Bricksetters' Bricklink stores

KingAlanI

CCC said:

KingAlanI said:

I understanding using paypal onsite now requires connecting through paypal marketplace which gives them control like taking money for refunds. probably wouldn't be a problem in practice but being cautious.

It has been like this for a year or so, and they have confirmed that they are not using the management type processes (giving buyers refunds) through bricklink. There is no need to when buyers can do their own claims. I offer both paypal onsite and manual paypal payment, I reckon 95% of my orders go through onsite. It makes paying so much simpler, you press on a button and you know the right amount goes to the right paypal account.

well now I know, though it's already stupid o clock and i have orders to pack so I'll think about it later

rbozarth said:

100,000 parts!!! It only took a few years but I've finally reached a goal I've had for awhile now.  Thank you all who have visited.

Bozbricks
store.bricklink.com/bozbricks

at 69K now. I have more than 31K in my backlog but you know how that goes

was over 96K end of 2018 then i sold a bunch, finished 2019 around 92K

similarly, my listed inventory value has hovered both above and below $10,000

KingAlanI

buyers who send you "I paid. did you get my payment.' messages. I already got a notification from paypal.

"are there any problems"? yes. that unnecessary email.

babieface75

I dont want to make a unwanted wanted ad so asking all you BL in here,anyone have the whole scuba iron man helmet,both parts?Drop me a pm,thanks

rbozarth

Just added 12 more Tiger Costume Girls from the BaM-Lego Store to my inventory.

store.bricklink.com/bozbricks

PickYourBrick

All parts older than 5 months are 20% off! Free shipping available on orders over $50 as well. 

https://store.bricklink.com/amolego

browny333

kiki180703 said:

I thought that it would nice to make a list of some Bricklink (or Brickowl) stores of Bricksetters so that we can all look there first. I already know @Rebelego 's store, which is Great Southern Bricks, @graphite 's store, which is Graphite Industries and @DadsAFOL store, which is Constructibles™ and maybe @Bricklover18 's store (please confirm) which is BRICKLOVER18. If you know or have a Bricklink store, feel free to add to this list!

i would have added in the list but the store i know is closed now

KingAlanI

It's confusing when a buyer orders all but 1 of a lot.

Is there still 1 left in my BrickLink inventory? Maybe I undercounted what I had when listing it. So I update the listing and maybe lost a sale from a buyer who would've liked another.

I offer bulk discounts for people buying a whole lot that's 10 or larger, so sometimes they're spending more money; sometimes I forget to update the bulk discount quantity as the quantity available changes and the buyer accurately responded to my inaccurate figure

I have to get another bag for what I sold and what I'm keeping rather than just sending the buyer the whole bag I already had. This is a cheap item but still adds to order processing time

legoprods

In case anyone is interested, I am doing an AMA in reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/j7df7b/i_sell_lego_parts_worldwide_on_the_internet_for_a/

I am the owner of a 600,000 part store from the south of Spain!

rbozarth

legoprods said:

In case anyone is interested, I am doing an AMA in reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/j7df7b/i_sell_lego_parts_worldwide_on_the_internet_for_a/

I am the owner of a 600,000 part store from the south of Spain!

Wow 600,000!!! I was happy to hit 100,000 recently.

https://store.bricklink.com/bozbricks

legoprods

Good job! I remember I was also very proud when I hit that milestone. Something in life came up, but i will try to do the AMA tomorrow, I had to run out!

browny333

KingAlanI said:

It's confusing when a buyer orders all but 1 of a lot.

Is there still 1 left in my BrickLink inventory? Maybe I undercounted what I had when listing it. So I update the listing and maybe lost a sale from a buyer who would've liked another.

I offer bulk discounts for people buying a whole lot that's 10 or larger, so sometimes they're spending more money; sometimes I forget to update the bulk discount quantity as the quantity available changes and the buyer accurately responded to my inaccurate figure

I have to get another bag for what I sold and what I'm keeping rather than just sending the buyer the whole bag I already had. This is a cheap item but still adds to order processing time

what are you actually up to?

KingAlanI

browny333 said:

KingAlanI said:

It's confusing when a buyer orders all but 1 of a lot.

Is there still 1 left in my BrickLink inventory? Maybe I undercounted what I had when listing it. So I update the listing and maybe lost a sale from a buyer who would've liked another.

I offer bulk discounts for people buying a whole lot that's 10 or larger, so sometimes they're spending more money; sometimes I forget to update the bulk discount quantity as the quantity available changes and the buyer accurately responded to my inaccurate figure

I have to get another bag for what I sold and what I'm keeping rather than just sending the buyer the whole bag I already had. This is a cheap item but still adds to order processing time

what are you actually up to?

what?

KingAlanI

USPS commercial rate domestic package postage temporarily increases from October 18th to December 27th. As usual, Notice 123, the full USPS price list, is a handy reference - https://pe.usps.com/resources/PriceChange/October 2020 - Notice123.pdf

DB361

Just hit 6,000 lots and 275,000 parts in my store for the first time. Having a major hit of my backlog so I'm adding so much new stock right now.
I'm looking to clear a lot of my instruction manuals, catalogues and miscellaneous items, so I've knocked 50% off loads of items, meaning you can pick up sets of instructions from as little as half a penny! Please do take a look if you're after anything.

https://store.bricklink.com/DB361&utm_content=globalnav#/splash

gabgenqc

I've opened a bricklink store this year and I'm running a 20% on all parts until october 30th. I have some sets that may worth checking. Here is my Bricklink store link: https://store.bricklink.com/gabgenqc&utm_content=globalnav#/shop

flord

Is there a way to blacklist certain stores so they don't show up in search results?

bandit778

flord said:

Is there a way to blacklist certain stores so they don't show up in search results?

Yes there is.

On the store you don't like, click on the favorite store link in the top right corner.

Click on bookmark store then click the dislike icon.

Then go into settings from your profile page and check the box marked Exclude Items in stores which are on my least favorite list.

This will then not show the store in any search results.

This also works on wanted lists so you can exclude them from the buy all option by checking the exclude disliked stores option.

flord

Awesome thanks!

KingAlanI

What brought this on? I haven't bought on BL in awhile, though I might pick up a few special pieces from recent sets where I don't like the whole set enough

Got a 42 lot $135 order a few days ago that still took a couple days to get to finishing - election news was distracting I guess

KingAlanI

Added 2 Llama Costume Girl, the only s20 CMFs I found for resale, and some extras from what I kept myself.

KingAlanI

Added s20 Pajama Girl and Sea Rescuer minifigure only (wanted the animal figurines for my own collection), as well as some extra parts

Housefullofbricks

https://store.bricklink.com/H.FullOfBricks

House Full Of Bricks Black Friday Sale

First 7 orders over $60 recieve a FREE polybag

15 % off all minifigures

90 % off all instructions

75 % off all sticker sheets

10 % off all used pieces

5-15 % off select new pieces

As always free shipping on orders $50 or more

Sale ends 11/29

KingAlanI

I finally set up Paypal Marketplace, and set up micropayments while I was at it. (micropayments requires a separate PP account, and Marketplace requires a business account when I want to keep my main PP account Personal, so now I have 3)

I've gotten customers from a few states who haven't been able to order, I think because automatic sales tax collection isn't available since I haven't enabled PayPal marketplace.

I don't like how that gives BrickLink some control over my finances even if they're not likely to use that in practice. I can deal with sales tax collection (which I do manually for NY) but I don't like how it comes with that additional "feature", an example of how regulations can be harder for small businesses like ours to comply with.

Also, even with states I do ship to, I have problems with customers who have trouble paying because a working Paypal link isn't right in their faces. Lately some have complained about BL showing a link that doesn't work.

I'm unsure how concerned I was versus not getting around to fixing it. It seems like more of a worthwhile risk now.

Micropayments fees are 5c+5% rather than the usual 30c+2.9%

Saving 25c on fixed versus paying 2.1% more equalizes at $11.90, so smaller payments are cheaper, and for my really small orders around $4, the difference is 25c vs. 42c.

KingAlanI

Mom has a friend whose granddaughter likes Friends and wanted more minidolls. That is a problem I solved eventually (most were from DC Super Hero Girls, but same style different theme worked, then I realized I had some minidolls from TLM2 as well)

Cut a lot of minifig/minidoll prices while that was on the brain, and deleted empty stockroom lots, unlikely to restock on those

I did get several orders the past couple days, including some people who hadn't been able to order who were still interested.

at first the automatic sales tax collection was just CA and CT but expanded to most of the country in the meantime.

NY is now included, a once a year paperwork hassle ended - no big deal but doesn't hurt. Will have to fill the form out again from sales in the old system and for when I sell off BrickLink.

Aleydita

For some reason there's a buyer in South Africa that keeps clearing me out of Minidolls! Months will go by and then another order...

KingAlanI

Aleydita said:

For some reason there's a buyer in South Africa that keeps clearing me out of Minidolls! Months will go by and then another order...

Sounds like a good problem to have.

Did you run out and then restock, or is that buyer clearing out what you already had in small chunks?

If I ever get back to sorting part outs from my backlog, I'll do sets with minidolls. I happened to be in the middle of such a set.

business has definitely picked up since I enabled onsite. a bit over halfway through December I have nearly as many orders as I got through all of November, and about as much value excluding one huge order in early November.

KingAlanI

year ended and started with a bunch of mostly small orders

highest profit year despite low revenue - I was mostly selling old inventory rather than continuing to buy more

for 2021 reworked my spreadsheet slightly to better account for the automatically collected sales tax

also, xmas USPS rate increase expired new increase doesn't apply till later in the month

TheFew

I am clearly a mere novice with a 38k parts in my store. Must try harder!

KingAlanI

I have not quite 64K now but I have been near 100K before - making sales before I hit that seems like a good problem to have. About 5K lots but nearly 2.5K of those are stockroom. Total price about $8K

recently sold a few minidolls after they'd been sitting for years, so price cut on those a few weeks back apparently did some good.

just updated prices on a bunch of decorated parts. also deleted empty stockroom lots and unchecked remain on what I still have, unlikely to restock on those so the entries seem like clutter and if I do the prices would be out of date.

KingAlanI

A few relatively big orders lately, a dozen lots or so, but they often involved counting out several dozen of the same piece. Not as easy as some low lot orders, but not as hard as bazillion-lot orders either.

My profit in about a third of a month is about $160, continuing on that pace would be about equal to what I made all of the last five years. Granted, that doesn't adjust for having bought inventory then - for instance, I spent about $40 before for CMFs I sold now. But even with that I've had a good year so far.

rbozarth

Part out of 4 Chess Sets into store last night.  Many black, white and Lt Gray Tiles for the taking. Over 5000 pieces!

https://store.bricklink.com/Bozbricks

KingAlanI

Just packed a huge simple order.

buyer ordered 210 of something I had 216 of, decided to send all of them to avoid counting or making errors while doing so.

also just sold a bunch of figures in another order. even though the CMFs went for around cost, I still moved the inventory, and they could serve as loss leaders for the rest of the things in the order

Aleydita

Just packed an order with 2,124 items in 468 lots in just over 2 hours. Record number of lots for me but nowhere near the record number of items. Of all that only one item wasn't where it should have been, but I lucked out and came across it while pulling other stuff.

DB361

KingAlanI said:

Just packed a huge simple order.

buyer ordered 210 of something I had 216 of, decided to send all of them to avoid counting or making errors while doing so.

Personally, I'd always count the parts I'm packing even if it clears the lot - I at least want to make sure the buyer is at minimum getting what they paid for, and if there's a leftover or two that's not in my inventory, I'll chuck that in as well.

The worst count I've had to do recently was for 914 trans-light blue round 1x1 plates - had over 4000 in stock so couldn't even just chuck them all in! Once I got going and broke the count down into batches of 50, it wasn't too bad.

rbozarth

DB361 said:

KingAlanI said:

Just packed a huge simple order.

buyer ordered 210 of something I had 216 of, decided to send all of them to avoid counting or making errors while doing so.

Personally, I'd always count the parts I'm packing even if it clears the lot - I at least want to make sure the buyer is at minimum getting what they paid for, and if there's a leftover or two that's not in my inventory, I'll chuck that in as well.

The worst count I've had to do recently was for 914 trans-light blue round 1x1 plates - had over 4000 in stock so couldn't even just chuck them all in! Once I got going and broke the count down into batches of 50, it wasn't too bad.

Agreed!!! I always count regardless of the lot clearing out or not.

CCC

DB361 said:

The worst count I've had to do recently was for 914 trans-light blue round 1x1 plates - had over 4000 in stock so couldn't even just chuck them all in! Once I got going and broke the count down into batches of 50, it wasn't too bad.

Weigh a batch of 50 and scale up, then add some more.

KingAlanI

@aleydita 468 lots in 120 minutes seems insanely fast. were many of them similar (say different sizes of black bricks) so you didn't have to look as far for the next one?

As for counting large lots - I don't want to damage or lose any while counting out a large amount that's about all I have, which would ironically defeat the point of sending the buyer enough. I did count when sorting the sets they came out of. Sometimes when sorting I make bags of a specific quantity (say 100) to expedite counting the lot later. I do use weight to tell if it's about right, and compare a small quantity to the weight estimate

KingAlanI

got an order for 125 of something and I did count them all out

still in track for an especially good year

imagine if I listed some of my backlog as well - maybe by the time i got through it LEGO would be on big sales again and I'd be actually ready to buy more

Aleydita

KingAlanI said:

@aleydita 468 lots in 120 minutes seems insanely fast. were many of them similar (say different sizes of black bricks) so you didn't have to look as far for the next one?

Not really, about 4 lots per minute which is a little slower than usual - but lots were just 1 or 2 items per lot. Some are much quicker to pick than others but my parts are all stored almost randomly. I say almost because there is some thinking behind it, for instance only one black part in the draw, one red, one green, etc. Where parts are stored in bags this slows things down but I'm slowly getting rid of them, preferring little tubs inside drawers which are much quicker.

Regards counting, I use a wooden bamboo tray with 10 shallow compartments, and I count 5 in each one, quickly empty this into a larger tray, repeat as needed, and then bag the lot. Counting in 5s helps to visually check the right amount are present. I recently did 830 Technic pins this way and it took 3-4 minutes at most.

KingAlanI

Grouping by 5's helps me count many things, LEGO inventory or not

rather different from how my inventory is organized

one part per color in a drawer? are the different colors the same shape? (for example "This is the 2x4 brick drawer"

first I have used pieces off separately (I stock relatively few of those), then bins by color, type of piece, subtypes of piece, depending on how much I have relative to bin size (and sometimes multiple small categories in the same bin). Subtypes might be plain/modified/decorated, rectangular or not. For example, red is bricks and plates with 2 each (plain rectangle, not), Tile and Jumper, Slope, Bracket/Plant/Animal/Food/Minifig Accessory, Technic, Other

I do have a small set of small drawers for colors I have particularly little of.

I use bags to keep them clean and separate from other lots in the same container and if I sell all of a lot I use that bag to ship it in.

CCC

Ninjago figs are selling like hot cakes.

KingAlanI

CCC said:

Ninjago figs are selling like hot cakes.

Now that you mention it, many of my fig sales lately have been those, both from Ninjago sets and TLNM CMFs

-

On a different type of fig, didn't send the buyer one of the parts, had 2 of that part with the copy of the fig I had left. I've had inventory errors before, but don't remember anything like that, and I generally notice before mailing. buyer wanted the missing part, can't blame them but needed mail it separately. I lost money on that order, but it's my fault, and taking one small loss can help my business overall (one of my pitfalls as a businessman is if I don't see the big picture in such situations)

Aleydita

KingAlanI said:

Grouping by 5's helps me count many things, LEGO inventory or not

rather different from how my inventory is organized

one part per color in a drawer? are the different colors the same shape? (for example "This is the 2x4 brick drawer"

first I have used pieces off separately (I stock relatively few of those), then bins by color, type of piece, subtypes of piece, depending on how much I have relative to bin size (and sometimes multiple small categories in the same bin). Subtypes might be plain/modified/decorated, rectangular or not. For example, red is bricks and plates with 2 each (plain rectangle, not), Tile and Jumper, Slope, Bracket/Plant/Animal/Food/Minifig Accessory, Technic, Other

I do have a small set of small drawers for colors I have particularly little of.

I use bags to keep them clean and separate from other lots in the same container and if I sell all of a lot I use that bag to ship it in.

I try and avoid the same colour and the same part in the same container, seems to be the quickest way to get straight to what I'm looking for. If I forget which part, I still have the colour, and vice versa.

The exception is where the colours are not currently in production, in which case, like you, I separate them into different trays, each lot in its own bags. I still try to avoid having the same colour or part in any one compartment of the tray but lack of space sometimes precludes that.

KingAlanI

Aleydita said:

I try and avoid the same colour and the same part in the same container, seems to be the quickest way to get straight to what I'm looking for. If I forget which part, I still have the colour, and vice versa.

The exception is where the colours are not currently in production, in which case, like you, I separate them into different trays, each lot in its own bags. I still try to avoid having the same colour or part in any one compartment of the tray but lack of space sometimes precludes that.

I suppose that would avoid confusing similar parts, like 2x8's and 2x10's. I make sure to keep similar colors separated for such reasons.

-

Just listed a CMF s6 Sleepyhead (somehow Target had one old CMF bag lying around)

KingAlanI

USPS rate increase took effect on the 24th. Got my shipping details updated but one order from just before was paid just after and I forgot to re-invoice at the new price.

KingAlanI

Part 6091 is now known as Slope, Curved 2 x 1 x 1 1/3 with Recessed Stud. It was previously called Brick, Modified 1 x 2 x 1 1/3 with Curved Top.

This is annoying because I sort slopes and bricks differently if I have any significant quantity of the color.

one of my recent orders was for some, with no (other) bricks of that color, so I didn't initially think I needed to get out the bin of that color bricks.

Moved what those lots to where I keep those color slopes.

some of my inventory has been renamed before but not this drastically. Flesh color names now being Nougat doesn't change my sorting system, though I still had some things labeled the old way.

KingAlanI

Finished the month with a $372 profit, minus $8 in postage and a missing part refund not paid til February 1st. Also spent $160 on new inventory, which I included as reduced profit.

(strict cash basis accounting, seems nigh impossible to use the accrual method for part-outs which are the vast majority of my business)

rbozarth

5X Part out of 75299 Trouble on Tatooine into my store.  New Mando and Grogus in stock.

store.bricklink.com/bozbricks

KingAlanI

congratulations on actually getting part outs done

BL-wise, I'm just keeping up with current orders, made a bit over $50 not quite a week in, somewhat under last month but not bad.

just packed about 40 lots about $25, not too onerous to begin with and the specific assortment was particularly easy to sort - figs from only a couple themes, and the parts were mostly the same type, so I didn't have to look through several different bins.

Speedman29

Couldn't where else to ask this BL question. I have lots of different wanted lists. I'm ordering the contents of one again, is there a quick way to set the "have" box of every item in a 150 part list to 0 again?