|
 |
| | | Author: | 2tacos99cents  | | Posted: | Oct 11, 2016 13:34 | | Subject: | Sort sellers by distance | | Viewed: | 112 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
|
| I recently was trying to find parts and I wanted to source them from a seller
relatively close. This turned out to be a pain because there wasn't any automated
way to do it. It would be great if the marketplace was able to sort search results
by distance. The necessary information (zipcodes is all you need for a general
estimate) is already available in peoples account information. There are free
API's that will return distance. Google, for example, allows 2500 searches
per day under their free API plan.
I quickly searched the forum and didn't see this suggestion so figured I'd
throw it out there since it's a common & useful feature of marketplace searches.
Thanks
|
|
| | | | | |
| | | | | Author: | Brickwilbo | | Posted: | Oct 11, 2016 13:36 | | Subject: | Re: Sort sellers by distance | | Viewed: | 40 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, 2tacos99cents writes:
| | I recently was trying to find parts and I wanted to source them from a seller
relatively close. This turned out to be a pain because there wasn't any automated
way to do it. It would be great if the marketplace was able to sort search results
by distance. The necessary information (zipcodes is all you need for a general
estimate) is already available in peoples account information. There are free
API's that will return distance. Google, for example, allows 2500 searches
per day under their free API plan.
I quickly searched the forum and didn't see this suggestion so figured I'd
throw it out there since it's a common & useful feature of marketplace searches.
Thanks
|
Welcome to Bricklink.
http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1007218
|
|
|
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Author: | 2tacos99cents | | Posted: | Oct 12, 2016 19:03 | | Subject: | Re: Sort sellers by distance | | Viewed: | 36 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Brickwilbo writes:
| | In Suggestions, 2tacos99cents writes:
| | I recently was trying to find parts and I wanted to source them from a seller
relatively close. This turned out to be a pain because there wasn't any automated
way to do it. It would be great if the marketplace was able to sort search results
by distance. The necessary information (zipcodes is all you need for a general
estimate) is already available in peoples account information. There are free
API's that will return distance. Google, for example, allows 2500 searches
per day under their free API plan.
I quickly searched the forum and didn't see this suggestion so figured I'd
throw it out there since it's a common & useful feature of marketplace searches.
Thanks
|
Welcome to Bricklink.
http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1007218
|
Just now had the chance to check out the link you pasted. I think you may be
confused regarding my suggestion. It has nothing to do with finding local stores/people,
or trying to get around paying fees. People who want to do that should just use
their local area Craigslist or something. Showing distance-to-seller is useful
because it gives you an idea of shipping times. The forum already shows peoples
city/state/country publicly so showing zip codes isn't revealing anything
people can't already look up themselves. For that matter, showing distance-to-seller
doesn't even have to list anything other than a value in miles/km... Then
buyers can easily find sellers who should have the shortest shipping times.
Another consideration.. Nearly every web marketplace I've seen has this feature.
It's absolutely common. And, there is no legal issues involved. We are only
talking about talking about using a from-zipcode, a to-zipcode, and a public
API (such as Googles) to estimate a distance. There's no actual addresses,
names, or information beyond what's already available in Bricklink profiles
as is.
|
|
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | Oct 12, 2016 20:51 | | Subject: | Re: Sort sellers by distance | | Viewed: | 33 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, 2tacos99cents writes:
| | Just now had the chance to check out the link you pasted. I think you may be
confused regarding my suggestion. It has nothing to do with finding local stores/people,
or trying to get around paying fees. People who want to do that should just use
their local area Craigslist or something. Showing distance-to-seller is useful
because it gives you an idea of shipping times. The forum already shows peoples
city/state/country publicly so showing zip codes isn't revealing anything
people can't already look up themselves. For that matter, showing distance-to-seller
doesn't even have to list anything other than a value in miles/km... Then
buyers can easily find sellers who should have the shortest shipping times.
|
What you're really asking for is only tangentially related to distance. For
USPS Priority Mail (and probably for UPS zones) the combination of sending zip
and receiving zip will tell you the package carrier's expected transit time.
That does not include the handling/processing time of the seller/shipper. It
also does not include delays due to weather or peak package volume times.
USPS will normally state 2-Day or 3-Day for Priority Mail, but that has much
to do with how far out the destination post office is from the nearest sort facility.
They may even quote more than 3-Day to some very remote locations (e.g. Alaska).
I checked one remote zip code in Alaska and it looks like 4-Days (from Florida).
Ray
|
|
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | 2tacos99cents | | Posted: | Oct 13, 2016 00:27 | | Subject: | Re: Sort sellers by distance | | Viewed: | 31 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, cosmicray writes:
| | What you're really asking for is only tangentially related to distance. For
|
I didn't suggest one thing but actually mean something else. See below.
| | USPS Priority Mail (and probably for UPS zones) the combination of sending zip
and receiving zip will tell you the package carrier's expected transit time.
That does not include the handling/processing time of the seller/shipper. It
also does not include delays due to weather or peak package volume times.
USPS will normally state 2-Day or 3-Day for Priority Mail, but that has much
to do with how far out the destination post office is from the nearest sort facility.
They may even quote more than 3-Day to some very remote locations (e.g. Alaska).
I checked one remote zip code in Alaska and it looks like 4-Days (from Florida)
|
Please don't read more into my suggestion than what I said. My suggestion
_is_ about distance-to-seller, nothing more. Sorry if I didn't make that
clear. Knowing distance enables customers to make an educated guess about shipping
times (as well as other things). Of course there will always be potential unexpected
circumstances, or special factors that may come into play but I don't expect
an exact or guaranteed shipping time. Sorting by distance-to-seller is a nice
option to have - I use it all the time elsewhere. Everybody may not use it but
enough people must since it's become a common feature in online marketplaces.
Btw, I appreciate you, and everyone else as well, giving my suggestion!
|
|
|
| | | | | |
| | | | | Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | Oct 11, 2016 13:42 | | Subject: | Re: Sort sellers by distance | | Viewed: | 31 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, 2tacos99cents writes:
| | I recently was trying to find parts and I wanted to source them from a seller
relatively close. This turned out to be a pain because there wasn't any automated
way to do it. It would be great if the marketplace was able to sort search results
by distance. The necessary information (zipcodes is all you need for a general
estimate) is already available in peoples account information. There are free
API's that will return distance. Google, for example, allows 2500 searches
per day under their free API plan.
I quickly searched the forum and didn't see this suggestion so figured I'd
throw it out there since it's a common & useful feature of marketplace searches.
Thanks
|
To the best of my knowledge, the seller (or buyer) zip codes are not public knowledge,
until you place an order. I think there could be a security concern for those
sellers who do not run a B&M operation, and buyers expecting they can can drop
in and pick up an order.
Ray
|
|
|
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Author: | 2tacos99cents | | Posted: | Oct 12, 2016 15:49 | | Subject: | Re: Sort sellers by distance | | Viewed: | 31 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, cosmicray writes:
| | In Suggestions, 2tacos99cents writes:
| | I recently was trying to find parts and I wanted to source them from a seller
relatively close. This turned out to be a pain because there wasn't any automated
way to do it. It would be great if the marketplace was able to sort search results
by distance. The necessary information (zipcodes is all you need for a general
estimate) is already available in peoples account information. There are free
API's that will return distance. Google, for example, allows 2500 searches
per day under their free API plan.
I quickly searched the forum and didn't see this suggestion so figured I'd
throw it out there since it's a common & useful feature of marketplace searches.
Thanks
|
To the best of my knowledge, the seller (or buyer) zip codes are not public knowledge,
until you place an order. I think there could be a security concern for those
sellers who do not run a B&M operation, and buyers expecting they can can drop
in and pick up an order.
|
Zip codes aren't specific enough to cause any concern at all. Bricklink profiles
already list a persons city/state/country. You can already extract a zip code
from that information so really there's no risk. Although there's no
reason to be concerned, the marketplace could just provide distance to the seller
without actually showing their zip code.
|
|
|
| | | | | |
| | | | | Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Oct 11, 2016 15:54 | | Subject: | Re: Sort sellers by distance | | Viewed: | 37 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, 2tacos99cents writes:
| | I recently was trying to find parts and I wanted to source them from a seller
relatively close. This turned out to be a pain because there wasn't any automated
way to do it. It would be great if the marketplace was able to sort search results
by distance. The necessary information (zipcodes is all you need for a general
estimate) is already available in peoples account information. There are free
API's that will return distance. Google, for example, allows 2500 searches
per day under their free API plan.
I quickly searched the forum and didn't see this suggestion so figured I'd
throw it out there since it's a common & useful feature of marketplace searches.
Thanks
|
Distance as in kilometers or miles is not very relevant to buying at Bricklink.
Postal costs are and these are not always as closely related as one would expect.
For instance, it is much cheaper to get stuff from Czech and Hungarian sellers
to the Netherlands (other side of Europe) as compared to e.g. from Germany (neighbouring
country). Sorting on distance would need to be sorting on postal charges; but
that would be rather cumbersome with all different rates.
More important are whether or not you have to account for import tax, what the
weight of your order will be, and what the freight charges are for this particular
seller. Even within one country these may vary widely.
Welcome to Bricklink.
Hans-Peter
|
|
|
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Author: | 2tacos99cents | | Posted: | Oct 12, 2016 15:44 | | Subject: | Re: Sort sellers by distance | | Viewed: | 29 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, hpoort writes:
| | Distance as in kilometers or miles is not very relevant to buying at Bricklink.
|
Distance is relevant because it directly affects shipping times. I'm in the
USA and distance can easily mean the difference between getting your package
in 1-2 days and 7-10 by normal post.
| | Sorting on distance would need to be sorting on postal charges; but
that would be rather cumbersome with all different rates.
|
Sorting by distance doesn't need to include postal charges at all. I can't
even think of a marketplace that ties distance with shipping cost. They all (Amazon,
Newegg, Ebay, etc) all have `Sort by Distance`, and `Sort by Price (cost + shipping)`.
| | More important are whether or not you have to account for import tax, what the
weight of your order will be, and what the freight charges are for this particular
seller. Even within one country these may vary widely.
|
That's something completely different from what I suggested. I would recommend
creating a new suggestion thread for that.
|
|
|
| | | | | |
| | | | | Author: | tEoS | | Posted: | Oct 12, 2016 21:00 | | Subject: | Re: Sort sellers by distance | | Viewed: | 33 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| I've wanted this option for a long time now, but I don't think I've
ever seen it as a suggestion. +1
In Suggestions, 2tacos99cents writes:
| | I recently was trying to find parts and I wanted to source them from a seller
relatively close. This turned out to be a pain because there wasn't any automated
way to do it. It would be great if the marketplace was able to sort search results
by distance. The necessary information (zipcodes is all you need for a general
estimate) is already available in peoples account information. There are free
API's that will return distance. Google, for example, allows 2500 searches
per day under their free API plan.
I quickly searched the forum and didn't see this suggestion so figured I'd
throw it out there since it's a common & useful feature of marketplace searches.
Thanks
|
|
|
|
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Author: | bb612695 | | Posted: | Nov 11, 2016 00:17 | | Subject: | Re: Sort sellers by distance | | Viewed: | 28 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| Yes, I would like to see this feature too. +1 .
Even if distance is not shown, the search result listing can have an additional
column for showing the State or City the seller is from ( if in USA ), so that
I can get a feel for the shipment times.
In Suggestions, tEoS writes:
| | I've wanted this option for a long time now, but I don't think I've
ever seen it as a suggestion. +1
In Suggestions, 2tacos99cents writes:
| | I recently was trying to find parts and I wanted to source them from a seller
relatively close. This turned out to be a pain because there wasn't any automated
way to do it. It would be great if the marketplace was able to sort search results
by distance. The necessary information (zipcodes is all you need for a general
estimate) is already available in peoples account information. There are free
API's that will return distance. Google, for example, allows 2500 searches
per day under their free API plan.
I quickly searched the forum and didn't see this suggestion so figured I'd
throw it out there since it's a common & useful feature of marketplace searches.
Thanks
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
USA, Washington
Netherlands, Gelderland
