Discussion Forum: Thread 108122

 Author: Lonely_Brick_OH View Messages Posted By Lonely_Brick_OH
 Posted: Feb 7, 2011 09:08
 Subject: Variant elements marked in inventory!
 Viewed: 118 times
 Topic: Suggestions
 Status:Open
 Vote:[Yes|No]
Cancel Message
Cancel
Reply to Message
Reply
BrickLink
ID Card

Lonely_Brick_OH (10054)

Location:  USA, Ohio
Member Since Contact Type Status
Oct 19, 2009 Contact Member Seller
Buying Privileges - OKSelling Privileges - OK
Store: The Lonely Brick Ohio
Good morning.

I would like to see parts that have a 'b' or 'c' marked on all of the elements!

That may make the job of pulling like elements easier.

I am not sure if this has been suggested before, but it would be nice to have
some kind of marker on the order that there is a very similar if not identical
item with a 'b' or 'c' that exists.

I am sure this is not a problem for the more experienced sellers!

But it would be VERY nice for people who do not know about those slight differences!

LEGO on!
 Author: mhn1957 View Messages Posted By mhn1957
 Posted: Feb 7, 2011 09:21
 Subject: Re: Variant elements marked in inventory!
 Viewed: 45 times
 Topic: Suggestions
Cancel Message
Cancel
Reply to Message
Reply
BrickLink
ID Card

mhn1957 (357)

Location:  USA, Ohio
Member Since Contact Type Status Collage
Jan 17, 2002 Contact Member Seller
Buying Privileges - OKSelling Privileges - OK
View Collage Pic
Store Closed Store: Brick Onion
In Suggestions, BigBrickDaddy writes:
  Good morning.

I would like to see parts that have a 'b' or 'c' marked on all of the elements!

That may make the job of pulling like elements easier.

I am not sure if this has been suggested before, but it would be nice to have
some kind of marker on the order that there is a very similar if not identical
item with a 'b' or 'c' that exists.

I am sure this is not a problem for the more experienced sellers!

But it would be VERY nice for people who do not know about those slight differences!

LEGO on!

I'm not sure what you mean by "marked on all the elements". Could you explain
or give a real example?

This example would not be helped, as there are completely different numbers on
the similar parts.
http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=513783

Are you saying that if you got an order for say,
4070,
 
Part No: 4070  Name: Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Headlight
* 
4070 Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Headlight
Parts: Brick, Modified
, that something would print on the order saying,
warning! Don't accidentally send 4070a!, [p=4070a], or something along those
lines?

My guess is that if it is important to the customer they will let you know.
BTW, that and the color change are two reasons I quit selling parts.

Mark (MHN1957)
 Author: Lonely_Brick_OH View Messages Posted By Lonely_Brick_OH
 Posted: Feb 7, 2011 09:34
 Subject: Re: Variant elements marked in inventory!
 Viewed: 42 times
 Topic: Suggestions
Cancel Message
Cancel
Reply to Message
Reply
BrickLink
ID Card

Lonely_Brick_OH (10054)

Location:  USA, Ohio
Member Since Contact Type Status
Oct 19, 2009 Contact Member Seller
Buying Privileges - OKSelling Privileges - OK
Store: The Lonely Brick Ohio
In Suggestions, mhn1957 writes:
  In Suggestions, BigBrickDaddy writes:
  Good morning.

I would like to see parts that have a 'b' or 'c' marked on all of the elements!

That may make the job of pulling like elements easier.

I am not sure if this has been suggested before, but it would be nice to have
some kind of marker on the order that there is a very similar if not identical
item with a 'b' or 'c' that exists.

I am sure this is not a problem for the more experienced sellers!

But it would be VERY nice for people who do not know about those slight differences!

LEGO on!

I'm not sure what you mean by "marked on all the elements". Could you explain
or give a real example?

This example would not be helped, as there are completely different numbers on
the similar parts.
http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=513783

Are you saying that if you got an order for say,
4070,
 
Part No: 4070  Name: Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Headlight
* 
4070 Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Headlight
Parts: Brick, Modified
, that something would print on the order saying,
warning! Don't accidentally send 4070a!, [p=4070a], or something along those
lines?


Yes, maybe not that dramatic but something along those lines.

Something like;

4070a (b and c also available) when the order prints.

We are starting to put that on the comment section as well, but we still have
issues with it.

The problem with that is the comments end up being very long when we begin uploading!

Those comments get buried under set and location information.
 Author: InanimateReason View Messages Posted By InanimateReason
 Posted: Feb 7, 2011 09:45
 Subject: Re: Variant elements marked in inventory!
 Viewed: 37 times
 Topic: Suggestions
Cancel Message
Cancel
Reply to Message
Reply
BrickLink
ID Card

InanimateReason (3453)

Location:  USA, Georgia
Member Since Contact Type Status
Oct 8, 2006 Contact Member Seller
Buying Privileges - OKSelling Privileges - OK
Store: Inanimate Reason
In Suggestions, BigBrickDaddy writes:
  Good morning.

I would like to see parts that have a 'b' or 'c' marked on all of the elements!

That may make the job of pulling like elements easier.

I am not sure if this has been suggested before, but it would be nice to have
some kind of marker on the order that there is a very similar if not identical
item with a 'b' or 'c' that exists.

I am sure this is not a problem for the more experienced sellers!

But it would be VERY nice for people who do not know about those slight differences!

LEGO on!

Do you mean that it should be noted in the catalog with the items somehow?

Bill
Inanimate Reason
 Author: Lonely_Brick_OH View Messages Posted By Lonely_Brick_OH
 Posted: Feb 7, 2011 10:00
 Subject: Re: Variant elements marked in inventory!
 Viewed: 41 times
 Topic: Suggestions
Cancel Message
Cancel
Reply to Message
Reply
BrickLink
ID Card

Lonely_Brick_OH (10054)

Location:  USA, Ohio
Member Since Contact Type Status
Oct 19, 2009 Contact Member Seller
Buying Privileges - OKSelling Privileges - OK
Store: The Lonely Brick Ohio
In Suggestions, InanimateReason writes:
  In Suggestions, BigBrickDaddy writes:
  Good morning.

I would like to see parts that have a 'b' or 'c' marked on all of the elements!

That may make the job of pulling like elements easier.

I am not sure if this has been suggested before, but it would be nice to have
some kind of marker on the order that there is a very similar if not identical
item with a 'b' or 'c' that exists.

I am sure this is not a problem for the more experienced sellers!

But it would be VERY nice for people who do not know about those slight differences!

LEGO on!

Do you mean that it should be noted in the catalog with the items somehow?

Bill
Inanimate Reason

That may work.

What I would like is when a person orders one of these elements with another
sub number on it I would like to see some kind of marker on that item which tells
us there may be other variants of that item in existence!

Sorry, not up on the site terms for it.

I just know that when we have pullers running around here, they tend to pickup
the incorrect element when pulling.

I will catch it sometimes, but other times they leave then we get an angry client
on the other side.

Trying to mark all of those elements not to keep it from happening!

But I am sure when we begin uploading again they will pop up as new items without
the marking on them.
 Author: viejos View Messages Posted By viejos
 Posted: Feb 7, 2011 10:54
 Subject: Re: Variant elements marked in inventory!
 Viewed: 64 times
 Topic: Suggestions
Cancel Message
Cancel
Reply to Message
Reply
BrickLink
ID Card

viejos (670)

Location:  USA, California
Member Since Contact Type Status
Aug 14, 2008 Contact Member Seller
Buying Privileges - OKSelling Privileges - OK
Store Closed Store: La Reforma
BrickLink L2 Admin
In Suggestions, BigBrickDaddy writes:
  In Suggestions, InanimateReason writes:
  In Suggestions, BigBrickDaddy writes:
  Good morning.

I would like to see parts that have a 'b' or 'c' marked on all of the elements!

That may make the job of pulling like elements easier.

I am not sure if this has been suggested before, but it would be nice to have
some kind of marker on the order that there is a very similar if not identical
item with a 'b' or 'c' that exists.

I am sure this is not a problem for the more experienced sellers!

But it would be VERY nice for people who do not know about those slight differences!

LEGO on!

Do you mean that it should be noted in the catalog with the items somehow?

Bill
Inanimate Reason

That may work.

What I would like is when a person orders one of these elements with another
sub number on it I would like to see some kind of marker on that item which tells
us there may be other variants of that item in existence!

Sorry, not up on the site terms for it.

I just know that when we have pullers running around here, they tend to pickup
the incorrect element when pulling.

I will catch it sometimes, but other times they leave then we get an angry client
on the other side.

Trying to mark all of those elements not to keep it from happening!

But I am sure when we begin uploading again they will pop up as new items without
the marking on them.

The question of variants is an important one, since SOME of your customers will
be particular about them. And if one of your workers pulls the wrong type for
an order, even if that buyer doesn't care, it leaves your store inventory with
the wrong variant type. If the next buyer that comes along DOES care, you can't
fill their order because you sent the variant they ordered to the previous buyer.

Marking certain tricky lots is an excellent idea. You can find out which lots
have variants by going to the catalog page and looking for links on the lower
left part of the page:
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=3455
For this part there is no "a" or "b" version, but two completely different part
numbers.

Another VERY important thing (and this will save you a lot of unneccessary headaches)
is to know when a certain entry is UNDETERMINED. As a seller who wants to move
large quantities fast at competitive prices, these entries are your FRIEND! Take,
for example, the notorious headlight parts shown upthread:
 
Part No: 4070  Name: Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Headlight
* 
4070 Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Headlight
Parts: Brick, Modified
[p=4070a]
The first of these, just plain old 4070, means the part could be EITHER TYPE.
You are safe to list both slotted and unslotted variants under the 4070 entry
without a second of time spent sorting, and without writing a special note in
the listing.

Another famous example of this is our friend 3001:
 
Part No: 3001  Name: Brick 2 x 4
* 
3001 Brick 2 x 4
Parts: Brick
 
Part No: 3001old  Name: Brick 2 x 4 without Cross Supports
* 
3001old Brick 2 x 4 without Cross Supports
Parts: Brick
[p=3001oldf1]
 
Part No: 3001oldb  Name: Brick 2 x 4 without Cross Supports, with Hole in Top
* 
3001oldb Brick 2 x 4 without Cross Supports, with Hole in Top
Parts: Brick
ALL of these bricks can be listed under 3001, because it is undetermined. You
may be able to sell bricks for a higher price under the other 3 entries if you
want to sort them, but you don't have to.

Russell
 Author: Rob_and_Shelagh View Messages Posted By Rob_and_Shelagh
 Posted: Feb 7, 2011 12:56
 Subject: Re: Variant elements marked in inventory!
 Viewed: 45 times
 Topic: Suggestions
Cancel Message
Cancel
Reply to Message
Reply
BrickLink
ID Card

Rob_and_Shelagh (26313)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
Member Since Contact Type Status
Nov 3, 2005 Contact Member Seller
Buying Privileges - OKSelling Privileges - OK
Store: YELLOW FARM BRICKS
In Suggestions, BigBrickDaddy writes:
  Good morning.

I would like to see parts that have a 'b' or 'c' marked on all of the elements!

That may make the job of pulling like elements easier.

I am not sure if this has been suggested before, but it would be nice to have
some kind of marker on the order that there is a very similar if not identical
item with a 'b' or 'c' that exists.

I am sure this is not a problem for the more experienced sellers!

But it would be VERY nice for people who do not know about those slight differences!

LEGO on!

This information is stored in the catalog but it's not always as easy as a,b,c.
See this example:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=6015

near the bottom of the page it mentions parts similar in mold type but with completely
different part numbers. Putting all this information on the order detail might
be a bit clumsy?

IMO these differences are best dealt with at the time the parts enter your inventory,
not when you get an order (in case the customer IS bothered about the difference).
The problem with this, as in this example is when the parts enter inventories
BEFORE someone has spotted and cataloged a new variant (happened to us with this
example, BricksThatStick spotted it and alerted the forum, I checked our stock
and we already had some wrongly listed). Not sure how to eliminate this other
than just have whoever is looking after your inventory keep up to date with new
parts/variants. I don't think we'll ever be able to automate this in a way that
would enable sellers to sell parts without looking these things up, it's because
this site has been built by enthusiasts who do care about these differences and
I can't think of a good arguement against that.

Robert
 Author: melbourne_josh View Messages Posted By melbourne_josh
 Posted: Feb 9, 2011 20:12
 Subject: Re: Variant elements marked in inventory!
 Viewed: 27 times
 Topic: Suggestions
Cancel Message
Cancel
Reply to Message
Reply
BrickLink
ID Card

melbourne_josh (1474)

Location:  Australia, Victoria
Member Since Contact Type Status
Jul 4, 2006 Contact Member Seller
Buying Privileges - OKSelling Privileges - OK
Store Closed Store: Sculpture Supplies
In Suggestions, BigBrickDaddy writes:
  I would like to see parts that have a 'b' or 'c' marked on all of the elements!

That may make the job of pulling like elements easier.

I am not sure if this has been suggested before, but it would be nice to have
some kind of marker on the order that there is a very similar if not identical
item with a 'b' or 'c' that exists.

In your physical inventory, place warning signs.

"WARNING: this piece is very similar to some other pieces. Confirm that you've
got the exactly right one."


That way when an inexperienced picker goes to pick that piece, they'll get a
reminder to double-check. It's what I do in my inventory.
 Author: leggodtshop View Messages Posted By leggodtshop
 Posted: Feb 9, 2011 20:57
 Subject: Re: Variant elements marked in inventory!
 Viewed: 29 times
 Topic: Suggestions
Cancel Message
Cancel
Reply to Message
Reply
BrickLink
ID Card

leggodtshop (3861)

Location:  Netherlands, Overijssel
Member Since Contact Type Status
Aug 11, 2006 Contact Member Seller
Buying Privileges - OKSelling Privileges - OK
Store: Leggodt.nl
Hint:
Always pick the items from physical inventory with the EXACT same number as on
your order.

It can't go wrong that way.

Your problem seems to be that you have parts 'b' and 'c' not explicitly marked
in your physical inventory thus prone to errors. This should not need to be solved
by BL, you could already solve it yourself right now.

Hth,
Arnoud

In Suggestions, BigBrickDaddy writes:
  Good morning.

I would like to see parts that have a 'b' or 'c' marked on all of the elements!

That may make the job of pulling like elements easier.

I am not sure if this has been suggested before, but it would be nice to have
some kind of marker on the order that there is a very similar if not identical
item with a 'b' or 'c' that exists.

I am sure this is not a problem for the more experienced sellers!

But it would be VERY nice for people who do not know about those slight differences!

LEGO on!