Good morning,
I have a saved cart with a seller that is in progress and today I go to check
out and I see an error "Checkout Unavailable - Buying and selling through
BrickLink is currently not available in your country."
I am in South Africa and have used Bricklink for years?
There is also a banner at the top of the page stating "Marketplace Unavailable:
Buying and selling through BrickLink is currently not available in your country."
What happened and how do I get this corrected or completed please?
If not an error, when was this change effective and why can I no longer buy or
use Bricklink?
There is a huge Bricklink and Lego base in South Africa...
Many thanks.
This is simply a very big kick in the teeth for buyers (an sellers) by both BL
and TLG - absolutely shameful and I believe Dan would be turning in his grave
right now...
I didn't know him, but wasn't he keen on making sure the site was law
abiding wherever it operated. International trading has changed so much in the
years since he died and his family sold bricklink. I don’t think anyone really
knows why the decision was made or what Dan Jezek would have done if he was still
the owner.
Many thanks for the info - no, I was not aware; I took a 4-month break from BL
and only started using BL again earlier this week for parts - everything seemed
as normal. No mails received (other than the usual promo's) and I certainly
don't use the community forums in any regular way, unless there is an issue
experienced; like today.
This is simply a very big kick in the teeth for buyers (an sellers) by both BL
and TLG - absolutely shameful and I believe Dan would be turning in his grave
right now...
We have (or had) so many great local South African stores on this platform, some
doing it as a living or supplementary retirement hobby, and it was a pleasure
to find parts and sets easily - most of us weren't able to order from overseas/international
stores (just not cost effective or practical), so BL/TLG have now effectively
shown us the middle finger with this shutdown!
I guess this is another passionate hobby that I and may others will no longer
be supporting in any way, shape of form - simply from corporate greed and bottom
lines.
Very, very sad indeed...
It's a decision they might turn back in the future.
Until then, my advice would be to turn to the other side.
More and more shops work on both sides, not only here.
That will keep parts etc accesable for you. Not here, but there.
Stay true to the Lego community, do not do what Lego did: end it....
It's unfortunately not surprising that users are only discovering it now.
BrickLink removed 35 countries from the marketplace effective today. The fact
that users are finding out at checkout highlights just how poorly this was handled.
The change was announced via a generic forum post, buried on the site, with no
direct email notification to affected buyers. A decision of this scale was not
communicated in a way that reflected its impact or importance.
What makes this especially insulting is the complete disregard shown toward loyal,
long-time customers. BrickLink has no problem emailing users about promotions,
programs, and minor updates, yet failed to communicate about a decision that
cuts entire countries off from the marketplace. Discovering this through an error
message at checkout is not acceptable communication. It is dismissive and disrespectful.
This is the result of how BrickLink and LEGO chose to handle and communicate
this decision, and many loyal customers are rightfully angry and hurt by being
treated this way.
South Africa, Gauteng
Israel, Mehoz HaTzafon
United Kingdom, England
Netherlands, Gelderland