Who is doing LUGBULK 2010?

[Eilif]

This is a thread for those who areparticipating in LUGBULK 2010 to discuss the program. Others are welcome to participate, but please read the other LUGBULK threads before asking questions here.

I realize that no one has recieved their pieces yet, but the deadline for participation signup has passed, so those who are in for the first round of LUGBULK 2010 know who they are. One Note, as per Jan Beyer's request, Do not post any element prices in this thread! TLG has asked that we not share current pricing info, and I think we should honor that.

As for us, the Northern Illinois LEGO Train Club is participating and I'm heading up the process. We are currently wrapping up our element seletion and getting ready to send our final order to TLG.

A few points of interest about our experience thus far..

-After we submitted our 80 element list, LEGO sent back the 57 elements that were approved, and left it to us to decide which elements would comprise our final list of 50.

-One enterprising member created a Google Doc spreadsheet so all members could adjust their totals on the same sheet and included average bricklink prices and USD conversions on the sheet. I can't recommend this enough. It greatly streamlined the process.

-With a few exceptions, almost every item we selected turned out to be cheaper (most of them significantly so) than the average Bricklink price.

-Even when they were less than Bricklink prices, some elements are so expensive that to order 50 (the Lugbulk minimum order per element) costs more than one member's 500dkk alotment. This caused some annoyance and in most cases we decided not to order that element.

-Not all unorderable elements are Licensed or from OOP sets. We were surprised to find that we were unable to order train wheels.

A few Questions for other LUGs involved in LUGBULK.

-Did you require that each member order in quantities of 50? We encouraged members to do so, but allowed individual members to get together to split quantities of 50 for elements that were particularly expensive or not desirable in quantities of 50.

-Did your group order the elements for individuals collections, or did you all pitch in to buy brick for a communal club collection? We chose the former.

Anywho, despite the inevitable headache of oragnizing something like this, our order process is proceeding well. I'm very happy with TLG for extending this offer to us and NILTC will likely participate in the second round of 2010 ordering as well.

[Rick]

LowLUG (Dutch LUG) participated in this year's first round as well. 'Stuifzand' (she also has an account here on EB) did the administrative part and what I understand from it, everything went fine in her communication with Jan Beyer. We followed the exact same procedure as you did (and we thought we were 'over-organizing' it ) and also were required to order in multiples of 50 (per person), except for a handful of more expensive parts, which we made sure of we ordered in multiples of 50 for LowLUG as a whole. I think Stuifzand is intending to also participate in a second round in 2010.

[Matija]

We have a self-designed ordering clickety-click-system on our club's web pages, as seen below:

- So far, we have ordered only for individual collections.

- Every person puts down what they are interested in (in prioritized order), and every person can see all the other elements on the list added by other people, in order to increse the probability that they will choose some elements that already exist on the list. If the element has been ordered in previous rounds, the old price is shown for orientation.

- We DO allow for non 50-amounts in the first round, so that anyone can fill up to the next 50-limit. This has indeed proven to be very useful for relatively expensive elements.

- Then this is exported into excel to reduce the number to the first limit, by looking at who has most elements that are "loners" (i.e., nobody else wants them), which elements are non-sense to order (like, 50 round 1x1 plates that cost so little that there's no point in LUGBULKing them, or 6 cows which is not probable will come up to 50), etc.

- Then, when we get back the list with prices, I punch them in and let people decide by themselves what they want to remove further. A few of us check a bit BrickLink prices to find potential further nonsensers and give a suggestion (something like "either you remove it yourself or I'll do it later anyway) :)

- After the list is reduced further, we give a few days for everyone to fill their "basket" up to the limit (total amount divided by the number of people actually ordering in the particular round)

- Then the list is sent to LEGO.

- I create "invoices" in the database to make sure I have the money before I get the real invoice from LEGO

- We wait :) When the bricks arrive, we see which lots can be delivered in person, the rest is sent around either individually or in groups (for people living close to each other, in order to minimize further shipping costs)

[Eilif]

Matija,

I really like your system. We have similar information on a communal spreadsheet, but your layout is beautiful, and having pictures included, is a really good idea. I can think of a couple situations already where that would have saved us some confusion.

I'm also stealing your doublebass design right now!

For all involved in LUGBULK,

Have any of you heard if we are allowed to share our approved element lists with each other?

Obviously we can't share prices, but it would be really helpful to know what elements TLG has approved for other clubs before we submit our own lists. It might also give some great ideas for orderable elements that other folks might not have thought of.

[Eilif]

One more thing. For those who ordered last time. How long did it actually take to recieve your invoice, and then the order itself from the time that LEGO told you the order had been submitted to the warehouse?

[Matija]

Well, actually, it didn't quite go in the same order you mentioned. We first got the bricks (about 1,5 months after placing the order), then after another month or so we got a reminder that we hadn't paid for the bricks yet, and then a few days later we got the invoice

[Davey]

Twin-LUG is participating in this round and our order was just sent off to TLG this past week. Everyone was asked to order in quantities of 50 for convenience sake more than anything. The only elements we did not require quantities of 50 of were cows, pigs, and monkeys (although we didn't have enough interest to even get 50 cows). We also are planning on doing trades, if necessary, when the order finally comes in. Orders were placed for private collections as Twin-LUG really doesn't have a "communal layout". Our Micropolis is a collaboration by the individual members and individuals own the bricks, not the LUG.

I really like Matija's method of ordering and I'd love for Twin-LUG to use a similar method! I'll have to get on our webmaster about that. Way to go Club Kockice!

Some of the things I noticed during the process:

1) Not as many members of our LUG participated as I thought would.

2) Almost every piece we selected was cheaper through LUGBULK than on Bricklink.

3) Almost every piece we requested was available.

4) The process of ordering has been incredibly fun.

I love the LUGBULK program and I think it's a great way for LUG's and LTC's to get a lot of core and specialty elements to improve on their amazing displays.

As far as I know, Twin-LUG will plan on participating in the second round of 2010 ordering should it be offered to us again. Thanks TLG!!!!

-Davey

[Eilif]

Thanks for weighing in Dave,

NILTC had similar experiences as you guys, with the exception of

-Everybody participated.

-Maybe we picked the wrong elements, but 23 of the 80 elements we first submitted were rejected.

-While the process moved along well and TLG is very good with communication, there were enough hicups as we internally worked out our orders that I wouldn't describe managing thus far it as "fun". I do expect a good time when the club gathers to divvy up though, and now that we have a workable process though, I think that future orders might approach fun, especially as we plan to meet as a club next time to negotiate partial orders between members.

I definitely agree that this is a fantastic program. I know there was alot of skepticism posted here on EB when it was first presented last year, but thus far, there's not much I would change. I really hope that it continues, because being able to order almost 100 bucks of rare parts, at a great price, in quantity and twice a year is something I could really get used to.

[Rick]

NILTC had similar experiences as you guys, with the exception of

-Everybody participated.

At LowLUG we had some people just providing their contact details in order to raise the maximum order amount for everyone else. And then there were people, like me, that didn't use my full 'budget', so others could order more. A lot of people felt the maximum was 'too low' though.

-Maybe we picked the wrong elements, but 23 of the 80 elements we first submitted were rejected.

We had quite a few elements that were not available as well. When the list came back, we got a better idea of what types of parts were available. So next time that will be factored into the initial selection, I guess.

I definitely agree that this is a fantastic program. I know there was alot of skepticism posted here on EB when it was first presented last year, but thus far, there's not much I would change. I really hope that it continues, because being able to order almost 100 bucks of rare parts, at a great price, in quantity and twice a year is something I could really get used to.

I agree, when the initial proposal was posted here, it seemed rather restrictive and unmanageable. But after going through the process once, the organizers (who spent quite some time on it) felt that the process can be significantly 'smoothed' in the future.

[Matija]

Way to go Club Kockice!

Ehm... wrong club and wrong Matija ;)

[Davey]

Ehm... wrong club and wrong Matija ;)

Oh geez...I didn't even look. My bad. I feel like a total idiot now. Sorry about that. Nice interface anyway.

-Davey

[Eilif]

I just wanted to check in and say how great LUGBULK has turned out.

NILTC recieved our first LUBULK shippment a few weeks ago. Our president was nice enough to divide up all the bricks according to what each person had selected. I picked my portion this weekend and am really pleased with what I recieved. Even with 11 baseplates in my order, I still recieved over 1000 elements. In my opinion, LUBULK is definitely worth the hassle, and the wait. There's just no other way to get such rare and usefull elements, in large quantities, and for such good prices.

I encourage every LUG to get on board with LUGBULK. I may post pictures of my haul later, though please don't ask about revealing prices or purchasing, as both are expressly forbidden by LUGBULK rules.

Lastly, many thanks are due to Jan Beyer, who has perservered, through what must have been hundreds of inquiries and questions from LUG's and kept everything moving along and on schedule!

NILTC is just about to submit our second LUGBULK order this week!