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.

Is 9 quid a lot? Borderline lurker trying to lighten the mood. ( I've posted, a little)

I am one of those who won't judge one way or another until I see the tool in action. I am curious to see how it will be integrated with the rest of the site. Having said that, Jeff feel free to contact me if you still need an unbiased beta tester. :)

I am one of those who won't judge one way or another until I see the tool in action. I am curious to see how it will be integrated with the rest of the site. Having said that, if Jeff feel free to contact me if you still need an unbiased beta tester.

Ditto. I don't see how any opinion can be had until we can take it for a test run or two.

Jeff has put a ton of work into several versions of the Classifieds over the past year so we hope people will find it useful. I'm sure there will be things they can be improved, but all we ask is that members give it a try before making negative comments about it. If you don't find it useful, no problem. Maybe one day you will find it helpful.

Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

The only great thing about this idiot continuing is he is ensuring he won't be around for long.

Good jobs mods

Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

The only great thing about this idiot continuing is he is ensuring he won't be around for long.

Good jobs mods

Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

 

But... but... but... I hate not knowing what was said!

 

The only way I'll be disappointed in the Classifieds is if one of you guys don't have the sets I need from 2006/2007. Honestly not sure if any of you still have sets that long term, just don't want to buy them from eBay right now.

But... but... but... I hate not knowing what was said!

 

The only way I'll be disappointed in the Classifieds is if one of you guys don't have the sets I need from 2006/2007. Honestly not sure if any of you still have sets that long term, just don't want to buy them from eBay right now.

. I have a lot of Star Wars sets from those years.

But... but... but... I hate not knowing what was said!

 

The only way I'll be disappointed in the Classifieds is if one of you guys don't have the sets I need from 2006/2007. Honestly not sure if any of you still have sets that long term, just don't want to buy them from eBay right now.

. I have a lot of Star Wars sets from those years.

That was beautiful. Complaint free, just the way it should be!

It would be great if Classifieds ran as smoothly as that!

Keep up the great work Macks!

My humble opinion about putting classifieds on this site is that it will work contra-productive. If everyone in the outside world gets to know this site all the profit margins will disappear. Why should I buy a set here if I already bought it with a deal I saw on this site two months ago? When I look at the local craig's lists in Europe people are already overeducated on lego prices. When I see an add and I look at the asking price I compare it with the value here on the brickfolio and it matches exactly. Even when housewives put the add (not trying to be denigrating). I just think this site should keep concentrating on brickvesting and not to wake up sleeping dogs. Cause it will eventually kill this site slowly.

Thanks for your opinion, but the classifieds are still going to happen.

Ok... I hope it will prove me wrong and we all benefit from it. :-) (It was just a pre-launch opinion. No hard feelings I hope)

Ok... I hope it will prove me wrong and we all benefit from it. :-)(It was just a pre-launch opinion. No hard feelings I hope)

Look at it this way, if you are looking for a retired set, a hard to find minifig, or anything lego related would you like to buy it from someone that knows what they are talking about and take care of their sets or some random person ? Plus with lower fees it might translate to better prices for buyers and better margins for sellers. Not everyone is an investor here, many many many members are collectors and hobbyists including myself. If you refer to the site's vision it doesn't soley advocate making money selling lego :)

Not everyone is an investor here, many many many members are collectors and hobbyists including myself. If you refer to the site's vision it doesn't soley advocate making money selling lego

 

Maybe the fact that there's a stock ticker scrolling across the top of the screen somehow gave him the wrong idea

I use brick owl and have yet to make a sale, even though I've got about 1/2 a dozen sets listed for much less there than what I regularly sell them for on eBay. I think consumers simply don't know about it.

It is not only the stock ticker across the top of the screen but also in the name: Brickpicker - Lego price and investing guide

 

But I will rest my case and I will shut up.

The tools buying stupid amounts of the same set and also buying ridiculous dollars amounts at one time will ruin lego investing long before brickpicker does.

The tools buying stupid amounts of the same set and also buying ridiculous dollars amounts at one time will ruin lego investing long before brickpicker does.

I somewhat agree with this. It's kind of interesting that more and more people are getting into lego as an investment. It does somewhat create a false sense of market that can lead to a major bubble. I'm sure that regular people who just buy lego to play with definitely outnumber the investors, but if you have more investors buying many multiples of sets, it creats a false market for a particular item. Really in the grand scheme, the investor types will just have to wait for a few years when more and more people start selling current products that will be retired.

To stay on topic, I think having a classified section would be great. It just expands the avenues to find pieces/parts outside of the usual big names. The more competition, the better the prices.

There are well over 25,000 members right now and most are not heavy duty resellers, or even resellers at all.  Most are just fans that want to know what their sets are worth and where to find good deals on LEGO sets.  There is a ton of activity behind the scenes between members, so the Classifieds will just help expedite that.  We realize that the Classifieds are not going to work for sellers that take advantage of uninformed eBay or Amazon buyers, but for many, the Classifieds will be a cost effective way to list their sets/parts to sell and trade to other members.

Any selling forum outside of ebay and amazon is a plus, since the overhead in those venues is stupid. I miss the old days of ebay. That being said i think we get a little ahead of ourselves in terms of how big am impact we make on pricing. It is a big world out there. Just look at the cumulative all in value of all brickfolios, this represents years of buying and holding. Compare that to just one year of legos gross sales. I am not worried. I may buy 100 of a 50 dollar set on discount. Who cares it is a drop in the bucket, and our cumulative bucket is only a slightly bigger drop. More sales venues is a good thing. I am thinking ahead 3-5 years with a projection of this portfolio and how to maximize profit and minimize cost. This is a good thing. You cannot realize profits on tangible investments without a sale. I am excited to see what rolls out, thanks.

I am working with Ed today and we are having a candid discussion about fees.  Progress on the site features has been solid and steady and we are nearing the end, this is why we are having this discussion.  I would just like to solicit some feedback from all of you since I know everyone is at a different level of being a seller.

 

Lets pretend you have been using the site for a few months through a trial period.  You like what you see, you like the features and of course you know there will be enhancements over time.  Again, pretend that everything is good and you want to continue using the site, but Ed and I sadly announce that the trial period is coming to an end and you need to make a decision on how you want to proceed.  If we gave you two choice of either a yearly subscription fee or a percentage of each transaction type of fee system.

 

The per transaction system would be no different than what you see done at bricklink or brickowl.

 

The subscription setup would have different levels to cover all different levels of seller from small to crazy selling machines.

 

We are interested in hearing different opinions so that we can try and get this right from the start.

 

Thanks again for you patience, and I think you will be happy very soon.

Jeff,

 

I have no clue what I would prefer. It is not so easy. I was just wondering:

 

Is there any statistic about how many people from Europe or other parts of the world are subscribed and how many from the US? How does that stand? Cause I have the impression the majority are from the US. So I suppose a fixed fee is on its place. I expect for example us europeans using the classifieds less. I dunno... just sharing my thoughts and seeing if I am somewhere right.

Why not have two different models. One subscription based (graduated) and one not. ie:

 

Seller A : I sell five items a year, and really have no interest in a subscription. For each transaction, there is a 5% fee.

 

Seller B : I sell 50 items a year, and will pay a $50 flat fee that allows me to sell 50 items at a 3% fee. Anything over that, and I have to pay another $50 flat fee for 50 more sales or the single rate of 5%

 

Seller C :  I sell 51+ items a year and will pay a $150 flat fee that allows me to sell unlimited items for a 2% fee.

 

Of course, these numbers are just thrown out there. But, to illustrate a point.

I am working with Ed today and we are having a candid discussion about fees.  Progress on the site features has been solid and steady and we are nearing the end, this is why we are having this discussion.  I would just like to solicit some feedback from all of you since I know everyone is at a different level of being a seller.

 

Lets pretend you have been using the site for a few months through a trial period.  You like what you see, you like the features and of course you know there will be enhancements over time.  Again, pretend that everything is good and you want to continue using the site, but Ed and I sadly announce that the trial period is coming to an end and you need to make a decision on how you want to proceed.  If we gave you two choice of either a yearly subscription fee or a percentage of each transaction type of fee system.

 

The per transaction system would be no different than what you see done at bricklink or brickowl.

 

The subscription setup would have different levels to cover all different levels of seller from small to crazy selling machines.

 

We are interested in hearing different opinions so that we can try and get this right from the start.

 

Thanks again for you patience, and I think you will be happy very soon.

would sellers be able to choose individually between the two options or is it either one across the board?

 

edit: what iahawks550 said

For the sake of this conversation, it doesn't matter if they can choose between them or not.  We are trying to get an idea of what people are interested in doing.  In a perfect world there can be unlimited options, but things can be too confusing.