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Ordering from BrickLink
Macsrbeast2
Member Posts: 6
I was wondering if BrickLink is a trustworthy, reliable, and safe place for one to shop and sell Legos. Please post your input (pros & cons).
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Comments
I was hunting for a Space Police SP Striker 1 set and eBay never had any available whereas once I took a peek at Bricklink, I found multiple sets with conditions listed and reasonable prices.
In short - thou shalt love thy bricklink and it will love you back ;)
Pros:
- Ability to buy specific pieces easily and in bulk
- Good prices if you need to buy large amounts of pieces
- Sellers are (usually) AFOLs, who (usually) give the same respect you would to ordered pieces
- Wanted list, price guide, and catalog functions can all be invaluable for collectors
- Sellers are usually happy to refund or make amends if an order is missing a piece or goes awry
- Wide range of payment options
- For sellers: fees are much more reasonable than Ebay
- For sellers: usually pictures are already supplied, no need to take your own
- Ability to tap the international market easily
- The forum
Cons:
- Set prices are usually higher than on Ebay
- Invoice process adds to total transaction time
- Site has a learning curve, somewhat hard to use and some outdated technology
- Shipping is added after order submitted, ie you don't know shipping cost immediately
- For sellers: much more time to upkeep Bricklink store vs Ebay store
- The forum
Bricklink is a phenomenal resource for completing mocs and unfinished sets. I've made a few orders and haven't had any issues. I haven't purchased used pieces, so I can't comment on the general quality of those.
You'll understand what I mean about the forum if you become more familiar with the site.
I highly recommend at least trying it out.
So I would say stay in your country at first in terms of purchasing... get the feel for it then move to other countries.
Also, try to stick to those sellers who have lots of feedback.. I am hesitant to say that as I am about to start selling but for larger items I would say stick to those who at least have 10 seller feedbacks, just to show you they make good on the items they are advertising...
But like others have said, it is a FABULOUS place for finding that one or two parts missing from your set... Plus it has a wanted list that will notify you of a part you are looking for as well, which has helped me out a bunch...
AS for condition, well they are supposed to note what condition is, and you can always ask the store owner a question if you have them.
I have bought both new and used parts.. and while sometimes the line gets a bit blurred most sellers are quick to fix their issues.. after all they have feedback on BL as well....
I've also been selling whole high-dollar sets (can't part with my parts), almost entirely to Australia, and it sounds like those have been win-wins. I make a few bucks (i am not out to gouge people), and the Aussies get the high value sets for less than they can buy them from LEGO - even with the shipping costs. so far so good...
So, in summary - Bricklink itself is great; some Bricklink sellers are better than others, but all (in my experience) come good in the end; postal systems are variable & not to be relied upon if you're in a hurry for parts. Minimise the distance the parts have to travel if you're in a hurry for them. Build up a relationship with a couple of sellers & use them for most of your purchases. The sellers I've grown to use most are people whom I've met in real life, so that helps enormously.
With that being said I tend to stay away from used pieces unless: A) the seller has noted that they are in good condition, B) its a rare part/parts and I just need them.
The US one sent same day i paid and the UK one am still waiting for it to be posted.
I wasn't sure about using the service but it's straight forward and liek others have said addictive, seen about 100 parts i would like to order, shame one seller dosen't have the lots so i could order from one person.
Will order more if and when i have the money.
The process can take a whole lot of time (I've had a couple of month-long open orders), because this usually isn't the day job for whomever is running the store.
Carefully read the store's terms page, and shipping shouldn't be too much of a surprise.
My first BrickLink expedition was building an SP Striker from parts. It took several weeks, but was quite a bit cheaper then just buying the set.
Main good points:
- You can buy pretty much anything
- Ability to part out a set
Main bad points:
- buying stuff is so labour intensive its like a part time job -its an utterly horrible experience.
- because their system is so antiquated you need to design and manage a big excel sheet to track and manage your purchases.
- the feedback system is meaningless, e.g. if a buyer tries to slap hidden charges on you cant give feedback to warn others.
- the system for resolving problems is flawed e.g. above problem where the only way to deal with it was to refer it to an admin who then did nothing despite the seller breaking the law.
Would I use it again? Only if I really really really had to. I'd rather pull teeth.
Sart small (don't do a massive order), stick to sellers with good feedback and close to home and you should be fine.
The lists etc take time to get used to but I've found the forum and chat room can usually help with any questions about it all.
As a seller, I'm fine cancelling orders if the shipping price is more than the buyer wants to pay. I do find it more convenient if the seller asks for a quote first, but the cancellation process is pretty easy.
I can't tell you the number of times I've paid 25-30 bucks for shipping on ebay only to find out it costs them 12.00 to actually ship it.
I've bought and sold on BrickLink loads of times and never had any problems with any orders received or placed. Most people there are perfectly reasonable and trustworthy AFOLs.
Collectively, as a community, I don't care much for them, but individually they are fine.
Basically, they have no leadership, thus no-one to make decisions, many of them are interested only in making money and not the LEGO community at large. They do not have a grasp on modern web marketing concepts, and cannot see the benefit of sharing their data with others to help drive traffic to the site and keep it as 'the' source for it. All that matters to many is their bottom line and BrickLink's fees.
Rant over :)
Also, as others have said, it really depends on the sellers. Most sellers are brilliant, probably more than on eBay - just a few bad apples, but unfortunately it's the bad apples you remember.
eBay is also occasionally problematic, but at least it has proper processes for sorting out problems.
Maybe that's a more balanced way of putting it...
... and yes, I am a grumpy so-and-so this week :)
I think what Huw is referring to (and he'll correct me if I'm wrong)... the Bricklink forum is a source of irritation for many. Some people have literally been bullied off of Bricklink by the outspoken-ness of a few. Fortunately they are cracking down on rules and some of the more outspoken folks have been banished altogether (not from selling, but from participating). And often the forum members (mainly sellers) are so concerned with competition elsewhere... that any tie-in (say to Brickset)... is often viewed with suspicion, and a fear that they (sellers) will lose sales if a website that is connected to Bricklink is also connected to Ebay and Amazon. It's as though they think not everyone is aware of the 2 giant sellers... and it may lose them some business... a very myopic viewpoint if you ask me... the proverbial "cutting off your nose to spite your face" scenario.
What is annoying to some on the Bricklink forum is that the site only has about 20% of the posts/threads that are actually LEGO related. But I guess being a buyer/seller marketplace... that should be expected.
And then there's the "Pandora's Box" issue of "image ownership". There are so many images on Bricklink are the same ones on other sites (such as Peeron and Lugnet)... and that since that issue was not addressed on DAY 1 when the sites went online... it becomes nearly impossible to determine who owns which images in any of the assorted websites sets/parts database. I've probably given more images of very old sets and parts many years ago than anyone there... and since I didn't use the "Catalog Request" route... most all of my images say "Admin" under image source. I don't really care if my images are used elsewhere (even for sales).
But some folks there really get their knickers-in-a-twist over that scenario... they feel that they don't want their own images used on other sites, because "it takes away sales".... and some sellers there are very annoyed when they see one of their own images used elsewhere... such as on Ebay. I can somewhat understand that frustration... but it should be tempered with the knowledge that anytime you post something out on the internet... it does go into the public domain... whether you want it to or not. Also, the irony is that a LOT of Bricklink Database images still have the Ebay watermark!! Yes people do feel that in many cases these things are a copyright infringement... and they may be correct. But what can you do? Getting legal help hardly seems worth the trouble (and definitely not the expense).
They also have this silly habit of calling Ebay "Fleabay", "Evilbay" or other derogatory terms... when in fact many of those same people are likely Ebay buyers as well, who get many sets and parts cheaper off of Ebay to resell or part out on Bricklink for a profit.
I am puzzled by a comment made here about their software being so antiquated? I don't see any difference in ordering on Bricklink as say anywhere else (LEGO-Shop-At-Home or Amazon.com?). You buy something... put it in your cart... and buy something else from that store, and when you're done... you "check out".... you receive an invoice in an EMAIL that has the final price plus shipping. There may be some extra fees, but if you check the store Splash page, you shouldn't be surprised by them.
Bricklink also has some special features that allows you to order an entire set by buying individual parts... and it will tell you which stores you can order from that has the parts you need for that set. Now that type of activity could be helpful with an Excel Spreadsheet, but the simple process of buying new or used parts or sets is no more difficult that Amazon.Com or anywhere else. As an IT professional, I don't see how it is any more cumbersome than buying anywhere else, regardless of the date their software was developed? I've buying and selling there since 2004, and there are many advanced features that I have yet to master (for the most part because I don't need to use those enhanced features). So someone please... enlighten me, how is Bricklink more cumbersome than say LEGO Shop-At-Home or Amazon.com?
A parallel could be drawn to Twitter in some regards: Twitter provides many means of displaying its data on all manner of websites and devices which could be argued circumvent visiting the main Twitter site. But they see it as a good thing because it's now the de facto standard 'micro-blogging' site and that's not going to change any time soon. If they discouraged it and closed their doors to external use and innovation, someone else would soon come up with an alternative site that was more open.
This will happen to BrickLink sooner or later, and it's why I try and make Brickset as open as possible.
^^ Dont get me started on the usability of bricklink :) Put it this way - the buying process on amazon/ ebay/ PaB is .. find item --> see all costs --> make informed buying decision. Because bricklink is so opaque regarding costs, and the process is so convoluted, it's hard to make buying decisions; some of the buyers have such hard to understand rules - get this one for example:
==
Postage & packaging is charged at actual cost and we ship daily.
£1 small order surcharge will be added to all orders of less than £5.
Lot Limits / Handling Charges:
Maintain 1 lot per £1 order value to avoid all handling charges.
ie: Average lot value should be £1 or greater.
If the average lot value falls below £1 per lot, a handling charge will be applied to bring the average lot value back up to £1.
Handling charge formula is: (number of lots x £1) minus (order value).
See table below for fully illustrated examples:
No of Lots / Ordered / Order Value / Handling Charge
[etc etc, table wouldnt paste properly]
Need some assistance? Click here to view the New User Tutorial.
==
So this shop has Ts & Cs which are so convoluted they need a tutorial!!
Add to this the fact that 3 different currencies are used (if youre lucky), that everyone seems to use a different exchange rate, and that you need to read the whole splash page of every store to look for small print and hidden costs and it all adds up to a user experience nightmare.
And FYI... once I've finished the Volume II LEGO CD (a combined 1949-80 and 1980-90s sets/parts collectors guide)... I'd like to help get the Brickset set database/images back to before 1965... all the way back to Day 1.... 1949.
This is... if you would want that... :-)
I have been helping the Fantasia folks with going back to 1949 on the 2nd Edition of their guide (the 1st Edition only goes back to 1958) The TLG archives are woefully lacking in early Automatic Binding Brick and LEGO Mursten set information... and they sent the Fantasia folks to me... LOL.
IMHO... I think that the TLG archives were kept deliberatly clear of early LEGO brick info 60 years ago... (ditto for the lack of early LEGO set collections in the Vault) in case British toymaker Hilary Page (of Kiddicraft fame) sent his lawyers a knocking at the door in Billund over copyright enfringements. But Hilary died in 1957, never knowing what was going on in Billund.
It's the little surprises that will kick you in the butt.
However, in all fairness... as a seller as well as buyer... sometimes you really don't know the final shipping charges (unlike Amazon that has everything already determined)... and there have been more than a few times as a seller that I've had to eat additional shipping charges, because my estimate was off. I bet that some stores add fees just to cover that scenario. But my store uses no extra fees.
And yes... currency conversion is an issue...
http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/790/my-bricklink-saga-pain-opinions-welcomed.
Anyway, the rest of the discussion here is more interesting, sorry to interrupt :)
There is no real buyer protection and in some cases they charge you for the investigation, the card company will get you your cash back for free.
I cannot access the site...??? It's 8:20 PM USA Eastern Standard Time.
Get your popcorn ready... this may get interesting... ops... they're back online...
and here's the complaint...
http://www.ripoffreport.com/toy-stores/bricklink/bricklink-bricklink-com-troy-5a35b.htm
It's this pettiness and constant bickering (reminds me of the Bley Wars on LUGNET back in 03 and 04) that has me getting more turned off to posting there...
I have placed numerous orders in the last month, all of which were what I expected and now I think that I am addicted. Is there a support group for BL addicts? I think I need one!! ;)
This does look like a smear campaign, but I'm with Gary. I'll get some popcorn and watch the show unfold. It could be the best pantomime we've seen in ages!
Haven't used the forum side of it yet and prob wont. I will contiue to order parts as and when i need to.
I just reminded myself i need some parts to complete my Red Barron plane, off i go to look for parts.
And for anyone who's concerned about using Bricklink because of the "ripoffreport" above, don't be. The person who wrote it appears to know absolutely nothing whatsoever about how Bricklink works at all - their "report" is riddled with basic errors and nonsense, and can be safely ignored.
PS. I've never sold on Bricklink and have no intention of starting to do so, in case anyone's wondering....
from a buyer perspective I know a couple of other guys in the diecast community who lost out when a false tracking number was supplied by a non-ebay seller - paypal let him keep the cash despite the tracking number showing on usps that it was delivered to a different state. This would not have happened if they had gone to the card company first.
on the bricklink front, was thinking about setting up a bricklink shop but looking at the amount of time it takes to inventory a set and then find the missing parts as a buyer, it looks like way too much work for the level of return. whilst I am grateful to the sellers who have had the parts available, there cant be much more than €5 per deal on average in profit on parts which barely covers the time to locate and package them.
the 3% fees are pretty inviting if you plan to sell figs/sets but imho i'd rather wear the 9% on ebay knowing that there is a far wider market available to sell to which gives a better opportunity to turnover the stock more quickly.