Scummy Bricklink Seller Practices to Avoid as Buyer and Seller LEGO

A rant about things I hate seeing in a BrickLink store's terms of service and a respond to a viewer question. Basically I would recommend avoiding sellers that do the follow:
1) Add paypal fees
2) Charge excessive handling fees
3) Charge a fee to show a picture of the item
4) Charge a fee or a quote
5) Act mad if you want to see the item
6) Get mad if you offer a suggestion
BrickTsar Answer Thingy #BAT
Thanks to pb_bricks for the question: store.bricklin...
MOST Sellers do none of the above. A few still do. Some may do it because they see the ideas in other stores TOS. Others are just being lazy jerks. Do they even want to sell?
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[@markofbrick]

The first things I list in my terms is no added fees, everything is priced into automatic shipping calculator and prices within store. It's just good practice! It should be fun to order from a store, not feel bad once you get an invoice. Rather than anything like added fees for low avg lot cost, I just put a blanket $1 avg for lots, which is generally fairly easy and reasonable to meet. I know people hate them, but after taking 2 hours to fill a 20 dollar order with 80 lots.. you have to value your own time. I feel like people who have stores will be much more understanding of this, than someone who is just a buyer. This is another boon to instant checkout as well - when you pay right away, there is no opportunity to tack on whacky fees, in addition to not having to wait for invoice. I adopted it as soon as I could, and I'd obviously highly recommend it to anyone. I'm sure some people don't enable it because of resistance to change and the potential for it being fussy, but, it's so worth it. Of course I still have to invoice above 14 ounces, but 90% of my orders are instant checkout. I'm also in the camp of over-describing how bad something is, so that people are happily surprised. I always enjoy getting something old and thinking wow, this is better than I expected! What I really don't understand about poor business practices is that it makes people not come back! Many of my orders are repeat buyers that have a good experience, and good practices also create better reviews, which people do look at before placing orders. I don't know how people can take pride in their store while using scummy money grabbing tactics. The only negative feedback I've gotten was from a child, when I missed a 2x long axle from a bionicle set. I guess that's just sort of how things go sometimes. Really enjoy the behind the scenes look at your store, as someone whos been selling since 2007

[@robindowse4473]

Hi, I am a UK Bricklinker rapidly approaching sending out my 9,000th order so I may not be super experienced but I am not a noob either so I fully understand how much work goes into maintaining a Bricklink store, I do have a query though as I do not buy much from other sellers. If I purchased from you, lets say 20x different 25p (UK) or 25c (USA) Mini figure parts are you going to charge me 20 dollars for this order or have I got that wrong. If so your statement of not charging big handling fees is a bit.......... A 400% mark up on list price is what I would call an really excessive handling fee.. I do hope I am wrong about this because I have left a great number of stores once I have read this sort of thing in their T&Cs

[@markofbrick]

​@@robindowse4473 Hiya! Sorry for delay in response With how lot average restrictions work, you basically just couldn't submit an order if the average didn't meet $1 per unique lot (but that's average!). I never ever charge additional fees for lots like some people tack on. The $1 average lot is not a fee in and of itself, but a restriction of the order contents For example, I get orders that look like: One 5$ minifigure 9 random lots that cost between 25-75 cents ea for $5 total among them Total: $10 with avg lot value still above $1, shipping 4 USD, no additional charges Another extreme example that still works out for $1 Lot average: One $30 set 29 unique lots of 1 different part that cost 1 cent each still $1 on average Basically, a random mix of 10-25 cent lots, in addition to 2-3 dollar lots, still averages to at least a buck generally. I do the programmed in average lot limit to avoid ever slapping on additional fees, as I've bought from stores that will wind up charging you fees per lot if not meeting their (sometimes hard to find / hidden / not clear) lot fee schedule, but luckily in the store settings, you can just enable a reasonable lot average. Returning to your example: the "fee" would be having to find something a bit more expensive to increase average lot value, but hopefully that's better than paying an outright fee. Also! You actually have more orders than I do, so I'd consider that really experienced from the seller side! I hope some examples helped maybe explain the lot limit restrictions a bit better, it was not super intuitive when I was a buyer. The restriction doesn't actually add fees, its so that I never have an order that would "require" adding a handling fee. This is simply a preference on my end, though is not too uncommon, and does exclude some buyers I am sure. It is definitely just a calculation of how I need to prioritize / value my time for order picking (it is already hard to keep up) Hope this helps to some degree! I am a very avid buyer, even internationally, in addition to my selling. I hope examples help, and it isn't just confusing gibberish.

[@robindowse4473]

Thanks for the reply, We obviously do do things very differently. Of my nearly 9000 orders 8000 of them would probably not have met your criteria. Of the 8 orders I am packing this morning only 1 would meet that and only because of some high value mini figures. As an example I have an order with 700 items in 81 lots and a value of £45.83 which I am more than happy with + £2.10 shipping. No other fees. By your accounting this order could not be placed with you unless it was valued at £81.00 + or - allowing for differences in currency.

[@markofbrick]

@@robindowse4473 Yep! 50 cents lot average also sounds reasonable there. You mentioned total items, which I also don't have any fees for (I've seen some people put custom fees for high total items too) I think its neat Bricklink has a way to sort of control the flow of order types to a store with minimum buys and such, but is sad when a store decides to use these measurements as an excuse to grift buyers. Having things displayed upfront in the checkout is at least clear, but all these fee additions after an order placement and claiming legitimacy by just saying "agree to terms upon order placement" is such a sad copout. I envy stores that have efficient organization to minimize their labor in order picking. It really is a perk of stores like yours - the flexibility is a big draw. I do see stores advertise no lot limits, where I have to state mine is $1 instead. I'd much rather be stating that I have no lot limits like you! A huge limiter for me is not having the space to create an ideal physical inventory setup, which constrains my time. It's awesome if you don't have to impose any constraints on buyers, I really wish I could offer that!

[@robindowse4473]

Hi, Yes organisation is king. I’m about half as organised as I want to be. I am about to start a custom built Lego work room in the next month or two which should improve that and hopefully bring down picking times a bit more. I am also toying with starting a youtube channel to go with my store but I’m not sure I have the charisma to make that work. Let’s hope 2021 is great whatever we do with it.

[@thegeneral9792]

I’m a bricklink sellers and I charge no fees. You only pay for shipping and the price of the items. Charging fees feels like trying to take advantage of the buyer

[@jsurridge5001]

Depends what kind of fees and how expensive, I've bought from a seller charging a fee per lot which was ludicrous. I charge £0.60 (Under a dollar) flat charge on all orders just to cover costs of packaging materials. I don't think i'm taking advantage of the customer by doing this.

[@bly2790]

I just started earlie this month and I have. $1 handling fee that covers additional shipping costs which are common sisnce I have t worked with the calculator much

[@ABrickinTime]

Also known as: “How to be a decent human being on Bricklink.”

[@MaxTechStudios]

BrickTsar is a very underrated channel. You deserve way more subs.

[@IronAndrew-jt4tv]

You are right

[@josephd27]

100% agreed

[@petrini9585]

For the record, it is NOT against the TOS to charge for paypal fees if you are based in the EU. Paypal actually has diffret TOS depending on where you live.

[@BrickTsar]

I have heard that has changed and it is still a bad practice regardless

[@petrini9585]

@@BrickTsar Yeah... But its not against TOS, and in a way no diffrent than the banks charging you the yearly fee for having a credit/debit card... (which they actually "doubler dip" since they also charge the merchants a fee for the same service...)

[@petrini9585]

@@BrickTsar But even worse, now us sellers on Bricklink also have to cover the paypal fee for the sales tax that is charged for US buyers... So not only do I have to pay for the payment I recieve, I also have to cover the fee for the sales tax Bricklink receive...

[@BrickTsar]

I’ll play my tiny violin 🎻 in honor of that.

[@pb5034]

Thanks for this video, awareness is needed when it comes to 'bad' bricklink sellers

[@andrewnixon5147]

This video hit so close to home from me as someone that looks at a lot of sellers stores on Brinklink and have placed a lot of orders. I've had 99% good experiences on Bricklink. I've never left negative feedback...the worst I did with an annoying situation was just not leave feedback...and I've only received positive feedback. I usually won't even mention if a random common part is missing or something, because most sellers seem to want to make it right and after a couple resending me a random part or two, I didn't want anyone to have to pay for shipping...and now I'm placing enough orders I can easily get basic parts again. The worst situation I had, and I only rank it that way because the seller was very snarky when I contacted them. And I wasn't even asking for anything, just offering suggestions. My number one issue was that he didn't have some of the parts that I wanted...which wasn't the problem. The thing I thought was a little annoying was that he didn't notify me that he didn't have them and just stuck some loose change for the parts in the order. My suggestion was that it would be more beneficial to let the buyer know. Because in this case, I had placed a few orders after his that I could have added the parts too, but because I didn't know I then would have to place an additional order to get the parts I needed and pay more shipping. It was worse back then because I didnt order as often. The second issue was that I had received a used reddish brown cape that besides being badly frayed, had multiple bleach type of stains...literally the worst cape I'd ever seen (and I've seen a lot), yet there was no mention on the item of any condition issues. And I understand when you order used parts, they can't be expected to be mint, but that was awful and like a couple bucks. I wrote him a nice message and suggested that he let the buyer know as soon as possible if parts in the order werent available...and that if an used item had significant condition issues, that it would be good to mention that. He wrote back fairly rudely that it took too long to have to communicate with the seller and that he just refunds for parts he doesn't have (No mention of this in his terms)...and didn't respond to the cape issue. I decided for my own piece of mind to just drop it and threw away the cape and placed another order for the parts I needed. In hindsight, I probably should have at least left the seller neutral feedback to warn other buyers. So thank you for being a top notch seller...it's much appreciated and why you are one of two stores that I always go to first for parts, because I know that I don't have to worry about issues...and that piece of mind is worth a lot to me. Plus I enjoy all of your great video content, so it makes me happy to support your Bricklink store.

[@GodmanchesterGoblin]

Love the rant! 100% justified IMHO. Here's another, based on my own experience as a buyer. Don't sell dirty or damaged parts (a plate with a bend and stress marks!) unless you say the parts are dirty or damaged. Used parts aren't meant to be perfect, but they need to be usable, and not look like a child just ate their dinner off them. 🤢 🤮 Needless to say, they are on my list of sellers to avoid.

[@matthewstarr9887]

I totally agree with you about charging for pictures of sealed sets... would definitely discourage me from buying from them! Also, thanks for all of your videos BrickTsar!

[@OTHDogDad]

This popped up in my feed today (even though I've seen it before). It's still great advice. As a regular buyer (like 1-2 orders per week and over 1,000 feedback scores) on BrickLink, I've only left neutral or negative feedback less than 5 times. That said, I will NOT leave any positive feedback for a seller who does not leave feedback for me before the order arrives to my house. Once I've paid (and I pay within seconds if it's not charged at checkout), I've done everything I was supposed to do.

[@conhand.3578]

I don’t mind those sellers with dodgy looking fees, hidden fees, silly T&Cs or less than perfectly satisfied customers. I just don’t buy from them. And if nobody else did either, they’d quickly go out of business as they deserve.

[@hiker1392]

I’ve ordered only about a dozen times from various sellers, but my first was from you. The service was great and gave me confidence to continue. Your advice will save others from bad experiences and I appreciate it.👍

[@MyOwnChannel92]

I just got out of my dark ages a year ago and I made about 10 orders on bricklink to this day and I can‘t count how often I didn‘t order at a store because of these things. What you‘ve missed is high avg lot values, when a store doesn‘t have bulk amounts. I would buy 20 pieces of that item, but when the seller only has 5 left I buy none, because I don‘t want to pay avg lot fees

[@kailahmann1823]

oh yes… I handle 5 to 10 pound of bulk per week, so I don't need to buy black technic pins from Bricklink. So most of my orders are just are just a lot of rare single items - and then you hit a store with "2€ per lot" or some nonsense and they don't even have something like used sets or at least some high priced minifig.

[@AndrewEddie]

Adding the Paypal charges on top of an order does not appear to be against the BrickLink TOS. The reason they probably do it that way is because: "Fees are not charged on taxes, shipping, lot fees, or other additional charges." If they added the Paypal charge to the base price, then BrickLink will actually take a cut of that charge. So, actually, adding the Paypal fee separately could be seen as a win-win for both buyer and seller.

[@somekid1869]

This has happened to me with an ebay seller. When i told them that the set was incomplete they got mad and cut contact. There are some real jerks out there

[@dmitriac4463]

Hi, great content, i'm from Tasmania and i have lots of trouble buying vintage Lego overseas esp E bay sellers that say, ships internationally, you win the bid, then they say they don't ship to Tasmania, very frustrating for a buyer.

[@IJsbeer74]

Good points about sellers! I can understand most of them. Some have terms that indeed make me wonder whether they actually want to sell anything. Just looking at the feedback usually says a lot. About the PayPal fees: I think it's okay to charge them, at least when there are other cheaper payment options. PayPal just is way too greedy, and I think it's good that people are aware of the fact that it costs money. With currency conversions it can add up to a high percentage. Recently someone (out of his own initiative) paid me around 30 cents with PayPal, and I got... nothing (because of the fees). Although PayPal does offer a free "friends" payment option within the euro zone. Here in the Netherlands it's fairly common to pay a little extra when you want to pay with a credit card or PayPal, especially for products with a low profit margin.

[@blboudreau1]

Awesome video. I am new to Bricklink and have bought on there. I was also looking to start slowly selling some surplus parts and sets. This has helped considerably. Keep up the videos like this. I really appreciate them.

[@rbletitgo4948]

Thanks to see this. I opened my store on Bricklink. But after 2 months i have not sold anything yet but i have not opened the store yet. So worried about scams. What i like about your store and others like Pops is that you can see them on youtube to have more confidence. What is the best way to prevent scams that will switch out an expensive minifig.

[@BrikFam]

Long time viewer, first time commenter. I advise that, if pb-bricks (sic) decides to follow through on the order in question, all parts are photographed prior to packaging and shipment with the buyer’s information or order number in frame. This way, he (pb) would be forearmed if needing to use BL’s dispute resolution procedures should any vengeful action be taken by the buyer re: claims of bad parts, poor packaging, etc., and it would be a lot easier to resolve.

[@pb5034]

Thanks for the tips! I even made a video of me putting the parts into the envelope, so I hope he can't have any complaints that bricklink would validate

[@penfold7800]

TBH, I don't regularly buy from bricklink, but when I buy stuff on eBay I usually check thier other listings to make sure the photos are all taken in the same places, and i check feedback. Sometimes I will pay more than the average, just because the seller seems really genuine, has feedback, and is not a re-seller or drop- shipper. I have learnt from mistakes that it's just not worth the risk most of the time. If a seller uses a stock or copied image, or doesn't have any pictures at all, I avoid always, no exceptions. So in the case you're quoting, I wouldn't get as far as the 'terms'. Sometimes also, if the description has a long spiel of terms and just a one-line description, I avoid that too. If they can't be bothered to describe it properly, then I can't expect them to care much about the item itself or how it arrives through postage.

[@rbletitgo4948]

Can not imagine to charge someone for a picture of something you might buy. But again in Europe they charge you .10 cents for a plastic bag to put your product in.

[@kensavage7657]

7:33 - "As soon as they've paid for their order and I've packed it, and I've printed the shipping label - I leave them feedback". This is how all seller transactions should go. I've started using Bricklink, a short time ago, only as a buyer. Not one seller, in my experience, has ever left feedback before I have left my own feedback as buyer.

[@BrickTsar]

They are afraid they’ll have a problem with the buyer complaining about something. After 20 years of this - I’ve realized it’s not worth worrying about

[@brickenberg4757]

PayPal terms differ from country to country. In the US it is against terms to charge PayPal fees. This is not necessarily the case in other countries.

[@nortoro1]

I have never been willing to purchase of bricklink because I don't trust the sellers I see. So many items seem to be overpriced and/or the descriptions are misleading. I saw one that said it was in good condition but then mentioned there were teeth marks in many of the pieces. Doesn't sound like good condition.

[@IronAndrew-jt4tv]

What about Brickset?

[@barkitect5247]

I've also seen things like that. Sets listed as "New" and "Sealed", priced at a price that you'd pay for a full set. But then in the fine print, they say like "Box badly damaged, set incomplete"

[@markofbrick]

Due to the nature of individual sellers, maybe you'd just have better luck finding a few people you do trust, from reading their reviews. I'd say 99% of my buying experience has been positive, and bricklink is such an incredible resource as a lego fan!

[@RetroKafas]

I don't know if it's against the terms of service but I think paypal fees are reasonable if the shop have other payment methods available... Wire transfers has nearly zero cost, paypal has a commission system and sometimes there are added cost of currency exchange fees. There is no price adjustment feature in Bricklink according to selected payment type... If the shop use manual invoicing though they can discount the extra that they added for Paypal fees & stuff but then their prices will not be competitive...

[@jbsbrickkiln9254]

Heh, I know precisely who this seller is. I purchased from them earlier this year. They still had the best price for what I was buying, and overall it was a good transaction. I did take note from what you said and changed my set up. I had originally set up my store with paypal fees being charged back in 2014. I thought I had changed that when I reopened my store recently. Apparently I had not! Now I just removed that fee entirely and instead raised my minimum shipping by $.30.

[@lezbyanke777]

I saw one seller market an Avatar set [75573 I think] as "New/Complete" which was incorrect. He sold only one piece of the set, so it had to have been opened even if unused

[@Alejandro_Figueroa]

I agree on the shipping costs. If I am unsure, I write down a note "If it fits ...., then send me an invoice, otherwise I am gonna take some items out."

[@whitehorsebricks2670]

Certainly in UK it's illegal to charge people differently depending on their payment method.

[@tossedcookies8288]

Totally support this video! I ordered 2 small stanchions from a bricklink seller, my order comes it has one correct piece, and the other is an angled stanchion. Contacted the seller I understand mistakes can happen, seller never replies. Definitely feel this video. Thank you Bricktsar

[@stephenwabaxter]

I started the Lego hobby at the beginning of this year and have built over 25 sets thus far. Just this week I have placed my first two Bricklink orders. I agree it's wise to properly read a sellers terms and avoid any that are onerous or unfair.

[@MrDianadoll]

I once bought a catalogue from Bricklink that was £4.99 but minimum spend was £5.00 so I asked him if he would put the price up 1p which happily he did lol. Sometimes a catalogue is all you need in that moment. Love your channel Bricktsar!.

[@KevBotes]

I have seen some stores that will ship any version of a part. For example part 3062, you might get any version, solid stud, stud with hole etc. This is not ideal when building vintage sets up.

[@Xtil]

Would love a video from a buying perspective or bricklink. Keep up the good work!

[@andrewmccanna]

Thank you, BrickTsar for sharing this! I sell on eBay and PoshMark, and I treat others like I would want to be treated if I was buying. Wish it was common sense. :/

[@Solbrick]

I'm only a buyer, but I think that it's important that sellers are open with how they ship stuff. If it's going to be taped together or packed in other unusual ways, that needs to be clearly mentioned in the store. For example "Ship world wide packed in bubble gum". Then the buyer can make an informed decision.

[@kailahmann1823]

in German we have phrase for this (and Germans have a reputation for this kind of "service"…): "Achtung, Kunde droht mit Auftrag" ("warning: Customer is threatening with an order").

[@CMRetroGaming]

I think there are a lot of people out there that don't know how to communicate effectively. Unfortunately I think it's a sign of the times, our population has been conditioned to communicate in an aggressive manner at the first sing of discomfort to the seller's ego. As a seller you should be more than willing to work with your buyers as this could provide a long term partnership between the seller and the buyer. I have people that have told me that they look at my eBay store first before going else ware. The one thing I hate on BrickLink is when a seller has a $150 minimum on buying items. I just think, how much can they possibly sell with a $150 minimum. LOL, when a person has a $5 minimum buying stipulation and I only need $3 worth of parts I struggle trying to find that last $2 worth of items I need to meet the minimum.

[@sed6]

The $5 per picture guy is Milton Bricks for those who are wondering...

[@paulibaer_206]

As a buyer, the only thing that really works on Bricklink is the problem escalation, when something really serious went wrong. But softer measures with moderation like on ebay are sadly unheard of at Bricklink. The technical support basically sucks. I contacted them several times and never got a reply. Charging percentual fees for paypal or packaging is illegal in the EU, initially this was driven by the practice of airlines adding hidden costs at the end of the sale. Sellers who do this in Germany risk fines for violation by several government agencies one for competition law and one for customer rights.

[@Yonderford]

I recently made my first order on Bricklink and something that annoyed me is that while the cost of postage should have been $5.10 (USPS First Class retail rate), the seller rounded that up to $6.00 as well as charged a handling fee of $2.00 (this was mentioned in their terms). If there was no handling fee, it might not have been so annoying. As someone who sells and ships things somewhat frequently, I know that $6.00 to mail something via USPS First Class is a bit over what it should be.

[@BrickTsar]

I see that all the time to and I don’t usually go back to people with ridiculous handling fees.

[@nicholaswhite5308]

Thanks for being one of the greats. I was very happy with my recent order from your store!

[@NetherlandsBricks]

I also saw a seller once that added costs to shipping, if you ordered a certain amount of lots (ie. $ 2 extra for 50 lots, $ 3 for 100 etc), or adding to the shipping costs if the average lot value was below a certain amount... very annoying. In my store I do add a fee to small orders, but there are no paypal fees. I do believe that in Paypal's terms in the EU, you are allowed to calculate those fees to the buyer (I don't though) And like you say, all shipping costs are calculated at checkout and only the shipping costs that the shipping company charges me, are charged to the customer (I try to do this based on packaging weight + weight of the order) and if I made an error and shipping would cost more, that is on me, not on the buyer... and I will ship it anyway. And if the order is above a certain amount, I will upgrade the shipping to include insurance as well, so if the order gets lost in the mail, I'll be able to give the buyer a full refund, or send out another package with the same items (depending on what the buyer wants; I'll even order them from another store if I don't have the parts anymore and the buyer is wiling to wait for that).

[@zachduperron8543]

My tip, don’t scalp clones AT ALL.

[@jawjuk]

You're a good person, Jaabo.

[@BrickTsar]

Thank you

[@crazychick]

We used to own a retail store and we were banned from adding a service charge if they used a credit card. The company would take our machine if we charged a " service charge "

[@Alejandro_Figueroa]

Adding PayPal is tricky, because when it cheats the "Items x sale" list. Your prices look lower than they really are. And certainly, you will have a better rank in the list than the sellers who include those costs in the price. That's the trick.

[@lezbyanke777]

even if the sellers and buyers do everything right, i.e put VOEC-/VAT number on customs papers, Post Norway AS [our postal services] manages to rip off the customers by charging them double the VAT and customs fees. Methinks that Post Norway needs to fix the flaws in their dinosaur age system xD

[@clintcartee9620]

two orders arrived this week (really long delays) and 98 percent of them are sitting in peroxide.

[@pedro380085]

The paypal fee is totally acceptable in my opinion. Sellers are ok charging it, also they can offer discounts for IBAN invoices when you are paying in Europe.

[@BrickTsar]

It’s against terms of service in several sites

[@isaacdestura7495]

7:00 some folks like me do (rather did) this, shipping address different than paypal, because their aren’t any good bricklink stores locally at a decent price so they use dropship companies because they feel like it’s more reasonable price-wise or their local post service isn’t really good. Reality is that the price isn’t really different and that they’re probably just nervous using local post. Also the paypal address doesn’t match usually because you need an in country credit card afaik to have a new paypal account.

[@whitehorsebricks2670]

My biggest turn off as a buyer is 'we are not responsible for packages lost in the post'

[@BrickTsar]

Especially when they lazily package it in a way the lends itself to damage. Lego group is notorious for poor shipping practices - but at least they don’t blame the post office. My problem with buyers is impatience - even if insured a package can take time to deliver or recover funds if lost.

[@BrickTsar]

I’ve had a few people not get their package because they wouldn’t sign for it

[@TheErwinalf]

Also when you are provided with an option to have it sent to you with T&T? But what is far more expensive? Because that would mean that a seller would, in theory, need to charge every customer a "most of the time" unnecessary high shipment fee because some choose the cheap way out. 😉

[@pagexi3394]

Spent thousands through bricklink & have been 100% satisfied with my purchases. 🍺

[@beatsbreaksbricks6566]

2nd guy sounds like someone running a scam selling pictures of crappy unwanted boxes to people :D

[@AndrewMartinIsHere]

Great points, and thanks for standing up against those bad practises. I’m guessing the 1 (as I write this) down thumb on this video is THAT seller 🤣

[@BrickTsar]

Lol! Oh I doubt he watches KZbin

[@Carl-G]

I don't do any of those things so luckily I am not a Scummy seller :D :D :D + $5 for a photo?!?! WOW! That is terrible :-/ Wise words as always from BrickTsar ;)

[@kittykaz7161]

I’ve just started buying on the site, with the intention of selling. Out of 3 purchases only 1 left any kind of feedback. So frustrating.

[@matprather5833]

I certainly don't buy from others that charge paypal fees or have crazy packaging fees. If it is reasonable like $1 or so then maybe but like you said just include them in your price of bricks.

[@jkirl]

rant over ...drops mike.......legend😎

[@Carl-G]

So TRUE :D

[@KevBotes]

What I don’t get is how some stores prices are so high yet they still have orders.

[@erictreder8061]

I have made first purchased on brinklink. Ordered on November 24. It December 2o still have received it yet . Took seller 8 days from purchase date to mail. Now usps is backed up. Don't think I will purchase from brink link. I have purchased over 65 lego sets from eBay no issues. I wish shipping wasn't so expensive but it is what is.

[@hookybrickshooky9529]

I totally agree to the statements in this video but as for the pictures of sets I feel that some buyers overdo things a little when it comes to LEGO boxes and pictures they want to see before placing an order. I had at two cases of people wanting pictures of 5-6 small sets that are priced between 4 - 10 Euro. I think if people want the perfect conditioned box of a low priced set they should visit stores that at least claim their boxes to be in perfect condition.

[@BrickTsar]

There is a balance indeed with everything. I don’t list many sets for sale but I’ve thought I might should just use my own picture even for sealed sets. But a $10 or less set I don’t know why anyone would be worried about it. Lol

[@denaboersma6983]

There’s quite a few that add crazy fees for handling

[@bensbrickstore]

Great video, BrickTsar! I've definitely seen the store that you're describing that charges for photos of sets etc. I think I avoided buying from them but can't remember for sure (if I did it would have been because the item was a better price than elsewhere). Certainly would be reluctant to give a store like that my business. I currently have a minimum average lot requirement of $.49/lot at my store. I implemented this after receiving an order that was less than $75 worth of items but contained 243 lots, and took myself and 2 friends a couple hours to pack. I may raise the min ave lot req to $1 at some point in the future as I increase the amount of lots I have large bulk amounts of. On the other hand, I've also been contemplating replacing the min ave lot requirement with a fee structure, allowing a buyer to check out with a low value average lot price if they really want to, while still being compensated roughly the same price per lot. It would be something like 10 cents per lot for orders between $.40-.49/lot, 20 cents per lot for orders between $.30-.39/lot, and so on. It's not an effort to squeeze extra $ out of a buyer, just a desire to be fairly compensated for the fact these lower value orders take roughly the same amount of time to pack. The buyer would be paying for the extra service, but would always have the ability to bump up the average lot price of their cart if they'd rather avoid the fee. Curious what your thoughts are, or whether it's just better to stick with a min ave lot requirement. I know added fees can be controversial and/or confusing to some buyers, but perhaps others would appreciate the option to come in under the min ave lot req and might not mind the fee? I also currently have a $1.50 fee for orders under $5, and $.75 for orders between $5-10, and people don't seem to mind paying the $1.50 to order $1 worth of parts at all, because I get tons of orders like this.

[@BrickTsar]

Oh this is a good question and one I’ve thought about. Have had several that were over 350 lots and many from one buyer. Usually my wife and I team up on it but it does make me wonder if I should make a limit or average lot price in some cases. I’ll need to think about your comment more

[@CookiesBricks]

Tons of toy sellers on Facebook try to charge that PayPal fee nonsense. I just keep scrolling with them

[@MartenFerret]

I hate those 'minimum average lot size' things.

[@coldwaterbricks6537]

Then you aren’t a seller. If you were and the first time that someone orders 80 different $.02 parts and you spent two hours pulling a $1.60 order, you would understand.

[@MartenFerret]

@@coldwaterbricks6537 I bought $30 worth of 0.02 parts. :3

[@coldwaterbricks6537]

@@MartenFerret Well, then I am confident that the minimum average lot size didn't apply to you.

[@MartenFerret]

@@coldwaterbricks6537 Are you calling me a liar? "BrickVibe - Orders (email redacted) Fri, Nov 20, 11:45 AM to me Hello, I am sorry but with our high order volume we aren't giving out the bypass password. Thank you Jason On Fri, Nov 20, 2020 at 5:48 AM BrickLink wrote: BrickLink Logo Try to buy around $30 USD worth of parts, but the 'lot value' isn't met. Any way to bypass this, please? I'm building something specific that requires many strange pieces; hoping to avoid buying from too many separate sellers (to save on shipping). Hopefully you can help me. :( "

[@coldwaterbricks6537]

@@MartenFerret Wow. You might want to get that chip off your shoulder. Nobody was calling you a liar. My points were 1. Minimum Lot Values keeps the seller from spending hours on a $10 order. Just as some run their store as a hobby, others depend on their store to pay the bills. It makes no sense to tie up 25% of the day on one, cheap order while another 15-20 orders aren't getting filled. Hence the minimum. As a seller, I don't want buyers that place orders for 1 each of 200 skus. I'd rather lose the business than lose money. 2. What I meant by my second statement was that with 98% of sellers, $30 worth of $.02 parts would meet their minimums. I didn't realize that you were saying that you had actually placed that order and been turned down. There's probably not 5 stores in the US that would have done that. I've had business with BrickVibe with no problems. He seems to run a good store. I don't know what his reasons were for not allowing you to bypass and I wouldn't want to guess. I will repeat this: Until you have sold on BL and been hit with one of the picky orders like was mentioned earlier, you can't imagine what a royal PITA they are. I try to never order just one of a super cheap part. If I order extra, I can always find use for them in the future.

[@davidboyd4026]

I have ordered from you as well 😁👍

[@BrickTsar]

Yes! and I thank you!

[@TheErwinalf]

Heya, long time no see. I've been very busy with the store. We also sell LEGO on Brickowl now after I noticed that south American countries are likely to use Brickowl for some reason. So, again, shipping terms and fees right? I still don't do fee's. It's nonsens. These costs are included in the brick. But I did have to make one shipping rules that is actually against BL policy. And that's the following; I always try to ship as cheap as possible. This does mean that I will also ship parts in bubblewrap enveloppes. Imagine, you buying a 10 cent part, and having to pay at least 24,30 euro for shipping. That wouldn't be that great, would it. But, the downside is, no track and trace possibilities. So when shipments get lost, and unfortunately they sometimes do, that means that 10 cents plus probably 1.55 for shipping is lost. Therefore I warn people for this consequence. Now, of course you have the option to choose what you want yourselves. In the early days I went and send people the warning by hand upfront, "are you sure you want this? Cause I can't track your order for you." But volumes got to high to do this. So I had to put this in mij terms. I really would love to have the same system here as in Germany where even a letter has a tracking code. (Stupidly enough and I put this in the terms as a warning as well, international postal laws prevent us from sending other then paper in enveloppes. But this still goes well) But, when in practice I get the message that an order is not received, I most likely try to resend or do a refund though. Because I feel sad that people haven't received their parts. Do this term is more like a warning then that it's really enforced. A more or less paper tiger to let people think well about how they have things shipped. Another strange one in my terms is the cleaning of parts. Cleaning of parts is rather controversial. Everyone has his or her opinion on how that should be done. So I check parts if the can get cleaned. But the cleaning, I let this in the careful hands of the new owner. 🙈 What you said about undergrading, that is exactly what I do. Some bricks appear new but aren't. I will sell them with the description of used but nice and shiny bricks. 😂 Rule one in selling: the customer is always right. Even if she or he is not. Because an unhappy customer is bad advertisement. And losing on an order is an investment in advertisement. That's how I view it. Except for the occasional ..... you just can't do it right. 🙈

[@sethrodgers5582]

Fellow MSTIE! I have unriffed versions of all the movies (and all but 8 of the shorts) from the Original Series.

[@BrickTsar]

Oh wow! You are serious. We only have originals of some of the Gamera movies and Teenagers From Outer Space.

[@dacollector4452]

I need to put an order in with you of all the pieces that senders never sent to me. I’m waiting on 4 orders and see if you have them

[@confessionsofafirstlineman4914]

The problem with raising the prices instead of the paypal fee is that your prices are then not competitive any longer. Just saying. For a new seller without established customers you need competitive prices.

[@BrickTsar]

Then keep the prices the same and consider the PayPal fees a cost of doing business. Every retail store on earth is already doing that with credit cards

[@confessionsofafirstlineman4914]

@@BrickTsar I actually did not charge any paypal fee before but started just now because I am a new seller and with pricing my sets low just to sell + paypal 3-6% + bricklink fee of 3% its just not worth the time and effort. I actually conseptually agree with your resoning so Im not very comfortable charging it but on the other hand it is more tranparent then buying with a credit card from a store. You see the total and what you are charged before you have to commit to buying. I want to add that I really like your channel, and that you should keep up the good work!!!

[@dougraas7222]

Oh nice! I saw that comment in the other video and replied to it. But yeah, dubious selling practices!

[@ysmg9010]

For people selling sets, I wish they would mention if it comes from non smoking household. I once bought a Metroliner set to build the B model. Tried to wash it multiple times; but it still smells and the grey is still yellowish compared to my original set. Think about dumping it into trash everytime I see it :p

[@sed6]

That sux, sorry to hear!

[@Mayo_Jaabo_Hosko]

What petty, lazy and greedy sellers. I only buy from Bricklink sellers that have instant checkouts. With today’s technology no one should have to send invoices. Also with non instant checkout you’re committed to the purchase not knowing what the shipping is. I believe it should be against terms of service to disable instant checkout because buyers must know what they are paying. If we see outrageous shipping prices come payment we will not buy. We should not commit to buying at high shipping rates

[@CrispsApples]

Love the videos! Quick question, I'm currently having issues with a Netherlands seller. We agreed on a set price of $175 for my order. $175 shipped, meaning all costs to get the parts from his doorstep to mine is included in the $175. Well after the agreement I purchase the items, and wait. Over 24 hours later comes an invoice for $195. When I question him on it, he simply says tax and handling costs are always on the buyer. While he may be right, that's not what he agreed to. After he mentions this, he stops replying. My question is, is he actually in the wrong for this? Or am I? I made my offer very clear before he agreed to the $175 shipped. I especially said all charges included in the price.

[@BrickTsar]

With the recent changes - tax is handled by Bricklink - not sellers. He is right - no control over that. Handling he does. Seems high too for tax but I don’t know the rate where you live which is what it’s based on

[@lopoa126]

Based on your comment it sounds like the seller should be covering the taxes since you agreed to a set price for the entire transaction. They agreed to cover all costs.

[@bikeomatic8005]

if the price across was higher you wouldnt buy it % fee if they charge will be lower than the increase of prices.

[@TheTosi98]

So now I want to buy on your BrickLink store :) ...but I can't :( Hello from Italy!

[@BrickTsar]

Sorry. Shipping is very high. And very slow. Too many complaints and impatience from others so I am currently not shipping overseas. Maybe if covid lets up thing will be better but the high prices are only going to get higher. Truly sorry

[@JohnSmith-kf8mv]

Do unto others.... right ?!

[@mouthofthesouth71]

Re feedback on Bricklink, I've always left positive feedback too as a buyer, but several sellers never bother to RTF with feedback for me as a buyer, even though I've asked them in a message. It IS a bit annoying

[@BrickTsar]

I’ve found the best think for me is to do what I do - file the order - and never look back. The feedback rate on Bricklink is higher than eBay. I only faced hot feedback on about 67% of the auctions on eBay. I leave feedback for virtually 100% of everything. Only exceptions is when the item takes so long to get here that by the time I go to leave the feedback it’s too late. I totally understand the frustration but it’s never going to change so I just stopped worry about

[@jaimengrove1127]

I do not order on BrickLink often but I have many wanted lists on my account. I was wondering what the difference between the “easy buy” option and “buy all” and then “auto select” are? I have noticed that auto select tends to find me cheaper prices.

[@cstedtler4964]

Hallo BrickTsar, same question was posted in English a few days ago on a German KZbinr channel, Thank you Carola

[@BrickTsar]

Oh I can only guess as to who - and if it is who I think - he probably has scummy fees himself

[@Boundher69]

It is actually ''illegal'' to add Paypal fees in the United Kingdom

[@Mardigrasman23]

$5 for a picture. This guy should be blocked from everybody. Sounds like he’s scared to sell anything. Or he’s selling stuff he doesn’t have. You forgot to talk about stores with outrageous minimum buy. 1 store I visited had the most parts for the train shed at decent prices but his min was $200. What

[@spookyvillevideo]

I left the site after getting scammed / items never shipped as a new user on the site.

[@BrickTsar]

I’ve been on for 21 years. Never been scammed

[@SinKillerJ]

If someone gets a burr up their bum then tries to buy from me... I'm sorry I'm cancelling that transaction, that is way too fishy.

[@blackpearlbricks]

What a pathetic seller lol. It’s the lazy sellers like these that add stupid fees and refuse to take pictures of high dollar items that scare me away from the platform... at least it means that if I open a store there will be little competition because these sellers are horrible, haha.

[@BrickTsar]

Lol

[@beatsbreaksbricks6566]

Can you refuse to sell to someone? That's what I would have done

[@davidboyd4026]

Ironically I had to recently blocks buyer on EBay 😈

[@ronvallance5425]

Interesting video. I live in Canada and how can I order from your store ? Also do you ship to Canada? If possible can you give me info about ordering from your store? If not that's okay.

[@cheeseontop17]

Yeah.. i bought something for $35 and the priced jumped to $55 bc of random fees...

[@BrickTsar]

I probably should have mentioned tax is something Bricklink collects now. It’s based on where the buyer lives and it’s added on to whatever the seller charges

[@jonathonklepfer9518]

Hi Brick Tsar, I started selling on bricklinks, but have only set up domestic shipping (U.S.). Is it difficult to setup and start international shipping? I want to be a great seller and want to be sure to go about it the right way. Thank you! -Jono

[@isaacdestura7495]

7:52 do you like insure all the packages or pay it out of your own pocket? I’m just curious

[@BrickTsar]

I give the buyer the opportunity to pay for the insurance but I self insure anyway. I’ve rarely ran into problems that require the insurance - 1 in fact in 20 years of selling. So it’s a cost that I think overtime not paying for insurance - if I do have a problem that was caused by the postal service - I can now afford to cover it. The only time insurance was used was when the post office destroyed a priority mail package arrived with the contents completely missing. The post office immediately covered the insured amount to the buyer. Didn’t have to wait the normal 60 days for a missing package.

[@amyk9813]

I asked a seller a question, they didn't reply and put me on their stop list. Is this normal?

[@BrickTsar]

Depends on what the question was. I’ve stop listed people when they’ve asked unreasonable questions. Not saying that’s what you did. But yes, a question can get someone blocked. Things like “Will you shop this for free?” “Will you sell for 50% off?” “Can I pick it up at your house?”

[@crazychick]

I'm sorry but no image no buy

[@QuentinT9]

I have been blocked a few times for just giving some constructive criticism. I think its very hard to buy once you have been selling a while, you see some sellers who really don't care at all, like they are doing you the favor of selling Lego parts.

[@bobioko]

Hey I was wondering, how much should you trust sellers, like is 100 orders good? Can they fake orders?

[@BrickTsar]

22 years I’ve been on Bricklink. Never worried about a fake order. Credits cards and PayPal offer protection against things like that anyway

[@bobioko]

@@BrickTsar alright nice! I'm kind of getting back into the Lego community, as I took out my Legos for the first time in 7yrs and had so much fun making mocs with them. Thanks for the info, I bought from him to give a chance

[@John_Wick69]

I just opened my store "Brick in the North" its very small (just over 5200 pieces)I've priced each piece at last 6 month average should I change that?

[@MyOwnChannel92]

Try to get customers to your shop. Either by specializing e.g. in vintage pieces or bulk amounts or on slightly cheaper prices on some interessting items. You can make it up by adding it on other pieces. I often look who has most of the things I want, or a high quantity or good prices

[@matprather5833]

Mic drop! 😃

[@confessionsofafirstlineman4914]

Also you can look at it this way, that it is Paypal who are the scums who overcharge for their service because there are not so many other good alternatives.

[@BrickTsar]

It’s no different with credit card companies - why single out PayPal? If you went into a store and used a credit card and they charged you 3% more how would you feel?

[@confessionsofafirstlineman4914]

@@BrickTsar In that, you are right.

[@NetherlandsBricks]

@@BrickTsar Several stores in the EU actually calculate 2,5 or 3% extra, if you want to pay with mastercard creditcard, as the company also charges this to the shop (usually stores with a very low profit margin do this), while the Visa creditcard doesn't charge this, so those stores don't add fees for Visa.