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| | Author: | Ajiki | Posted: | May 20, 2024 08:03 | Subject: | Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 323 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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| Hi all,
Lately I have been seeing more small orders where the shipping costs are many
times the actual value of the parts.
Why don't people wait until the order is a bit larger and in proportion to
the shipping costs. Are people afraid that the parts will no longer be there
(fomo)?
Are other sellers also seeing this trend?
Thoughts?
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| | | | Author: | yorbrick | Posted: | May 20, 2024 08:22 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 65 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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The buyer is probably desperate for the parts, especially if they are buying
from a wants list and not paying attention to the prices.
If it worries you, then use a store minimum price.
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| | | | Author: | rab1234 | Posted: | May 20, 2024 08:39 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 60 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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| Personally, I order pretty rarely and it's just to complete a couple of sets.
So sometimes it's a tradeoff between ordering $5 worth of parts now to complete
$500 worth of sets, or wait 4 months to order $10 worth of parts to complete
$1,000 worth of sets. The opportunity cost of sitting on $500 of inventory that
I can't list is not worth saving $5. Everyone has their own reasons though.
Some people just don't care about $5.
In Selling, Ajiki writes:
| Hi all,
Lately I have been seeing more small orders where the shipping costs are many
times the actual value of the parts.
Why don't people wait until the order is a bit larger and in proportion to
the shipping costs. Are people afraid that the parts will no longer be there
(fomo)?
Are other sellers also seeing this trend?
Thoughts?
|
|
|
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| | | | | | Author: | zorbanj | Posted: | May 20, 2024 09:31 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 62 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, rab1234 writes:
| Personally, I order pretty rarely and it's just to complete a couple of sets.
So sometimes it's a tradeoff between ordering $5 worth of parts now to complete
$500 worth of sets, or wait 4 months to order $10 worth of parts to complete
$1,000 worth of sets. The opportunity cost of sitting on $500 of inventory that
I can't list is not worth saving $5. Everyone has their own reasons though.
Some people just don't care about $5.
|
+1
Also, if I'm restoring an older set and I need a certain variant, I'll
go with a store I've used before knowing that the correct variant will be
sent vs saving a few dollars and taking a chance.
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| | | | Author: | PlanetEarthToys | Posted: | May 20, 2024 10:49 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 64 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, Ajiki writes:
| Hi all,
Lately I have been seeing more small orders where the shipping costs are many
times the actual value of the parts.
Why don't people wait until the order is a bit larger and in proportion to
the shipping costs. Are people afraid that the parts will no longer be there
(fomo)?
Are other sellers also seeing this trend?
Thoughts?
|
might be hackers phishing for info....
had that occuring in oone of my other stores a few years ago, once i reported
the weirdness directly to paypal it seemed to stop.
'buyers' were buying $1.00 board game pieces with $6.00 shipping.. ????
spot check the addresses on a few of the orders.. see if it is actually a legit
place or if the person even exists
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| | | | | | Author: | Nubs_Select | Posted: | May 20, 2024 12:11 | Subject: | (Cancelled) | Viewed: | 33 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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| (Cancelled) |
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| | | | | | | | Author: | Nubs_Select | Posted: | May 20, 2024 12:13 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 38 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, Nubs_Select writes:
| | 'buyers' were buying $1.00 board game pieces with $6.00 shipping.. ????
|
When I first started selling online when I was younger I sold many board game
parts where shipping was multiple X what the items value was. Not sure why that’s
weird? If you need a board game piece to complete you game your gunna buy it
regardless of its $1 plus $5 shipping or $5 plus $1 shipping. If they were
phishing for info it would make more sense to buy things like stamps (or perhaps
coins if they are shipped with stamps in the states) which would cost them much
less
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| | | | | | Author: | Ajiki | Posted: | May 20, 2024 12:13 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 45 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, PlanetEarthToys writes:
| In Selling, Ajiki writes:
| Hi all,
Lately I have been seeing more small orders where the shipping costs are many
times the actual value of the parts.
Why don't people wait until the order is a bit larger and in proportion to
the shipping costs. Are people afraid that the parts will no longer be there
(fomo)?
Are other sellers also seeing this trend?
Thoughts?
|
might be hackers phishing for info....
had that occuring in oone of my other stores a few years ago, once i reported
the weirdness directly to paypal it seemed to stop.
'buyers' were buying $1.00 board game pieces with $6.00 shipping.. ????
spot check the addresses on a few of the orders.. see if it is actually a legit
place or if the person even exists
|
Addresses are legit and the parts are very specific.
When I buy I always throw in some random pieces from the store I know I can use
later.
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| | | | Author: | tec | Posted: | May 20, 2024 12:23 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 61 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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| Because parts vanish from your cart, and boy, it stings a lot:
Parts in carts are NOT reserved for you
Other buyers get them while you wait
You come back later and puff, you see some parts vanished.
result? less parts means the order SHRINKS, the contrary of what you asked.
Believe me: if you put things in cart and wait to add some some, soon enough
(hours or even minutes), you'll see the dreaded OUT-OF-STOCK message.
every order "parked as a cart" shrinks, shrinks, shrinks!
To get bigger orders:
- provide an "open order" method to make us order & pay in partial, then
we continue shopping.
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| | | | | | Author: | infinibrix | Posted: | May 20, 2024 15:58 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 44 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, tec writes:
| Because parts vanish from your cart, and boy, it stings a lot:
Parts in carts are NOT reserved for you
Other buyers get them while you wait
You come back later and puff, you see some parts vanished.
result? less parts means the order SHRINKS, the contrary of what you asked.
Believe me: if you put things in cart and wait to add some some, soon enough
(hours or even minutes), you'll see the dreaded OUT-OF-STOCK message.
every order "parked as a cart" shrinks, shrinks, shrinks!
To get bigger orders:
- provide an "open order" method to make us order & pay in partial, then
we continue shopping.
|
This is exactly the reason why I believe Bricklink should encourage and put more
emphasis towards quoting and make it a more accepted and viable option. Sellers
enabling quotes should be forced to allow buyers to secure their stock for a
set amount of time.
Lego orders are complex and often require time and rational thinking. IC only
creates an environment for panic buying and smaller orders since there is rarely
opportunity to browse and add to orders that have already been paid for which
is detrimental to buyers, sellers and even Bricklink themselves
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| | | | | | | | Author: | 1001bricks | Posted: | May 20, 2024 16:06 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 46 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| In Selling, tec writes:
| Because parts vanish from your cart, and boy, it stings a lot:
Parts in carts are NOT reserved for you
Other buyers get them while you wait
You come back later and puff, you see some parts vanished.
result? less parts means the order SHRINKS, the contrary of what you asked.
Believe me: if you put things in cart and wait to add some some, soon enough
(hours or even minutes), you'll see the dreaded OUT-OF-STOCK message.
every order "parked as a cart" shrinks, shrinks, shrinks!
To get bigger orders:
- provide an "open order" method to make us order & pay in partial, then
we continue shopping.
|
This is exactly the reason why I believe Bricklink should encourage and put more
emphasis towards quoting and make it a more accepted and viable option. Sellers
enabling quotes should be forced to allow buyers to secure their stock for a
set amount of time.
|
Even easier - I created a manual Shipping Method "Leave my order opened",
and I allow people to progressively add to their order for a month or more...
So really not a problem BrickLink have to solve.
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| | | | | | | | | | Author: | infinibrix | Posted: | May 20, 2024 18:33 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 46 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, 1001bricks writes:
| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| In Selling, tec writes:
| Because parts vanish from your cart, and boy, it stings a lot:
Parts in carts are NOT reserved for you
Other buyers get them while you wait
You come back later and puff, you see some parts vanished.
result? less parts means the order SHRINKS, the contrary of what you asked.
Believe me: if you put things in cart and wait to add some some, soon enough
(hours or even minutes), you'll see the dreaded OUT-OF-STOCK message.
every order "parked as a cart" shrinks, shrinks, shrinks!
To get bigger orders:
- provide an "open order" method to make us order & pay in partial, then
we continue shopping.
|
This is exactly the reason why I believe Bricklink should encourage and put more
emphasis towards quoting and make it a more accepted and viable option. Sellers
enabling quotes should be forced to allow buyers to secure their stock for a
set amount of time.
|
Even easier - I created a manual Shipping Method "Leave my order opened",
and I allow people to progressively add to their order for a month or more...
So really not a problem BrickLink have to solve.
|
Couple of points....
You rely on a buyer fully understanding each individual sellers terms and not
every seller will have this term in place besides which BL makes it that an order
is a binding contract, That means from buyers perspective, order first and worry
about consequences of any excessive terms, fees, shipping charges later and even
if you allow buyers to cancel many won’t therefore across the board this is not
a solution that comes anywhere near close to a decent quote solution and like
I say... Give buyers the confidence and time and they will place larger orders(quotes)
with much less hesitance!
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| | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | infinibrix | Posted: | May 20, 2024 19:03 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 48 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| In Selling, 1001bricks writes:
| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| In Selling, tec writes:
| Because parts vanish from your cart, and boy, it stings a lot:
Parts in carts are NOT reserved for you
Other buyers get them while you wait
You come back later and puff, you see some parts vanished.
result? less parts means the order SHRINKS, the contrary of what you asked.
Believe me: if you put things in cart and wait to add some some, soon enough
(hours or even minutes), you'll see the dreaded OUT-OF-STOCK message.
every order "parked as a cart" shrinks, shrinks, shrinks!
To get bigger orders:
- provide an "open order" method to make us order & pay in partial, then
we continue shopping.
|
This is exactly the reason why I believe Bricklink should encourage and put more
emphasis towards quoting and make it a more accepted and viable option. Sellers
enabling quotes should be forced to allow buyers to secure their stock for a
set amount of time.
|
Even easier - I created a manual Shipping Method "Leave my order opened",
and I allow people to progressively add to their order for a month or more...
So really not a problem BrickLink have to solve.
|
Couple of points....
You rely on a buyer fully understanding each individual sellers terms and not
every seller will have this term in place besides which BL makes it that an order
is a binding contract, That means from buyers perspective, order first and worry
about consequences of any excessive terms, fees, shipping charges later and even
if you allow buyers to cancel many won’t therefore across the board this is not
a solution that comes anywhere near close to a decent quote solution and like
I say... Give buyers the confidence and time and they will place larger orders(quotes)
with much less hesitance!
|
Also I just tried to place a draft order in your store to see what options were
available to me and this took me further than I liked. I had to click ‘Proceed
to Checkout’ then the next step was ‘Agree and Continue’ yet I was not about
to click that far therefore any reassuring options you feel you might have are
not reassuring for the buyer if Bricklink makes it so they can’t see these options
prior to what essentially feels like the order commitment stage?
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | 1001bricks | Posted: | May 20, 2024 20:35 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 44 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| In Selling, 1001bricks writes:
| Even easier - I created a manual Shipping Method "Leave my order opened",
and I allow people to progressively add to their order for a month or more...
So really not a problem BrickLink have to solve.
|
Couple of points....
You rely on a buyer fully understanding each individual sellers terms and not
every seller will have this term in place besides which BL makes it that an order
is a binding contract, That means from buyers perspective, order first and worry
about consequences of any excessive terms, fees, shipping charges later and even
if you allow buyers to cancel many won’t therefore across the board this is not
a solution that comes anywhere near close to a decent quote solution and like
I say... Give buyers the confidence and time and they will place larger orders(quotes)
with much less hesitance!
|
|
First: Billions of people don't know what means "Quote" anyway.
So, any system will also fail, already because only in English.
Personally I never use Quotes. I wish to see the final price, or add to an existing
order (I do often, just have 10 opened as of right now). But then it's an
order, not a quote.
If you wish to place an order on a long time, the way I propose works - I had
orders opened for a few months, then gracefully paid.
OF COURSE we'd like a better BrickLink about this.
But what about more important things - like (see above) BrickLink in a few languages?
A faster and working Help System, Notifications?
Frankly, I'm not sure you're on this battle, it's not really a problem.
| Also I just tried to place a draft order in your store to see what options were
available to me and this took me further than I liked. I had to click ‘Proceed
to Checkout’ then the next step was ‘Agree and Continue’ yet I was not about
to click that far therefore any reassuring options you feel you might have are
not reassuring for the buyer if Bricklink makes it so they can’t see these options
prior to what essentially feels like the order commitment stage?
|
We always have refunded/cancelled ANY order for any reason - in fact, for no
given reason.
In Europe, it's the Law.
So, what shows BrickLink doesn't mean anything here, sorry to say.
And again, people can send me PM or e-mail, and I'll tell them - they
use long lasting orders like every week, no problem, everybody's happy.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | infinibrix | Posted: | May 21, 2024 07:40 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 49 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, 1001bricks writes:
| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| In Selling, 1001bricks writes:
| Even easier - I created a manual Shipping Method "Leave my order opened",
and I allow people to progressively add to their order for a month or more...
So really not a problem BrickLink have to solve.
|
Couple of points....
You rely on a buyer fully understanding each individual sellers terms and not
every seller will have this term in place besides which BL makes it that an order
is a binding contract, That means from buyers perspective, order first and worry
about consequences of any excessive terms, fees, shipping charges later and even
if you allow buyers to cancel many won’t therefore across the board this is not
a solution that comes anywhere near close to a decent quote solution and like
I say... Give buyers the confidence and time and they will place larger orders(quotes)
with much less hesitance!
|
|
First: Billions of people don't know what means "Quote" anyway.
|
Then you vastly underestimate peoples knowledge. Most people fully understand
the principal of a quote regardless of what its called or referred to as
|
So, any system will also fail, already because only in English.
|
and yet people are seemingly able to trade from all around the world on an English
language site?
| Personally I never use Quotes.
|
Hence why you do not care to see change or is it that you do not use quotes because
they are currently ineffective here for both buyer and seller since a quote is
only worthwhile if stock is held
|
OF COURSE we'd like a better BrickLink about this.
But what about more important things - like (see above) BrickLink in a few languages?
A faster and working Help System, Notifications?
|
Those kinds of arguments are silly arguments, All issues ought to be fixed regardless
of importance. You don't just leave a spelling mistake in Bricklinks terms
unfixed because of other so called "More Important Things"?
A proper working quote system is an easy fix besides which a buyers shopping
experience here is IMPORTANT and quotes would encourage buyer confidence with
a higher likelihood of increased order sizes and guess what they may actually
choose to shop here again. I expect many buyers are scared away with bad experiences
and hidden charges and if the only way to secure items is to be spontaneous well
then that only creates buyer anxiety and leaves buyers open to the vulnerabilities
that come with making rushed purchase decisions!
|
| Also I just tried to place a draft order in your store to see what options were
available to me and this took me further than I liked. I had to click ‘Proceed
to Checkout’ then the next step was ‘Agree and Continue’ yet I was not about
to click that far therefore any reassuring options you feel you might have are
not reassuring for the buyer if Bricklink makes it so they can’t see these options
prior to what essentially feels like the order commitment stage?
|
We always have refunded/cancelled ANY order for any reason - in fact, for no
given reason.
In Europe, it's the Law.
So, what shows BrickLink doesn't mean anything here, sorry to say.
And again, people can send me PM or e-mail, and I'll tell them - they
use long lasting orders like every week, no problem, everybody's happy.
|
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | SylvainLS | Posted: | May 21, 2024 07:57 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 43 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| […]
Then you vastly underestimate peoples knowledge. Most people fully understand
the principal of a quote regardless of what its called or referred to as
|
I think Sylvain is talking about the word, not the principle.
Buyer of London: Gimme a quote.
Merchant of Venice: “Even the devil can quote the Bible for his own purpose.”
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | infinibrix | Posted: | May 21, 2024 08:16 | Subject: | (Cancelled) | Viewed: | 27 times | Topic: | Selling | |
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| (Cancelled) |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | infinibrix | Posted: | May 21, 2024 08:20 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 48 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, SylvainLS writes:
| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| […]
Then you vastly underestimate peoples knowledge. Most people fully understand
the principal of a quote regardless of what its called or referred to as
|
I think Sylvain is talking about the word, not the principle.
Buyer of London: Gimme a quote.
Merchant of Venice: “Even the devil can quote the Bible for his own purpose.”
|
I was aware that he meant the Word hence the reason I directed him to the fact
that people still understand the basic concept/principle of a quote therefore
it shouldn't be discouraged just because of a word itself but rather it should
be encouraged because of its usefulness but like anything a word can very easily
be explained in Bricklinks terms as a non obligated draft order with price estimate.
Either way its no different to other terminology that we have to learn here such
as NPB, NRS, NSS. In short it doesn't really matter whether other people
fully understand the word 'Quote' though I suspect most Bricklinkers
already do or at least will, regardless of where they are located in the world
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | popsicle | Posted: | May 21, 2024 15:52 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 78 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| In Selling, SylvainLS writes:
| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| […]
Then you vastly underestimate peoples knowledge. Most people fully understand
the principal of a quote regardless of what its called or referred to as
|
I think Sylvain is talking about the word, not the principle.
Buyer of London: Gimme a quote.
Merchant of Venice: “Even the devil can quote the Bible for his own purpose.”
|
I was aware that he meant the Word hence the reason I directed him to the fact
that people still understand the basic concept/principle of a quote therefore
it shouldn't be discouraged just because of a word itself but rather it should
be encouraged because of its usefulness but like anything a word can very easily
be explained in Bricklinks terms as a non obligated draft order with price estimate.
Either way its no different to other terminology that we have to learn here such
as NPB, NRS, NSS. In short it doesn't really matter whether other people
fully understand the word 'Quote' though I suspect most Bricklinkers
already do or at least will, regardless of where they are located in the world
|
Gotta say, it's kinda painful to witness you trying to reason with some here
that are so clearly not motived by such. Especially since I appreciate and try
to follow your forum contributions otherwise.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | 1001bricks | Posted: | May 21, 2024 09:57 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 42 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| A proper working quote system is an easy fix besides which a buyers shopping
experience here is IMPORTANT and quotes would encourage buyer confidence with
a higher likelihood of increased order sizes and guess what they may actually
choose to shop here again.
|
I don't understand your passion on this subject.
According to my Personal Statistics (c)(tm) based on highly reliable sources
(me) 99.9% of buyers are here happy to pick, see the price, pay and get what
they wished.
Not to get a quote 48hrs later, discuss the price, then get the invoice 24hrs
later or such antique process.
As told, there are convenient solutions a Seller could set up, like this one
below.
I've the same in French, could have the same in Spanish or Japanese for example.
This is working VERY well for very specific (and few) orders.
If you yourself wish to get more orders, I'd kindly suggest you'd ship
to more Countries?
That'd IMO increase far more your sales than asking for a Quote system evolution...
Time money and energy are limited. If spent on 1 project it will be taken off
another subject.
So, I'd better like BrickLink changes / corrections on more common / majors
subjects.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | infinibrix | Posted: | May 21, 2024 14:18 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 54 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, 1001bricks writes:
| In Selling, infinibrix writes:
| A proper working quote system is an easy fix besides which a buyers shopping
experience here is IMPORTANT and quotes would encourage buyer confidence with
a higher likelihood of increased order sizes and guess what they may actually
choose to shop here again.
|
I don't understand your passion on this subject.
|
I don’t understand your arguing for the sake of arguing all the time either especially
when there is little to be gained from it. You don’t care to see a working quote
solution that’s fine, Move along...
| According to my Personal Statistics (c)(tm) based on highly reliable sources
(me) 99.9% of buyers are here happy to pick, see the price, pay and get what
they wished.
|
Your personal statistics mean nothing since there is not currently a reliable
working quote solution to compare it against????
| Not to get a quote 48hrs later, discuss the price, then get the invoice 24hrs
later or such antique process.
|
24 hours would be sufficient; sellers would also act quicker with responding
to quotes if their stock was held. There is no discussing price?? It’s about
transparency, Seller quotes and buyer fully understands exactly what they need
to pay before committing to ordering, Simple! If buyers want to use IC that’s
fine they can still do so however I can tell you for a fact that most buyers
that do so will consider any order that has been paid is complete and will rarely
take up the opportunity to browse or shop further within a store! They will order
the urgent stuff that they need to snap up quickly along with anything on a wanted
list with little time/opportunity to browse/window shop since that would risk
missing out on the bits they need most
| As told, there are convenient solutions a Seller could set up, like this one
below.
I've the same in French, could have the same in Spanish or Japanese for example.
This is working VERY well for very specific (and few) orders.
|
Your own ‘Keep my order open’ store solution is not a sufficient alternative
solution since as I have already explained buyers have to make a firm commitment
to order with you before seeing fees, shipping charges etc... and regardless
of whether you or other sellers allow cancellations this is not clear for any
buyer to know because most sellers won’t allow this and will punish the buyer
with a NPB. Easier to not order than concern themselves with how an individual
seller operates their store and you cannot include buyers that purchase with
hesitance or not at all into your so called statistics!
| If you yourself wish to get more orders, I'd kindly suggest you'd ship
to more Countries?
That'd IMO increase far more your sales than asking for a Quote system evolution...
|
I’m not looking for more orders but rather quality orders and if I’m able to
allow my buyers to secure items for 24 hours and continue to shop and browse
whilst adding to that quote that for sure would encourage more quality orders
and what exactly is wrong with that!? Does it affect you being able to operate
your store the way you want to operate it?
In truth I’m not even sure I should expect you to understand anyway since you
focus a lot of your time and attention selling and processing high volumes of
low value parts yet you do not need to process high volumes of parts/orders to
earn a reasonable living which is yet another example of quality over quantity!
If anything my long term aim would be to cut order/picking times by being much
more selective over what I sell. You seem to think that you always know best
but the types of items you sell tell me that you don't know best. I myself
would not actively seek to sell much of what you sell and if I was unable to
be selective over what I sell many of those low value parts would be bundled
into lots to save precious time. In other words I feel confident in my own judgment
calls when it comes to what and how I sell
| Time money and energy are limited. If spent on 1 project it will be taken off
another subject.
So, I'd better like BrickLink changes / corrections on more common / majors
subjects.
|
You make a lot of assumptions about Bricklinks time/resources and those bogged
down on the help desk backlog are unlikey the same guys working on the functionality
of the site
|
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | 1001bricks | Posted: | May 21, 2024 14:21 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 44 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| | | Time money and energy are limited. If spent on 1 project it will be taken off
another subject.
So, I'd better like BrickLink changes / corrections on more common / majors
subjects.
|
You make a lot of assumptions about Bricklinks time/resources and those bogged
down on the help desk backlog are unlikey the same guys working on the functionality
of the site
|
I must admit - we sure all have seen a lot of functionalities changes last what...
5 years?
I give up, you win.
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| | | | Author: | TheBrickGuys | Posted: | May 20, 2024 12:52 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 54 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, Ajiki writes:
| Hi all,
Lately I have been seeing more small orders where the shipping costs are many
times the actual value of the parts.
Why don't people wait until the order is a bit larger and in proportion to
the shipping costs. Are people afraid that the parts will no longer be there
(fomo)?
Are other sellers also seeing this trend?
Thoughts?
|
We have had customers from overseas order just a single item that costs less
then a dollar and still pay the $20.00 shipping fee and the $1.50 fee for orders
less then $10.00, That means they end up paying $21.50 for a 50 cent part and
with instant checkout they know the cost and pay it at the time of checkout.
It always amazes me when we get an order like that but every now and then we
get an overseas order like that.
Looking at our past 100 orders we have had 10 that were less then one dollar
from US customers. People quite often need just a couple of parts. We know this
so we dont have any store minimums - we dont really make much off an order like
that so that is why we have the $1.50 fee for orders less then $10.00 so that
we can at least cover the cost of fees and packaging materials while giving customers
the choice to place small orders. And again, because of instant checkout they
know the cost up front so no surprises.
Jim
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| | | | Author: | SirIceCream1001 | Posted: | May 20, 2024 13:35 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 52 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, Ajiki writes:
| Hi all,
Lately I have been seeing more small orders where the shipping costs are many
times the actual value of the parts.
Why don't people wait until the order is a bit larger and in proportion to
the shipping costs. Are people afraid that the parts will no longer be there
(fomo)?
Are other sellers also seeing this trend?
|
I’ve have quite a few 0.10-0.25 and orders with 5-6 dollars in shipping. They
pay and sometimes leave feedback so I’m happy
As long as you aren’t losing money I wouldn’t worry about it
|
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| | | | | | Author: | SirIceCream1001 | Posted: | May 20, 2024 20:49 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 50 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, Dhobeck writes:
| In Selling, Ajiki writes:
| Hi all,
Lately I have been seeing more small orders where the shipping costs are many
times the actual value of the parts.
Why don't people wait until the order is a bit larger and in proportion to
the shipping costs. Are people afraid that the parts will no longer be there
(fomo)?
Are other sellers also seeing this trend?
|
I’ve have quite a few 0.10-0.25 and orders with 5-6 dollars in shipping. They
pay and sometimes leave feedback so I’m happy
As long as you aren’t losing money I wouldn’t worry about it
|
Just got a $0.02 order
lowest yet….
|
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| | | | | | | | Author: | Adjour | Posted: | May 21, 2024 22:59 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 59 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, Dhobeck writes:
| In Selling, Dhobeck writes:
| In Selling, Ajiki writes:
| Hi all,
Lately I have been seeing more small orders where the shipping costs are many
times the actual value of the parts.
Why don't people wait until the order is a bit larger and in proportion to
the shipping costs. Are people afraid that the parts will no longer be there
(fomo)?
Are other sellers also seeing this trend?
|
I’ve have quite a few 0.10-0.25 and orders with 5-6 dollars in shipping. They
pay and sometimes leave feedback so I’m happy
As long as you aren’t losing money I wouldn’t worry about it
|
Just got a $0.02 order
lowest yet….
|
Stores with no minimums blow my mind. Surely these aren't worth your time?
Crystal
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| | | | | | | | | | Author: | Ziegelmeister | Posted: | May 22, 2024 00:39 | Subject: | (Cancelled) | Viewed: | 45 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| (Cancelled) |
|
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| | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | zorbanj | Posted: | May 22, 2024 10:21 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 33 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, Ziegelmeister writes:
| In Selling, Adjour writes:
| Stores with no minimums blow my mind. Surely these aren't worth your time?
|
Doesn't bother me a bit due to phenomenon of regression towards the mean
and so far YTD my mean order total is $57.52 (Median is $28.36).
So if I have that $0.13 order mentioned in my anecdote, I know that statistically
there is a 68% chance the next order will be between $43 and $72, and a 95% chance
it will be between $29 and $87. That same holds true if I have a $570 order.
Now, is it not worth my time for that one particular order where I profit $0.02?
To your point, no, not at all. But it takes me the exact same amount of time
to pull one $60 minifig or one $600 set. Plus, since I work on all orders simultaneously,
slipping a $0.13 order on to the table with another $30 order really doesn't
impact how much time I'm spending in the basement working on these.
You have to know your numbers and everyone's numbers are different. These
work for me.
|
If a 13 cent piece sells it has to be pulled and processed, whether it's
part of a $500 order or an order by itself. For low value orders a minimum can
be used to cover the 49 cent paypal per order fixed fee and for packing materials.
To mitigate or eliminate low value orders, a store can use a per order minimum,
average lot value or just not list parts below a certain value.
|
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| | | | | | | | | | Author: | Stellar | Posted: | May 22, 2024 04:14 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 42 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, Adjour writes:
| In Selling, Dhobeck writes:
| In Selling, Dhobeck writes:
| In Selling, Ajiki writes:
| Hi all,
Lately I have been seeing more small orders where the shipping costs are many
times the actual value of the parts.
Why don't people wait until the order is a bit larger and in proportion to
the shipping costs. Are people afraid that the parts will no longer be there
(fomo)?
Are other sellers also seeing this trend?
|
I’ve have quite a few 0.10-0.25 and orders with 5-6 dollars in shipping. They
pay and sometimes leave feedback so I’m happy
As long as you aren’t losing money I wouldn’t worry about it
|
Just got a $0.02 order
lowest yet….
|
Stores with no minimums blow my mind. Surely these aren't worth your time?
Crystal
|
Sometimes it is just about offering a good service, very small orders only take
a couple of minutes to pick and pack. Buyers usually return and also maybe bigger
orders started as small carts
|
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| | | | | | | | | | Author: | Ziegelmeister | Posted: | May 22, 2024 10:23 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 40 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, Adjour writes:
| Stores with no minimums blow my mind. Surely these aren't worth your time?
|
(Oooh, reposting. Way to many typos for my liking.)
Doesn't bother me a bit due to the phenomenon of regression towards
the mean
and so far YTD my mean order total is $57.52. Not amazing, but double last year
and double from the year before that.
So if I get that $0.13 order mentioned in my anecdote, I know that statistically
there is a 68% chance the next order will be between $43 and $72, and a 95% chance
it will be between $29 and $87. That same holds true if I have a $570 order and
will remain true until (or if) I deplete all of my loose bricks.
Now, is it "not worth my time" for that one particular order where I
profit $0.02?
To your point, no, not at all. But it takes me the exact same amount of time
to pull a (two) $0.06 pieces, a $60 minifig or one $600 set. Plus, since I work
on all orders simultaneously, slipping a $0.13 order on to the table with another
$30 order really doesn't impact how much time I'm spending in the basement
working on these.
You have to know your numbers and everyone's numbers are different. These
work for me.
|
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| | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | 1001bricks | Posted: | May 22, 2024 10:43 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 30 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, Ziegelmeister writes:
| In Selling, Adjour writes:
Now, is it "not worth my time" for that one particular order where I
profit $0.02?
To your point, no, not at all. But it takes me the exact same amount of time
to pull a (two) $0.06 pieces, a $60 minifig or one $600 set.
|
Much more, and it's also why we have zero minimum, sometimes a happy buyer
for a single brick will come back for a far more decent purchase later on - or
even a huge one.
Acquire the trust of a buyer in the long run has (almost) no price.
|
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Author: | Ziegelmeister | Posted: | May 22, 2024 11:05 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 45 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, 1001bricks writes:
| In Selling, Ziegelmeister writes:
| In Selling, Adjour writes:
Now, is it "not worth my time" for that one particular order where I
profit $0.02?
To your point, no, not at all. But it takes me the exact same amount of time
to pull a (two) $0.06 pieces, a $60 minifig or one $600 set.
|
Much more, and it's also why we have zero minimum, sometimes a happy buyer
for a single brick will come back for a far more decent purchase later on - or
even a huge one.
Acquire the trust of a buyer in the long run has (almost) no price.
|
Exactly, but if they never come back that's okay too. Only three orders
this year have been below the paypal flat fee - I can weather losing $1.47 ($2.94
by year's end) on a few orders. Just because you and I don't have a
minimum doesn't mean that we're flooded with penny orders because most
buyers know it's not to their advantage. Those people are in an emergency
and I'm more than happy to help them get the part they need.
I've been either directly or indirectly involved in sales for over 30 years
and I've taken a loss on more deals/transactions than I can count, but I
always came out ahead because of the level of customer service. It's why
I was salesman of the week for 47 straight weeks at one place and I only worked
there 59 weeks.
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| | | | | | | | | | Author: | SirIceCream1001 | Posted: | May 22, 2024 10:51 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 31 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, Adjour writes:
| In Selling, Dhobeck writes:
| In Selling, Dhobeck writes:
| In Selling, Ajiki writes:
| Hi all,
Lately I have been seeing more small orders where the shipping costs are many
times the actual value of the parts.
Why don't people wait until the order is a bit larger and in proportion to
the shipping costs. Are people afraid that the parts will no longer be there
(fomo)?
Are other sellers also seeing this trend?
|
I’ve have quite a few 0.10-0.25 and orders with 5-6 dollars in shipping. They
pay and sometimes leave feedback so I’m happy
As long as you aren’t losing money I wouldn’t worry about it
|
Just got a $0.02 order
lowest yet….
|
Stores with no minimums blow my mind. Surely these aren't worth your time?
|
It may seem so but it takes me maybe 1-5 minutes to pick, pack, and label them.
I make a few cents but my goal with this store is to at least get my money back.
I mean it would be nice if I could make a few bucks but I just do it because
I enjoy it
|
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| | | | Author: | Ziegelmeister | Posted: | May 20, 2024 19:06 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 51 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, Ajiki writes:
| Hi all,
Lately I have been seeing more small orders where the shipping costs are many
times the actual value of the parts.
Why don't people wait until the order is a bit larger and in proportion to
the shipping costs. Are people afraid that the parts will no longer be there
(fomo)?
Are other sellers also seeing this trend?
Thoughts?
|
First thoughts are; it's not my job to tell people how to spend their money,
it's my job to move my inventory. I see people paying retail (and over retail)
for sets on here that they can get directly from LEGO with free shipping all
the time.
Of 385 orders, I think maybe 35 of them have been for substantially less than
my bare bones bubble mailer. The most recent one was for two of these:
I reached out to the buyer immediately and told asked them "if they wanted
to add anything else to the order because I felt like I was ripping them off."
They informed me they had bought a set that was listed at used complete but
was missing these and they were desperate. I ended up refunding the nominal
packaging fees to help soften the blow for them and was tempted to ship it to
them for free, but I didn't want to set a precedent.
|
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| | | | Author: | ManilaBrick | Posted: | May 21, 2024 01:25 | Subject: | Re: Continues to amaze me | Viewed: | 54 times | Topic: | Selling | |
|
| In Selling, Ajiki writes:
| Hi all,
Lately I have been seeing more small orders where the shipping costs are many
times the actual value of the parts.
Why don't people wait until the order is a bit larger and in proportion to
the shipping costs. Are people afraid that the parts will no longer be there
(fomo)?
Are other sellers also seeing this trend?
Thoughts?
|
I see this a lot for international orders, i would send a shipping quote first
before sending an invoice. What surprises me is why US buyers buy from me when
they have pretty much all the parts available in country. Orders from Europe
surprises me too.
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