[Software] Brickficiency - Find the cheapest BL stores to buy parts

[mdoupe]

The only way to be sure is to click on an item in the report and compare the item price.

If you log in while calculating it will show your local currency for sure (although I think the dollar sign may be hard coded).

[mentalmike]

Thanks you are correct. Got really excited first time I saw the $ thinking I had saved loads. The software has still saved me money though - thanks!

[mdoupe]

Just uploaded 0.95.4. It fixes an issue causing it to crash while downloading the latest update. You'll still require Microsoft SQL runtime if you have not already installed it.

Brickficiency can be downloaded here: http://www.buildingoutloud.com/bf/Brickficiency-095-4.zip

Microsoft SQL runtime can be downloaded here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17876

[mdoupe]

Also, if you are still having problems importing a wanted list from bricklink (ie. colours are showing as "Not Applicable", or items not showing up at all) please pm me C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Roaming\Brickficiency\debug\Debug-import.txt (preferrably after trying to import with 0.95.4. I plan to nail this down next, although I'm still quite strapped for time lately.

Edited November 4, 2014 by mdoupe

[Lego Otaku]

Trying 0.95.4 just now. I can't get it to do anything as far as importing or opening anything. The only option that still works is the view report from the last time I ran BF and about BF.

[The_Cook]

Brickficiency is finding a solution to my wanted list but Adobe Reader is complaining about the report output. Any thoughts? System is Win8.1 64bit, latest patches. Adobe Reader 11.0.09 which appears to be the latest

Where does the pdf file get created in order for it to be sent to Adobe Reader? Nothing obvious in my temp folder, nor the folder in which the bsx is located, nor the folder in which the Brickficiency executable is loaded? If I could find the pdf I could try some alternate viewers.

Edited December 3, 2014 by The_Cook

[mdoupe]

The report is an HTML file. you'll have to associate html files with a web browser.

Why does eurobricks decide to unfollow posts after a couple months? :/

[The_Cook]

Perfect, it works now. It would appear that Adobe Reader hijacked a number of file associations when I last installed it, including .html which I was expecting to route to Firefox (or at the worst IE).

Many thanks for what looks to be a very useful piece of software.

[Phoxtane]

How does Brickficiency determine how many different combinations there are to go through? I had a brief talk with somebody who's taken a lot more math classes than I, and he said they covered this sort of thing in his combinatorials class; he cited a formula (n!)/((n-x)!n!) where n is the amount of things to choose from and x is the amount of items in a give combination... so if I was looking at the amount of 3-store combinations out of 70 stores, it'd be (70!)/((70-3)!3!) - 54,740 different combinations. My TI-84 refuses to do even that by citing an overflow error, so it makes sense that 3-store combinations goes through a few million combinations whereas 4-store combinations gets out of hand very quickly.

I was running a 54-part list ranging in quantities from 1 to about 350, and while it went through 3-store combinations in about a minute and a half, it was still churning through 4-store combinations about four hours later - it had gone through 2.4 billion combinations at that point. Is there any point to letting it run as long as it takes to go through all the 5-store combinations to see if it's any cheaper? Or is there generally no benefit, in your experience?

[Lego Otaku]

Generally no reason. In my experience, it may find 350 parts combination for maybe $1 less but you need to factor in shipping cost.

5 store search is almost useless.

[Taseden]

I can't seem to import anything. The import tab is accessible, but the import from ldd file or bricklink wanted list is greyed out. So they do not work. Can anyone help?

[Phoxtane]

Well, it finds more than a few matches with three-store combinations if I let it check all regions. However, since I'd rather not pay for international shipping, I'm going to let it go through only North America.

So far it hasn't found any 3- or 4-store combinations... Oh well!

[rockethead26]

Well, it finds more than a few matches with three-store combinations if I let it check all regions. However, since I'd rather not pay for international shipping, I'm going to let it go through only North America.

So far it hasn't found any 3- or 4-store combinations... Oh well!

I find that by breaking a large list up into two or more parts and traeting them separately, the program can find solutions easier. Of course, now you're dealing with 6-8 stores instead with the added shipping.

[Phoxtane]

I find that by breaking a large list up into two or more parts and traeting them separately, the program can find solutions easier. Of course, now you're dealing with 6-8 stores instead with the added shipping.

Given that it didn't find any solutions to the five-store problem either I'm going to take out some of the parts from my list - get them from my LUG, most likely - and try again.

[The_Cook]

Yes the answer is combinatorial maths and yes the number get very big, very quickly. The trick is to narrow the search down...

First narrow it down geographically, ie dont search countries that you're not going to buy from; for me that means constraining it to Europe and often just the United Kingdom. It reduces the number of stores searched across from several thousand to about 600 for the UK bringing the combinations down from Billions to Millions.

Reduce the number of parts that you're searching for. In particular look through the list and see if you have any rare parts that are only present in one or two stores, change their status to either excluded or additional. Prior to checking the combinations for each part the program contacts Bricklink to find out how many stores that part is present in; that information is output to the progress window and allows you to tell you which parts are rare. Order the rare parts separately from those stores; by excluding them it gives the program more options to find the remaining parts cheaper rather than forcing it to concentrate on the few stores that contain those rare parts. Consider breaking up really big lists.

Edited February 19, 2015 by The_Cook

[Lego Otaku]

If you're having trouble finding stores without resorting to international or waiting a long time for 5 store combo, you should check the report anyway. It will list the parts and number of stores that has them, in order from fewest store. If you see a 0 store, odd are the part you're looking for is very rare or nonexistent. Make correction if needed, change to less rare color or design if possible. If you're still stuck on long wait, break up the list and move the top 5 fewest parts to a separate list for a "to do later" and work on the rest.

[__________________________]

Would this work with MLCad?

[Classicsmiley]

Would this work with MLCad?

You would first need to create a wanted list from your .ldr/.mpd file and upload it to Bricklink. I've never used the feature, but it looks like Brickstock might be able to help you with this. If you don't want to mix the wanted list for your model with any other lists you may have, you'll need to create a new Wanted list on Bricklink first.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Classicsmiley

[LegoGunInstructions]

Very useful!

[Pat-Ard]

Hi,

is it possible to add an option which checks the minimum order amount in the generated lists?

Would help a lot.

Often there's the problem that a combination isn't to order because the minimum order isn't reached...

Thanks

Pat

[Calabar]

Unfortunately add the "minimum order" voice don't solve the problem.

Some vendors, for example, require a "minimum per average lot", that could invalidate the order too.

Besides the cost is doped with additional costs (paypal fees, package costs, expensive shipping etc...) that make difficult to state the best shop where to buy.

So the program can give only an indicative result, the rest stay to the buyer.

About the minimum order amount, the problem has been brought up in the past, if I'm not wrong the problem is that it is not easy to get this data from the database. Let's wait for an answer from mdoupe.

[Daphatty]

Forgive me if I am missing something but I can't seem to find this info listed anywhere. Is there a way to import the sales report into Bricklink such that it automatically creates my shopping cart based on the results of the scan? Or am I supposed to do that portion manually?

[mdoupe]

is it possible to add an option which checks the minimum order amount in the generated lists?

It's possible, but not realistic. Every store page would have to be crawled, which would take quite a long time. I don't submit a lot of Bricklink orders, so I usually check if the store has anything interesting after I've added what was on my wanted list. There are very few stores that have ridiculous minimums, but when I find one I just blacklist it and run my report again.

Forgive me if I am missing something but I can't seem to find this info listed anywhere. Is there a way to import the sales report into Bricklink such that it automatically creates my shopping cart based on the results of the scan? Or am I supposed to do that portion manually?

If you have a very large list, there is an expandable section that will let you copy a wanted list XML that can be uploaded to a Bricklink Wanted list. For smaller lists, I usually just click the item picture which links directly to the item for sale in the listed store.

[Daphatty]

mdoupe - Thank you for the feedback. With your help, I've purchased the parts I needed to build my own Super Star Destroyer for significantly less than current market prices for the boxed set. Kudos to you, sir, for this great program.

[___]

having problem downloading needed SQLCE Runtime, Google didn't help at all in obtaining some other links for it, can anyone post it somewhere for downloading, please?

Suggestion for developer: could you please add the runtimes instalation file directly to you server so we are not dependent on not functioning Microsoft services anymore, please?