Shopping at LEGO or Amazon?
Please use our links:
LEGO.com •
Amazon
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Cooperating in more projects like the AFOL program is great but not so much eliminating the LEGO compatible products as I have sometimes bought Arealight and Brickarms products (as their selection of accurate SW weapons surpasses LEGO). I use both Brick and Pieces and Bricklink to service my parts needs but Briclink is better as the seller charge fast and ship faster than LEGO own services. What do you think?
https://brickset.com/article/47293/the-lego-group-acquires-bricklink#comments
3
Shopping at LEGO.com or Amazon?
Please use our links: LEGO.com • Amazon
Recent discussions •
Categories •
Privacy Policy •
Brickset.com
Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.
Quick Links
Brickset.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, the Amazon.com.ca, Inc. Associates Program and the Amazon EU Associates Programme, which are affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Comments
I don't like vertical integration or the ability for the producer to potentially dictate terms in the secondary market.
As someone who uses Bricklink regularly this is huge... on the plus side it sounds like there will be more AFOL designer sets coming, which is a good thing in my opinion. I do worry about Lego trying to fix something that isn’t broken — I use Bricklink several times a week as a reference and for ordering parts, and I am hoping their influence will improve the database but not impair the basic marketplace structure...
Do I stop buying sets to part out in case the whole thing does wind up? Do I buy more sets to part out with a potentially bigger audience browsing my store? Do I set up a BrickOwl account? If so, when? Will my Lego VIP account be affected? Will the usability of the site change? Will how much time I spend picking orders and adding stock go up or down? Will there be new rules to adhere to? The list is just endless.
So, all in all a very worrying and uncertain time, even if I'm of the belief that actually not a signifcant amount will change. But I bet the guys at BrickOwl have their eyebrows raised at the news...
https://www.brothers-brick.com/2019/11/26/news-the-lego-group-acquires-bricklink-from-nexon-founder-jay-kim-for-undisclosed-sum-interview-with-lego-cmo-julia-goldin/?fbclid=IwAR3JkaAMbGX5IhLoY9OKfyKyz3y90YFuzw3bYD-DxZbnJAMWuFrGFVnvTnw
You'd hope that they'd be sensible and not start banning people who list and resell a set that they've built and finished with, for instance, but once algorithms get involved and people take a back seat anything can happen.
To be fair, I can also think of numerous ways that this could work out well, but I have to admit that this acquisition, and the fact that LEGO will now have the ability to significantly manipulate the secondary market (which it has a rather Jekyll and Hyde relationship with) makes me a little uncomfortable.
It's certainly possible they'll attempt to do it, but in these days of data protection, it won't be without our permission.
I didn't think we were (or should be) able to create threads under Brickset.com articles, only comment on the automatically created ones…
@Huw @CapnRex101 @drdavewatford
https://www.brothers-brick.com/2019/11/26/news-the-lego-group-acquires-bricklink-from-nexon-founder-jay-kim-for-undisclosed-sum-interview-with-lego-cmo-julia-goldin/?fbclid=IwAR3JkaAMbGX5IhLoY9OKfyKyz3y90YFuzw3bYD-DxZbnJAMWuFrGFVnvTnw
Shame is as a buyer BL is so much better to use than BO.
I suppose it depends a lot on how truthful Julia Goldins answers to the questions in the main page article were.
If things are left as they are with the selling side of things, with minimal interference from TLG, but the platform is used to expand on ideas like the Bricklink AFOL designer program and other STUDIO design based programs to output a greater variety/number of MOC's that otherwise would never be produced then I look forward to the fruits of their labour.
If on the other hand there are any moves by TLG to encroach on the livelihoods of users by using data for their own ends to bypass the marketplace (or undercut it) or impose a set of rules and regs that makes it difficult for the sellers to obtain product without penalty then I fear Bricklink and the AFOL community itself will lose one of its greatest assets.
Also, what about custom parts (chromed/printed/accessories and the like) and how do these fit into the equation with a firm that don't even list their old parts in their own set databases.
My only hope is that someone at LEGO has sat down and realised that the money for the biggest majority of parts on Bricklink will have already been paid into the TLG coffers and all they have to do is sit back and take the percentage of the fees from when It's sold again.
Aside from the buyer seller conundrum and how that will play out, there is also the question of how this will affect Brickset and it's database. Will they lose a source of income if the sites are under one company banner and/or will the Bricklink database be allowed to be used for set part counts and pieces so the part counts for sets can all be 100%?
Well said! I also have some concerns about custom and chromed pieces, so we will have to see. The Brickset interview provides some more detail — TLG seems to be emphasizing that transaction fees will be unchanged and that the marketplace will be allowed to continue competitively as before. One interesting comment had to do with BL data possibly informing what pieces should be available from Bricks and Pieces, which could be a positive...
https://brickset.com/article/47293/the-lego-group-acquires-bricklink
As for the impact on Brickset, it seems that the working relationship between Lego and BS is quite good and mutually beneficial, so I doubt TLG will want to jeopardize that...
There'll be sellers moving elsewhere, and since the Internet is a pretty robust entity, buyers will find them. I'm reserving judgment on whether this is a good idea for the AFOL Community and LEGO Corporate...
If I were BrickOwl or another BrickLink competitor, I'd be looking to increase my market share. There are plenty of people that probably won't like some aspect of LEGO's managment.
LDD has been on the downturn for ages with little or no support or upgrades.
Studio has regular updates, has a built in platform for instructions and parts lists that can be uploaded straight into the marketplace.
Personally, If anything, I think it will become a base platform for more LEGO/Bricklink design programs in the future with LDD becoming obsolete.
Personally, I’m willing to take them at their word for now that they will keep their interference to a minimum. It would reduce the value of what they bought if they are too heavy-handed. If it is really largely a PR thing rather than a data mining grab, then they would reap benefits from doing some selective investing in things like stud.io and database improvement. I’m crossing my fingers.
They could do it. They've got the money. If they felt that it was an important part of brand-building, they could invest a lot more in making BrickLink better.
... But, that's scary. Because all of a sudden, BrickLink becomes part of LEGO's brand and is disposable when it no longer suits them. If LEGO dedicates more resources to making it better, then it's a higher cost to them, and possibly becomes at greater risk for being dropped. Sure, it won't happen in the immediate future, since LEGO's doing well right now-- but what happens if the economy tanks in 10 years, and LEGO makes some bad moves? Suddenly cutting BrickLink is a cost-saving measure.
Selling content is obviously concerning, too. Suppose someone's selling a Squirrel Girl minifig. That's not an official Marvel figure, and it infringes on Marvel's IP. What about custom Star Wars weapons that LEGO doesn't sell? But even beyond that-- what about Q elements that were leaked out of the LEGO factory? Will LEGO try and stop them?
And then there's the always sketchy "really cheap" sets that might have been stolen, and are getting resold at cheap prices? Will those get pursued? Not that I mind when they're right. Nobody wants stolen LEGO on the market. But what about when they're wrong? Could there be an onus on sellers to prove their sourcing?
The other huge thing for LEGO is moderation. Is LEGO really going to want to maintain an un-moderated discussion forum on a site they own? Is it going to have to be kid-friendly?
Further, what is LEGO going to do about sale data? I've always been the type to want increased sharing of data. But LEGO's usually the opposite. Will LEGO remove or restrict access to sale data? (As a side note, when I offered to widely publicize my online LUGBULK tool, LEGO expressly told me the one thing they would NOT allow me to do would be to publish aggregate/anonymous data regarding desired/bought elements, since competitors expressly wanted that)
I'm crossing my fingers that LEGO by-and-large leaves BrickLink alone. But I see far more potential problems than benefits.
DaveE
https://www.1000steine.de/de/gemeinschaft/forum/?entry=1&id=429088&fbclid=IwAR2Gi0mMNXogQckyBQ_VQ9YxAznvIK1qqamVSZ9dv6TmC9K_guMaoz9p8a8#id429088
Summary as I understand it:
- third-party and custom items will be banned.
- whether unreleased but genuine parts can continue to be sold has not yet been decided.
- no decision yet on how TLG's policy regards resellers will impact BL
- no plans yet for TLG to directly sell on the platform
- existing management team will remain in place
- no changes initially in how BL will be run, but improvements will happen over time
That TLG's inventory system will push buyers through to BL for items TLG no longer has in stock.
I suppose I have two concerns
(1) the privacy issue that CCC notes the implications of. I never gave BL or TLG permission to share my data with each other, but I suppose their T&Cs technically allow it, I just never expected this sale.
(2) if Lego's licencing arrangements prevent the sale of certain elements like Torsos, etc. how will that impact BL given it will soon be owned by TLG? If this is a loophole because technically its not TLG that's offering them for sale, it could actually be a good thing I suppose, if, as I hope, TLG's inventory system could link buyers through to BL for such elements.