do care. I can't pull a percentage out of my pocket, but
it's certainly a significant number judging by the amount of questions I've
gotten around tracking from my last few hundred orders even AFTER adding the
tracking number to the order page and emailing it to them.
|
|
| Author: | Brickitty | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 18:54 | | Subject: | Re: Tracking and order pulling accuracy | | Viewed: | 28 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, yorbrick writes:
| |
If this is happening on 40% of your orders, why do you leave negative/neutral
feedback for so few of these bad orders?
|
I've been asked this a few times as well, and I don't think the question
is fair, as it's not generally asked in good faith and borders on a capitalist
form of victim-blaming. Anyone who's participated in e-commerce knows exactly
why buyers don't leave neutral/negative feedback -- primarily fear of
retaliatory feedback. That's why eBay stopped allowing sellers to leave feedback
at all.
And no, the arguments against this -- "no one looks at your feedback as a
buyer," or "one or two aren't going to hurt you," or "you should leave feedback
anyway to inform others of your experience so the same thing doesn't happen
to them" -- don't resonate with most people and aren't particularly
good arguments anyway. Buyers don't balk at leaving neutrals/negatives because
of their logic brain. They do it because of their emotional brain. It can be
hugely difficult for the average person, much less someone with an anxiety disorder
or depression, to deal with negative feedback of any type from a stranger (hence
why road rage exists), especially negative feedback that isn't deserved and
is merely retaliatory. I deal with negative feedback better than many people
I've known, and it's still ruined my day and been something I dwelt upon
for weeks when it happened. And just because a person doesn't experience
strong emotions in response to even the suggestion of receiving negative feedback
doesn't mean they should discount how much it affects others.
And that's completely ignoring how everybody makes mistakes. The standard
isn't whether or not you make a mistake, it's how well you fix your mistakes.
I'm thankful that we don't live in a society where people are punished
for every little mistake, especially when they do their best to apologize and
fix them. When a seller does that for me, I'm not going to punish them. I'm
going to praise them for taking responsibility.
|
|
| Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 18:46 | | Subject: | Re: Tracking and order pulling accuracy | | Viewed: | 19 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| | | I hear you. As a buyer, I was frequently frustrated by these issues too. Some
U.S. sellers wouldn't send tracking even when asked for it (and the EU really
needs to catch up with the U.S. -- for once -- by regulating and requiring
free tracking on all packages sent by public postal service).
|
Why would the EU need to force paid for (but labelled as free) tracking on every
parcel when many customers do not care about tracking a parcel en route?
|
|
| Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 18:40 | | Subject: | Re: Tracking and order pulling accuracy | | Viewed: | 24 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, Sgt._MacSquinch writes:
| | I've probably placed 60+ orders over the last few months. I can say without
exaggeration that on at least 40% of those orders, there was no tracking number
provided. It's annoying enough when a seller can't be bothered to put
it where it belongs on the order form for the customer, but when I then go to
Paypal looking for one, and it isn't there, a simple annoyance becomes an
aggravation. Not providing tracking for customers shows an indifference to the
needs of the customer. That, and it's just plain lazy. There's also the
matter of sellers not bothering to check the merchandise for accuracy before
shipping. Twice in the last month I've had to deal with Batman figures, ordered
for a specific cape type, arriving with the wrong capes. Again, this is lazy.
Any kind of business that sells something has even the most basic quality control
practices in place. One can certainly tell the difference between pro sellers
who take what they do seriously, and the fly-by-night pop-up stores that are
just here to get the most bang for their bricks while they unload their unwanted
Lego. These lackluster sellers are contributing to an overall downturn, IMO,
in what should be a pleasurable buying experience, and frankly, I don't believe
the platform should continue to offer them the privilege, if they continue to
make customers unhappy. Go to Craig's List, place an ad in the paper, have
a rummage sale - whatever. Just take your bricks, your laziness, and your ineptitude
elsewhere.
|
If this is happening on 40% of your orders, why do you leave negative/neutral
feedback for so few of these bad orders?
|
|
| Author: | macebobo | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 18:35 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 36 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
|
| In Announce, patpendlego writes:
| | In Announce, calebfishn writes:
| | Profit is not harming the planet. Exploitation is.
|
Profit is exploitation. Profit means taking more than it has cost you. By definition
that is exploitation, consient deliberate exploitation. Letting someone else
pay more than it has cost you. On purpose. And getting away with it. We have
made it legal. Amazing.
|
So, I'm sure you only sell for cost in your store then right? Or have you
exploited all of the people who purchased from you 3000+ times?
I'm also sure those 3,333 Euro Sterling silver keychains you're selling
cost you the same amount.
Please, be consistent, either you are a for profit enterprise or not, you can't
be both.
|
|
| Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 18:32 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 36 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
|
| | |
Profit is exploitation. Profit means taking more than it has cost you. By definition
that is exploitation, consient deliberate exploitation. Letting someone else
pay more than it has cost you. On purpose. And getting away with it. We have
made it legal. Amazing.
|
How much did your cost you? And would you sell it for that?
Why would anyone selling anything charge only what that item cost them? If they
only charge what it cost them, they are working for free and taking the risk
of having unsold stock. There is then no point in buying anything to sell, hence
there would be nothing for anyone to buy.
|
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