Redisplay Messages: Compact | Brief | All | Full Show Messages: All | Without Replies| Author: | cosmicray  | | Posted: | Jun 2, 2021 10:24 | | Subject: | Re: Adding Items to Paid Order | | Viewed: | 26 times | | Topic: | Problem Order | |
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| In Problem Order, terry1643 writes:
| | Is it possible to add Items to a paid Order without creating a new order? when
I create a cart for the Missing Pieces I need from the same seller, when I go
to pay via PayPal it's charging me another extra postage and 20%UK tax on
top.
Thanks In advance Terry
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Not really. If you decide to unwind the existing order, and have them place a
new order, that will cost you payment service fees (PayPal or Stripe). Buyer's
have to make their entire selection, and be done with it, before hitting the
pay button. To be able to add to an existing order, and to adjust the payment
upwards, would require changes to the BL ToS and changes to the interface with
the payment services. That would give sellers a capability, and a responsibility,
that would concern some buyers.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | Jun 2, 2021 10:19 | | Subject: | Re: Feedback rmvl policy MUST CHANGE. Here's why. | | Viewed: | 55 times | | Topic: | Help | |
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| In Help, enig writes:
| | I simply refuse to bear an undeserved feedback in this case and I will NOT be
leaving a non-positive if it will destroy what I have built over the years. I
value my feedback too highly. Yes, it is likely that I will eventually have to
face a neutral or a negative at some point and it will be a sad day. But it's
not happening today.
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Which means your giving in to manipulation and coercive control. Don't do
that. Stand tall. Call out people who deserve to be called out, but make sure
your evaluation is honest and can withstand scrutiny by uninterested parties.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | Jun 2, 2021 07:02 | | Subject: | Re: Feedback rmvl policy MUST CHANGE. Here's why. | | Viewed: | 70 times | | Topic: | Help | |
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| In Help, enig writes:
| |
Big surprise - this is just one issue I had during last couple weeks. I have
one even worse where another seller issued an NPB against me and completely ignored
all my messages to correct and re-send the invoice - until the time ran out and
now I have an NPB strike. Of all the places... both sellers happen to be from
Germany  . No offense to others, but it is the last place I would be expecting
this from.
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It's not just Germany, there are individuals in any country that are like
this, but thankfully not that many.
Part of the issue with how BL does FB is that it is not easy to see the counter-FB
for a transaction. it can be done, but it takes a lot of digging. If the counter
FB were much more easily accessible, then retaliatory FB would stand out like
a sore-thumb.
To that end, I made a suggestion late in 2020 ...
https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1233827
My own view is that you should word your FB carefully, leave it, and if they
do leave retaliatory, then answer that FB with the same exact FB you left on
the original. Just my viewpoint.
If they are misrepresenting parts, and using coercive control to cover up their
behavior, then leaving accurate FB would be best possible way to get them to
stop doing that. Yes, you might take a hit, but if enough people stand up, then
their FB will eventually disclose the behavior. But be very careful that the
FB you leave is honest and accurate.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | Jun 1, 2021 21:03 | | Subject: | Re: Help with shipping sizes please…. | | Viewed: | 26 times | | Topic: | Help | |
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| In Help, Crispy796 writes:
| | OK, so I’m a UK based seller and in the UK we have the option to send packages
at a very good price with our postal service, as long as the pieces fit into
a ‘large letter’ format which is no thicker than 25mm. When I first opened my
store I got caught out with a buyer who ordered pieces bigger than 25mm. I was
advised that I should mark the ‘over size’ pieces in my inventory as ‘volume’
bound rather than ‘weight’ bound. I’ve done that and set up another shipping
method for small parcels, and it’s made no difference, today I got another order
for a large piece (that I marked as volume bound) and my buyer has managed to
still select the cheaper shipping. Other than forcing all orders to be invoiced
out, does any other UK/non-UK seller have an idea please?
Thanks 🙂
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What were the catalog dimensions for the piece, and what dimensions do you have
on the shipping method it selected ?
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | Jun 1, 2021 15:24 | | Subject: | Re: Complete and file a PO | | Viewed: | 34 times | | Topic: | Buying | |
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| In Buying, wildchicken13 writes:
| | In Buying, CSC writes:
| | Hi,
is there a way to complete and file a PO placed which the seller has not marked
as shipped yet?
The seller has shipped the item and I have it and we are all good and I would
like to get it out of my open PO list.
I tried contacting them, but so far no response for almost a week.
Thanks
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Hack into the seller's account and mark the order as shipped. 
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It is required to wear a before hacking into anyone's account.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 31, 2021 21:30 | | Subject: | Re: bhol02 & bhol04 in Dark grey | | Viewed: | 43 times | | Topic: | General | |
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| In General, Stuart9 writes:
| | Not only Dark grey but double logo, Lego on studs and underneath.
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Are those ABS or CA ?
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 29, 2021 19:06 | | Subject: | Re: Cleaning dusty legos | | Viewed: | 52 times | | Topic: | General | |
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| In General, MikeysMom2 writes:
| | What is the best method for cleaning a large number of legos. Do people use dishwashers
and if so, any details would be appreciated!
|
I have a couple of Rubbermaid 1/3 size pans, that are made from a high temperature
plastic. Normally they do not have drain holes, but a place I know has ~100 of
them with drain holes, and at a very nice price. I fill a moderately large pan
with warm sudsy water, put the LEGO bits into the 1/3 size pan, and dip it into
the warm water. Scrub a dub dub, then lift the 1/3 pan and let it drain. Repeat
a couple times with clean water. The 1/3 pans are rated up to 90c, which is way
hotter than the LEGO parts will ever get.
If anyone is in Jacksonville, Florida, I can tell you where to go get them. That
place doesn't ship online.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 29, 2021 11:49 | | Subject: | Re: Coupon promoting Paypal Friends & Family | | Viewed: | 49 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| In Problem, dearlydeparted writes:
| | So, does this violate BL's rules in any way and if yes, should it be reported?
Or does BL choose not to get involved in this practice?
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I do not believe you can pay onsite combined with Friends & Family. So, not only
does it seem to be shifting PP fees to the buyer, but it also seems to be VAT
avoidance. My take is that using Friends & Family is going to be a TOS violation,
but for indirect reasons.
Anyone else have a thought about this ?
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 29, 2021 08:57 | | Subject: | Re: Coupon promoting Paypal Friends & Family | | Viewed: | 58 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| In Problem, dearlydeparted writes:
| | I just received an email with a coupon from a UK store. Okay, thank you. But
then I read the bottom portion which states,
"Paypal fees can be avoided by paying as "friends & family" & orders can be shipped
in multiple parcels to keep the value of each parcel below any thresholds required."
I know this violates Paypal's TOS in the US, question is, is this allowed
in other countries? Of course, the buyer would have no protections. Seems unethical
to me.
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So the seller is trying to get PayPal fee advantage, at no savings to the buyer,
and a likely loss of protection. Seems like a bad deal to me.
IIRC, passing along PP fees is valid in some countries, but fee avoidance is
quite a different animal. If crossing an international border, that may push
the currency translation fees onto the buyer.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 29, 2021 07:09 | | Subject: | Re: USPS asking for a rate increase | | Viewed: | 50 times | | Topic: | Shipping | |
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| In Shipping, jbo210 writes:
| | Interesting read, thanks Nita Rae!
Kinda surprised to read that first-class shipping volume is down right now, I
thought it would be the opposite.
|
USPS breaks their services into Market Dominant and Market Competitive.
The vast majority of the packages that USA BL sellers ship fall under Market
Competitive (i.e. USPS competes with FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc). So it is the Market
Competitive side that has gone thru the roof. If anything, Market Dominant has
seen declines as people use electronic devices to communicate (instead of writing
letters) and use the web to pay bills (instead of mailing checks).
USPS is certainly having problems moving letter mail. I sent four out at the
beginning of April. Two have never been obviously acknowledged received (at ~50
days plus). One was acknowledged at 25 days, and the other at ~14 days. So they
need to streamline package delivery, but also fix letter mail.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 28, 2021 21:40 | | Subject: | Re: No sales tax for Colorado??? | | Viewed: | 48 times | | Topic: | Help | |
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| In Help, BooBoo writes:
| | I just processed an order placed today (5/28/21) from a buyer in Denver, Colorado,
USA. I added the shipping cost and changed the status to "Ready" but the sales
tax amount is still zero even though Colorado does charge sales tax. The buyer
is new to Bricklink (first order placed) so I haven't sent the invoice yet.
Waiting for confirmation that they should not be charged sales tax.
Thank you,
Sparlin Sypherd aka Booboo
store: A Brick Stud
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The state would need both a Sales & Use tax, and a Marketplace Facilitator statute
on the books. BL is not currently collecting Florida, but that will be changing
as of July 1st (due to SB 50 being passed and signed).
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 28, 2021 21:29 | | Subject: | USPS asking for a rate increase | | Viewed: | 158 times | | Topic: | Shipping | |
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| From the New York Times (which may be a paywall in many cases), USPS is looking
at a Summer rate increase.
| | The Postal Service said that the changes would take effect on Aug. 29, if approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission.
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https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2021/0528-usps-proceeds-with-request-for-postal-rate-change.htm
Reading that makes it sound like this is for Market Dominant products only (letters
and postcards). No mention of package services. I'll have to dig around the
PRC to see the actual increase request.
Announcing it on a holiday weekend, when everyone's attention is diverted
elsewhere.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 28, 2021 19:57 | | Subject: | Re: No buyer name on orders page, anyone else? | | Viewed: | 46 times | | Topic: | Technical Issues | |
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| In Technical Issues, chetzler writes:
| | Is anyone else seeing this? When I click through to the order everything looks
OK: user's real name and BrickLink ID are there with a complete and proper
address that matches the PayPal address. So far this only seems to happen on
the orders page.
|
Look carefully at their PayPal, or Stripe, payment for signs of anything odd.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 28, 2021 18:08 | | Subject: | Re: BRAVO on the BrickLink Catalog Newsletter!!! | | Viewed: | 41 times | | Topic: | General | |
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| In General, SnarkBricks writes:
| | Just received the BrickLink Catalog Newsletter email...
Thank you!!! I think this is a wonderful to update Store owner's of what's
going on!!
Tom and Cindy of Snark Bricks
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Indeed, well done BL !
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 28, 2021 12:25 | | Subject: | Re: A first "LEGO Group" | | Viewed: | 40 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, StickyBrickit writes:
| | In Selling, Shrapnil writes:
| | I have found a LEGO that has on it (C)LEGO Group. I'm curious as to if this
one is worth more due to age or anything like that.
|
I've got one where they've completely misspelled Lego....they put L-E-P-I-N
by mistake.
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According to r/lepin, the lepin products may still be available under a different
name.
One of the earliest LEGO competitors was ELGO, who made something called 'American
Bricks'. The best way I can describe them was roughly half the weight of
a LEGO brick, and with smaller connectors. They came in primarily red, and some
white, plus window frames and such. Generally sold in a big round tube container,
and a press-fit metal lid. My recollection is that plastic was very likely CA.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 27, 2021 17:12 | | Subject: | Has 4477-1 ever had production problems ? | | Viewed: | 101 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| Customer ordered this set ...
When I pulled it from inventory, something about the sound coming from the box
bothered me. All 3 copies I have are sealed (i.e. glued shut). The weights I
found are ...
240.61 gms
206.09 gms
205.81 gms
That is a rather large discrepancy between the first one and the other two. The
one in the middle shows distinct signs that the factory injected too much adhesive.
No obvious signs of having been opened and resealed. Seems rather odd to me.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 27, 2021 10:26 | | Subject: | Re: How do you define MISB? | | Viewed: | 29 times | | Topic: | General | |
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| In General, CSC writes:
| | Hello everyone,
how do you define MISB?
|
I don't don't, because it is one of the most misused selling terms on
the Internet.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 26, 2021 18:29 | | Subject: | Re: Another Buyer Tax Evasion | | Viewed: | 54 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| In Problem, Tracyd writes:
| | In Problem, bigasbricks writes:
| | Pretty crappy the buyer is intentionally trying to circumvent paying taxes via
Bricklink and I will end up having to eat the PayPal fees to refund them because
of their bad behavior. Bricklink needs to address this, way to many posts about
this issue in the forum.
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As far as I am concerned you are entitled to keep the PayPal fees from the refund.
They circumvented the system. And they knew better.
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While you may be technically and proceduraly correct, doing it that way might
leave a door open for a PayPal claim against the seller. The seller would need
really explicit terms why they are doing that (and under what circumstances),
to hold off the claim.
| | | | In Problem, firestar246 writes:
| | I would simply refund the payment they had sent outside of BL, tell them you
are not comfortable doing this and that if they're not willing to pay through
BL that you cannot continue with the order. I'd also let them know they are
putting themselves at risk of being banned. I know of two other users who were
banned for doing similar stuff.
|
|
|
IMHO, what may be needed here is a new procedural claim against a member, something
like BTA (Buyer Tax Avoidance) that would allow BL administration to become involved,
and give the seller cover in situations like this.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 26, 2021 12:05 | | Subject: | Re: Another Buyer Tax Evasion | | Viewed: | 87 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| In Problem, runner.caller writes:
| | In Problem, cosmicray writes:
| | In Problem, bigasbricks writes:
| | I have a member (very high ranking) openly trying to avoid paying sales tax.
Their business is in Georgia (sales tax collected) and we have sent over 10 orders
to this address. Now they have registered in New Hampshire (no sales tax collected).
They found our PayPal info from prior transactions and paid outside of Bricklink,
they used their PayPal shipping address for their business in Georgia. They state
that this behavior is okay because their accountant said to engage in this practice
since Bricklink will not respond to their inquiries. They also stated they have
reached out to Bricklink "several times" and since they will not respond to them
it means they are allowed to do this.
I see they do have some orders recently from other sellers so some are allowing
this behavior without reporting, I do not feel comfortable knowingly engaging
in this behavior and do not want to lose my account because a buyer wants to
avoid sales tax. I have sent a message to the helpdesk but am unaware if there
is still a backlog.
I have requested the buyer message to help desk as well. Any help would be great!!!
Order #16391503
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It sounds, a little bit, like they are buying for resale, which should be tax
exempt.
In theory, they can claim a credit against their other collected sales tax, but
if they sell on a Marketplace Facilitator, like BL/eBay/Amazon, they may have
no other reportable sales tax to claim credit against (in which case they have
to eat it as a cost of doing business). A fair portion of my inventory was purchased
before I received an exemption certificate, so I treat it as basis, not as a
yearly expense.
Nita Rae
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+1 Honestly, If this becomes a big enough problem, maybe BL will fix it the correct
way.
The vast majority of my customers at work are OEMs that buy things that go into
much bigger assemblies that they resell so they are almost all exempt.
In our system, on a customer entry, there is a little drop down for sales tax.
Once, that customer provides us with the paperwork, it's pretty easy to adjust
the sales tax to the 0% setting.
How BL hasn't added a setting for users to become exempt or even communication
on a planned date to get it added is beyond me.
|
IMHO, and speaking only for myself, I think BL underestimated the need (or else
the people buying for resale are a noisy group in the forum, which is a different
issue unto itself). BL assumed, and reasonably, that people were buying here
for their own consumption. The rare outlier would be that select minority who
build very large MOCs or sculptures, and need gross quantities of parts to create
a finished work.
Managing, and verifying, tax exemption certificates is (at a minimum) a new full
time position. It may well even represent multiple positions. That's a staffing
situation, even before you get into the development effort required. Then you
have to deal with exemptions outside the USA, and how those might be handled
in each country. It is really a big task.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 26, 2021 07:24 | | Subject: | Re: Another Buyer Tax Evasion | | Viewed: | 116 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| In Problem, bigasbricks writes:
| | I have a member (very high ranking) openly trying to avoid paying sales tax.
Their business is in Georgia (sales tax collected) and we have sent over 10 orders
to this address. Now they have registered in New Hampshire (no sales tax collected).
They found our PayPal info from prior transactions and paid outside of Bricklink,
they used their PayPal shipping address for their business in Georgia. They state
that this behavior is okay because their accountant said to engage in this practice
since Bricklink will not respond to their inquiries. They also stated they have
reached out to Bricklink "several times" and since they will not respond to them
it means they are allowed to do this.
I see they do have some orders recently from other sellers so some are allowing
this behavior without reporting, I do not feel comfortable knowingly engaging
in this behavior and do not want to lose my account because a buyer wants to
avoid sales tax. I have sent a message to the helpdesk but am unaware if there
is still a backlog.
I have requested the buyer message to help desk as well. Any help would be great!!!
Order #16391503
|
It sounds, a little bit, like they are buying for resale, which should be tax
exempt.
In theory, they can claim a credit against their other collected sales tax, but
if they sell on a Marketplace Facilitator, like BL/eBay/Amazon, they may have
no other reportable sales tax to claim credit against (in which case they have
to eat it as a cost of doing business). A fair portion of my inventory was purchased
before I received an exemption certificate, so I treat it as basis, not as a
yearly expense.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 26, 2021 06:54 | | Subject: | Re: Is it really worth that much ? | | Viewed: | 49 times | | Topic: | General | |
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| In General, patpendlego writes:
| | In General, CSC writes:
| | In General, cosmicray writes:
| |
The one at the bottom of the price list. I know that every seller can ask whatever
they want, but that one seems a bit high.
Nita Rae
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As with everything in life, it is worth what someone is willing to pay.
Would you have thought that digital pictures go for millions of dollars?
I agree that it is too much though and I would not pay it, but if someone is
willing to pay it, good on the seller.
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QFT. That is how the monetary / capitalistic system works in our world of today.
Whether you like it or not. As long as we cannot come up with a 'better'
system... this is it 
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Another way of looking at it is that LEGO, vintage LEGO, may be more of a store
of wealth, than fiat or digital currency. One can be mined, the other can be
printed endlessly, but vintage LEGO is immutable.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 25, 2021 22:04 | | Subject: | Is it really worth that much ? | | Viewed: | 256 times | | Topic: | General | |
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|
The one at the bottom of the price list. I know that every seller can ask whatever
they want, but that one seems a bit high.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 25, 2021 14:03 | | Subject: | Re: shipment shows delivered BUT | | Viewed: | 41 times | | Topic: | Shipping | |
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| In Shipping, Sweatergirl writes:
| | I have a large order that shows delivered and scanned at the buyers address.
buyer says not received and wants a refund. What do I do with this situation?
|
Was the order shipped to an address outside the USA ?
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 25, 2021 06:19 | | Subject: | Re: The more I post on the forum... | | Viewed: | 43 times | | Topic: | Off Topic | |
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| In Off Topic, MrPetovan writes:
| | ... the sooner my orders will arrive, that's how it works, right?
Right?
|
Just like stompin on the elevator button, because it's slow arriving.
Nita Rae
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| Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | May 24, 2021 11:59 | | Subject: | Re: Is it allowed to dropship from TLG ? | | Viewed: | 85 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, alexbinary writes:
| | Just wondering if this is allowed/legal to do on BrickLink and what people think
about it : list sets on your BrickLink store, and if someone orders one, buy
it on LEGO.com and have it shipped directly to your customer.
Thanks
|
What makes you think that a set currently available on LEGO.com, would not be
available at the vast majority of retailers worldwide ? There may be a few that
are online exclusive, but how they would find you as a seller, and not find it
on LEGO.com is beyond me.
Nita Rae
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