I’ve recently had an experience in the marketplace that resulted in something
I had no idea existed and that I’m having trouble understanding but let me go
with a real world example to explain my perspective.
Imagine that you have a multipurpose store like a Walmart. It is a general supplies
store with everything from grocery items to furniture , electronics, household
items and so on. Because some items are of a price that some customers can’t
pay for all at once, the store has a layaway feature. This lets a customer place
on hold (so it can’t be sold to another customer) and they have X number of days
to pay it off else it goes back to the sales floor.
The store gets a brand new manager who decides to implement some policy changes.
One policy is that if any customer using the layaway program cancels a layaway
or does something that the employees working the layaway section find offensive
then that customer is no longer allowed to purchase anything at the store. The
asst manager speaks up and says that this seems counterproductive as it will
reduce the stores over all sales; reduce profits. Instead of simply disallowing
the customer to buy anything it would be wiser to simply disallow them to use
the layaway program, require them to purchase anything they want at the time
they select it. That way the store don’t lose potential sales and employees bonuses
which are based on sales also do not take a hit. Instead of banning any purchases
we just make sure that a customer who might be problematic or abusive of the
layaway system is no longer able to do that.
I work in property management I can promise you that the landlord would also
be unhappy with such a policy as most stores pay a percentage of their sales
in addition to a fixed monthly rent amount. Such a policy negatively impacts
everyone so it’s a NO GO in the real world. Back to BrickLinks.
Due to miscommunication and an overly aggressive email spam system I discovered
that on BrickLink.com it is possible to be disallowed from purchasing from sellers
if a seller who is unhappy with something a buyer did, the seller can place a
Red letter on that buyers profile making it so said buyer can’t purchase from
another seller. I understand why a seller would be hesitant to allow such a
buyer to place items on hold for as long as is currently allowed as it does tie
up a product and keep it from being purchased by someone else. However, how
does it make sense to deny that buyer from purchasing at all versus something
like requiring them to make the purchase within less than 24 hours of selecting
an item? I can tell you that for newcomers, those who have only used the marketplace
once or twice it takes only 1 misstep to find yourself in this position and it
is a great way to keep the marketplace exclusive.
Maybe I have just misunderstood the intent of the marketplace. Does it exist
to connect buyers and sellers to engage in commerce or is it a special feature
for only those with positive scores?
Maybe I have just misunderstood the intent of the marketplace.
Yes you seem to have misunderstood a little what happened. The seller likely
added you to their personal stop list but they can’t add you to other stores
stop lists. What happened is you now have a negative feedback score and many
sellers have an option enabled to prevent users with negative feedback from buying
from them. Once you reach 0 again then you will be able to shop at most stores
again
If you've got only one Non-Paying Buyer (NPB) strike on your account it doesn't
prevent you from ordering on BrickLink (you need three for that) but some stores
will block buyers with a negative overall feedback score (i.e. below 0). You
might be able to find a store that's willing to sell to you (or doesn't
have the automatic block) and provided that you pay for your order they should
leave you positive feedback. That will then return your score to 0, allowing
you again to order from other stores.
As Nubs mentioned, the seller has probably added you to their stop-list (which
is used to block specific buyers).
For future reference, most stores either offer instant checkout (where you'll
know the total cost before ordering) or they'll allow you to ask for a quote
to confirm the overall cost (including any charges/shipping costs). Stores won't
generally 'hold' items for you unless it's been agreed in advance.
I’ve recently had an experience in the marketplace that resulted in something
I had no idea existed and that I’m having trouble understanding but let me go
with a real world example to explain my perspective.
Imagine that you have a multipurpose store like a Walmart. It is a general supplies
store with everything from grocery items to furniture , electronics, household
items and so on. Because some items are of a price that some customers can’t
pay for all at once, the store has a layaway feature. This lets a customer place
on hold (so it can’t be sold to another customer) and they have X number of days
to pay it off else it goes back to the sales floor.
The store gets a brand new manager who decides to implement some policy changes.
One policy is that if any customer using the layaway program cancels a layaway
or does something that the employees working the layaway section find offensive
then that customer is no longer allowed to purchase anything at the store. The
asst manager speaks up and says that this seems counterproductive as it will
reduce the stores over all sales; reduce profits. Instead of simply disallowing
the customer to buy anything it would be wiser to simply disallow them to use
the layaway program, require them to purchase anything they want at the time
they select it. That way the store don’t lose potential sales and employees bonuses
which are based on sales also do not take a hit. Instead of banning any purchases
we just make sure that a customer who might be problematic or abusive of the
layaway system is no longer able to do that.
I work in property management I can promise you that the landlord would also
be unhappy with such a policy as most stores pay a percentage of their sales
in addition to a fixed monthly rent amount. Such a policy negatively impacts
everyone so it’s a NO GO in the real world. Back to BrickLinks.
Due to miscommunication and an overly aggressive email spam system I discovered
that on BrickLink.com it is possible to be disallowed from purchasing from sellers
if a seller who is unhappy with something a buyer did, the seller can place a
Red letter on that buyers profile making it so said buyer can’t purchase from
another seller. I understand why a seller would be hesitant to allow such a
buyer to place items on hold for as long as is currently allowed as it does tie
up a product and keep it from being purchased by someone else. However, how
does it make sense to deny that buyer from purchasing at all versus something
like requiring them to make the purchase within less than 24 hours of selecting
an item? I can tell you that for newcomers, those who have only used the marketplace
once or twice it takes only 1 misstep to find yourself in this position and it
is a great way to keep the marketplace exclusive.
Maybe I have just misunderstood the intent of the marketplace. Does it exist
to connect buyers and sellers to engage in commerce or is it a special feature
for only those with positive scores?
Your feedback says that you made an order and did not pay for it or reply to
their messages.
A seller can decide how patient they will be for payment. In the old days you
made an order and then arranged payment and it was common for a seller to wait
several days or a week. I would send a second invoice to someone who hadn't
paid after a week, needing them to tell me why if they weren't paying immediately.
But several years ago the site got the capability of paying instantly onsite.
Since that time, almost all of my orders do pay instantly. The store you ordered
from is new enough that they have probably only been used to that.
I’ve recently had an experience in the marketplace that resulted in something
I had no idea existed and that I’m having trouble understanding but let me go
with a real world example to explain my perspective.
Imagine that you have a multipurpose store like a Walmart. It is a general supplies
store with everything from grocery items to furniture , electronics, household
items and so on. Because some items are of a price that some customers can’t
pay for all at once, the store has a layaway feature. This lets a customer place
on hold (so it can’t be sold to another customer) and they have X number of days
to pay it off else it goes back to the sales floor.
The store gets a brand new manager who decides to implement some policy changes.
One policy is that if any customer using the layaway program cancels a layaway
or does something that the employees working the layaway section find offensive
then that customer is no longer allowed to purchase anything at the store. The
asst manager speaks up and says that this seems counterproductive as it will
reduce the stores over all sales; reduce profits. Instead of simply disallowing
the customer to buy anything it would be wiser to simply disallow them to use
the layaway program, require them to purchase anything they want at the time
they select it. That way the store don’t lose potential sales and employees bonuses
which are based on sales also do not take a hit. Instead of banning any purchases
we just make sure that a customer who might be problematic or abusive of the
layaway system is no longer able to do that.
I work in property management I can promise you that the landlord would also
be unhappy with such a policy as most stores pay a percentage of their sales
in addition to a fixed monthly rent amount. Such a policy negatively impacts
everyone so it’s a NO GO in the real world. Back to BrickLinks.
Due to miscommunication and an overly aggressive email spam system I discovered
that on BrickLink.com it is possible to be disallowed from purchasing from sellers
if a seller who is unhappy with something a buyer did, the seller can place a
Red letter on that buyers profile making it so said buyer can’t purchase from
another seller. I understand why a seller would be hesitant to allow such a
buyer to place items on hold for as long as is currently allowed as it does tie
up a product and keep it from being purchased by someone else. However, how
does it make sense to deny that buyer from purchasing at all versus something
like requiring them to make the purchase within less than 24 hours of selecting
an item? I can tell you that for newcomers, those who have only used the marketplace
once or twice it takes only 1 misstep to find yourself in this position and it
is a great way to keep the marketplace exclusive.
Maybe I have just misunderstood the intent of the marketplace. Does it exist
to connect buyers and sellers to engage in commerce or is it a special feature
for only those with positive scores?
As others have said you purchased from a store, then didn't pay for it
or respond to BL messages . You got an NPB- non paying buyer strike against you
and negative feedback. Because the NPB was completed, you are unable to leave
any feedback for the seller. I noticed you tried to purchase from an international
seller. I recommend you stick to sellers in the US who allow you to purchase
( do not have a block on their system for buyers with less than 0 feedback) and
complete the sale, pay for it in a timely manner ( 1-3 days for manual & instant
for Instant checkout). They will leave you positive feedback and your score will
go to 0 which will then allow you to buy from other sellers. Bricklink is like
a marketplace with many sellers - they don't all work the same - they set
their own rules. A purchase in a store is a commitment to buy unless you ask
to cancel with a valid reason. Check your BL account regularly for payment instructions
( on site) and set Brick link messages as a safe sender in your email . You
can correct this problem but you will need to work at it if you want to purchase
from other sellers.
Maybe I have just misunderstood the intent of the marketplace. Does it exist
to connect buyers and sellers to engage in commerce or is it a special feature
for only those with positive scores?
Let's make it simple for you. Don't order stuff unless you intend to
pay for it.
I'm not saying you are, but there are a lot of scammers out there. Denying
sellers with negative feedback to make purchases is a way to protect the seller
and the community as a whole.
I'm guessing its too late to fix things with the seller that gave you the
NPB, but find a store that will let you make a purchase. I would go with a store
that's in the US. I don't know what you tried to purchase from the first
store, but odds are that whatever it was, is in the US too. Work your way back
to good standing and everything will be fine. You can give my store a shot if
I have what you're looking for. If it will not allow you to make the purchase
because of the negative, send me a message and Ill see what I can do to help.
Bricklink is a great community. But you have to remember its a marketplace made
up of thousands of individual sellers that all have their own terms and way of
doing business. Some are better than others.
USA, Texas
Canada, Ontario
United Kingdom, England
