Ed Mack Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Bricklink buyers are not usually window shopping - They are searching for a specific set, minifig, or piece (they know what it looks like). Bricklink sellers are mostly Lego fans and collectors - They are familiar enough with the normal concerns, to usually disclose any relevant info. If Bricklink was being used by the general public - it would never work. But since it is mostly all AFOL (both buyers and sellers), it works.My point was that people are complaining about the cropping or having to click on the image to enlarge when Bricklink members have poor pictures or no pictures and still sell thousands of sets. To me, real photos sell an item. If Bricklink does a good job selling items with poor pictures, what can we do with good ones. I would think anyone spending money on a secondary market LEGO item would like to see what they are buying. Many of you think we have a target audience to sell sets to. We don't, but be forewarned...don't try to gouge people like sellers do on Amazon or on eBay in some cases. It won't work here. People are willing to pay top dollar on those sites for the guarantees they provide, but the buyers and sellers both pay for those guarantees. People can't have it both ways...guarantees and low fees. This rant is not really directed at anybody, but everybody. I keep on reading about Moms and Dads or casual buyers or the general public, but realize that will take time to expand into that market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenxxx Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Questions on shipping cost: I see lots of BC listings include "free shipping" which is great. Others charge a fixed cost. I am on the east coast so, for me, an item might ship to Virginia for $10, or California for $30. I try to be very competitive with my pricing, so I am sensitive to these shipping costs. I've listed some items like this: " Add $6.50 for shipping east of the Mississippi, and $10 for west*. If actual shipping cost is $1 (or more) less than what you paid, I will refund the difference. Ships via USPS Priority Mail, next business day after payment received. *At checkout, Invoice total will be $19.50 + $6.50 shipping = $26.00. If shipping west of the Mississippi, you must manually add additional $3.50 shipping ($29.50 total)." ...yeah... it looks stupid and weird. Also, I'm not even sure if a buyer can manually add additional shipping fees on at checkout. If I add $10 to my price, and offer free shipping, all of USA, the item will probably be over-priced and never sell. If I charge $6.50 for shipping anywhere, and it ships to California, I'll probably lose money on the sale. Any better way of handling this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicblast Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Can anyone point me to the page on which Shop Announcements are posted? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mack Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Can anyone point me to the page on which Shop Announcements are posted? Thanks! This was on the main page where you can view all the items in your store. I did not like how it worked into that page, so I disabled it from there for now. It will appear again and serve a better purpose. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trekgate502 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 If you could consider for the future when you search for an item like 10225 if it could show you on the resulting items with what Country it will ship to in the summary view like the brick classifieds latest listings does Also if possible it would be great to have a feature that would allow you to pick a region like us only or support shipping to us so you could eliminate those items that you cannot buy due to your shipping location. For instance on 10225 I got two results but when I clicked on the one from Australia it then showed in the detail that it couldn't support shipping to me. Thinking on your long term list these changes could help navigate buyers quicker to items to buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mack Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 First part may not be that easy and would be superseded by part 2 of your comment which has been brought up a few times and will get a settings option to only show items I can buy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trekgate502 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 First part may not be that easy and would be superseded by part 2 of your comment which has been brought up a few times and will get a settings option to only show items I can buy Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dkc Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 now that we are seeing listings from all over the world, is there a viewing filter so I only see listings in my country (USA in this case)? I think this feature would be very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenxxx Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 How long does it take for feedback to show? Had a buyer say he left me pos. feedback yesterday. Still don't see it today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bold-Arrow Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 How long does it take for feedback to show? Had a buyer say he left me pos. feedback yesterday. Still don't see it today.for now , Jeff has to approve them before they post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mack Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 How long does it take for feedback to show? Had a buyer say he left me pos. feedback yesterday. Still don't see it today. It takes as long for me to log into the admin area, see if there are reviews to approve and approve it. This is only temporary, as the site gets moving, it will be automatic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huskers1236 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Jeff- My email on my phone said I had a message to my store but I can't find it anywhere on BC. All I see on the phone is a link to the listing the message was regarding. Do you see that I was messaged? You can pm me if you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dkc Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 My point was that people are complaining about the cropping or having to click on the image to enlarge when Bricklink members have poor pictures or no pictures and still sell thousands of sets. To me, real photos sell an item. If Bricklink does a good job selling items with poor pictures, what can we do with good ones. I would think anyone spending money on a secondary market LEGO item would like to see what they are buying. Many of you think we have a target audience to sell sets to. We don't, but be forewarned...don't try to gouge people like sellers do on Amazon or on eBay in some cases. It won't work here. People are willing to pay top dollar on those sites for the guarantees they provide, but the buyers and sellers both pay for those guarantees. People can't have it both ways...guarantees and low fees. This rant is not really directed at anybody, but everybody. I keep on reading about Moms and Dads or casual buyers or the general public, but realize that will take time to expand into that market. Ed, I want to see BC succeed because (a) the more options (buying and selling legos), the better, and also ( I'm thankful to you for brickpicker and am rooting for your success. I think this discussion is valuable. It would be helpful to articular exactly what BC offers uniquely, or put it another way, what does BC offer that Ebay and Amazon does not when buying/selling Legos? For sellers, the benefit is lower fees and perhaps other advantages that may pop up in the future. But what about for potential buyers? Is it lower prices? Not necessarily because you cannot control the price the sellers set. Is it some sort of (even better) buyer protection/guarantee than Ebay/Amazon? No. So in order for a potential buyer to care about browsing BC, there must be some sort of incentive that is unique compared to other options such as Ebay/amazon. In thinking about that, (perceived) minor details such as default photos being cropped or not should not be dismissed since "bricklink photos are generic and it sells a lot of legos". Bricklink's success lies in its long pioneering history and extensive depth. Ebay/Amazon has a massive selection of Legos and the buyer protection. So the question is "what does BC offer that makes a potential buyer want to turn to it for Legos"? in case there is doubt, I'm asking these questions out of support for BC, not out of spite for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KShine Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Ed, I want to see BC succeed because (a) the more options (buying and selling legos), the better, and also ( I'm thankful to you for brickpicker and am rooting for your success. I think this discussion is valuable. It would be helpful to articular exactly what BC offers uniquely, or put it another way, what does BC offer that Ebay and Amazon does not when buying/selling Legos? For sellers, the benefit is lower fees and perhaps other advantages that may pop up in the future. But what about for potential buyers? Is it lower prices? Not necessarily because you cannot control the price the sellers set. Is it some sort of (even better) buyer protection/guarantee than Ebay/Amazon? No. So in order for a potential buyer to care about browsing BC, there must be some sort of incentive that is unique compared to other options such as Ebay/amazon. In thinking about that, (perceived) minor details such as default photos being cropped or not should not be dismissed since "bricklink photos are generic and it sells a lot of legos". Bricklink's success lies in its long pioneering history and extensive depth. Ebay/Amazon has a massive selection of Legos and the buyer protection. So the question is "what does BC offer that makes a potential buyer want to turn to it for Legos"? in case there is doubt, I'm asking these questions out of support for BC, not out of spite for it. Based on your questions (which you seem to answer negatively yourself) - I fail to see much in the way of actual support. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mack Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Ed, I want to see BC succeed because (a) the more options (buying and selling legos), the better, and also ( I'm thankful to you for brickpicker and am rooting for your success. I think this discussion is valuable. It would be helpful to articular exactly what BC offers uniquely, or put it another way, what does BC offer that Ebay and Amazon does not when buying/selling Legos? For sellers, the benefit is lower fees and perhaps other advantages that may pop up in the future. But what about for potential buyers? Is it lower prices? Not necessarily because you cannot control the price the sellers set. Is it some sort of (even better) buyer protection/guarantee than Ebay/Amazon? No. So in order for a potential buyer to care about browsing BC, there must be some sort of incentive that is unique compared to other options such as Ebay/amazon. In thinking about that, (perceived) minor details such as default photos being cropped or not should not be dismissed since "bricklink photos are generic and it sells a lot of legos". Bricklink's success lies in its long pioneering history and extensive depth. Ebay/Amazon has a massive selection of Legos and the buyer protection. So the question is "what does BC offer that makes a potential buyer want to turn to it for Legos"? in case there is doubt, I'm asking these questions out of support for BC, not out of spite for it. To me, questions like this really don't help anyone and I honestly hate this question. There really is no good answer. I feel like we need to prove ourselves to you personally. What is the right answer? I will keep developing this system, making improvements etc. If people like what the see and like dealing with you the seller then they will come back. If sellers are smart and control their pricing, the buyers will look to it before going to eBay. Bricklink has 15 years on us, same with eBay. Have Ed and I ever said that it will be bigger than both of those, no? All we ever would read is we are being killed with eBay commissions and Bricklink is ugly. I promise you I will do my part, but now its up to the sellers to do theirs and advertise their stores and the site to make people want to come here. Word of mouth goes a long way. "I like dealing with the sellers at Brick Classifieds", that will be a nice thing to read on the internet. I have more than a year of my life invested in this module, and I will continue to make it better. The site is 2 weeks old and to be honest, there have been way more transactions completed than I would have thought at this point. To me the answer to this question is "YOU". You the seller will make the difference in wanting people to come here first. They will see photos, good descriptions, receive good customer service, good shipping. You will reap the benefit of low fees which will hopefully be more profit. We want to try and lay good ground rules that may be what people might want moving forward because they like seeing the extra detail. In the end, its just a marketplace like Target and Walmart and Kmart and Toys R Us. Some people just like dealing with one over the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trekgate502 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 To me, questions like this really don't help anyone and I honestly hate this question. There really is no good answer. I feel like we need to prove ourselves to you personally. What is the right answer? I will keep developing this system, making improvements etc. If people like what the see and like dealing with you the seller then they will come back. If sellers are smart and control their pricing, the buyers will look to it before going to eBay. Bricklink has 15 years on us, same with eBay. Have Ed and I ever said that it will be bigger than both of those, no? All we ever would read is we are being killed with eBay commissions and Bricklink is ugly. I promise you I will do my part, but now its up to the sellers to do theirs and advertise their stores and the site to make people want to come here. Word of mouth goes a long way. "I like dealing with the sellers at Brick Classifieds", that will be a nice thing to read on the internet. I have more than a year of my life invested in this module, and I will continue to make it better. The site is 2 weeks old and to be honest, there have been way more transactions completed than I would have thought at this point. To me the answer to this question is "YOU". You the seller will make the difference in wanting people to come here first. They will see photos, good descriptions, receive good customer service, good shipping. You will reap the benefit of low fees which will hopefully be more profit. We want to try and lay good ground rules that may be what people might want moving forward because they like seeing the extra detail. In the end, its just a marketplace like Target and Walmart and Kmart and Toys R Us. Some people just like dealing with one over the other. Jeff there was actually a very good list of answers and you supplied them even if you did not want to go there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dkc Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) To me, questions like this really don't help anyone and I honestly hate this question. There really is no good answer. I feel like we need to prove ourselves to you personally. What is the right answer? I will keep developing this system, making improvements etc. If people like what the see and like dealing with you the seller then they will come back. If sellers are smart and control their pricing, the buyers will look to it before going to eBay. Bricklink has 15 years on us, same with eBay. Have Ed and I ever said that it will be bigger than both of those, no? All we ever would read is we are being killed with eBay commissions and Bricklink is ugly. I promise you I will do my part, but now its up to the sellers to do theirs and advertise their stores and the site to make people want to come here. Word of mouth goes a long way. "I like dealing with the sellers at Brick Classifieds", that will be a nice thing to read on the internet. I have more than a year of my life invested in this module, and I will continue to make it better. The site is 2 weeks old and to be honest, there have been way more transactions completed than I would have thought at this point. To me the answer to this question is "YOU". You the seller will make the difference in wanting people to come here first. They will see photos, good descriptions, receive good customer service, good shipping. You will reap the benefit of low fees which will hopefully be more profit. We want to try and lay good ground rules that may be what people might want moving forward because they like seeing the extra detail. In the end, its just a marketplace like Target and Walmart and Kmart and Toys R Us. Some people just like dealing with one over the other. Jeff, thanks for the reply. I apologize if my questions offended anyone. I believe in asking the hard questions in an attempt to push for improvements. I get a sense that my attempt was not welcomed, so feel free to delete the few posts that were made with them. I'm frankly okay if you want to do that. Edited January 20, 2015 by Dkc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mack Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Jeff, thanks for the reply. I apologize if my questions offended anyone. I believe in asking the hard questions in an attempt to push for improvements. I get a sense that my attempt was not welcomed, so feel free to delete the few posts that were made with them. I'm frankly okay if you want to do that. I am not offended, I don't think anyone is. But it's a question that is just tough to give you the answer you are looking for. You are pushing for improvements (in a positive way) on a site that is two weeks old. I have a list of features that are currently being worked on to make the site better. There has been no marketing yet. Lets let it unfold organically for a bit. If you want to help the site, post about it in places that you visit. Getting links out there on all different forums and sites is one of the greatest viral marketing things that can be done to get new "buyer" eyes on the marketplace. The more it gets out there, the more people will find it and try it. Back in the beginning days of Brickpicker, plenty of other sites had comments that we would be gone in 6 months. I guess they probably don't think that way today. Once Brick Classifieds finds it niche and personality, it will all come together like this one and there is still lots of improvement to do here. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Mack Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Jeff, thanks for the reply. I apologize if my questions offended anyone. I believe in asking the hard questions in an attempt to push for improvements. I get a sense that my attempt was not welcomed, so feel free to delete the few posts that were made with them. I'm frankly okay if you want to do that. Ed, I want to see BC succeed because (a) the more options (buying and selling legos), the better, and also ( I'm thankful to you for brickpicker and am rooting for your success. I think this discussion is valuable. It would be helpful to articular exactly what BC offers uniquely, or put it another way, what does BC offer that Ebay and Amazon does not when buying/selling Legos? For sellers, the benefit is lower fees and perhaps other advantages that may pop up in the future. But what about for potential buyers? Is it lower prices? Not necessarily because you cannot control the price the sellers set. Is it some sort of (even better) buyer protection/guarantee than Ebay/Amazon? No. So in order for a potential buyer to care about browsing BC, there must be some sort of incentive that is unique compared to other options such as Ebay/amazon. In thinking about that, (perceived) minor details such as default photos being cropped or not should not be dismissed since "bricklink photos are generic and it sells a lot of legos". Bricklink's success lies in its long pioneering history and extensive depth. Ebay/Amazon has a massive selection of Legos and the buyer protection. So the question is "what does BC offer that makes a potential buyer want to turn to it for Legos"? in case there is doubt, I'm asking these questions out of support for BC, not out of spite for it. Honestly, Jeff and I have no friggin' clue. We are going to give you sellers a place to list your sets at a cheap price, with solid graphics, photos, and features and you decide how you want to utilize it. If sellers want to gouge buyers, the site will fail. If sellers want to give buyers a fair price for items and package and ship properly, it will succeed. What I know is that we went from 2 to almost 40,000 members in three years and there is plenty of ideas to explore and markets to tap. Give people something of value and they will come. We will find our niche and it might not work for everyone, but it will be constantly improved and tweaked until we see that it is a waste of our time. It's up to all of you to make it work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdenmier Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Just purchased an SSD on the site for a very fair price (lower than the eBay normal), which made me happy as I missed out on it and really wanted one for my collection. The whole experience was great (pending only the arrival of the item, of course!). I was able to contact the seller, get additional pictures and even negotiate a bit. Thank you for the site and I will definitely use it again. Once my own stock has valued to set goals I'll probably list there as well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mack Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 Just purchased an SSD on the site for a very fair price (lower than the eBay normal), which made me happy as I missed out on it and really wanted one for my collection. The whole experience was great (pending only the arrival of the item, of course!). I was able to contact the seller, get additional pictures and even negotiate a bit. Thank you for the site and I will definitely use it again. Once my own stock has valued to set goals I'll probably list there as well. Great, thank you for the feedback. Good luck with the purchase. If the seller doesn't do a good job shipping, I just hired a bunch of hit men to send a message Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenxxx Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I just want to say BC has already been a godsend to me. Just my experience: I've listed a dozen or so items, ranging from $10 - $400. No action yet on the low dollar items, but the highest priced items have sold almost instantly. And with no fees, those are the items I'm happiest to sell. I've pocketed significantly more than I would have on ebay or Amzn, and sold for less than the going rates on those sites, giving the buyers real value. Any BPer who truly wants to move a higher priced item right now is a fool not to list it on BC. Buyers who know the value of your product are there, ready to buy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdenmier Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Great, thank you for the feedback. Good luck with the purchase. If the seller doesn't do a good job shipping, I just hired a bunch of hit men to send a message I didn't know that purchases on the site came with "insurance." Sweet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonysbricks Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I just hired a bunch of hit men to send a message When you have the right one, you only need one 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@rtisan Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Finally took some time to post my first 2 listings on the Classifieds. I must say, very easy/smooth. I really like the layout overall, well done. The preview feature especially is great, and once you`ve gotten to that point all that needs to be done is saving it with the click of a link. Also, the shipping price feature is nice and clear on each listing, I`m sure most/all will greatly appreciate that, no hassle in trying to figure out by location. Really great, the work put in is obvious. Kudos! Only thing is the "everywhere" you`re taking an educated guess with that one to an extent. Canada Post just hiked there prices again in month, meaning it`s going to cost even more to ship internationally. I have my 2 listings listed as shipping anywhere for now, as that`s what I`ve done on Bricklink and Ebay, but the cost factor might detour some buyers over seas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts