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| | | Author: | enig  | | Posted: | Mar 26, 2014 21:16 | | Subject: | Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 330 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
|
| * Keep the (sellers) fee at standard 3% so you will not be motivating sellers
to go around it.
* Continuing the thought, I would actually go as far as suggesting to cut the
3% fee by half. So you will motivate sellers to sell more MOCs, and also to "complete"
them so they have more for sale. You will get your 3% from sellers buying the
missing parts from other sellers if you really care so much about your % on $10
orders. Also keep in mind that 150part-50lot-$10 order is not bringing *any*
profit for seller whatsoever to begin with.
* No of course I do not seriously expect anyone to even consider the point above.
* High fees (5%+3%, lets also remember PP fees etc) will start hurting everyone
once/if bigger MOCs start making into the scene. I am talking thousands of parts,
hundreds of $$. Of course you can always cap it or tier the %..... but you get
the idea.
* a) Dont double-dip and b) dont rob designers of their royalties. If you have
to do it, keep it at 3% not 30%. In other words - do not demotivate designers.
They will rather sell their 150-part instructions for $1 or give them away for
free, instead of collecting 30cents from $10 MOC and giving 9 of those cents
back. Also, from what was previously told to us, designers will be encouraged
to not use any very rare parts, so the chances of sellers having 100% of the
parts are higher. This typically means lower price per part. This means that
you are saying - Dear Designers, we want you to have simple designs, use cheap
parts, earn as little as possible (since royalties are tied to %)
* Consider dropping the percentage based royalties all together - use fixed Royalty
Reward instead, let MOC designer decided on the size of it himself/herself. As
mentioned earlier, earning cents is not motivating at all. I dont know about
others, but I would gladly pay $1 or so for instructions of a small MOC that
I really like.
* Make instructions themselves sellable, price being the same as the Royalty
Reward if buying MOC at a BL MOC Shop. I would think the advantages and the necessity
of that are obvious.... Collect your 5% from the instructions if you wish so.
* Those who will not want to pay for instructions/part list, will find their
ways. Especially the ones who already have quite a sizable part collection, and
do not want to pay for a bunch of simple parts that they already have + shipping(!).
**** It was told to us that our new Owner is not doing this for money. I am going
to hold you (whoever I am directing this post to) on that. With all these % planned
for BL MOC Shop.. it just does not look right.
Make the BL MOC Shop a place where everyone feels welcome. Dont create reasons
for Designers, Sellers and Buyers to not like it. Do it, and it will bring business
to BrickLink. Now it looks like you're trying to milk a cow before giving
the poor thing to eat some grass.
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| | | | | Author: | Give.Me.A.Brick | | Posted: | Mar 27, 2014 15:51 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 62 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, enig writes:
| | * Keep the (sellers) fee at standard 3% so you will not be motivating sellers
to go around it.
* Continuing the thought, I would actually go as far as suggesting to cut the
3% fee by half. So you will motivate sellers to sell more MOCs, and also to "complete"
them so they have more for sale. You will get your 3% from sellers buying the
missing parts from other sellers if you really care so much about your % on $10
orders. Also keep in mind that 150part-50lot-$10 order is not bringing *any*
profit for seller whatsoever to begin with.
* No of course I do not seriously expect anyone to even consider the point above.
* High fees (5%+3%, lets also remember PP fees etc) will start hurting everyone
once/if bigger MOCs start making into the scene. I am talking thousands of parts,
hundreds of $$. Of course you can always cap it or tier the %..... but you get
the idea.
* a) Dont double-dip and b) dont rob designers of their royalties. If you have
to do it, keep it at 3% not 30%. In other words - do not demotivate designers.
They will rather sell their 150-part instructions for $1 or give them away for
free, instead of collecting 30cents from $10 MOC and giving 9 of those cents
back. Also, from what was previously told to us, designers will be encouraged
to not use any very rare parts, so the chances of sellers having 100% of the
parts are higher. This typically means lower price per part. This means that
you are saying - Dear Designers, we want you to have simple designs, use cheap
parts, earn as little as possible (since royalties are tied to %)
* Consider dropping the percentage based royalties all together - use fixed Royalty
Reward instead, let MOC designer decided on the size of it himself/herself. As
mentioned earlier, earning cents is not motivating at all. I dont know about
others, but I would gladly pay $1 or so for instructions of a small MOC that
I really like.
* Make instructions themselves sellable, price being the same as the Royalty
Reward if buying MOC at a BL MOC Shop. I would think the advantages and the necessity
of that are obvious.... Collect your 5% from the instructions if you wish so.
* Those who will not want to pay for instructions/part list, will find their
ways. Especially the ones who already have quite a sizable part collection, and
do not want to pay for a bunch of simple parts that they already have + shipping(!).
**** It was told to us that our new Owner is not doing this for money. I am going
to hold you (whoever I am directing this post to) on that. With all these % planned
for BL MOC Shop.. it just does not look right.
Make the BL MOC Shop a place where everyone feels welcome. Dont create reasons
for Designers, Sellers and Buyers to not like it. Do it, and it will bring business
to BrickLink. Now it looks like you're trying to milk a cow before giving
the poor thing to eat some grass.
|
I voted Yes, I have similar feelings.
When I first heard about a MOC Shop I thought it was a good idea.
I always wished BrickLink would have a Catalog for MOC's, with (sellable)
Instructions, Inventory, eventually Alternate parts/colors (provided by the MOCcreator)
etc, so anyone could BrickLink them at their will.
Now and then I have a Buyer asking me to figure out some parts or replacements
for a MOC they fancied with. (As a matter of fact I already had the same request
for the very same MOC.)
Many people are recreating the fantastic CrowKillers cars, amazing Arvos creations,
etc already. So with all legal stuff sorted out (MOCcreators, IPs, etc), it would
be amazing if BrickLink had a "MOC Catalog".
I thought that the MOC Shop was about this.
I see it isn't quiet. Still a nice idea for the buyers who don't fancy
or don't have the time to bricklink a MOC.
I fail to see however what are the advantages for buyers who already have a great
collection of Lego parts that they can re-use and thus save a bunch of money.
As a Seller I also fail to see why the fee would be 5%.
If anything, it should be less than 3%. Even at the same regular 3% fee, I find
that a lot more of work is in place for a Seller. Like you rightly point out
(150 parts MOC with 50 lots) and also as Scott at QCBricks mentioned about the
difficulty of having 100% parts of a MOC, let alone for multiples. No easy task
if you ask me.
Like Marc (FigBits), I wonder, did they ask/heard anyone about this? About the
hardwork involved? And if so, why aren't those people posting here at the
Forum their opinions? I'd like to hear them, maybe I'm really missing
something.
Also, I would like to be wrong, but I have a feeling that this 5% thing is a
"preparation" for BL3.0. We were told that the fees would remain at 3%, so what
are the grounds for 5% on the MOC Shop sales? (And after all the MOC Shop is
BrickLink still...)
So, unless I am really missing something, with the current terms, I am very sorry
to say that I don't feel compelled to sell on said MOC Shop.
Still wish for a MOC Catalog though 
Cheers,
Paulo-Renato
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| | | | | Author: | Brettj666 | | Posted: | Mar 27, 2014 16:08 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 56 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, enig writes:
| | * Keep the (sellers) fee at standard 3% so you will not be motivating sellers
to go around it.
* Continuing the thought, I would actually go as far as suggesting to cut the
3% fee by half. So you will motivate sellers to sell more MOCs, and also to "complete"
them so they have more for sale. You will get your 3% from sellers buying the
missing parts from other sellers if you really care so much about your % on $10
orders. Also keep in mind that 150part-50lot-$10 order is not bringing *any*
profit for seller whatsoever to begin with.
* No of course I do not seriously expect anyone to even consider the point above.
* High fees (5%+3%, lets also remember PP fees etc) will start hurting everyone
once/if bigger MOCs start making into the scene. I am talking thousands of parts,
hundreds of $$. Of course you can always cap it or tier the %..... but you get
the idea.
* a) Dont double-dip and b) dont rob designers of their royalties. If you have
to do it, keep it at 3% not 30%. In other words - do not demotivate designers.
They will rather sell their 150-part instructions for $1 or give them away for
free, instead of collecting 30cents from $10 MOC and giving 9 of those cents
back. Also, from what was previously told to us, designers will be encouraged
to not use any very rare parts, so the chances of sellers having 100% of the
parts are higher. This typically means lower price per part. This means that
you are saying - Dear Designers, we want you to have simple designs, use cheap
parts, earn as little as possible (since royalties are tied to %)
* Consider dropping the percentage based royalties all together - use fixed Royalty
Reward instead, let MOC designer decided on the size of it himself/herself. As
mentioned earlier, earning cents is not motivating at all. I dont know about
others, but I would gladly pay $1 or so for instructions of a small MOC that
I really like.
* Make instructions themselves sellable, price being the same as the Royalty
Reward if buying MOC at a BL MOC Shop. I would think the advantages and the necessity
of that are obvious.... Collect your 5% from the instructions if you wish so.
* Those who will not want to pay for instructions/part list, will find their
ways. Especially the ones who already have quite a sizable part collection, and
do not want to pay for a bunch of simple parts that they already have + shipping(!).
**** It was told to us that our new Owner is not doing this for money. I am going
to hold you (whoever I am directing this post to) on that. With all these % planned
for BL MOC Shop.. it just does not look right.
Make the BL MOC Shop a place where everyone feels welcome. Dont create reasons
for Designers, Sellers and Buyers to not like it. Do it, and it will bring business
to BrickLink. Now it looks like you're trying to milk a cow before giving
the poor thing to eat some grass.
|
Drop the fees on the MOC shop and I bet you someone will post a bulk lot as a
MOC (that he only has 1 off) and get charged less by bricklink.
|
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| | | | | | | Author: | edeevo | | Posted: | Mar 27, 2014 16:11 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 32 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Brettj666 writes:
| | ;Drop the fees on the MOC shop and I bet you someone will post a bulk lot as a
MOC (that he only has 1 off) and get charged less by bricklink.
|
There goes my "Multi-Colored Mountain of 2x2 Bricks MOC" idea... dagnabit...
Life is Good.
~Ed.
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | WoutR | | Posted: | Mar 27, 2014 16:16 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 39 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, edeevo writes:
| | In Suggestions, Brettj666 writes:
| | ;Drop the fees on the MOC shop and I bet you someone will post a bulk lot as a
MOC (that he only has 1 off) and get charged less by bricklink.
|
There goes my "Multi-Colored Mountain of 2x2 Bricks MOC" idea... dagnabit...
Life is Good.
~Ed.
|
What if someone submits the idea for a monochrome minifig?
There must be a market for those out there
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| | | | | | | Author: | enig | | Posted: | Mar 27, 2014 16:21 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 43 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Brettj666 writes:
| | In Suggestions, enig writes:
| | * Keep the (sellers) fee at standard 3% so you will not be motivating sellers
to go around it.
* Continuing the thought, I would actually go as far as suggesting to cut the
3% fee by half. So you will motivate sellers to sell more MOCs, and also to "complete"
them so they have more for sale. You will get your 3% from sellers buying the
missing parts from other sellers if you really care so much about your % on $10
orders. Also keep in mind that 150part-50lot-$10 order is not bringing *any*
profit for seller whatsoever to begin with.
* No of course I do not seriously expect anyone to even consider the point above.
* High fees (5%+3%, lets also remember PP fees etc) will start hurting everyone
once/if bigger MOCs start making into the scene. I am talking thousands of parts,
hundreds of $$. Of course you can always cap it or tier the %..... but you get
the idea.
* a) Dont double-dip and b) dont rob designers of their royalties. If you have
to do it, keep it at 3% not 30%. In other words - do not demotivate designers.
They will rather sell their 150-part instructions for $1 or give them away for
free, instead of collecting 30cents from $10 MOC and giving 9 of those cents
back. Also, from what was previously told to us, designers will be encouraged
to not use any very rare parts, so the chances of sellers having 100% of the
parts are higher. This typically means lower price per part. This means that
you are saying - Dear Designers, we want you to have simple designs, use cheap
parts, earn as little as possible (since royalties are tied to %)
* Consider dropping the percentage based royalties all together - use fixed Royalty
Reward instead, let MOC designer decided on the size of it himself/herself. As
mentioned earlier, earning cents is not motivating at all. I dont know about
others, but I would gladly pay $1 or so for instructions of a small MOC that
I really like.
* Make instructions themselves sellable, price being the same as the Royalty
Reward if buying MOC at a BL MOC Shop. I would think the advantages and the necessity
of that are obvious.... Collect your 5% from the instructions if you wish so.
* Those who will not want to pay for instructions/part list, will find their
ways. Especially the ones who already have quite a sizable part collection, and
do not want to pay for a bunch of simple parts that they already have + shipping(!).
**** It was told to us that our new Owner is not doing this for money. I am going
to hold you (whoever I am directing this post to) on that. With all these % planned
for BL MOC Shop.. it just does not look right.
Make the BL MOC Shop a place where everyone feels welcome. Dont create reasons
for Designers, Sellers and Buyers to not like it. Do it, and it will bring business
to BrickLink. Now it looks like you're trying to milk a cow before giving
the poor thing to eat some grass.
|
;Drop the fees on the MOC shop and I bet you someone will post a bulk lot as a
MOC (that he only has 1 off) and get charged less by bricklink.
|
I must confess I have skipped 95%+ of all the messages regarding the MOC shop
the past few days. Will read it all once it dies out - good way to save half
of day.
So sorry if I missed something, but if I understand correctly MOCs have to be
approved (by some board) first, before sellers can opt-in to sell them?
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | Brettj666 | | Posted: | Mar 27, 2014 16:32 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 39 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, enig writes:
| | In Suggestions, Brettj666 writes:
|
| | | | ;Drop the fees on the MOC shop and I bet you someone will post a bulk lot as a
MOC (that he only has 1 off) and get charged less by bricklink.
|
I must confess I have skipped 95%+ of all the messages regarding the MOC shop
the past few days. Will read it all once it dies out - good way to save half
of day.
So sorry if I missed something, but if I understand correctly MOCs have to be
approved (by some board) first, before sellers can opt-in to sell them?
|
Oh, yeah, that's a good point. It wouldn't be approved.
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| | | | | | | Author: | Loremonger | | Posted: | Mar 27, 2014 16:29 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 51 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| | | ;Drop the fees on the MOC shop and I bet you someone will post a bulk lot as a
MOC (that he only has 1 off) and get charged less by bricklink.
|
Don't think that one would make it past curation.
Anyway, you highlight the problem with the new, higher fees in the MOC Shop.
Why would I want to participate at a higher fee rate, up to an effective 10%
if you include the design fee, when I can just stick to what I know at the lower
cost on BrickLink Proper?
MOCs should include a fixed price for the instructions plus the cost of the parts,
aggregated into a single, streamlined checkout for ease of purchase. BrickLink
should collect its normal 3% on the total sale price. The designer collects what
their instructions are worth, multiple stores could easily source the parts,
and nobody needs a finance degree to figure out the fees.
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | Brettj666 | | Posted: | Mar 27, 2014 16:36 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 47 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Loremonger writes:
| | | | ;Drop the fees on the MOC shop and I bet you someone will post a bulk lot as a
MOC (that he only has 1 off) and get charged less by bricklink.
|
Don't think that one would make it past curation.
Anyway, you highlight the problem with the new, higher fees in the MOC Shop.
Why would I want to participate at a higher fee rate, up to an effective 10%
if you include the design fee, when I can just stick to what I know at the lower
cost on BrickLink Proper?
MOCs should include a fixed price for the instructions plus the cost of the parts,
aggregated into a single, streamlined checkout for ease of purchase. BrickLink
should collect its normal 3% on the total sale price. The designer collects what
their instructions are worth, multiple stores could easily source the parts,
and nobody needs a finance degree to figure out the fees.
|
Well, as I said with Amazon and eBay, you think it's higher fees for the
seller, but it's really not.
If I'm going to the trouble of putting the parts together for this MOC, I'm
going to consider my net first "what do I want to get from these parts".
So, there will (likely) be a hike for the 'convenience' of having all
these parts in one place, and a bump due to the extra cost.
Maybe people will double dip their handling fees in there, paypal fees (for those
that can't expressly add it or even those that can)
|
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | QCBricks | | Posted: | Mar 27, 2014 18:40 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 55 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Brettj666 writes:
| | In Suggestions, Loremonger writes:
| | | | ;Drop the fees on the MOC shop and I bet you someone will post a bulk lot as a
MOC (that he only has 1 off) and get charged less by bricklink.
|
Don't think that one would make it past curation.
Anyway, you highlight the problem with the new, higher fees in the MOC Shop.
Why would I want to participate at a higher fee rate, up to an effective 10%
if you include the design fee, when I can just stick to what I know at the lower
cost on BrickLink Proper?
MOCs should include a fixed price for the instructions plus the cost of the parts,
aggregated into a single, streamlined checkout for ease of purchase. BrickLink
should collect its normal 3% on the total sale price. The designer collects what
their instructions are worth, multiple stores could easily source the parts,
and nobody needs a finance degree to figure out the fees.
|
Well, as I said with Amazon and eBay, you think it's higher fees for the
seller, but it's really not.
If I'm going to the trouble of putting the parts together for this MOC, I'm
going to consider my net first "what do I want to get from these parts".
So, there will (likely) be a hike for the 'convenience' of having all
these parts in one place, and a bump due to the extra cost.
Maybe people will double dip their handling fees in there, paypal fees (for those
that can't expressly add it or even those that can)
|
Right on the mark...this will happen.
I've been pretty up front about our experience with this sort of process.
As I said in another thread, our fee for custom sets when it includes going
out and acquiring all the parts is usually in the 30-50% range. (Depends on
how tough the parts are!) We almost always require a run of at least 10 sets,
but prefer to do more. Typically, the more sets, the lower the fee.
In the MOC Shop, I can see some sellers trying to pad their time into the cost
of the parts or the shipping/handling. Same with the extra 2% to Bricklink.
Scott
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| | | | | Author: | ToriHada | | Posted: | Mar 27, 2014 16:47 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 98 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| I voted no. Per AdminDan and Troy, forum members are not welcome to make suggestions
or post discussions about BrickLink's fees and income. That being said, and
since the cat is already out of the bag, I will add more.
I want BL and the MOC Shop to make enough income so that they can do more to
more quickly and significantly improve this site. If BL decides they need more
fees to make things better, so be it. Are we really in a position to second guess
them? If sellers don't like the increased fees, they can simply go somewhere
else. There ARE alternatives now. I am sure BL's owners are very aware of
this risk. Personally, paying a 5% fee would not be such a big deal to me *IF*
it helped pay for changes that more quickly and substantially improved things.
For smaller shops, the added fees should not be much more in terms of overall
dollars. For bigger shops, I would hope any increased fees are offset by added
savings, services and conveniences to these bigger sellers. Perhaps by providing
an extra service these sellers now pay someone else to do.
I have always been amazed that BrickLink was able to get by on only 3% fees.
But I suspect this was mainly because AdminDan did not start BrickLink to make
a lot of money. For him, it was more personal... a dream; not a business or
a career. Things are different now. BrickLink is many times bigger, it is owned
by a business and it is run more and more like a business. No other LEGO resale
business has fees as cheap as BrickLink. EBay is several times more. BO is still
growing and may soon need more income to continue its expansion. And, please
correct me if I am wrong, but from what I understand, BO does not offer discounted
fees for bigger order batches like BrickLink does. If so, BO's fees may actually
be more than BrickLink.
Lastly, I don't think any of us here are really in any position to suggest
what would be an appropriate fee for the business of running BrickLink and its
new MOC Shop. We don't have the necessary financial information that BL uses
to determine the income it needs to pay expenses and make a reasonable profit.
These discussions about fees may just create false expectations and even more
resentment if BL later decided it had to raise its fees. We will see what we
will see. If and when the time comes to raise fees, BrickLink will explain it
to us and we can then let them know what we think about it. Either by asking
for more information that exists at that time, or by leaving or staying.
Thor
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| | | | | | | Author: | enig | | Posted: | Mar 28, 2014 05:41 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 41 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, fosterbengoshi writes:
| | I voted no. Per AdminDan and Troy, forum members are not welcome to make suggestions
or post discussions about BrickLink's fees and income. That being said, and
since the cat is already out of the bag, I will add more.
I want BL and the MOC Shop to make enough income so that they can do more to
more quickly and significantly improve this site. If BL decides they need more
fees to make things better, so be it. Are we really in a position to second guess
them? If sellers don't like the increased fees, they can simply go somewhere
else. There ARE alternatives now. I am sure BL's owners are very aware of
this risk. Personally, paying a 5% fee would not be such a big deal to me *IF*
it helped pay for changes that more quickly and substantially improved things.
For smaller shops, the added fees should not be much more in terms of overall
dollars. For bigger shops, I would hope any increased fees are offset by added
savings, services and conveniences to these bigger sellers. Perhaps by providing
an extra service these sellers now pay someone else to do.
I have always been amazed that BrickLink was able to get by on only 3% fees.
But I suspect this was mainly because AdminDan did not start BrickLink to make
a lot of money. For him, it was more personal... a dream; not a business or
a career. Things are different now. BrickLink is many times bigger, it is owned
by a business and it is run more and more like a business. No other LEGO resale
business has fees as cheap as BrickLink. EBay is several times more. BO is still
growing and may soon need more income to continue its expansion. And, please
correct me if I am wrong, but from what I understand, BO does not offer discounted
fees for bigger order batches like BrickLink does. If so, BO's fees may actually
be more than BrickLink.
Lastly, I don't think any of us here are really in any position to suggest
what would be an appropriate fee for the business of running BrickLink and its
new MOC Shop. We don't have the necessary financial information that BL uses
to determine the income it needs to pay expenses and make a reasonable profit.
These discussions about fees may just create false expectations and even more
resentment if BL later decided it had to raise its fees. We will see what we
will see. If and when the time comes to raise fees, BrickLink will explain it
to us and we can then let them know what we think about it. Either by asking
for more information that exists at that time, or by leaving or staying.
Thor
|
I will not go and pick your reply apart, but what I wanted to say with the suggestions
is - make it simple, make it attractive, motivating, and rewarding experience
for all involved. Enhance all these aspects, instead of suppressing them.
The way they are attempting to set it up right now... well as I said it is an
attempt to milk the cow before you give something to eat.
Take example from some software, games or e-services that are free to try, or
are just free in general. Many of them are huge corporations, and yet they are
giving their product away completely "free". What gives?
MOC shop is an amazing tool which can bring a lot of business to BrickLink, but
only if implemented and used properly - for the purpose to bring-in
new users (aaand their money) and enhance their experience (their spending).
Now with all these small % they are eating the seeds, instead of planting them
and enjoying the fruit a year later. They are, literally, counting pennies. And
sending the wrong message.
I do not argue - there of course are different ways of doing it. But if you want
the best outcome, you must choose an appropriate way to approach it.
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| | | | | Author: | JETTY | | Posted: | Mar 28, 2014 04:17 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 57 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| Let us keep the LEGO community free and open, and let inspiration flow. This
would create more interest and more buyers and sellers.
Sell the instructions and let people get their bricks how they want used or new
and in the colors they want.
Dont make rules, make inspiration...
I vote yes
Regards Jes
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| | | | | | | Author: | Rob_and_Shelagh | | Posted: | Mar 28, 2014 04:44 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 47 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, JETTY writes:
| | Let us keep the LEGO community free and open, and let inspiration flow. This
would create more interest and more buyers and sellers.
Sell the instructions and let people get their bricks how they want used or new
and in the colors they want.
Dont make rules, make inspiration...
I vote yes
Regards Jes
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I've been lurking on this one but that about sums up where I am on it. Allow
selling of just the instructions, downloadable or hard copy. Allow sellers to
sell complete kits too - yes, but that should not be the "only" way to sell the
MOC.
Keep fees the same (3%) for all sales - otherwise, as others have pointed out,
the system will be "got around" anyway. The current system allows members to
sell custom instructions - why would an owner of a popular MOC not do that anyway
if he saw demand for it? Build the creator's reward into the selling price
of the instructions or kit - that is their added value, not the supply of the
parts. "Better" or more popular MOCs could command higher prices.
The key point for me is to allow builders to use a combination of:
- their own parts
- used parts
- new parts
- alternative colours
- parts from the seller of the MOC/instructions
- parts form other sources
Restricting how/where buyers source parts is IMO non-productive for BL and will
limit the availability and sales of the MOCs anyway as individual sellers will
struggle to source all the parts for multiple copies of MOCs.
Robert
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | Daave | | Posted: | Mar 28, 2014 05:06 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 40 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
This part is essential... There is no way I would EVER consider buying any of
the MOC ideas through bricklink MOC shop
The thought that I might be forced to buy more of a part I have literally a bucket
full of already? This idea is completely insane...
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | Rob_and_Shelagh | | Posted: | Mar 28, 2014 05:16 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 33 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Daave writes:
| | In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
This part is essential... There is no way I would EVER consider buying any of
the MOC ideas through bricklink MOC shop
The thought that I might be forced to buy more of a part I have literally a bucket
full of already? This idea is completely insane...
|
Indeed and I'm sure that is the way many think, that is the whole point of
LEGO bricks - to be able to rebuild them into different creations. To turn that
around into a positive.... I suspect many members would be MORE LIKELY to buy
a MOC (instructions plus needed parts) IF they saw that they had some of the
parts needed to build it in their bucket (the Rebrickable principle).
Robert
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | enig | | Posted: | Mar 28, 2014 05:22 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 35 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
| | In Suggestions, Daave writes:
| | In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
This part is essential... There is no way I would EVER consider buying any of
the MOC ideas through bricklink MOC shop
The thought that I might be forced to buy more of a part I have literally a bucket
full of already? This idea is completely insane...
|
Indeed and I'm sure that is the way many think, that is the whole point of
LEGO bricks - to be able to rebuild them into different creations. To turn that
around into a positive.... I suspect many members would be MORE LIKELY to buy
a MOC (instructions plus needed parts) IF they saw that they had some of the
parts needed to build it in their bucket (the Rebrickable principle).
Robert
|
Bucket... hmm.
Completely off-topic but BL should rename "My Shopping Cart" to "My Bucket"
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | Rob_and_Shelagh | | Posted: | Mar 28, 2014 05:26 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 43 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, enig writes:
| | In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
| | In Suggestions, Daave writes:
| | In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
This part is essential... There is no way I would EVER consider buying any of
the MOC ideas through bricklink MOC shop
The thought that I might be forced to buy more of a part I have literally a bucket
full of already? This idea is completely insane...
|
Indeed and I'm sure that is the way many think, that is the whole point of
LEGO bricks - to be able to rebuild them into different creations. To turn that
around into a positive.... I suspect many members would be MORE LIKELY to buy
a MOC (instructions plus needed parts) IF they saw that they had some of the
parts needed to build it in their bucket (the Rebrickable principle).
Robert
|
Bucket... hmm.
Completely off-topic but BL should rename "My Shopping Cart" to "My Bucket"
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Dave's word 
"cart" is an Americanism, we English have shopping "trolleys"
Robert
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | FigBits | | Posted: | Mar 28, 2014 08:07 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 44 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Daave writes:
| | In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
This part is essential... There is no way I would EVER consider buying any of
the MOC ideas through bricklink MOC shop
The thought that I might be forced to buy more of a part I have literally a bucket
full of already? This idea is completely insane...
|
I can certainly understand the sentiment, but clearly there is a market for this.
LEGO itself sells complete kits all the time, without (really) the option to
only buy the parts you don't already have.
--
Marc.
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | Rob_and_Shelagh | | Posted: | Mar 28, 2014 05:24 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 40 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
| | In Suggestions, JETTY writes:
| | Let us keep the LEGO community free and open, and let inspiration flow. This
would create more interest and more buyers and sellers.
Sell the instructions and let people get their bricks how they want used or new
and in the colors they want.
Dont make rules, make inspiration...
I vote yes
Regards Jes
|
I've been lurking on this one but that about sums up where I am on it. Allow
selling of just the instructions, downloadable or hard copy. Allow sellers to
sell complete kits too - yes, but that should not be the "only" way to sell the
MOC.
Keep fees the same (3%) for all sales - otherwise, as others have pointed out,
the system will be "got around" anyway. The current system allows members to
sell custom instructions - why would an owner of a popular MOC not do that anyway
if he saw demand for it? Build the creator's reward into the selling price
of the instructions or kit - that is their added value, not the supply of the
parts. "Better" or more popular MOCs could command higher prices.
The key point for me is to allow builders to use a combination of:
- their own parts
- used parts
- new parts
- alternative colours
- parts from the seller of the MOC/instructions
- parts form other sources
Restricting how/where buyers source parts is IMO non-productive for BL and will
limit the availability and sales of the MOCs anyway as individual sellers will
struggle to source all the parts for multiple copies of MOCs.
Robert
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One more thought on this as BL is global...
If I want to build a MOC from someone in (for example) the USA, I do not want
to have to pay customs fees and high shipping on parts that I don't need
(or could buy locally). If I could just buy the instructions they would be customs
free if under GBP15 - I'd rather the creator get £15 for the instructions
than pay more than that to customs for importing unnecessary parts.
Robert
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Mar 28, 2014 06:07 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 37 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
| | In Suggestions, JETTY writes:
| | Let us keep the LEGO community free and open, and let inspiration flow. This
would create more interest and more buyers and sellers.
Sell the instructions and let people get their bricks how they want used or new
and in the colors they want.
Dont make rules, make inspiration...
I vote yes
Regards Jes
|
I've been lurking on this one but that about sums up where I am on it. Allow
selling of just the instructions, downloadable or hard copy. Allow sellers to
sell complete kits too - yes, but that should not be the "only" way to sell the
MOC.
Keep fees the same (3%) for all sales - otherwise, as others have pointed out,
the system will be "got around" anyway. The current system allows members to
sell custom instructions - why would an owner of a popular MOC not do that anyway
if he saw demand for it? Build the creator's reward into the selling price
of the instructions or kit - that is their added value, not the supply of the
parts. "Better" or more popular MOCs could command higher prices.
The key point for me is to allow builders to use a combination of:
- their own parts
- used parts
- new parts
- alternative colours
- parts from the seller of the MOC/instructions
- parts form other sources
Restricting how/where buyers source parts is IMO non-productive for BL and will
limit the availability and sales of the MOCs anyway as individual sellers will
struggle to source all the parts for multiple copies of MOCs.
Robert
|
Isn't the point of the MOC shop that it is to attract new buyers to bricklink.
Ones that maybe don't have a huge background knowledge of lego or collection
of bricks.
And in this first draft of MOC-shop, the idea is to sell them as complete kits.
That said, as a current user, I'd much prefer to be able to use my own parts
and buy parts from stores that I want to buy from, not just ones that can sell
a complete model.
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | Rob_and_Shelagh | | Posted: | Mar 28, 2014 06:22 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 34 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, mabccc writes:
| | In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
| | In Suggestions, JETTY writes:
| | Let us keep the LEGO community free and open, and let inspiration flow. This
would create more interest and more buyers and sellers.
Sell the instructions and let people get their bricks how they want used or new
and in the colors they want.
Dont make rules, make inspiration...
I vote yes
Regards Jes
|
I've been lurking on this one but that about sums up where I am on it. Allow
selling of just the instructions, downloadable or hard copy. Allow sellers to
sell complete kits too - yes, but that should not be the "only" way to sell the
MOC.
Keep fees the same (3%) for all sales - otherwise, as others have pointed out,
the system will be "got around" anyway. The current system allows members to
sell custom instructions - why would an owner of a popular MOC not do that anyway
if he saw demand for it? Build the creator's reward into the selling price
of the instructions or kit - that is their added value, not the supply of the
parts. "Better" or more popular MOCs could command higher prices.
The key point for me is to allow builders to use a combination of:
- their own parts
- used parts
- new parts
- alternative colours
- parts from the seller of the MOC/instructions
- parts form other sources
Restricting how/where buyers source parts is IMO non-productive for BL and will
limit the availability and sales of the MOCs anyway as individual sellers will
struggle to source all the parts for multiple copies of MOCs.
Robert
|
Isn't the point of the MOC shop that it is to attract new buyers to bricklink.
Ones that maybe don't have a huge background knowledge of lego or collection
of bricks.
And in this first draft of MOC-shop, the idea is to sell them as complete kits.
|
I'm not meaning to knock the idea but I'm unsure on that one. I hope
it does attract new buyers although BL is already doing pretty well on membership
growth but I have a feeling that the demand for MOCs could also come from those
existing AFOLS/members who want flexibility in parts sourcing. The USP of BL
has always been the ability to buy exactly the parts you need.. before BL you
had to buy a set to get the parts that came in it, there is still nowhere else
with the availability of individual parts BL has, I just think we should be taking
advantage of that with this initiative.
| | That said, as a current user, I'd much prefer to be able to use my own parts
and buy parts from stores that I want to buy from, not just ones that can sell
a complete model.
|
Yep, that way both camps are catered for and hopefully existing users buy more
as well as new ones. I get your point that it's a "first draft" though and
I wish it success.
Robert
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Mar 28, 2014 06:32 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 24 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
| | In Suggestions, mabccc writes:
| | In Suggestions, Rob_and_Shelagh writes:
| | In Suggestions, JETTY writes:
| | Let us keep the LEGO community free and open, and let inspiration flow. This
would create more interest and more buyers and sellers.
Sell the instructions and let people get their bricks how they want used or new
and in the colors they want.
Dont make rules, make inspiration...
I vote yes
Regards Jes
|
I've been lurking on this one but that about sums up where I am on it. Allow
selling of just the instructions, downloadable or hard copy. Allow sellers to
sell complete kits too - yes, but that should not be the "only" way to sell the
MOC.
Keep fees the same (3%) for all sales - otherwise, as others have pointed out,
the system will be "got around" anyway. The current system allows members to
sell custom instructions - why would an owner of a popular MOC not do that anyway
if he saw demand for it? Build the creator's reward into the selling price
of the instructions or kit - that is their added value, not the supply of the
parts. "Better" or more popular MOCs could command higher prices.
The key point for me is to allow builders to use a combination of:
- their own parts
- used parts
- new parts
- alternative colours
- parts from the seller of the MOC/instructions
- parts form other sources
Restricting how/where buyers source parts is IMO non-productive for BL and will
limit the availability and sales of the MOCs anyway as individual sellers will
struggle to source all the parts for multiple copies of MOCs.
Robert
|
Isn't the point of the MOC shop that it is to attract new buyers to bricklink.
Ones that maybe don't have a huge background knowledge of lego or collection
of bricks.
And in this first draft of MOC-shop, the idea is to sell them as complete kits.
|
I'm not meaning to knock the idea but I'm unsure on that one. I hope
it does attract new buyers although BL is already doing pretty well on membership
growth but I have a feeling that the demand for MOCs could also come from those
existing AFOLS/members who want flexibility in parts sourcing. The USP of BL
has always been the ability to buy exactly the parts you need.. before BL you
had to buy a set to get the parts that came in it, there is still nowhere else
with the availability of individual parts BL has, I just think we should be taking
advantage of that with this initiative.
| | That said, as a current user, I'd much prefer to be able to use my own parts
and buy parts from stores that I want to buy from, not just ones that can sell
a complete model.
|
Yep, that way both camps are catered for and hopefully existing users buy more
as well as new ones. I get your point that it's a "first draft" though and
I wish it success.
Robert
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I totally agree. If I was doing this, I'd make it instructions for sale first,
then have it so complete kits were available once it takes off. Test it on regular
BL members first, then get the new ones in. This way would work fine for AFOLS,
but be completely daunting for new users.
The current BL version of MOC shop is much more friendly for new users, but bad
for current members / AFOLs.
I really hope they also come up with feedback associated with the individual
MOCs rather than the sellers. So if a MOC isn't stable, or doesn't "work"
properly, then buyers can leave feedback to warn others about the failings of
the MOC so they are warned before they buy it.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | Rob_and_Shelagh | | Posted: | Mar 28, 2014 06:51 | | Subject: | Re: Waive BL MOC Shop fees | | Viewed: | 47 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, mabccc writes:
| |
I really hope they also come up with feedback associated with the individual
MOCs rather than the sellers. So if a MOC isn't stable, or doesn't "work"
properly, then buyers can leave feedback to warn others about the failings of
the MOC so they are warned before they buy it.
|
That's a great point! I hadn't really though about that other than like
always, a seller should have confidence in what he is selling so if I sold someone
else's MOC that didn't work I should accept feedback for that from my
buyer but... that FB would just be hidden in my thousands of FB, it would not
be highlighted to someone else buying that MOC from another seller so yes, I
agree some separate FB against the MOC would be a good idea.
Robert
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Lithuania, Panevėžys
Portugal
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USA, California
Netherlands, Zuid-Holland
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