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​Because my photos are the actual items I am selling showing all the box damage and creases and everything it is NOT whatever the other d-bag is selling. This isn't a stock photo. This is a photo I took with my camera of my item with my watermark. It is MINE. Period. It confuses buyers when they see some jerk off with the exact same listing as me who has bad feedback and the associate it with me. It's annoying when I spend a good amount of time working on a listing and some toolbag comes and just ctrl-c the whole thing. It's against eBay rules for a reason. If people want to use the stock photos, ebay provides them! Why do you have to STEAL my photo?

TLG has a POS system all right...and I am not talking about Point Of Sale.

I can't believe the number of people who think it's no big deal. It's not just being lazy...it's copyright infringement, plain and simple. And as for it not affecting the seller...how so? If someone takes the time to set up a nice photo, it's to differentiate his/her listing from all the other stock photos or cellphone shots taken in a dark room. If everyone steals that photo (or worse, both the photo and description), then their listing is no longer unique. Auctions with good descriptions and photos tend to do better than others because they look more professional and give the impression that the sale will be handled professionally.

​It is worth my time to get lazy bums from using my own pictures and listing contents to compete against me. It is hard enough to get a sale without these lazy *** bums running around using other people's hard work for their own benefits

In the older ebay days where I hosted pictures in the description or linked to them, I changed a photo from the action figure to a rabbit and water marked it saying lazy ebayer stole this photo they messaged me quick but they linked to the URL which I swapped it burned them and I laugh about it to this day now all you can do is watermark

Sold another 7965 Falcon NISB this morning for $250 shipped, so I bumped the eBay listing up to $260 and sold another this evening. Keep pushing those prices up, folks!

With respect to all effort and civil discussion, I must say... The best advice my father ever gave me is that, most of the time, it doesn't help at all to be right.

​Nope. Not leaning towards anything, they are ENFORCING their own guidelines pertaining to images: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/image-text.html?afsrc=1&rmvSB=true

why not just take your OWN photos!? Couldn't agree more that this is NOT ok. I for one would never buy an item that does not have an actual picture of the item. I'm not buying anything that uses stock photos because doesn't prove to me they actually have the product in hand. As many scammers that are out there, why not be as careful as can be when choosing which buyers you trust more. I'd rather see a poorly lit photo of a set on someone's table than a stock photo of the item's box from a website. It takes 10 seconds to take a picture on your phone and email it to yourself to upload. On top of that, using the same photo and same title, well that's super confusing to a buyer and misrepresents people. Don't think you guys who are saying it's ok would like it too much if a bad seller with poor feedback did it to you and then all the sudden you wonder why your item isn't selling.

The first gen of Friends was dynamite. Once the cat got out of the bag everyone started buying. Second gen market seems to be flooded.

I negotiated a discount if I took it all. $1,800.

When printing postage with Paypal, the Expedited Parcel rate is actually cheaper than the Regular Parcel rate, thanks to an implied small business discount.

Damaged box Jabba's Palace, Rancor Pit, and Desert Skiff on EBay free ship $300.

As Jeff and I mentioned yesterday, the new IP Board forum software has a module which enables private subforums. Jeff and I purchased this module so that members can once again discuss NON LEGO investing topics in a forum that works in conjunction with the normal Brickpicker forum, yet is accessible to only members which would like to view it. It will not interfere with normal LEGO discussions or forum topics, yet for those who are members, you will see the forum activity pop up on your screen. This should satisfy the many requests we received from members about reinstating this type of discussion on a LEGO based site. You can have your cake and eat it too as they say. It will operate like any other forum and Jeff can add categories for different NON LEGO topics if you like. We have already invited all the members that were active in the old thread (which is now unlocked). Any new members need to go HERE and click on the join button. Either Jeff or I will receive the request and approve it. Long time member, Pickleboy, will also have the ability to approve members and he has volunteered to take an active role in leading this forum. Moderation will be limited and basically anything legal and legit can be discussed. Please no illegal or vulgar topics! There will be more leeway given on this forum, but please be considerate of others and keep the discussions mature in nature. Thanks for your patience and participation... Ed Mack

Hi all. I've made a Himitsu Bako which is a Secret Box (also known as a puzzle box) out of Lego. This box has two ways to get into the hidden compartments and is a fun build, especially for kids. I decided to make a video tutorial with a parts list if anyone fancies making one for themselves. Have fun! Rick. The video can be found here:

Let me tell you my story: I had put up a listing for a complete set of SW Microfighters series 1. I went through a lot of trouble and it was one of the longer and more tedious listings I created. It had two pics of each set and then a pic of all 6 together. The pics had my watermark. I typed out a long description including manufacturer's description for each set, along with including all the piece counts and UPC codes. I spent a lot of time on this listing. The next day some doofus from Chicago has copied my title, my listing text and all my pics. This wasn't another Lego reseller. This was actually some guy who sold some weird items related to a group for *** members of the USMC. Now I have no problem with *** people at all, or Marines for that matter, but I really don't want my listings matching this guy's 100%. Also he had a crap feedback score. I politely asked him to remove my info from his listing and he accused me of stealing HIS images and text and said to stop harassing him or he would report me. So I called ebay and had them remove the listing. Pretty easy to tell who's listing came first. If you think this kind of activity is OK, I wonder if you engage in it yourself? If so, please stop, you are being a giant douchenozzle.

Got shipping confirmation for the R2D2 orders! Can't wait to receive them!

So, built this one last night. Box was in good condition considering the age, if a bit musty. Instructions were also in good. In the box also had two Expert Builder (Technic) posters/catalogues (in perfect shape), missing piece/feedback card and a 1982 (I think) Lego catalogue, also in great shape. The model itself? The pieces look almost new. The minifigs are immaculate- no "Bennied" broken helmet straps, no faded Classic Space logos. Baseplate is also immaculate. However, missing one white minifig and 4-5 other pieces, even though it was advertised as complete. But, it is a beauty. I'll have to take a comparison photo with Benny's Spaceship Spaceship SPACESHIP to show both the scale and just how bloody good an hommage the latter set is to these lovely old sets.

​I think he was probably talking about when he's around your mother though.

I don't really see why it matters. You're on there to sell a product, and that's all the photo is for. If they have the same product, the photo isn't changing what the customer gets. I would say eBay should have *more* photo sharing. There's no point in 500 people spending the time, energy, electricity to duplicate photos of the same thing. Everybody on Amazon uses the same photos. I feel like this idea of it being lazy is more coming from people trying to find every way to have an edge on the competition. People want to think they put more time or effort into it, so they deserve more money. But spending the time to take photos manually just so you can get a sale instead of the other guy, when the customer would be receiving the same thing, how does that make sense? eBay listings *don't* make coherent sense, and that's what a lot of people like about it. You can pull off a $200 sale when the other guy was offering it for $150. Be glad for it, but I think I have better things to worry about than if the $200 guy saved a few minutes by using my photos.

​dont view it like that man, they are out there. just find one that believes in you, not your obsession p.s. dont tell them

I am redirecting the traffic of Investorsell.com to the new groups app here. I have a few changes that will need to be made on the overall forum but this should work fine once all the proper permissions are setup. You will need to request to join the group and I will try my best to approve as soon as I can.

​Bundling?!? That'll never work.

Yesterday I built the 21004 Solomon Guggenheim Museum that I picked up for $25us. It's a very pretty build but it suffers the same fate as sets like Rockefeller Center, Sydney Opera House, and Brandenburg Gate and that is that the smaller horizontal builds LOOK small. Sungnyemun only suffers from this a little but Sydney Opera House is just ugly to look at. I really liked the method to "weight" the large radar dishes. Today, I built the 21020 Trevi Fountain. What I said above for horizontal builds doesn't apply to larger ones as 'Trevi' is beautiful! It reminded me of when I visited Rome and it was a LOT of fun to build, even the usually tedious parts, and you see it nicely build itself up starting with the fountain. The techniques used for the columns and facade are pretty clever and look brilliant. My only quibble is that I don't really like the rocks as they look clumsy and the sculptures are too large but it is my personal favourite of the architecture line to date. It just looks sharp.

If the package was damaged and its insured, they can file a claim with Canada Post to be reimbursed. Remind them that will need to surrender the item. Also, after they send you pictures of the damaged item AND damaged box it came in, tell them to return it to you at their cost. Once item is received and verified complete, you would then reimburse them their shipping costs. Basically you are forcing them to get their money back and end up with no product which is likely not what they want. That's the best case scenario I can think of... Always a risk.

​ the problem is your argument falls apart at the end. they are not legally obligated to take it down, since they have the right to use it. Ebay it self can distribute that photo anywhere they want legally, and it is their system that is distributing the photo, not the seller. now their ToS discourages this type of behavior, and they have customer satisfaction issues to balance. so if they receive enough complaints they will likely take some action. however do not expect them to have any legal obligation to do so. finally you are photographing a copyrighted work (the lego box), thus your copyrights in and of themselves are limited. US copyright is pretty lenient in regards to the selling of items, but that does not extend to a general use copyright. Thus using a copyrighted image to sell an item is mostly legal, which is why you will not be sued by lego. however its likely legal for the other seller to do the same with your image. the caveat being that none of these issues, in the context of modern technologies, have ever really been fully addressed in court...

​Once again, this is completely incorrect. You are giving eBay rights to use your photo...you aren't giving other users rights to use them. Just because another user posts it back to eBay doesn't make it okay. When I said it gives eBay rights to put it on eBay, I meant it gives the company rights....they can show it on the listing page, they can use it in eBay ads, etc. eBay does have to do something. You are reporting that someone is infringing on your intellectual property rights and they are obligated to take it down, as it is illegal content hosted on their website. Bottom line, using other sellers' photos without their explicit permission is both immoral and illegal.

​Now I see it. Thanks.

​You forgot tea leaves divination. I refuse to believe anything less accurate

​Lego's VIP system is a separate system from the retail POS system which is likely different from the online retail POS system. It doesn't mean they don't talk in some way and that single reports can't be generated against multiple databases. We know the VIP system is separate for two reasons: account transactions take up to 24 hours to be reflected in your account (this tells us a separate process allocates & verifies those points) and people who've been banned by S@H were able to spend their VIP points in the stores. Oh yeah, that last point also means that the store and online systems are likely separate. It does NOT mean their inventory system is separate which is more of what you're referring to when talking about OOS vs Sold Out. I designed a VIP system for a POS that I created for a non-retail gaming environment. Unless the systems are created from the ground up at the same time, they'll always be separate from each other but modified to work with each other. It's highly unlikely LEGO has done that.

​ I have found that reporting does nothing, but if you call them they will often delete it right there while you are on the phone with them. I have had sellers steal my photos (watermark included!) and steal the text and title from my listing 100%.

+1... ​BUT... Never put "Expedited Parcel" as text in your listing if you can avoid it, persons see this and assume it's super fast shipping when it's actually not. it's just a real bad name for a service that just takes a different processing line, it's better to use the generic-most postal option if you are using fixed price shipping & chose what ever method you want afterwards (sometimes Regular can be cheaper depending on size/weight & destination but usually Expedited is indeed the best choice)

picture of makeup, hilarious

Tower of Orthanc is finally OOS on Amazon.com

very clever. i like it! thanks for sharing

Got my Entertainment Book again this year, and I noticed you are able to purchase David Jones e-gift cards at 10% off. Combine this with a 20% off sale and you're getting some great savings on retail prices... Now if only they'd hurry up and get some more exclusives in!

<James May>Hello</James May> Will be posting soon in the "What set did you build today?" thread. 6980 Galaxy Commander. eBay, US $119.99 is not a steal but reasonable.

75021 Republic Gunship x2 (Barnes Noble with 10% membership + 16% raise gift card) Pet Shop x4 (Target w/ tax and RC: 3 orders, first order of x2 shipped)

​I would buy as others have said. Still super high on this one, I have 5 which is a lot for me on a set of that price, and I'm holding them all long term. Still think this gets to $300 easily in a few years.

​Sure they are toys, but everyone loves money no matter where it comes from! Just have to show your SO how much can be made with the hobby. Girlfriend has more TH's and GE's than i do right now so i'd say i did a good job at it haha. ​Wow, sounds like a lot of work!

These pics don't do this amazing model justice. Incredible work - keep it up. I especially liked the rocket shape of the seats, and the overall space theme. Please post pics of this model fully deployed!

​That's a lot of polys

​Honestly? A few bottles of good wine, and lots of time to learn about the topic of your investment. A good start would be this forum. That's going to save you way more in the long run than any set you could buy for $50 now.

2x Red Five and while I am waiting another 2x Red Five

6894 Invader. Original Blacktron, yes!

​chezzzuk :- Hi there, thankfully with Lego they havnt charged me, not sure if it was the light weight in comparison with size of box?? I collect other things like Blu Ray Steelbooks been caught a couple times with them but too rarely to be worried. when ordering stuff from Asia they always try to put on the package that that the content is less than £20, Customs always ignored my parcel then no matter what I had inside. As for USA, AmazonUSA tend to put a Customs charge on it before you press the 'pay' button. Not sure if this export tax for them ?? Been caught a couple of times by our Customs one in particular was a Cleveland Browns winter padded jacket cost me £60 but Customs charged an extra £37!!! which I obviously questioned but no that was what I had to pay. So I think we do need to be careful but ultimately we have to bite the bullet in and out. Also regarding delivery companies MyHermes are shocking for me. I dread ordering from The Disney Store, if I am not at home they leave my parcel partially hidden in my garden hedge open to the rain with odds on a damaged box!!!! Anyway enough of the rant its nice to chat to a few peole on here lets keep the deals and experiences coming folks

​The OT is not that great story wise either. Guess what propelled Star Wars back then? Visuals and atmosphere. It was new back then, seeing stuff like that. EPV was somewhat not that cheesy, but still nothing extraordinary. The flow of the story, the Empire's status and power relations are all messed up, pretty much to serve great action scenes. Ad-hoc stuff thrown together to look cool, which was a success. SW was always about the action, visuals AND coolness, which the ewoks and jar jar go against. Why do you think Boba Fett is popular? Because he is cool. People have to look behind the mist of nostalgia and memories. SW was a memorable flick, a first of its kind, just as cheesy and about visuals as the movies people like to criticise. I am not saying I don't like SW, but I don't go there for the story. It has to make sense on a level, but great stories are for more serious movies where there is time to develop them.

There is this scene in the "People vs George Lucas" where some gen xers & yers go off on a jar jar bashing tangent by stating "Lucas's prequel films only appeals to babies". And, what's ironic about it was that kids seemed to love Jar Jar, while those that have grown into adults during the prequel era seem to mistakingly think SW should only appeal to adults and older generations. They seemed to mistakingly forget that SW biggest target audience is kids. Yeah, to some older folks, an 8 year old anakin winning a nascaresque podrace seems a bit silly and corny, but to a kid that age it gives them hope, fuels their imagination and inspires them. Lucas could connect with his inner child better than a majority of human society - and it's evident with some of his films, as he built an empire by being able to hone those skills. And seriously, when most of us were kids during the OT era, we liked the ewoks too. I know I liked them, and had the action figures. I also like this EV set, and will definitely will be opening and building one in a few months to give to my son for his birthday. But, it's really not about "me" at this point. It's for my kid, but I still apprecatiate this, and think it does appeal to me too. I'd rather spend my money on something like this for my kid than many other things. And I also think as an investment, there will be others out there that will buy and invest in it. Seriously, I have to chuckle at some here that think that a UCS Lego set should scream "For Adults only". Once again, Lego's have universal appeal, but are geared mostly towards kids. A little perspective is in order.

Heres Mine Audi R8 4.2

I purchased one and actually opened the box (which is more than most can probably say on this site) ...Just to get a view of the manual. (I am a manual guy, what can I say) It is super awesome and big (think UCS Millenium Falcon big...a set I don't own but bought the manual from Lego Replacement Parts for $55 before they were no longer available last year). I was also very impressed how the inner boxing worked, it had a box just for the manual. I will be building this set. Just as a side note, I love these monster manuals. So far I have only come across 4 that don't confine with the normal manual size. 10179, 10143, 10030 and this one 10221. The rest I eagerly file away in a Lego Manual File Cabinet by Set type. Does anyone know other sets with oversized manuals? I much prefer them over the 2-4 books that come with sets like Taj Mahal and Imperial Shuttle. I know what you are thinking, I am a nut for loving manuals. And to think as crazy as I am about them, I somehow misplaced my Statue of Liberty and Cafe Corner manuals! It drive me nuts to think I might have thrown them away accidently when moving.