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| | | Author: | PaulOfBricks  | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 07:13 | | Subject: | Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 308 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
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| I like to buy the correct variants, I try to list the correct variants too. Sometimes
(a) variant might be 0.05c and the (b) variant can be $2
there are a growing number of sellers listing the (a)0.05c part variant in the
(b)$2 variant category and then writing they have a variant policy (basically
they don't sort the variant) but this is clearly a deceptive policy
because they will 99% be selling the (a) variant in the more expensive (b) variant
category to maximise profits.
This is very annoying firstly because when I buy the parts, I want the correct
parts, sometimes I have to buy the part two or three times before I get the actual
correct part/variant I want, if a set comes with (a) I want (a) not (b), if I
wanted (b) I would buy from the (b) listing!,
should I have to email the seller every time asking if it is indeed correct,
It kind of slows down the ordering process a lot
and secondly it effects the analytics of the value of the correct variant.
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| | | | | Author: | Stuart9 | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 07:18 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 70 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| Voted yes but I suspect there will be too many who don’t see the need for this.
How do you police this ?
In Suggestions, PaulOfBricks writes:
| | I like to buy the correct variants, I try to list the correct variants too. Sometimes
(a) variant might be 0.05c and the (b) variant can be $2
there are a growing number of sellers listing the (a)0.05c part variant in the
(b)$2 variant category and then writing they have a variant policy (basically
they don't sort the variant) but this is clearly a deceptive policy
because they will 99% be selling the (a) variant in the more expensive (b) variant
category to maximise profits.
This is very annoying firstly because when I buy the parts, I want the correct
parts, sometimes I have to buy the part two or three times before I get the actual
correct part/variant I want, if a set comes with (a) I want (a) not (b), if I
wanted (b) I would buy from the (b) listing!,
should I have to email the seller every time asking if it is indeed correct,
It kind of slows down the ordering process a lot
and secondly it effects the analytics of the value of the correct variant.
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| | | | | | | Author: | axaday | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 07:42 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 73 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Stuart9 writes:
A policy on Bricklink's side, saying that every piece listed must be the
correct variant. Then when you get the wrong part, they are demonstrably, not
debatably, in the wrong.
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| | | | | Author: | axaday | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 07:45 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 78 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, PaulOfBricks writes:
| | I like to buy the correct variants, I try to list the correct variants too. Sometimes
(a) variant might be 0.05c and the (b) variant can be $2
there are a growing number of sellers listing the (a)0.05c part variant in the
(b)$2 variant category and then writing they have a variant policy (basically
they don't sort the variant) but this is clearly a deceptive policy
because they will 99% be selling the (a) variant in the more expensive (b) variant
category to maximise profits.
This is very annoying firstly because when I buy the parts, I want the correct
parts, sometimes I have to buy the part two or three times before I get the actual
correct part/variant I want, if a set comes with (a) I want (a) not (b), if I
wanted (b) I would buy from the (b) listing!,
should I have to email the seller every time asking if it is indeed correct,
It kind of slows down the ordering process a lot
and secondly it effects the analytics of the value of the correct variant.
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I certainly share your frustration. I made an order last year for several pieces
that I wanted the exact variant. The seller had all 3 variants among his listings
and I bought several different variants in various colors. When my order arrived
almost everything was wrong. He gave me a refund, but also a stern warning that
his terms said the variants might be wrong. I DO NOT LOOK AT YOUR TERMS TO SEE
IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING SAYING THAT YOUR LISTINGS MAY ALL BE INACCURATE.
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| | | | | Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 08:00 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 73 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, PaulOfBricks writes:
| | I like to buy the correct variants, I try to list the correct variants too. Sometimes
(a) variant might be 0.05c and the (b) variant can be $2
there are a growing number of sellers listing the (a)0.05c part variant in the
(b)$2 variant category and then writing they have a variant policy (basically
they don't sort the variant) but this is clearly a deceptive policy
because they will 99% be selling the (a) variant in the more expensive (b) variant
category to maximise profits.
This is very annoying firstly because when I buy the parts, I want the correct
parts, sometimes I have to buy the part two or three times before I get the actual
correct part/variant I want, if a set comes with (a) I want (a) not (b), if I
wanted (b) I would buy from the (b) listing!,
should I have to email the seller every time asking if it is indeed correct,
It kind of slows down the ordering process a lot
and secondly it effects the analytics of the value of the correct variant.
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The downside of this is that you might well find that fewer parts get listed
here. Maybe there should be a warning to check when listing parts with variants
that appears if the variant being listed has a higher average value than the
other variants.I find that some clips and other parts that have thick and thin
variants are hard to tell apart unless you have one of each. Although there I'd
tend to default to assuming I have the lowest value one if unsure.
Or maybe have a check box for "I don't sort variants" so that
buyers can exclude those stores from searches. I'd like the same thing for
people that surcharge for paypal. I tend to least favourite any stores that do
that (much like you can least favourite stores that don't distinguish variants),
but it would be more flexible if you could choose to exclude stores that have
certain types of behaviour from individual searches.
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| | | | | | | Author: | PaulOfBricks | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 08:16 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 70 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | In Suggestions, PaulOfBricks writes:
| | I like to buy the correct variants, I try to list the correct variants too. Sometimes
(a) variant might be 0.05c and the (b) variant can be $2
there are a growing number of sellers listing the (a)0.05c part variant in the
(b)$2 variant category and then writing they have a variant policy (basically
they don't sort the variant) but this is clearly a deceptive policy
because they will 99% be selling the (a) variant in the more expensive (b) variant
category to maximise profits.
This is very annoying firstly because when I buy the parts, I want the correct
parts, sometimes I have to buy the part two or three times before I get the actual
correct part/variant I want, if a set comes with (a) I want (a) not (b), if I
wanted (b) I would buy from the (b) listing!,
should I have to email the seller every time asking if it is indeed correct,
It kind of slows down the ordering process a lot
and secondly it effects the analytics of the value of the correct variant.
|
The downside of this is that you might well find that fewer parts get listed
here. Maybe there should be a warning to check when listing parts with variants
that appears if the variant being listed has a higher average value than the
other variants.I find that some clips and other parts that have thick and thin
variants are hard to tell apart unless you have one of each. Although there I'd
tend to default to assuming I have the lowest value one if unsure.
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Or maybe have a check box for "I don't sort variants" so that
| | buyers can exclude those stores from searches. I'd like the same thing for
people that surcharge for paypal. I tend to least favourite any stores that do
that (much like you can least favourite stores that don't distinguish variants),
but it would be more flexible if you could choose to exclude stores that have
certain types of behaviour from individual searches.
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The check box is a Good idea,
someone else mentioned they also used to have an 'undetermined' category
on some parts. Why did they remove those? I assume because they wanted users
to list the correct parts and we can buy the correct variants. If users are finding
other ways to circumvent this, then they should look at either restoring undetermined
categories or enforcing the listing of correct variants (by preventing variant/mold
variation policies)
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 08:40 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 66 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| | | someone else mentioned they also used to have an 'undetermined' category
on some parts. Why did they remove those? I assume because they wanted users
to list the correct parts and we can buy the correct variants. If users are finding
other ways to circumvent this, then they should look at either restoring undetermined
categories or enforcing the listing of correct variants (by preventing variant/mold
variation policies)
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I don't know if that was pushed by Bricklink management or by catalogue admins
if they believe undetermined entries do not exist. It is the issue that the same
catalogue is used by different people for different purposes. Some sellers and
some buyers will not care, but others will, and those wanting an highly accurate
catalogue won't even recognise undetermined types (even though LEGO doesn't
distinguish them in all cases).
The issue with a "no variations policy" is that there are some (possibly
many) parts / colour combinations where none of them are worth very much. If
variants A, B, C, and D are all worth a penny, then is it worth a seller's
time to check them? If they risk suspension or similar penalties for incorrectly
listing them, then I assume that they'd get bagged up in mixed 100s and sold
elsewhere rather than time wasted to ensure every one is sorted correctly.
I can understand that if there was a variant E worth £1, then a seller should
check any that they list under the E entry because listing cheap parts under
the expensive (scarcer) entry is wrong. But there is still the issue that if
someone wants a penny variant B and gets penny variant C, it is just as bad as
they didn't get what they wanted and need to order again with the only difference
being that they didn't overpay.
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | axaday | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 11:20 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 80 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, PaulOfBricks writes:
| | someone else mentioned they also used to have an 'undetermined' category
on some parts. Why did they remove those? I assume because they wanted users
to list the correct parts and we can buy the correct variants. If users are finding
other ways to circumvent this, then they should look at either restoring undetermined
categories or enforcing the listing of correct variants (by preventing variant/mold
variation policies)
|
There are still undetermined entries, but their purpose is not to be an unsorted
umbrella piece. It would be neat if Bricklink would develop an umbrella system
where the buyer could select whether they wanted it broken into variants or not.
If not, they'd see all the variants together. If so, they'd see the
specifics. And sellers could specify or not specify.
The purpose of the undetermined entry is when a variant is realized later and
there are a lot of sets that we don't know which piece. And also in most
cases to warn sellers to sort their inventory. A seller should check now and
then to see if they have any undetermined parts and they aren't intended
to leave them that way. When a part gets split, there is a new entry for each
variant and the original one becomes "undetermined" until it gets sorted
out. That way the catalog workers aren't changing someone's inventory
into a different part without them knowing. But SOMETIMES it doesn't get
handled that way.
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | Emporiosa | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 11:23 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 47 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| | | There are still undetermined entries, but their purpose is not to be an unsorted
umbrella piece. It would be neat if Bricklink would develop an umbrella system
where the buyer could select whether they wanted it broken into variants or not.
If not, they'd see all the variants together. If so, they'd see the
specifics. And sellers could specify or not specify.
The purpose of the undetermined entry is when a variant is realized later and
there are a lot of sets that we don't know which piece. And also in most
cases to warn sellers to sort their inventory. A seller should check now and
then to see if they have any undetermined parts and they aren't intended
to leave them that way. When a part gets split, there is a new entry for each
variant and the original one becomes "undetermined" until it gets sorted
out. That way the catalog workers aren't changing someone's inventory
into a different part without them knowing. But SOMETIMES it doesn't get
handled that way.
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Oh! Based on the threads I was seeing here I was under the impression they had
gotten rid of this. Glad to hear it's still there. I was mentioning in a
couple of my responses that this was the only way for a seller to be advised
that they need to audit their inventory for a part. If it was to fully disappear,
I'd hope there was a page that kept track of new variants added to the catalogue
so that sellers could refer to in lieu to check their stock.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | axaday | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 12:21 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 45 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Emporiosa writes:
| | | | There are still undetermined entries, but their purpose is not to be an unsorted
umbrella piece. It would be neat if Bricklink would develop an umbrella system
where the buyer could select whether they wanted it broken into variants or not.
If not, they'd see all the variants together. If so, they'd see the
specifics. And sellers could specify or not specify.
The purpose of the undetermined entry is when a variant is realized later and
there are a lot of sets that we don't know which piece. And also in most
cases to warn sellers to sort their inventory. A seller should check now and
then to see if they have any undetermined parts and they aren't intended
to leave them that way. When a part gets split, there is a new entry for each
variant and the original one becomes "undetermined" until it gets sorted
out. That way the catalog workers aren't changing someone's inventory
into a different part without them knowing. But SOMETIMES it doesn't get
handled that way.
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Oh! Based on the threads I was seeing here I was under the impression they had
gotten rid of this. Glad to hear it's still there. I was mentioning in a
couple of my responses that this was the only way for a seller to be advised
that they need to audit their inventory for a part. If it was to fully disappear,
I'd hope there was a page that kept track of new variants added to the catalogue
so that sellers could refer to in lieu to check their stock.
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I have been working on this one: . It is still in 17 minifigs
and quite a lot of sellers are selling them.
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 12:22 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 46 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| | |
There are still undetermined entries, but their purpose is not to be an unsorted
umbrella piece. It would be neat if Bricklink would develop an umbrella system
where the buyer could select whether they wanted it broken into variants or not.
If not, they'd see all the variants together. If so, they'd see the
specifics. And sellers could specify or not specify.
The purpose of the undetermined entry is when a variant is realized later and
there are a lot of sets that we don't know which piece. And also in most
cases to warn sellers to sort their inventory. A seller should check now and
then to see if they have any undetermined parts and they aren't intended
to leave them that way. When a part gets split, there is a new entry for each
variant and the original one becomes "undetermined" until it gets sorted
out. That way the catalog workers aren't changing someone's inventory
into a different part without them knowing. But SOMETIMES it doesn't get
handled that way.
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This another place where different types of people use the catalogue in different
ways for their own purpose. Undetermined entries may have (had) a specific use
for those people cataloguing parts, but they were also used by some sellers using
the catalogue to sell parts to bunch together unsorted variants of the same part.
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| | | | | Author: | Nicolasamico37 | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 09:48 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 77 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, PaulOfBricks writes:
| | I like to buy the correct variants, I try to list the correct variants too. Sometimes
(a) variant might be 0.05c and the (b) variant can be $2
there are a growing number of sellers listing the (a)0.05c part variant in the
(b)$2 variant category and then writing they have a variant policy (basically
they don't sort the variant) but this is clearly a deceptive policy
because they will 99% be selling the (a) variant in the more expensive (b) variant
category to maximise profits.
This is very annoying firstly because when I buy the parts, I want the correct
parts, sometimes I have to buy the part two or three times before I get the actual
correct part/variant I want, if a set comes with (a) I want (a) not (b), if I
wanted (b) I would buy from the (b) listing!,
should I have to email the seller every time asking if it is indeed correct,
It kind of slows down the ordering process a lot
and secondly it effects the analytics of the value of the correct variant.
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I completely agree with you on this concern !
When I am looking for a specific alternate part, I try to buy it NEW to be sure
the seller has the right part. But even with that, there are mistakes...
With a jumper, it could be important because all the 3 alternate parts cannot
be placed the same !
As a seller, I do my best to put right parts in sets.
But in my opinion, it would be too difficult to manage stores inventory !
Nicolas
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| | | | | | | Author: | Emporiosa | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 10:00 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 70 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| | | When I am looking for a specific alternate part, I try to buy it NEW to be sure
the seller has the right part. But even with that, there are mistakes...
With a jumper, it could be important because all the 3 alternate parts cannot
be placed the same !
As a seller, I do my best to put right parts in sets.
But in my opinion, it would be too difficult to manage stores inventory !
Nicolas
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Ironically, as a seller, the new parts are the ones that are most likely to have
errors. When you're selling used, you are manually verifying parts so there's
a good chance to detect a part variation (and you take more care generally for
it, at least when you're aware the part has a variant). Of course if a seller
isn't well versed in variants, that has its own issues.
For new parts, there are times where it takes a while for sets to identify that
there's a variation. I think a recent example I can think of in the last
few years that I was affected by was the neck bracket parts:
The set was inventoried with the 42446 when I had parted out (many were like
this). Later on, it was discovered that this part was actually a new variation,
and it wasn't caught for a while. So many sellers will have uploaded the
wrong variation in stock without even knowing. On top of that, some sets end
up having alternates identified (meaning they were produced with both variants).
But if you parted out before that new variation was known, and you never learned
about this variant either after the fact, you will have these parts listed as
one version (probably an older version), and not in the newer one. It was at
least a year that the variation existed before I even learned of it, and thankfully
it wasn't from a buyer showing concern for it, but just by luck that I saw
it come up in a future part-out.
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | Rob_and_Shelagh | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 11:22 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 45 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Emporiosa writes:
| | | | When I am looking for a specific alternate part, I try to buy it NEW to be sure
the seller has the right part. But even with that, there are mistakes...
With a jumper, it could be important because all the 3 alternate parts cannot
be placed the same !
As a seller, I do my best to put right parts in sets.
But in my opinion, it would be too difficult to manage stores inventory !
Nicolas
|
Ironically, as a seller, the new parts are the ones that are most likely to have
errors. When you're selling used, you are manually verifying parts so there's
a good chance to detect a part variation (and you take more care generally for
it, at least when you're aware the part has a variant). Of course if a seller
isn't well versed in variants, that has its own issues.
For new parts, there are times where it takes a while for sets to identify that
there's a variation. I think a recent example I can think of in the last
few years that I was affected by was the neck bracket parts:
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| |
The set was inventoried with the 42446 when I had parted out (many were like
this). Later on, it was discovered that this part was actually a new variation,
and it wasn't caught for a while. So many sellers will have uploaded the
wrong variation in stock without even knowing. On top of that, some sets end
up having alternates identified (meaning they were produced with both variants).
But if you parted out before that new variation was known, and you never learned
about this variant either after the fact, you will have these parts listed as
one version (probably an older version), and not in the newer one. It was at
least a year that the variation existed before I even learned of it, and thankfully
it wasn't from a buyer showing concern for it, but just by luck that I saw
it come up in a future part-out.
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That is a quite frequent issue. We often find new variants have been introduced
and we then go back and check our inventory relisting if needed. It is possible
that some could get sold (wrongly!) before catching them. You could argue that
as sellers we should identify new variants every time we add to inventory (and
we do try) but small differences are hard to spot if you don't know what
the detail change is (i.e. easy to spot once you know the detail change)
In an ideal world it would be great if we as sellers could get notified of a
new variant being introduced if we are showing inventory of the existing variant.
Not sure if that could be done easily/automatically but I'm certainly not
suggesting adding work to the catmins for this!
Robert
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | Emporiosa | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 11:27 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 42 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| | | In an ideal world it would be great if we as sellers could get notified of a
new variant being introduced if we are showing inventory of the existing variant.
Not sure if that could be done easily/automatically but I'm certainly not
suggesting adding work to the catmins for this!
Robert
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100% - or as I mentioned in another related thread, if even there was a page
that automatically updated that tracked variants added to the catalogue. I'm
not sure how it works behind the scenes for it to even be feasible, but that
alone would be useful. Alerts would also be great, but having a page tracking
all variants would be incredibly beneficial because we could refer to it often
simply to educate ourselves to be aware that new variants of various parts now
exist.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | jennnifer | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 11:51 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 47 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Emporiosa writes:
| | | | In an ideal world it would be great if we as sellers could get notified of a
new variant being introduced if we are showing inventory of the existing variant.
Not sure if that could be done easily/automatically but I'm certainly not
suggesting adding work to the catmins for this!
Robert
|
100% - or as I mentioned in another related thread, if even there was a page
that automatically updated that tracked variants added to the catalogue. I'm
not sure how it works behind the scenes for it to even be feasible, but that
alone would be useful. Alerts would also be great, but having a page tracking
all variants would be incredibly beneficial because we could refer to it often
simply to educate ourselves to be aware that new variants of various parts now
exist.
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Well, we have the Items Relationships log for Newest Relationship Items.
From the Catalog main page, What's New, More: Relationships
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogRelList.asp?viewDate=Y
However, we would need to be able to sort the results to show only the Similar
Parts with Different Molds and not all the pattern stuff.
------------------------------------------------
We have the Item Relationships tab and we can choose Similar Parts with Different
Molds.
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogRel.asp?utm_content=subnav
But then we can't sort the results by date. 
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogRelCat.asp?relID=4
This is a fabulous reference anyway. I would just routinely check whatever category
I was working on when listing Used parts.
Jen
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | Emporiosa | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 12:32 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 42 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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I love this; thank-you so much! Bookmarked the links. From the relationships
page I noticed there was links to Unsplit lots which was also fantastic to be
able to reference as I like to include notes where applicable to warn buyers.
An example was where early versions had a more elaborate sprue and
there were articles about using it as a decorative railing, but the later versions
had less plastic and wouldn't have worked for folks purchasing it for that
reason. Anytime I had someone purchase several of the same colour, I'd advise
that they may not receive all or even some of the more "decorative" version
of wands on sprue. Example of the technique: https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/94mk9d/using_harry_potter_wands_on_sprue_as_decorative/
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 13:00 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 40 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:
| | In Suggestions, Emporiosa writes:
| | | | In an ideal world it would be great if we as sellers could get notified of a
new variant being introduced if we are showing inventory of the existing variant.
Not sure if that could be done easily/automatically but I'm certainly not
suggesting adding work to the catmins for this!
Robert
|
100% - or as I mentioned in another related thread, if even there was a page
that automatically updated that tracked variants added to the catalogue. I'm
not sure how it works behind the scenes for it to even be feasible, but that
alone would be useful. Alerts would also be great, but having a page tracking
all variants would be incredibly beneficial because we could refer to it often
simply to educate ourselves to be aware that new variants of various parts now
exist.
|
Well, we have the Items Relationships log for Newest Relationship Items.
From the Catalog main page, What's New, More: Relationships
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogRelList.asp?viewDate=Y
However, we would need to be able to sort the results to show only the Similar
Parts with Different Molds and not all the pattern stuff.
------------------------------------------------
We have the Item Relationships tab and we can choose Similar Parts with Different
Molds.
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogRel.asp?utm_content=subnav
But then we can't sort the results by date.
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogRelCat.asp?relID=4
This is a fabulous reference anyway. I would just routinely check whatever category
I was working on when listing Used parts.
Jen
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You can sort by date if you choose [Show Dates] on one of the category pages
and then delete the category reference from the URL:
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogRelList.asp?showUsers=&v=1&pg=1&relID=4&viewDate=Y
but indeed there are many patterned parts obscuring the more relevant variants.
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| | | | | Author: | infinibrix | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 11:45 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 58 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, PaulOfBricks writes:
| | I like to buy the correct variants, I try to list the correct variants too. Sometimes
(a) variant might be 0.05c and the (b) variant can be $2
there are a growing number of sellers listing the (a)0.05c part variant in the
(b)$2 variant category and then writing they have a variant policy (basically
they don't sort the variant) but this is clearly a deceptive policy
because they will 99% be selling the (a) variant in the more expensive (b) variant
category to maximise profits.
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As far as minifigure parts go I think many are listing parts as per the main
breakdown to the minifigure and so not always because one variant is listed at
a higher price! Basically what I'm saying is that I don't think it's
always intentional just co-incidental
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should I have to email the seller every time asking if it is indeed correct,
It kind of slows down the ordering process a lot
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I would say yes because it's only slowing down the order process time for
a very small minority of buyers who happen to be concerned about variants. You
could also say what about the extra workload this puts on sellers with all the
extra inspection, sorting and listing times which will inevitably slow a seller
down too! but your asking to slow down every single seller in order to cater
for a minority of buyers?
By hindering sellers like this they will be less able to cater for the wider
community of buyers because the parts likely won't even be listed if the
seller needs more time to sort them (if they ever get around to it that is?)
Also what about newer sellers are they expected to know about every variant
or do we just want to put them off listing on Bricklink altogether? Buyers are
the experts, buyers know what they want and so its probably safer for the buyer
to ask and check? I know I would if I wanted something specific like this?
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| | | | | | | Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 13:09 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 62 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
| | ...
I would say yes because it's only slowing down the order process time for
a very small minority of buyers who happen to be concerned about variants.
...
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How do you know it is a minority? Since variants on Bricklink are generally only
split when there is a FUNCTIONAL difference, I'd say most buyers would care,
at least for some of the variants.
Bricklink has made their point in previous discussions: They want to make the
process for the buyer as simple as possible. Any suggestion as to add more flexibility
to the wanted lists (such as 'don't care if 3794a or 3794b' was
either ignored or rejected in full. According to Bricklink, the buyer should
get exactly what they order and the seller should ship the exact product as defined
by the Bricklink catalog.
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | infinibrix | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 18:19 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 51 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, hpoort writes:
| | In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
| | ...
I would say yes because it's only slowing down the order process time for
a very small minority of buyers who happen to be concerned about variants.
...
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How do you know it is a minority? Since variants on Bricklink are generally only
split when there is a FUNCTIONAL difference, I'd say most buyers would care,
at least for some of the variants.
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But most variants do not have any functional differences and Lego themselves
never even intended for people to take these variants seriously as from their
perspective they just happened to of used a slightly different mold for what
in their eyes is exactly the same part for the same intended use! hence I can
assure you that it is only a minority that care!
Forced separation of head stud types is one of the biggest variant hindrances
on Bricklink as they cause buyers who are unaware or not interested in variants
to have to look in two different places plus from a sellers perspective the fact
that we have one stud type prominently linked to a minifigure while the other
stud type is hidden away almost as though it doesn't belong to that minifigure
is just ludicrous since Lego manufactured all these heads for the same purpose
and its not very advantageous for a seller to have one type of head sidelined
just because bricklink deems the other head more relevant to a minifigure/set
than another! Lego themselves deem them to all be the same part/thing but not
Bricklink??
If buyers and collectors want to be particular about what they receive then thats
fine but I don't think every other seller and the whole site should be hindered
because of this?
If the majority of buyers cared then it would be a different thing but they simply
don't and so it should be down to those buyers that do care to ask the question!?
| | Bricklink has made their point in previous discussions: They want to make the
process for the buyer as simple as possible. Any suggestion as to add more flexibility
to the wanted lists (such as 'don't care if 3794a or 3794b' was
either ignored or rejected in full. According to Bricklink, the buyer should
get exactly what they order and the seller should ship the exact product as defined
by the Bricklink catalog.
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And what about the process for the seller? Having to get a magnifying glass out
to check whether the crossguard of a sword is thick or thin, potentially hundreds
of times over I dont think is best use of anyones time and if it becomes more
of a challenge for sellers to list here then that will only make it seem more
appealing for sellers to list elsewhere...
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | wildchicken13 | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 20:15 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 52 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, hpoort writes:
| | How do you know it is a minority? Since variants on Bricklink are generally only
split when there is a FUNCTIONAL difference, I'd say most buyers would care,
at least for some of the variants.
Bricklink has made their point in previous discussions: They want to make the
process for the buyer as simple as possible. Any suggestion as to add more flexibility
to the wanted lists (such as 'don't care if 3794a or 3794b' was
either ignored or rejected in full. According to Bricklink, the buyer should
get exactly what they order and the seller should ship the exact product as defined
by the Bricklink catalog.
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I don't know if I'm in the "minority" or "majority" in
this regard, but as a buyer, I mostly use BrickLink to buy parts to build MOCs.
I tend to use newer, cheaper, more common variants in my builds in order to keep
the cost down. There's also less risk of sellers substituting older, rarer,
more expensive variants for the more common ones. I mostly buy new parts and
I haven't had too many issues with sellers sending the wrong variant. I guess
as long as BrickLink set inventories are kept accurate and up-to-date, it's
not too much of a problem.
I find that sellers are pretty good at distinguishing between variants where
there is an obvious structural and/or functional difference. For example, the
difference between
and
is pretty clear and affects where attachments can be placed on the handle portion.
However, when it comes to parts where the difference is more subtle, such as
and
It is not all that uncommon to receive one instead of the other, since both have
a groove and the only difference is the underside.
Some sellers may simply have a hard time distinguishing between slight mold differences.
For example,
and
can be very hard to tell apart. Furthermore, there are many variants which aren't
recognized in the catalog at all, making separating these completely voluntary
on the part of the seller.
I guess the problem is that every buyer has unique constraints when ordering.
Some may be perfectly happy to accept one variant in place of another while others
may absolutely need a specific variant. There's no solution which satisfies
everyone's needs. Ideally, sellers would always list the correct variant
and there'd be no need for such "variant policies" in the first place,
but even stores without them make mistakes sometimes. If the difference is absolutely
critical, it's best to check with the seller beforehand, just to make sure.
Then, at least you can hold them accountable in the event that they do in fact
send the wrong type.
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| | | | | Author: | manganschlamm | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 15:06 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 84 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, PaulOfBricks writes:
| | I like to buy the correct variants, I try to list the correct variants too. Sometimes
(a) variant might be 0.05c and the (b) variant can be $2
there are a growing number of sellers listing the (a)0.05c part variant in the
(b)$2 variant category and then writing they have a variant policy (basically
they don't sort the variant) but this is clearly a deceptive policy
because they will 99% be selling the (a) variant in the more expensive (b) variant
category to maximise profits.
This is very annoying firstly because when I buy the parts, I want the correct
parts, sometimes I have to buy the part two or three times before I get the actual
correct part/variant I want, if a set comes with (a) I want (a) not (b), if I
wanted (b) I would buy from the (b) listing!,
should I have to email the seller every time asking if it is indeed correct,
It kind of slows down the ordering process a lot
and secondly it effects the analytics of the value of the correct variant.
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There should be an option for stores who are not willing to separate out variants.
A way to do this would be that parts would be assigned to the most common variant
(if not know which it is) and then one could select a checkbox which would automatically
activate a message to be displayed that part variants are not differentiated.
Then it would be clear for everyone.
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| | | | | | | Author: | SylvainLS | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 16:17 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 52 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, manganschlamm writes:
| | […]
There should be an option for stores who are not willing to separate out variants.
A way to do this would be that parts would be assigned to the most common variant
(if not know which it is) and then one could select a checkbox which would automatically
activate a message to be displayed that part variants are not differentiated.
Then it would be clear for everyone.
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First, choosing the most common variant will skew the Price Guide.
Besides, what is the “most common” variant? The one that is most found in stores
or in new sets? Could take a long time catching up to a new variant.
Then, my main point: buying.
I’d say that many parts buyers come to BL for MOCs, and they come with lists,
and they’re often enough not the designers.
So, how would “umbrella” entries be handled in WL knowing that variants are
separated because there’s a functional difference?
If accepting any variant is a global setting, buyers better say no by default.
And therefore the sellers who don’t differentiate should be excluded from searches
by default.
I imagine a lot of stores will voluntarily exclude themselves from most searches.
The other solution is a setting by lot… yeah, not gonna work either: the only
reason to set it would be if you’re sure all variants will do, and that only
to get a few more candidate stores, because non-differentiating sellers should
still be excluded for the other parts with variants. Or do you want sellers
to “register” separately for each group of variants? (“I differentiate jumpers
but not clips.”) The 1000 of them? And update every time a new part arrives?
As it is now, those buyers see the risk/problem either before buying, and stoplist
the store so it doesn’t appear in searches, or after buying, and then aren’t
happy and need to try and buy elsewhere (and stoplist the store or put a note¹
so it doesn’t happen again).
(¹ Yeah, buyers are too nice: they don’t always complain, they don’t always stoplist.)
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| | | | | Author: | CCBricks | | Posted: | Mar 14, 2023 22:22 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 73 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| I guess the same should be noted for minifigures. They come unassembled in the
box. Why is there a need to assemble them. My listings specifically state if
a minifigure is sold unassembled or not. I browse and buy figures frequently
and I'm always looking for this verbiage in the listings. I have to email
sellers asking whether its assembled or not before I buy. Should there be an
check box available to notate such at the time of listing?
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| | | | | | | Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Mar 15, 2023 00:30 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 56 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, CCBricks writes:
| | I guess the same should be noted for minifigures. They come unassembled in the
box. Why is there a need to assemble them. My listings specifically state if
a minifigure is sold unassembled or not. I browse and buy figures frequently
and I'm always looking for this verbiage in the listings. I have to email
sellers asking whether its assembled or not before I buy. Should there be an
check box available to notate such at the time of listing?
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That would be good, although I've least favourited so many stores that choose
to assemble first that I rarely come across them when searching. Not that I buy
much here any more and the few sellers I regularly buy from don't do it.Same
with charging for paypal. I rarely see it when browsing but then I nearly always
least favourite stores that do it (whether I was intending to purchase or not),
so I never see them again. Of course, I might miss out buying from them in future
if they change their ways, and that is where tickboxes are better for the sellers
than having buyers permanently ignoring their stores. But from a buyer perspective
there are so many stores, it is not really an issue.
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| | | | | | | Author: | manganschlamm | | Posted: | Mar 15, 2023 02:18 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 50 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, CCBricks writes:
| | I guess the same should be noted for minifigures. They come unassembled in the
box. Why is there a need to assemble them. My listings specifically state if
a minifigure is sold unassembled or not. I browse and buy figures frequently
and I'm always looking for this verbiage in the listings. I have to email
sellers asking whether its assembled or not before I buy. Should there be an
check box available to notate such at the time of listing?
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I do not mind if sellers assemble minfigures. It has the advantage that this
prevents from some scratches and damages happening during shipment. If they ship
unassembled they would need to pack each part separately to avoid scratches etc.
under any circumstances.
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Mar 15, 2023 03:50 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 60 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, manganschlamm writes:
| | In Suggestions, CCBricks writes:
| | I guess the same should be noted for minifigures. They come unassembled in the
box. Why is there a need to assemble them. My listings specifically state if
a minifigure is sold unassembled or not. I browse and buy figures frequently
and I'm always looking for this verbiage in the listings. I have to email
sellers asking whether its assembled or not before I buy. Should there be an
check box available to notate such at the time of listing?
|
I do not mind if sellers assemble minfigures. It has the advantage that this
prevents from some scratches and damages happening during shipment. If they ship
unassembled they would need to pack each part separately to avoid scratches etc.
under any circumstances.
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Would you expect sellers to individually bag all (printed) parts too? If someone
buys 100 torsos or decorated bricks, it would be incredibly wasteful (cost,
time, environmental) to individually bag those but they are just as likely to
scratch.
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | UTLF | | Posted: | Mar 15, 2023 04:08 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 54 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| On average, minifigures are far more valuable than most printed parts, so if
a minifig getting scratched is more of an issue than a printed tile would be
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | manganschlamm | | Posted: | Mar 15, 2023 04:12 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 55 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | In Suggestions, manganschlamm writes:
| | In Suggestions, CCBricks writes:
| | I guess the same should be noted for minifigures. They come unassembled in the
box. Why is there a need to assemble them. My listings specifically state if
a minifigure is sold unassembled or not. I browse and buy figures frequently
and I'm always looking for this verbiage in the listings. I have to email
sellers asking whether its assembled or not before I buy. Should there be an
check box available to notate such at the time of listing?
|
I do not mind if sellers assemble minfigures. It has the advantage that this
prevents from some scratches and damages happening during shipment. If they ship
unassembled they would need to pack each part separately to avoid scratches etc.
under any circumstances.
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Would you expect sellers to individually bag all (printed) parts too? If someone
buys 100 torsos or decorated bricks, it would be incredibly wasteful (cost,
time, environmental) to individually bag those but they are just as likely to
scratch.
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No I would not. My point was just that assembling figures prevents the parts
of them to get scratched during transport. Only packing each part of a figure
separately provides the same level of protection as assembling a figure and packing
it well.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Mar 15, 2023 05:03 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 67 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| | | No I would not. My point was just that assembling figures prevents the parts
of them to get scratched during transport. Only packing each part of a figure
separately provides the same level of protection as assembling a figure and packing
it well.
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The same logic also applies to things like printed bricks, radar dishes, etc
that could be scratched if loose in a bag if bought in quantity but less likely
to be scratched if stacked up into one object. Yet that would be not allowed.
I dread to think how many minifigures I have bought online that were then posted
in bubble mailers (whether in ziplock bags, CMF packets, etc) and not had a problem.
Different people do want different things, and it shows why having a search flag
would help buyers only buy from sellers that do not build minifigures or do build
minifigures accordingto their preference, and sellers to avoid selling to buyers
that expect them to come assembled if they seller unassembled or vice versa.
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| | | | | Author: | gvbricks | | Posted: | Mar 15, 2023 04:29 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 55 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| There should be an option for sellers who are not willing to list item variants
correctly. BrickLink should force these sellers to use this option.
The option all sellers should use for unterdermined part variants is already
in the catalog. There you find many Undetermined Type catalog entries.
Sellers who do not want to list the correct variants should be forced to use
an entry like
instead of
or
or
or
The catalog images of Undetermined Type parts should show all part variants at
once. And finally BrickLick should stop deleting Undetermined Type entries from
catalog and restore/recreate them for all parts which have variants.
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| | | | | | | Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Mar 15, 2023 04:49 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 48 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, gvbricks writes:
| | There should be an option for sellers who are not willing to list item variants
correctly. BrickLink should force these sellers to use this option.
The option all sellers should use for unterdermined part variants is already
in the catalog. There you find many Undetermined Type catalog entries.
Sellers who do not want to list the correct variants should be forced to use
an entry like
instead of
or
or
or
The catalog images of Undetermined Type parts should show all part variants at
once. And finally BrickLick should stop deleting Undetermined Type entries from
catalog and restore/recreate them for all parts which have variants.
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https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1399562
If you read this post, that is not what the undetermined entries are meant to
be used for.
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | gvbricks | | Posted: | Mar 15, 2023 06:36 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 62 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
Thanks for the hint, it seems like I have skipped a few posts when I was reading
over the thread.
It may not be what the undetermined entries are meant to be used for, but BL
could expand the scope of the entries to solve the problem without much development
effort.
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Mar 15, 2023 07:35 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 61 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, gvbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
Thanks for the hint, it seems like I have skipped a few posts when I was reading
over the thread.
It may not be what the undetermined entries are meant to be used for, but BL
could expand the scope of the entries to solve the problem without much development
effort.
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I agree. This is where some sellers and buyers want different functionality to
what people more interested in cataloguing want.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | glafebe6 | | Posted: | Mar 21, 2023 08:52 | | Subject: | Re: Ban stores from having part variant policies | | Viewed: | 45 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
| | In Suggestions, gvbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
Thanks for the hint, it seems like I have skipped a few posts when I was reading
over the thread.
It may not be what the undetermined entries are meant to be used for, but BL
could expand the scope of the entries to solve the problem without much development
effort.
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I agree. This is where some sellers and buyers want different functionality to
what people more interested in cataloguing want.
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I think keeping the undetermined type would solve a lot of these issues if they
are used by sellers who don't sort and list variants accurately.
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