Something my old boss shared with me, " If youbdont make mistakes, your not working. Make too many mistakes, your not working here.". I love you channel.
Mistakes happen. I don’t own a Bricklink store, but I work in retail and how you respond is what truly matters. Some customers will be dissatisfied and others appreciate your honesty and willingness to make it up to them. Hang in there! There’s always bad and good weeks. :)
If your not making mistakes that means your not trying. You will never be perfect or make every buyer happy. For the stubborn buyers just block them. Problem solved lol
Exactly. I don't have a Bricklink store as of yet(just a really big personal collection 😂) but when I eventually do open one, I will be asking around for those that everyone blocks so I can pre-empt a good portion of the mess😊
If the arm was advertised as used I honestly think he was refund fishing. It's a good idea to define your quality standards in the terms (not sending broken parts, but due to age there might be a crack) and some standard of how you handle refunds.
Yeah, for that part, given age, the fragility of those stiffer clip designs, and it being marked as “used”, I don’t think a non-function-impairing hairline internal crack merits a refund. Certainly not a full refund. If a buyer cares about that level of detail, they should ask for the backlit photo up front, before shipping.
And if they don’t want to delay by waiting on your response for fear of someone else snatching up the part, that tells me that you already have it priced significantly below market rate, so you’ve effectively already given them a discount.
I normally only shop New parts, so I just found your store today via this video, But I was thrilled to see how many cool unique pieces I found on your listings. Happy to place an order as I can tell you genuinely care about your customers and are willing to make things right if there happens to be any mistakes. That kindness means a lot from a buyers perspective. best of luck!
Bricklink buyers are some of the nicest and simultaneously most difficult customers to work with. Also used LEGO is SUPER hard to resell correctly all the time. Combine both factors and there are definitely going to be some difficulties. This is normal, i would suggest keeping your costs in check, planning for errors in advance to handle time and refund issues, and make sure you enjoy running the store good and bad times and all :) Also consider selling damaged parts, just describe it well, even really valuable parts like that sand blue arm will sell if the price is right. I actually find the better condition the part the more likley a dispute will occur, few people complain about parts when they are expecting it to be damaged ;)
I‘m absolutely with you . Know all of this … I also ask for pictures… exactly for the learning … Don’t give up ! You will always make faults … you are human !
Another thing to keep in mind is that as disappointing as it is to get neutral or negative feedback, a lot of us read it and can recognize honest mistakes or ridiculous complaints. The only sellers I avoid are ones that have several feedback posts saying the seller is extremely rude or they ignore messages.
I agree... I avoid those sellers as well. I will often look at the feedback the seller has left. Gives a good insight to the type of person (seller) they are.
My wife is happy that myself and my son are both sharing and enjoying Lego. She said "why don't you go into the Lego business too?" I said "because i don't want to hate Lego." 😄 My hats off to anyone who in this line of business in this wonderful hobby of ours, because it's not easy. The mistakes you mentioned sounds like 99% of the average person would probably miss too. Looks to us that you're the perfect person for the job.
I once received 10 black round plates instead of 10 green. Another time 8 pearl gold bar holder with clips were missing, but in the same order there were another 8 of the same part but different color. Both cases seemed as sellers were distracted while preparing the order, so I didnt even mentioned them. Ofcourse in my country there are only 30 bricklink stores, and no Pick a Brick, so I am happy to receive any piece at all, and I am very grateful always. You shouldnt be so hard on yourself as long as you communicate and solve any problem afterwards.
I really like your honesty and work ethic! It is difficult when you are selling second hand parts as there are so many more variables. With the cracked part, I would have only given a partial (maybe 1/3 or half) refund as it is insignificant, didn't affect the usage and honestly barely noticeable.
Honestly, don’t be so hard on yourself. I think you are learning and there are sooo many pieces. Now you know more and know what to avoid doing or what to do to avoid these errors. Like others said, the important thing is how you respond. Keep at it. Nobody’s perfect! And you will keep getting better and better, you’ll see! PS. I wouldn’t have thought of the light thing either!
This was actually a great video. I’m going to say that most of us have asked the question before. But, we are a great community, we make things right, and we enjoy what we do. I just had a MAJOR flub on another selling site that resulted in a negative (it was definitely warranted) and yes, I questioned if this was actually for me. But, I made things right regardless of the negative, and I kept on trucking. It’s probably going to take me a while to recover from that negative on this particular site, but it is what it is, I made things right, and I learned from it.
I recently found your channel and videos. I started a bricklink store back in December and your videos really helped me out with some of the initial hurdles. I already had 8 orders! So, thank you! I would say dont give up! Although I am new to BL, I am also a seasoned ebay seller/reseller. I have had many ups and downs selling on ebay for the last 5 years, but I wont quit. The way I see it is that for every mistake, scammer, or bad transaction ive had I have 100 good interactions. Thats a net positive!
Just opened my Bricklink shop this week, and made a color mistake on my very first order. Fortunately I caught it - I had miscolored the parts thru lack of experience - and was able to contact the buyer and refund the order and she was very kind. Your channel has taught me so much and inspired me as I begin this journey to sell a 15 year collection of Lego bulk. Keep going!
You are human! :-) Mistakes are made. The important thing is that you are a great seller and professional. You fix the problem. Like you said you don't make excuses. I ask the same questions to myself. Should I give up and sell the whole thing? I can't because then what will I do and not only that I really do enjoy having a store and learning more about Lego each day. Keep moving forward. I enjoy watching your videos. It's a new week. Start fresh. 😃
I feel this video! Empathy on both sides of the transaction is critical. We are all human. If the buyer has no compassion, it’s tougher to do business with them in the future.
Oh my.. it must be really stressful, being constant worry about negative feedback. You are doing Amazing job! Remember that you can't pleased everyone. Believe more in yourself, mistakes happens. The way you try to fix them is good. Keep doing great work and enjoy things you like 😊 Say hello to husband aslo, great team 👏 Have a good one!
I know the feeling. I had a really bad week last week. I had a order where I found a slightly discolored part and I let the customer know, refunded him for the part and sent it anyway incase he could use it. The customer recieved the order and let me know that I also sent a Mega Block part. I emailed him and gave him a refund. A week later, he left me a neutral feedbedack stating I sent him a Mega Block part and never responded to his email. I was really disheartened by that. Then I had an order were I printed the same shipping label twice and put it on two different orders. The customer who received the orders was super nice and sent the other order back to me. I reshipped to the correct customer and they received it okay. Luckly, I received positive feedback from both. Althought the neutral feedback bothers me I just need suck it up and move on. There are always people you cannot please no matter what.
I printed the same shipping label twice and lost out on a $150 Lego star wars order. Buyer I sent wrong package to went ghost and never responded to my emails
@@tagator88 The guy who sent back the order even told me I didn't have to refund him the return shipping (but I did). Couldn't find a better customer. I was sweating the whole time until the customers left feedback. Also, update on the neutral feeback, the customer finally realized I did contact them and retracted the feedback. Now my positive feedback is back to 100%.
There are the mistakes we make because we fail to perform the basic double checks we know we should be making, it happens to everyone, and then there are the mistakes we make because it seems the universe wants to test us with really strict minutiae that sometimes we didn't even know to look out for. Sadly when both those things line up and happen in quick succession we suddenly are confronted with a string of errors that we don't feel are representative of our work or ability. It's a terrible feeling, and it hurts your pride and ego, but all you can do is accept that it happened and be honest about what you can do to improve and move forward. If you only make 5 mistakes a year it would be a good result, but it wouldn't feel good in the moment if you made all five in one work week. Sometimes timing just amplifies things. I say keep at it, you have the right mindset. Everyone has those thoughts about quitting, there is no shame in that.
When I buy used parts, I don't really check or critique the parts I received. I accept the quality to whatever I received. If I do find a mistake, I just move on to the next store that may have it, simply because it's faster than going back and forth. That being said, I understand that bricklinkers are human, and understand the room for error. Keep grindn' and don't give up.. even though you said you weren't going to anyways.
I process over 200 orders each month mistakes are easily made. If its my error I always correct by either sending out the correct part or refund. Sellers are always more forgiving than buyers when placing orders. You are well within your rites to request higher expensive parts to be returned. Most buyers are happy with good communication and resolution don't be too concerned over feedback. Buyers rarely leave poor feedback once resolution has been made. Only exception is if i recieve fake parts from sellers. Time off from selling is the best cure for mistakes. Never give up just learn from mistakes.
“Everyone has their own definition of used parts.” . . . And . . . this is why I usually buy only new parts. Seriously, however, I appreciate the self reflection and most sellers will do fine if they also think about the buyer’s experience.
Regarding the error with the visor you ordered, I had a very similar problem. I ordered some fire helmets for old 1970s maxifigs, but I received normal minifig helmets. The minifig ones are the same shape and color, but 3 times smaller and worth 10 times less. I asked for the shipping fees to be refunded as well as the part cost because that was the only reason I used that store, because the maxifig helmets are hard to find, and I'd only bought from them due to them listing the parts incorrectly. Unfortunately, the seller only agreed to refund the part cost and not the shipping fees because I'd bought other parts at the same time that were delivered correctly. Bricklink should consider putting some size reference on parts like those.
I almost wonder if Lego really meant for Bricklink sellers to take over the time and soul consuming process of picking pieces for tiny amounts and tiny profits so they don't have to do it as much.
Depends on the Lego hauls... I've gotten some Lego hauls where the seller has taken the time to clean the Lego and I've had hauls that the first thing I do is clean the Lego because they are so dirty. And some hauls that have been a mix where some parts look shiny and new and some that definitely need to be cleaned. It all depends on the box I'm working on.
All you can do is apologise and offer a part/full refund. Buyers will and can leave a negative rating if they are difficult. Happens on all selling platforms.
Something my old boss shared with me, " If youbdont make mistakes, your not working. Make too many mistakes, your not working here.". I love you channel.
Haha! Love that quote! :-)
I love watching your channel!
Mistakes happen. I don’t own a Bricklink store, but I work in retail and how you respond is what truly matters. Some customers will be dissatisfied and others appreciate your honesty and willingness to make it up to them. Hang in there! There’s always bad and good weeks. :)
If your not making mistakes that means your not trying. You will never be perfect or make every buyer happy. For the stubborn buyers just block them. Problem solved lol
Exactly. I don't have a Bricklink store as of yet(just a really big personal collection 😂) but when I eventually do open one, I will be asking around for those that everyone blocks so I can pre-empt a good portion of the mess😊
If the arm was advertised as used I honestly think he was refund fishing. It's a good idea to define your quality standards in the terms (not sending broken parts, but due to age there might be a crack) and some standard of how you handle refunds.
Yeah, for that part, given age, the fragility of those stiffer clip designs, and it being marked as “used”, I don’t think a non-function-impairing hairline internal crack merits a refund. Certainly not a full refund.
If a buyer cares about that level of detail, they should ask for the backlit photo up front, before shipping.
And if they don’t want to delay by waiting on your response for fear of someone else snatching up the part, that tells me that you already have it priced significantly below market rate, so you’ve effectively already given them a discount.
Good point!
Selling used parts is always a gamble and there is no way to make everyone happy all the time. For me, it's better to give a refund and move on. :-)
I normally only shop New parts, so I just found your store today via this video, But I was thrilled to see how many cool unique pieces I found on your listings. Happy to place an order as I can tell you genuinely care about your customers and are willing to make things right if there happens to be any mistakes. That kindness means a lot from a buyers perspective. best of luck!
Bricklink buyers are some of the nicest and simultaneously most difficult customers to work with. Also used LEGO is SUPER hard to resell correctly all the time. Combine both factors and there are definitely going to be some difficulties. This is normal, i would suggest keeping your costs in check, planning for errors in advance to handle time and refund issues, and make sure you enjoy running the store good and bad times and all :)
Also consider selling damaged parts, just describe it well, even really valuable parts like that sand blue arm will sell if the price is right. I actually find the better condition the part the more likley a dispute will occur, few people complain about parts when they are expecting it to be damaged ;)
Thank you for the video. I'm trying to be a seller, and I'm always willing to learn how to do better 💙💙
I‘m absolutely with you . Know all of this …
I also ask for pictures… exactly for the learning …
Don’t give up ! You will always make faults … you are human !
Another thing to keep in mind is that as disappointing as it is to get neutral or negative feedback, a lot of us read it and can recognize honest mistakes or ridiculous complaints. The only sellers I avoid are ones that have several feedback posts saying the seller is extremely rude or they ignore messages.
I agree... I avoid those sellers as well. I will often look at the feedback the seller has left. Gives a good insight to the type of person (seller) they are.
My wife is happy that myself and my son are both sharing and enjoying Lego. She said "why don't you go into the Lego business too?" I said "because i don't want to hate Lego." 😄 My hats off to anyone who in this line of business in this wonderful hobby of ours, because it's not easy. The mistakes you mentioned sounds like 99% of the average person would probably miss too. Looks to us that you're the perfect person for the job.
I once received 10 black round plates instead of 10 green.
Another time 8 pearl gold bar holder with clips were missing, but in the same order there were another 8 of the same part but different color.
Both cases seemed as sellers were distracted while preparing the order, so I didnt even mentioned them.
Ofcourse in my country there are only 30 bricklink stores, and no Pick a Brick, so I am happy to receive any piece at all, and I am very grateful always.
You shouldnt be so hard on yourself as long as you communicate and solve any problem afterwards.
I really like your honesty and work ethic! It is difficult when you are selling second hand parts as there are so many more variables.
With the cracked part, I would have only given a partial (maybe 1/3 or half) refund as it is insignificant, didn't affect the usage and honestly barely noticeable.
Honestly, don’t be so hard on yourself. I think you are learning and there are sooo many pieces. Now you know more and know what to avoid doing or what to do to avoid these errors. Like others said, the important thing is how you respond. Keep at it. Nobody’s perfect! And you will keep getting better and better, you’ll see!
PS. I wouldn’t have thought of the light thing either!
Thank you!
This was actually a great video. I’m going to say that most of us have asked the question before. But, we are a great community, we make things right, and we enjoy what we do. I just had a MAJOR flub on another selling site that resulted in a negative (it was definitely warranted) and yes, I questioned if this was actually for me. But, I made things right regardless of the negative, and I kept on trucking. It’s probably going to take me a while to recover from that negative on this particular site, but it is what it is, I made things right, and I learned from it.
I recently found your channel and videos. I started a bricklink store back in December and your videos really helped me out with some of the initial hurdles. I already had 8 orders! So, thank you!
I would say dont give up! Although I am new to BL, I am also a seasoned ebay seller/reseller. I have had many ups and downs selling on ebay for the last 5 years, but I wont quit. The way I see it is that for every mistake, scammer, or bad transaction ive had I have 100 good interactions. Thats a net positive!
Glad the videos have been helpful!
Just opened my Bricklink shop this week, and made a color mistake on my very first order. Fortunately I caught it - I had miscolored the parts thru lack of experience - and was able to contact the buyer and refund the order and she was very kind. Your channel has taught me so much and inspired me as I begin this journey to sell a 15 year collection of Lego bulk. Keep going!
Glad my channel has helped! :-)
You are human! :-) Mistakes are made. The important thing is that you are a great seller and professional. You fix the problem. Like you said you don't make excuses. I ask the same questions to myself. Should I give up and sell the whole thing? I can't because then what will I do and not only that I really do enjoy having a store and learning more about Lego each day. Keep moving forward. I enjoy watching your videos. It's a new week. Start fresh. 😃
I feel this video! Empathy on both sides of the transaction is critical. We are all human. If the buyer has no compassion, it’s tougher to do business with them in the future.
Oh my.. it must be really stressful, being constant worry about negative feedback. You are doing Amazing job! Remember that you can't pleased everyone. Believe more in yourself, mistakes happens. The way you try to fix them is good. Keep doing great work and enjoy things you like 😊 Say hello to husband aslo, great team 👏 Have a good one!
I know the feeling. I had a really bad week last week. I had a order where I found a slightly discolored part and I let the customer know, refunded him for the part and sent it anyway incase he could use it. The customer recieved the order and let me know that I also sent a Mega Block part. I emailed him and gave him a refund. A week later, he left me a neutral feedbedack stating I sent him a Mega Block part and never responded to his email. I was really disheartened by that. Then I had an order were I printed the same shipping label twice and put it on two different orders. The customer who received the orders was super nice and sent the other order back to me. I reshipped to the correct customer and they received it okay. Luckly, I received positive feedback from both. Althought the neutral feedback bothers me I just need suck it up and move on. There are always people you cannot please no matter what.
I printed the same shipping label twice and lost out on a $150 Lego star wars order. Buyer I sent wrong package to went ghost and never responded to my emails
@@tagator88 The guy who sent back the order even told me I didn't have to refund him the return shipping (but I did). Couldn't find a better customer. I was sweating the whole time until the customers left feedback. Also, update on the neutral feeback, the customer finally realized I did contact them and retracted the feedback. Now my positive feedback is back to 100%.
The positive spin on this is that you'll never make those particular mistakes again. :)
There are the mistakes we make because we fail to perform the basic double checks we know we should be making, it happens to everyone, and then there are the mistakes we make because it seems the universe wants to test us with really strict minutiae that sometimes we didn't even know to look out for.
Sadly when both those things line up and happen in quick succession we suddenly are confronted with a string of errors that we don't feel are representative of our work or ability. It's a terrible feeling, and it hurts your pride and ego, but all you can do is accept that it happened and be honest about what you can do to improve and move forward. If you only make 5 mistakes a year it would be a good result, but it wouldn't feel good in the moment if you made all five in one work week. Sometimes timing just amplifies things.
I say keep at it, you have the right mindset. Everyone has those thoughts about quitting, there is no shame in that.
When I buy used parts, I don't really check or critique the parts I received. I accept the quality to whatever I received. If I do find a mistake, I just move on to the next store that may have it, simply because it's faster than going back and forth. That being said, I understand that bricklinkers are human, and understand the room for error. Keep grindn' and don't give up.. even though you said you weren't going to anyways.
I process over 200 orders each month mistakes are easily made. If its my error I always correct by either sending out the correct part or refund. Sellers are always more forgiving than buyers when placing orders. You are well within your rites to request higher expensive parts to be returned. Most buyers are happy with good communication and resolution don't be too concerned over feedback. Buyers rarely leave poor feedback once resolution has been made. Only exception is if i recieve fake parts from sellers. Time off from selling is the best cure for mistakes. Never give up just learn from mistakes.
“Everyone has their own definition of used parts.” . . . And . . . this is why I usually buy only new parts.
Seriously, however, I appreciate the self reflection and most sellers will do fine if they also think about the buyer’s experience.
I will tell you what I tell the kids I work with - If you have to ask, you already know the answer.
Regarding the error with the visor you ordered, I had a very similar problem. I ordered some fire helmets for old 1970s maxifigs, but I received normal minifig helmets. The minifig ones are the same shape and color, but 3 times smaller and worth 10 times less. I asked for the shipping fees to be refunded as well as the part cost because that was the only reason I used that store, because the maxifig helmets are hard to find, and I'd only bought from them due to them listing the parts incorrectly. Unfortunately, the seller only agreed to refund the part cost and not the shipping fees because I'd bought other parts at the same time that were delivered correctly. Bricklink should consider putting some size reference on parts like those.
Agreed! BL needs to put some type of scale or measurement so both buyers and sellers can clearly see the difference.
how you respond matters a lot
I think you are fine. We all make mistakes.
I almost wonder if Lego really meant for Bricklink sellers to take over the time and soul consuming process of picking pieces for tiny amounts and tiny profits so they don't have to do it as much.
I have a question. I've attained a lot of used LEGO. Do you wash your LEGO or let it go out not cleaned?
Depends on the Lego hauls... I've gotten some Lego hauls where the seller has taken the time to clean the Lego and I've had hauls that the first thing I do is clean the Lego because they are so dirty. And some hauls that have been a mix where some parts look shiny and new and some that definitely need to be cleaned. It all depends on the box I'm working on.
I want to buy classic space components. Selling?
Not sure what you are looking for, but my inventory is in constant rotation, so you would need to look to see what I have that you need. :-)
All you can do is apologise and offer a part/full refund. Buyers will and can leave a negative rating if they are difficult. Happens on all selling platforms.
I mailed an order to the wrong address😂😮 Gave full refund and resent what parts I could for free.😢
They gave me good feedback