fred67 Posted November 4, 2011 Posted November 4, 2011 I've got a question about selling on bricklink. I have a number of highly sought-after items in my store for very competitive prices, however are there other factors that people use to judge whether they want to buy? My feedback score is 100% but still low (25 atm), and I don't charge anything other than the real shipping cost. - Sok. Like Silent Mode said, plus there's the fact that I don't see many highly sought after items in your store. They are classic items, valuable items, but I don't know that the demand is all that high... they are niche items. Sometimes people are also wary of such small stores. I would not likely order from your store because shipping to the U.S. can be brutal and play a much more important role than just the base price of the items.
Sokratesz Posted November 4, 2011 Posted November 4, 2011 Like Silent Mode said, plus there's the fact that I don't see many highly sought after items in your store. They are classic items, valuable items, but I don't know that the demand is all that high... they are niche items. Sometimes people are also wary of such small stores. I would not likely order from your store because shipping to the U.S. can be brutal and play a much more important role than just the base price of the items. Maybe my wording wasn't exactly right, but when I put up a set that's on 70 people's watchlist, do a 'notify' and get +40 views to my store in the next few hours but no order or mails with questions it makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong. Shipping can be expensive indeed but on the European mainland it's quite doable, and that's where most of the BL public seems to be located. - Sok.
kyphur Posted November 4, 2011 Posted November 4, 2011 I put up a set that's on 70 people's watchlist, do a 'notify' and get +40 views to my store in the next few hours but no order or mails with questions it makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong. I wouldn't say you've done anything wrong necessarily. Just like any other niche community I have found BL buyers (myself included) to be hard to predict. Some use the wanted list just to watch the "Ebb & Flow" of items they are interested in. Some are hard on the hunt but have a drop dead price they are willing to spend. Some simply have more wants than cash. At the end of the day just having the lowest price on an item won't guarantee you'll get the sale quickly. If it did then those last 10 SW sets in my store would have disappeared a long time ago!
fred67 Posted November 4, 2011 Posted November 4, 2011 Maybe my wording wasn't exactly right, but when I put up a set that's on 70 people's watchlist, do a 'notify' and get +40 views to my store in the next few hours but no order or mails with questions it makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong. Shipping can be expensive indeed but on the European mainland it's quite doable, and that's where most of the BL public seems to be located. - Sok. In that case, your prices can't just be "competitive," they have to beat everyone else's, otherwise those people would have already bought what was available elsewhere. So by competitive, unless you mean "I beat everyone else's price," then it's really not good enough.... UNLESS you have a lot of other things at good prices that someone might want, it's rarely worth it unless you BEAT other prices.
1980-Something-Space-Guy Posted November 4, 2011 Posted November 4, 2011 (edited) I've got a question about selling on bricklink. I have a number of highly sought-after items in my store for very competitive prices, however are there other factors that people use to judge whether they want to buy? My feedback score is 100% but still low (25 atm), and I don't charge anything other than the real shipping cost. - Sok. My main Lego aim is minifigures, and when I buy on BL, the criteria that I use for stores goes something like this: -Availability of shipping to my country -Amount of items that the store has that are on my wanted list (in this case, several minifigs) -The price of those items when compared to other stores, including shipping and any additional fees -Feedback In addition, I usually contact all sellers with questions before I place an order. If the seller is too slow responding or doesn't answer my questions, I won't by from him or her. If the seller lacks communication skills when I am a potential buyer, I just can't imagine how bad could that be if I placed an order and had problems. Also, a definite hook in a seller is when he or she is willing to bargain. Most sellers who are willing to take less than the sum of the prices for a set of items in their store get a purchase from me. Finally, I would like to add that the stores that I compare are generally those that: a) have one of my most wanted items cheaper than most stores in BL or at a reasonable price, and b) are ranked top in stores with the most items in my wanted list. I use these two searches to begin to choose between stores. Hope this helps! Edit: #555 Edited November 4, 2011 by johnnyvgoode
Mrcool1804 Posted November 22, 2011 Posted November 22, 2011 I have a question. I uploaded a large Wanted List on BL and bought a lot of the items on that list using the BL built in function. Now do those items automatically come off my Wanted List or do I have to now manually go back in and delete them?
SilentMode Posted November 22, 2011 Posted November 22, 2011 I have a question. I uploaded a large Wanted List on BL and bought a lot of the items on that list using the BL built in function. Now do those items automatically come off my Wanted List or do I have to now manually go back in and delete them? You'll have to manually remove them.
kyphur Posted November 22, 2011 Posted November 22, 2011 You'll have to manually remove them. Yep, but theres a neat feature on the page right after you commit to the purchase, a link that goes to a everything in the order that's on your wanted list so you can easily remove it all!
Follows Closely Posted December 8, 2011 Posted December 8, 2011 I've got a question about selling on bricklink. I have a number of highly sought-after items in my store for very competitive prices, however are there other factors that people use to judge whether they want to buy? My feedback score is 100% but still low (25 atm), and I don't charge anything other than the real shipping cost. - Sok. I post my sets at 15%-25% below the LOWEST price and they are gone in a week. But I am in the states and I usually list discontinued used Star Wars sets.
CptMugwash Posted December 31, 2011 Posted December 31, 2011 Hey guys, instead of making a thread for this I've posted here. I use bricklink every now and then and I usually just buy orders up to £30 but I can't resist the temptation of adding more and more and soon my basket is over £100 and up to £200. Is it safe to order such expensive orders and what's the general 'go about' of safeguarding it like insurance and if something does happen how does it work? Cheers.
Scubacarrot Posted January 1, 2012 Posted January 1, 2012 Hey guys, instead of making a thread for this I've posted here. I use bricklink every now and then and I usually just buy orders up to £30 but I can't resist the temptation of adding more and more and soon my basket is over £100 and up to £200. Is it safe to order such expensive orders and what's the general 'go about' of safeguarding it like insurance and if something does happen how does it work? Cheers. Shipping companies usually offer insurance, which means that if something would happen to the package during shipping, you will get your money back, or at least part of it. The value that is insuranced usually varies, so it is a good idea to check how much is insuranced. On Bricklink, when placing an order, you can choose to get it insuranced, except if the seller has disabled that option.
CptMugwash Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Shipping companies usually offer insurance, which means that if something would happen to the package during shipping, you will get your money back, or at least part of it. The value that is insuranced usually varies, so it is a good idea to check how much is insuranced. On Bricklink, when placing an order, you can choose to get it insuranced, except if the seller has disabled that option. Thanks for the reply Scuba, should I be wary if a seller has disabled the option of insurance?
Scubacarrot Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 Thanks for the reply Scuba, should I be wary if a seller has disabled the option of insurance? I think it depends on the feedback rating this seller has, if he has a decent amount of feedback, I wouldnt worry, but of course the risk is your own, although I must say I find it strange someone would disable the option for insurance (especially if the seller is european?)
charlieboy Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Hi guys, i'm just after some advice really. I have the new VW camper van set listed in my BL store, I have a chap in Thailand that is very keen to purchase it but he has no feedback as of yet. He is waiting for me to get back to him for a price on shipping before he buys it. Should I be concerned about selling a set of this price to someone on the other side of the planet with no feedback? Obviously i'd send it via airmail and get delivery confirmation. I'm probably worrying about nothing but what would you do? I dont want to get scammed Many thanks,Shane
SilentMode Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Hi guys, i'm just after some advice really. I have the new VW camper van set listed in my BL store, I have a chap in Thailand that is very keen to purchase it but he has no feedback as of yet. He is waiting for me to get back to him for a price on shipping before he buys it. Should I be concerned about selling a set of this price to someone on the other side of the planet with no feedback? Obviously i'd send it via airmail and get delivery confirmation. I'm probably worrying about nothing but what would you do? I dont want to get scammed Many thanks,Shane I'd give them a shipping cost with either Airsure or International Signed For: not only for proof and compensation, but it will scare off anyone who's not serious about buying.
Zeya Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 I have a question. I'm slowly over time accumulating a small number of polybags and impulse sets that I don't necessarily want to open. And maybe a few used things from the occasional eBay purchase. My question is, would it be worth it to open a Bricklink store even with a very small amount of stuff? I'm not familiar with what sort of costs associated with setting up or running a BL store. How big of a cut does BL take out of your sales, is there a monthly overhead, etc. Most importantly, would it be worth the time and effort with such a small amount of stuff? I'm talking something like 20 polybags and less than 1 pound of bricks, two or three random keychains, stuff like that.
charlieboy Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 I'd say go for it! It costs nothing to set up your own Bricklink store! Bricklink take a tiny percentage of each sale and you wont even have to pay anything until you owe $10. I've only just reached that point and i've been selling on there for a while now. If you dont sell anything it wont cost you anything! I have sold more polybags than anything else so as long as you price your items correctly they should sell. I always aim to be either the lowest priced for an item or atleast the lowest in my country but then it does depend how much you have spent on your stock. My polybags cost me pennies but sold for a tidy profit so I can afford to sell them fairly cheaply. Hope that helps
Brickity Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 I have a dummy question: So if I pay for the insurance and for some reason the package gets lost, will I get paid with what the stuff I bought costed? And who will? Excuse me, I'm new to this Also, is there a possibility for a package to get lost in the customs? or get stuck there? Thank you
Scubacarrot Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 I have a dummy question: So if I pay for the insurance and for some reason the package gets lost, will I get paid with what the stuff I bought costed? And who will? Excuse me, I'm new to this Also, is there a possibility for a package to get lost in the customs? or get stuck there? Thank you I think it is different for each postal-service, Perhaps you can find this information on the website of the postal company in question?
AvengerDr Posted January 19, 2012 Posted January 19, 2012 I was tempted to buy some rare pieces from the US - i live in the UK. Does anyone know if there are customs taxes to be paid on international letters too?
mrklaw Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Is there a way to export orders from bricklink into brickset or some other site? I want to try and keep my parts list up to date and this is the first time I've bought parts separately. Or from a wanted list? Also, any tips to avoid double ordering? eg on a few of the orders I get both a new and used set of pieces. Been trying to order parts for cafe corner and I've now got three staircases!
Brickadeer Posted January 26, 2012 Posted January 26, 2012 (edited) I'd like to buy from a certain seller. Since in his store terms he only says that, "[He] will ship to all connected states and Canada. [He] will charge actual shipping + $0.5 handling fee.", I'd like to know the shipping costs for a certain weight. The seller, however, doesn't allow to be contacted. So my options are (a) not to order or (b) hoping that he won't charge an unreasonable amount of money. Any ideas what I should do? I was tempted to buy some rare pieces from the US - i live in the UK. Does anyone know if there are customs taxes to be paid on international letters too? You should find the answer here: http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000014&propertyType=document#P24_2132 Edited January 26, 2012 by Brickadeer
Zeya Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 I'm wondering how long I should wait to start a non-responding seller report. I should have known better. I found a brand new store that opened and decided to buy something for $25 that usually goes for $35 or so. I got an invoice nice and quick, and paid the next morning. But tomorrow will have been one week since I placed the order. The seller last logged in 2 days ago, and he didn't change the status of the order at that time. I sent a PM-style message to him through BL yesterday, and no response to that. That's my sad story. At least worst case scenario I'm only out $25. Could have been worse.
Brickadeer Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 I'm wondering how long I should wait to start a non-responding seller report. I should have known better. I found a brand new store that opened and decided to buy something for $25 that usually goes for $35 or so. I got an invoice nice and quick, and paid the next morning. But tomorrow will have been one week since I placed the order. The seller last logged in 2 days ago, and he didn't change the status of the order at that time. I sent a PM-style message to him through BL yesterday, and no response to that. That's my sad story. At least worst case scenario I'm only out $25. Could have been worse. If in doubt, I'd proceed as described here: How to File a Non-Responding Seller Alert:Go to the Problem Order page, enter the order ID and the option to file a Non-Responding Seller Alert will appear if the following conditions are met: You are the buyer in the transaction At least 7 days have passed from the order submission date (since the order was last submitted or updated). Current Order Status can't be one NPB, NPX, NRS, NSS or Cancelled.
Zeya Posted February 3, 2012 Posted February 3, 2012 Actually I guess I should do "non-shipping seller" since the "non-responding seller" instructions say that is if you have not paid yet. I have unfortunately paid, so that would be a non-shipping seller case. And from what I'm reading, it sounds like I won't be getting my money back. And then if the seller gets 3 of these, he's booted off BL. I'm crossing my fingers that maybe this guy is just indisposed for a few days or just really new to BL, but it's looking less likely by the hour. Sent him an email directly this morning and he still hasn't responded, and his last BL login was around 9pm EST two days ago.
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