So Ed and I spend time together on the weekends and obviously a lot of talk is about the website.  This is always a good thing and always very productive.  As time goes by on the site and certain things come up, ideas change, new questions come up and we discuss what we should do about it.  Keep a steady course or change direction and build a new plan of action.  Many people here have been waiting to see what Brick Classifieds is and what it has become.  That is all great, but one thing Ed and I have started to talk about is what do you expect out of it and honestly, what do we expect out of it.  This is what I am talking about.

 

A brand new site has come out recently, BrickOwl.  It is put together very nicely, has a nice feature set, has been talked about many times here and has lower rates than both eBay and Bricklink, but yet, I sure don't know of many people from here or anywhere that have been buying or selling from there.  Sure there are some stores there, but I am wondering and concerned as to why more of you have not been trying it out.  What do you have to lose?  I thought it would have been overloaded by now. Is everyone waiting for Bricklink 2.0?

 

We offered the ability to advertise here on this site and I have yet to really get anyone to do it?  If there are so many serious Lego dealers, why wouldn't people want to advertise their store to get people to try and buy their stuff.  Everyone that visits this site is not a seller.  We have quite a large number of visitors that come here looking for deals, so why would you not want to invest in your business to get more eyes on your products and make transactions so that you can buy other inventory?  This really doesn't bother me, but I have just been shocked that no one really want to advertise their eBay business, etc.

 

Like I said earlier, we kick a bunch of ideas around.  Here is something we would like to know.  Would you be open to paying a yearly fee to list as many items as you want and have no commission at all.  That way, there is no need for any type of billing, transactions, nothing.  You list the sets, sell you sets, and deal with your customers.  In the end, if you are a casual or serious seller, you would be able to save a boatload in fees/commissions.   

 

Why would this be good?  Well for one, it will help to site continue to grow.  It would be reinvested back into the site to pay for the data, purchase more locations in the future, more contests, advertising and possibly help build a kick butt mobile app.  It would also be positive to make people want to make sure they get their pennies worth and list sets to make their investment worth while.  All these sites that don't charge anything and have free listings are nice, but many people bail, leave their listings, post crazy prices, etc.  Could help with buyers knowing that the sellers have to be paying members in order to have listings.

 

I am sure Ed will post more of his thoughts later, but we want to know where all of you are at.  Launching something like this is no small feat. Everyone has been patient and we appreciate that.

Really looking forward to this going live!  My house is full to the brim with Lego and I've got about

Really looking forward to this going live!  My house is full to the brim with Lego and I've got about

 
Ed chained Jeff to the computer so that he will not be able to leave until he's done

Ed chained Jeff to the computer so that he will not be able to leave until he's done

Hopefully Ed remembers to leave a bag of dog biscuits or something to eat. Oh, and a chamber pot. :mosking:

Any news on this?

Any news on this?

 

Yes there is news, but I'm sorry,...

 

its Classified!

 

BOOM:

 

Honestly I don't see the point of selling here at all.

 

I haven't seen one person or post of anyone that would pay full value for sets.  We're all here discussing the super deals we got and the skyhigh price we expect others to pay for our stuff.  *WE* as 'investors' have the mentality that we aren't going to pay retail when we know we can get a 5% redcard or get TRU to pricematch or something.

 

I wouldn't list my sets here for a price that someone here would be willing to pay because even after feebay or amazon is done raping me for their share i know i'll end up making even more to reinvest off other sites.

 

I'd love to trade with you guys sure, but I'd never sell anything to you, you're just as greedy and deal hungry as I am, if not more so (if that's possible i'm a cheap jerk)

There are collectors on this site as well. It's not just investors. When brick classifieds rolls out if people like it they can use it if they see no point in it then they don't have to use it.

What i could see beneficial and what I might be willing to pay for is when someone searches the value of a set, have that spot where the sets show up for sale on ebay instead be the sets listed here, because i think the set value search option is the most useful thing about this site and if someone searches for the value of the taj mahal, and they see that it's worth 974.23(random numbers) and I have it listed for $900 on my classified ad, maybe it leads to a sale for me.  That would be a worthwhile feature

Honestly I don't see the point of selling here at all.

 

I haven't seen one person or post of anyone that would pay full value for sets.  We're all here discussing the super deals we got and the skyhigh price we expect others to pay for our stuff.  *WE* as 'investors' have the mentality that we aren't going to pay retail when we know we can get a 5% redcard or get TRU to pricematch or something.

 

I wouldn't list my sets here for a price that someone here would be willing to pay because even after feebay or amazon is done raping me for their share i know i'll end up making even more to reinvest off other sites.

 

I'd love to trade with you guys sure, but I'd never sell anything to you, you're just as greedy and deal hungry as I am, if not more so (if that's possible i'm a cheap jerk)

 

It's been said a million times and continues to be ignored, but the collectors on this site compromise a vastly higher number than you think.

 

You "cheap jerks" are just the loudest part of the population here.

Every seller needs a buyer, Jojoyojimbi.  Sure, we could sell to those buyers on eBay/Amazon, but they take a big cut out of the selling price.

 

Although I did see the other day that PayPal will take 5% just for handling a transaction, but that's better than 15% to PayPal+eBay or 17% to Amazon.

 

The idea is that this place becomes where people who missed out on a set at retail can look for it instead of eBay/Amazon.

Every seller needs a buyer, Jojoyojimbi.  Sure, we could sell to those buyers on eBay/Amazon, but they take a big cut out of the selling price.

 

Although I did see the other day that PayPal will take 5% just for handling a transaction, but that's better than 15% to PayPal+eBay or 17% to Amazon.

 

The idea is that this place becomes where people who missed out on a set at retail can look for it instead of eBay/Amazon.

 

 

yes but let's use the crawler as an example, 450 on ebay - 15% fees is still $380 for my pocket vs someone here who won't want to buy it unless it's 'list price -20-30%) which would only be 360-315

I think the small sets and minifigs will be great selling points on this site.  I have purchased so many minifigs for my kids through Ebay, and would have most likely gotten a better deal here and done business with someone I trusted.  And, if you purchased through here, the bigger sets will most assuredly be packaged correctly.

Here's a different example, the Lone Ranger Train Chase.  I missed out on finding it anywhere locally for $50 -- and having employees at some of the stores tell me "ya, some guy came in and bought them all yesterday" -- I suspect another brickpicker in the area nabbed them.  I wanted it for my personal collection and would have been willing to pay $85 for it cash and pickup locally -- or $35 for the just the figures.

 

On ebay it looks like it's currently selling for $80-$100, in many cases including shipping. Once you take out fees and shipping - you're clearing about as much as I would have been offering in cash.  Now sure, if someone wants to hold it they can certainly get more in the long run, potentially a lot more since it's a train set, but if someone is looking for a quick flip and to free up some cash for other deals -- a local transaction without the shipping hassles and ebay/paypal taxes might have been incentive enough. 

I will just say that some of you don't know as much as you think or don't understand all aspects of this business. I don't think you all know who your potential customers are.

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Someone sell me (x2 of each) MISB 6865, 6862, polybag hulk, jor-el, power lex. (boxes must be mint or very near mint, no creases or scuffs) Items must be well packed in decent new packaging and items must come from pet free smoke free home. price must be reasonable, ie lowest I could pick them up for on ebay (before shipping) then actual cost of shipping my bundle, US sellers, fill out the customs form as a $10 gift, cool.

The only people that wouldn't buy from this site are people that read someone who bought a set for 20 2 years ago and now wants 40, that kind of buyer (although we always think are everywhere) are not serious collectors. Sellers from this site would be able to establish a good reputation amongst traders, investors and collectors, like say the "toy hunter". As a member or guest of this site you would be able to identify a good seller, which is actually very difficult to do on ebay because most talk a lot of shite and think they are selling to dummies anyway. This site could provide that "word of mouth" contact you get from a friend.

My potential customers are those that:

I collect trains, when the Santa Fe came out I was a teenager and so could only afford/convince parents to buy a few, I would like a few more and would love to pay ebay prices -10%.  I would like to get another train station and would gladly pay near Ebay going rate and be stoked.  On another note Ebay had a short lived on again off again voucher payment plan, which was heaven for me as a buyer and seller, trade the sets I have extra of for ones I don't, if you set up something like that while taking a small cut you would be legend in my book.  Brickpick bucks?

We have had this discussion so many times. Some people will use it, some won't but I am sure a lot of people would rather buy their sets from people from the forum before going to ebay or BL.

The site could provide the freedom to negotiate, do quick deals to beat the rush, e.*** polybags, the week/week during the u.k got the lone ranger polybag, they were selling in the us for $15, yet we could get them for about 50 cents. sell 50 pump car at 1.42 including shipping.... buy buy buy!

It would also be nice to develop relationships with others and buy from people who have similar ideas on what "good", or "excellent" condition means.  It is so frustrating to buy used sets advertised as in "excellent" condition when all the bricks and windows are all scratched up.

It would also be nice to develop relationships with others and buy from people who have similar ideas on what "good", or "excellent" condition means.  It is so frustrating to buy used sets advertised as in "excellent" condition when all the bricks and windows are all scratched up.

That is due the seller just wanting your money, the seller has seen loads of lego sold as excellent condition even though it is not and thinks why shouldn't they do it. From my experience selling used on ebay, its actually better to described an item just as "good" condition or no description at all over than the what the item is with good photos. Buyers would rather feel they are going to get something better than as described than not as good as described.

A contacts database would be good, buyers could submit what they are looking for and registered sellers to the site could offer what they have on the buyers list & send their price, with a % bill maybe going to both buyer & seller payable to the site.

Great point, great pictures make great sales.

Description though is also relative to the age and rarity of an item, have you ever seen savage family diggers find something so rusty, that all it is rust, but they will say its in "excellent" condition because its like 200 years old and extremely rare and valuable.

A contacts database would be good, buyers could submit what they are looking for and registered sellers to the site could offer what they have on the buyers list & send their price, with a % bill maybe going to both buyer & seller payable to the site.

A "wanted list" or wanted ads would be a great idea.

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