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| | | Author: | MagicMagnus  | | Posted: | Dec 22, 2017 01:24 | | Subject: | Catalog Improvement Suggestion | | Viewed: | 114 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
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| Dear all,
We want to make a suggestion to improve the Bricklink catalog.
Every now and then, we receive request from our customers about parts that exist
with different variations, e.g.:
We are asked to explain the differences between the variation. Most of the time,
our customers don’t care about the variation at the end of the day. However,
they have to check all different varieties, e.g. to look for the lowest price.
Based on this issue, we would like propose to list all items with different variations
under the undetermined entry in addition to the entry of the variation.
Example: The part 553a would be listed under the entry of 553a and automatically
the entry of 553.
By following our suggestions, people who do not care about the variation could
simply look in the undetermined entry. Bricklink would thus be a bit user-friendly.
At the same time, people who care about a specific variation could still search
for it.
We hope you like our suggestion.
Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
Have a nice Christmas!
Cheers,
Wanja from MagicMagnus
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| | | | | Author: | StormChaser | | Posted: | Dec 22, 2017 02:49 | | Subject: | Re: Catalog Improvement Suggestion | | Viewed: | 44 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, MagicMagnus writes:
| | We hope you like our suggestion.
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Good idea, but it's been suggested before. Here's one of the similar
suggestions from five years ago:
https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=664987
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| | | | | Author: | Teup | | Posted: | Dec 22, 2017 06:09 | | Subject: | Re: Catalog Improvement Suggestion | | Viewed: | 42 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| Yes, I'm in favour, and I am generally in favour of rethinking how to tie
part variations closer together. Right now they are pretty far apart. I mean,
if someone buys a part and you have more/less than listed in your inventory,
you do not have an immediate access to how much you have of the other variants
to account for the discrepancy. You need to look it up in the catalog, look at
the variants, and then check if and how many of those are in your inventory,
or scroll through your inventory to check. For this you need to break away from
picking the order and return to it after you've got stuff back in order.
Or you may even postpone/forget the task and continue picking, running into trouble
later on.
I do not have a clear suggestion but it would be a huge improvement if somehow
this overview of part variations in your inventory was clear immediately and
allow for easy manipulation. Something like a link next to each item with variations,
that opens a pop up listing the variants that you also have, and allow for modification
of each of them, and display a total sum at the bottom. That way, if someone
buys some pieces of type A and you notice you have more left of them than you
should have, you can immediately access how much you have of type B and move
10 from type B to type A. All in the same overview, while you are picking the
order. I really believe this would be a relevant improvement for both buyer and
seller.
In Suggestions, MagicMagnus writes:
| | Dear all,
We want to make a suggestion to improve the Bricklink catalog.
Every now and then, we receive request from our customers about parts that exist
with different variations, e.g.:
We are asked to explain the differences between the variation. Most of the time,
our customers don’t care about the variation at the end of the day. However,
they have to check all different varieties, e.g. to look for the lowest price.
Based on this issue, we would like propose to list all items with different variations
under the undetermined entry in addition to the entry of the variation.
Example: The part 553a would be listed under the entry of 553a and automatically
the entry of 553.
By following our suggestions, people who do not care about the variation could
simply look in the undetermined entry. Bricklink would thus be a bit user-friendly.
At the same time, people who care about a specific variation could still search
for it.
We hope you like our suggestion.
Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
Have a nice Christmas!
Cheers,
Wanja from MagicMagnus
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| | | | | Author: | Admin_Russell | | Posted: | Dec 22, 2017 13:11 | | Subject: | Re: Catalog Improvement Suggestion | | Viewed: | 45 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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BrickLink
ID CardAdmin_Russell
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Location:  USA, California |
| Member Since |
Contact |
Type |
Status |
| May 9, 2017 |
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Admin |
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| BrickLink Administrator |
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| In Suggestions, MagicMagnus writes:
| | Dear all,
We want to make a suggestion to improve the Bricklink catalog.
Every now and then, we receive request from our customers about parts that exist
with different variations, e.g.:
We are asked to explain the differences between the variation. Most of the time,
our customers don’t care about the variation at the end of the day. However,
they have to check all different varieties, e.g. to look for the lowest price.
Based on this issue, we would like propose to list all items with different variations
under the undetermined entry in addition to the entry of the variation.
Example: The part 553a would be listed under the entry of 553a and automatically
the entry of 553.
By following our suggestions, people who do not care about the variation could
simply look in the undetermined entry. Bricklink would thus be a bit user-friendly.
At the same time, people who care about a specific variation could still search
for it.
We hope you like our suggestion.
Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
Have a nice Christmas!
Cheers,
Wanja from MagicMagnus
|
There is certainly more to be done in terms of educating buyers and sellers about
variants, and also making it easier to search for multiple types at one time.
However, care needs to be taken to not enable/encourage people to ignore distinctions
which are important. There are variants with serious functional differences that
should never be searched for in a group:
And then there are other situations where variants divide between the commonplace
and the very old:
[p=3069b]
I wouldn't think it wise to suggest that if a buyer ran short of 3001 in
a shop, they should be directed to stocks of 3001old. The same goes for the tile.
The old versions of these parts are for collectors and experienced builders only.
Regarding this part:
[p=553b]
[p=553c]
These type of variants are on the very edge of the approval spectrum to begin
with, and I imagine a large-scale effort to improve the site's variant problems
may include a decommissioning of such types altogether (remember the headlight
brick).
But for now, as long as we get the inventories correct most people won't
even be dealing with the a, b, and undetermined entries, as they won't be
fueled by new partouts. Look at the current listings (part no/lots for sale):
553 / 665
553a / 1324
553b / 8565
553c / 12740
Regarding undetermined entries - they are useful in certain cases, but this is
not one of them. When entry 553 is removed from the remaining 29 inventories,
you can expect it to be marked for deletion shortly thereafter.
Russell
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| | | | | | | Author: | WoutR | | Posted: | Dec 22, 2017 13:31 | | Subject: | Re: Catalog Improvement Suggestion | | Viewed: | 36 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Admin_Russell writes:
| | In Suggestions, MagicMagnus writes:
| | Dear all,
We want to make a suggestion to improve the Bricklink catalog.
Every now and then, we receive request from our customers about parts that exist
with different variations, e.g.:
We are asked to explain the differences between the variation. Most of the time,
our customers don’t care about the variation at the end of the day. However,
they have to check all different varieties, e.g. to look for the lowest price.
Based on this issue, we would like propose to list all items with different variations
under the undetermined entry in addition to the entry of the variation.
Example: The part 553a would be listed under the entry of 553a and automatically
the entry of 553.
By following our suggestions, people who do not care about the variation could
simply look in the undetermined entry. Bricklink would thus be a bit user-friendly.
At the same time, people who care about a specific variation could still search
for it.
We hope you like our suggestion.
Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
Have a nice Christmas!
Cheers,
Wanja from MagicMagnus
|
There is certainly more to be done in terms of educating buyers and sellers about
variants, and also making it easier to search for multiple types at one time.
However, care needs to be taken to not enable/encourage people to ignore distinctions
which are important. There are variants with serious functional differences that
should never be searched for in a group:
And then there are other situations where variants divide between the commonplace
and the very old:
[p=3069b]
I wouldn't think it wise to suggest that if a buyer ran short of 3001 in
a shop, they should be directed to stocks of 3001old. The same goes for the tile.
The old versions of these parts are for collectors and experienced builders only.
|
If you buy a large quantity of 3001, there is a good chance that 3001old are
included. Because the 3001 does not specify the mold version WITH cross-support
many sellers use it as an undetermined version.
| | Regarding this part:
[p=553b]
[p=553c]
These type of variants are on the very edge of the approval spectrum to begin
with, and I imagine a large-scale effort to improve the site's variant problems
may include a decommissioning of such types altogether (remember the headlight
brick).
But for now, as long as we get the inventories correct most people won't
even be dealing with the a, b, and undetermined entries, as they won't be
fueled by new partouts. Look at the current listings (part no/lots for sale):
553 / 665
553a / 1324
553b / 8565
553c / 12740
Regarding undetermined entries - they are useful in certain cases, but this is
not one of them. When entry 553 is removed from the remaining 29 inventories,
you can expect it to be marked for deletion shortly thereafter.
Russell
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Germany, Sachsen-Anhalt
Netherlands, Utrecht
