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Comments
Just before I was planning to leave, I got another payment, so I'd leave on time rather than early. That order was short 2 of one part and I had 2 extra of another part. That might've been the inventory error - whether by TLG, BrickLink or me. The buyer was quite happy with the replacement. I focus on shipping quickly; otherwise I would've had to wait til tomorrow. He got all I had of those parts (the whole order actually), this was simply a slight change in 'all I had'. The replacement part was worth slightly more.
Sorted a few things I came across when working on orders/quotes, but taking a relative break from LEGO tonight while the store is slow.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/132129496032?vectorid=229466&lgeo=1&item=132129496032&rmvSB=true
@Fireheart a week to get an invoice is not normal. Sometimes buyers don't get or don't notice an invoice; maybe the seller had a similar problem. When shopping, I have ignored some stores whose pages sounded too casual. 'hobby seller' as @koshka put it.
Got a quote request for a large order, but someone else already bought a small portion of it. I really didn't want to lose the sale.
The quote was canceled. The buyer blocked contacts not for order/quote. I replied to the quote email about the rest.
I had to sort/pack ahead of time to calculate postage. (I sell CMF complete sets without packaging, and the BL weight includes it.)
The buyer wanted discounts. Some lots were about 5% off already with tiered pricing and I gave 5% off on the rest.
I reserved the items for him (first time I've used that feature) and put in the discounts then.
He ordered and paid relatively quickly but it still seemed long because I was anxious.
Anyone else feel a neverending need for storage containers? The last couple days, I haven't had a chance to go to Target for more of the 6 quart Sterilite tubs I use. I did free up one as I sold a lot of items, and I've been reusing shoeboxes and mailing boxes. (S@H boxes aren't too tall, so I wouldn't have to dig so much through them)
Constantly buying more storage and moving parts around...
Two of the orders I sorted tonight had numbers exactly 1000 apart, so I had to be extra cautious to not get those mixed up.
My regular job pays better/more consistently, and is sometimes where I get the money invested in inventory. Still, it can slow down store activity. Often, I have to (finish) pack(ing) an order in the evening to mail the next day. Part time plus BL has been a pretty good balance.
As for storage:
I saw a 10.5x11x5 inch (27x32x13 cm) box in a recycle bin there and had to salvage that.
When I go out tomorrow, more bins and gripseal bags are high on the agenda. I'm keeping track of what bins are jam-packed right now and buying enoguh to split the contents of those. Target runs deals on those relatively often and they're bulky to carry home, so I don't want to overbuy. A local convenience store has 2x3 and 3x5 bags, but I haven't looked elsewhere (I recall suggestions to check amongst craft supplies). Walmart has the best deal on larger ones. Online isn't cheaper except for serious bulk purchases, which I'm considering, as I'll use them eventually and I have the cashflow.
buyer orders and pays after some messages about shipping, I pack it. then he orders again. so I invoice only for additional costs, open the 1st package and mail the orders together. I was able to reuse the 1st bubblemailer, but still confusing
Light and/or low value items can't really be listed separately on a customs form, because the form calls for a value of at least $1 and 1 ounce. So I put something like 'LEGO assortment' and combine weight/value.
I didn't sort my blue 2x2 and 2x3 before listing like with other used. I ended up having to sort anyway during the order process.
Filtering out older variants, heavy damage, clone brands. Often stacking bricks in 10's or whatever fits the bag, for easier counting and more compact storage/mailing. With these quantities that's sorely needed.
No new LEGO at WalMart, but I got a ton of supplies
8 100yd (91.44m) packing tape rolls for $11 (previously the best deal I knew of was 3 110yd (100.58m) rolls for $7.) Wasn't running low, but didn't hurt.
1500 sheets 8.5x11" (216x279mm) paper - I was running low on printer paper for mailing labels. $9.97. slightly cheaper than 500-packs, still being manageable to transport, and can use the 9x12x6 inch (23x30x14 cm) carton. Individual packs are wrapped in paper or plastic and the carton for 5000 might be too deep even had I cared to lug it around.
There were tiny gripseal bags in the craft supplies section like someone had suggested. A local store has 2x3/3x5 with label strips for 2c each. These were plain and the price was no better. I got some 1.5x1.5 and 1.5x2 to try when even 2x3's are too big. the 1.5x1.5 are so small it's hard to get a grip to open them.
Of the 6 personal BL orders I received today, 5 had mistakes. All either wrong color items or wrong minifig parts. What a crappy Monday. Let's hope for some quality customer service. I received a crushed sealed set last week in a bubble mailer. Seller just said deal with it and hope it isn't too bad.
Can you stuff so much in the flat rate envelopes that they become more package shaped? Sometimes postal clerks had a problem with me doing that with the non padded flat rate envelopes for non-LEGO years ago.
9.5x12.5 inch is a bit shorter than a number 4 bubblemailer; many of my Priority orders are too big for a 2 bubblemailer but not big enough to need a 6, so that may be worthwhile. Also, some buyers want small orders shipped Priority, and postage to use this is $5.95 versus $6.45 for the small flatrate box.
My main storage method is 6 qt sterilite tubs, and Target has those for 84c instead of 94c until April 8th. I got 10 because I had just enough on my redcard debit card. It turns out that fits comfortably in my 4 gallon milk crate bike basket. I was getting a few anyway, but will stock up during the sale.
I saw a couple opened TLBM cases, near other Batman merch rather than other LEGO. I so didn't have time to pack feel, but I'm doubting if that's worth it anyway.
https://store.bricklink.com/the1whitetiger#/shop?o={"showHomeItems":1}
Also listed a few parts from #41309, #41311, #60150 (many extras and some others). These were mostly lots I already had in inventory.
@elspankdog okay, I'll take a closer look at the bubblemailers once I actually get them.
also bought 20x #40220, 5x #40161, 5x #40153, 1x #75059 and 5x #40174 at great prices :)
I don't want to deal with shipping sealed set boxes either.
Sold a few early on, even fewer since, not much margin on modern sets anyway. I made sure to not over-grade box condition. (which I still do with used parts) Most promos are polybags, the only box promos I remember are #40221 and #5004419. I sold 1 Fountain in person, sold 1 as part of a larger order and bubblewrapped it before putting in the shipping box. I built the Knight and was about to delist and build the 2nd Fountain when it sold. I ordered #75149 online for myself and reused the packaging to send the box to another Bricksetter whose box got totaled.
When I buy sets I'm willing to get them unboxed to save on shipping.
@uriel Wegmans is a supermarket chain near me, which has lots of LEGO on sale in January. I jumped on that bigtime this year, and it brought me out of my dark age last year.
@the1whitetiger
I often keep a few parts from a set I part out, or sell a few from a set I build. I assume that balances out, which is easier to keep track of; I believe materiality is the accounting jargon.
Less competition can mean less of a market to base decisions upon - and less interest in getting a set inventoried.
Speaking of damaged packaging....2 #40265 and 2 #40252.
Parted out 8 #40165, 2 #40153
parted out 3x #41311 and 2x #75146
30+ bricks 5% off, 50+ bricks 10% off, 100+ bricks 15% off.
https://store.bricklink.com/vsimovic
so far I cant say I'm swimming in orders but I'm taking it slow. Still have a lot of parting out and sorting so I'm not rushing things.
I use tiered pricing for all of a lot qty 10 or larger, often with intermediate tiers at 42, 100 or so. each tier is at least 5% off and is a relatively round number, though I'm more flexible about price increments there.
I couldn't finish an order before going out, and mailed what I did have. The order is over a pound, too heavy for 1st class mail, but 2 1st class packages is cheaper than 1 Priority package. That math rarely works out, so I hadn't thought of it beforehand. The delivery estimates to this buyer's location are the same so this is faster or at least no slower than sending priority the next day.
I contacted the buyer to explain this and refunded the postage difference. The buyer was like 'whatever works, not in a hurry'. Sometimes I'm in more of a rush than customers are, but this doesn't sacrifice money or quality. (I'm reminded of the engineer slogan "fast, cheap, good - pick two")
1st class package commercial base rate jumps 16c above 4 ounces and 55c above 8 ounces, and is steady above 9 (14c per ounce), so that works best with remainder of less than 8 ounces, and more distant parts of the country since Priority has zone pricing and 1st class doesn't.
https://postcalc.usps.com/DomesticZoneChart is useful rather than checking zone each time. Saving or copy/pasting the result page doesn't yield anything useful so I took a screenshot.
pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/notice123.htm is the master price list and I have a copy saved to my hard drive since I check it so often.
With my Sunuku cases of 000, 0, 2 and 6 bubblemailers, I've used about 1/10th of each, so it's a good assortment for my needs.
Almost done with an order, but digging out the remaining parts might take awhile, so I'll leave it for morning. I especially don't want to start a sort on my bed late at night.
I don't want to be neurotic but I don't want to slack off either.
Some sellers don't seem as professional as I try to be. Fortunately I've avoided such problems. Sometimes feel of splash page or somesuch tips me off.
Once I sent inverted brackets when the order was for regular brackets (or vice versa). Wrong color is understandable when very similar. was it something like this? likewise, minifig parts could have slightly different printings. Was it something like that? Still, I label inventory clearly and look closely when sorting.
I price at the 6 months sales average too, it seems to be going ok for me so far. I do some tiered pricing but only on parts that don't really sell and that I have a lot of.
Here in Australia I'm doing ok as far as order volume, interestingly after my last post I had the quietest two weeks since I opened my store (end of last November) with only 5 orders over about 15 days. It's picked up again and I have 17 orders in the last 2 weeks. In Australia there isn't that many large stores, I am sitting at about 102,000 items and that puts me about 20th in Australia as far as store size so that probably helps with getting orders.
Added another #40252 and #40265, last I'm getting of the VW Bug and probably the last of the tic tac toe
Parted out another #40165 and #41233, and 2 more #40153
Just add 'Brickset' in the order comments for discount to be applied to invoice
That's pretty much inevitable once a store gets big enough.
I'm already stretching the limits of what one can do without having Stack-on type units. At 100k parts and 3500 lots it's getting very hard to keep organised without individual drawers and labels.
For folks that do the one lot one drawer or even multiple lots in a drawer, how do you manage the adding inventory/consolidation of lots. Do you select "Concatenate old Remarks with new Remarks" in the consolidation section and have 2 possible drawers until you actually combine the contents and correct the remarks.
I'm doing "Concatenate old and new remarks".
To prevent that problem of having 2 different drawers with the same lot I do a first pass where I preview the upload, go through the list and put away the parts that already have drawers assigned. Then on a second pass it's all parts that don't have a drawer yet.
But I'm only starting with this process, and only have 60 drawers. Would be interesting to hear what other store owners do.
When parting out a set with Brickstock I do a dummy upload with Concatenate old and new remarks ticked on and see which parts I already have as they will have remark field completed, tab back to brickstock enter the remark from Bricklink in remarks column and move on to next part. When I have a part that is new I find suitable sized drawer put away the part and tab back to Brickstock enter the drawer number and move on to the next and so on. When you have remarked all the parts, close the bricklink upload without confirming do a new "Bricklink Mass-Upload XML to clipboard" this time with concatenate remarks unticked and "New Remarks" selected. Remember whether you want new or old price (most likely new) and whether you want new or old sale (most likely old). If you use bulk amounts adjust that to, then verify your upload. Job done.
You can check if you have duplicate lots in different locations on the Inventory page, one the right tick "Non-Unique" and "Go!" and it will list them all.
I planned on doing multiple lots in one drawer for items I don't expect to add many new items (obsolete colors or parts) or ones that are easy to distinguish. For example, those big Friends slides or bicycles could go in one drawer even if they are different colors. Don't really see how that would make it harder to pull an order. Was also planning on doing that with say 1x2 jumpers with no groove; I only have a few of them and rarely add more. No need to waste 5 drawers on 5 different colors of 1x2 plates if I only have 10 plates total.
I was also thinking of where sellers bag parts and store them in boxes. I have also seen some sellers label the drawers by part number, but what happens when they sell out, the drawers stays empty? Or when the get loads more, too many for that drawer, it just becomes very messy when a drawer is restricted to a particular part.
Anyone interested in selling on Bricklink should invest time watching Ask Clutch on YouTube, it will take a while to watch them all, but well worth it. Excellent suggestions for big and small sellers and he's being both.
I avoid using comments/remarks so I don't need to worry about how to combine them and don't need to change them when I change my storage system. when adding something that's already in my inventory but with a remark, BrickLink creates a separate lot unless I adjust manually. I often describe condition in used lots, but I'm not adding more of those, avoiding the above problem. I do say 'never assembled' on new minifigures. There are a few other rarer situations where I also use the feature.
I use sticky labels that can be easily removed from the container when contents change. Sharpie right on a bag can be rubbed off with a fingertip. Bags with label strips can't be erased in that manner, but I often save empties if labeled for a common part. I could use them when I get more of a part or to pack an order for that part.
I left some of the cheaper ones sealed so I could return them if they don't sell above evne the lower cost.
2 Hiker, 3 Spooky Boy, 2 Cyborg, Wildlife Photographer, 2 Pirate, 3 Spy, 2 Banana Man, Dog Show Winner, 3 Arabian Knight, 2 Kickboxer, Ice Queen, 5 Serenader
Parts from 6 Rogue, 2 Penguin Boy
(really glad to pull the 2 Penguins since I was 3 ice skate pieces short for an order)