I don't bother with invoicing. I do flat rate shipping on orders up to $24.99, then free shipping for $25 and up. Instant checkout only. Simple and I have never had an issue (1242 completed sales on BL). I am careful not to offer heavy/oversized items in my store, those generally go on eBay. If I was ever to offer invoicing, I would do it the way you do. I would only pre-pull an order before payment if I was familiar with the buyer.
My husband and I discussing offering free shipping over $X amount. Or doing something different so buyers feel they are getting a better deal on shipping.
Normally we never pick before paid but trying to figure out something that could cost anywhere from $50 to $200 just to ship, I was worried about overcharging or undercharging. With this order everything could be individually bagged so while it would have been inconvenient to put back in store if no payment, it wouldn’t have really taken terribly long. Maybe I should have free shipping or flat rate above a certain amount. Most everything we ship can fit in padded envelope. This wouldn’t even safe to put in one box. It was $88 to ship in 4 large flat rate boxes vs $184 if I shipped in 1 custom box. I think the buyer might have been confused when I told him it would be in 4 boxes, but he finally paid after 5 days. I immediately printed shipping labels and sent him the 4 tracking numbers. Once it’s sold I want it gone asap - lol I checked his feedback too so that factored in to it as well.
Funny, because right after I did this video I had several large orders come up as manual invoice due to the way I have things set up for my store. One, I waited on payment before pulling and the other I pulled because it was someone who had ordered from me before (and has a good amount of feedback). And I hope you didn't think I was calling you out or being negative, I just thought it was an interesting problem and wanted to see how others would handle it. I've loved your videos since I started researching how to run my Bricklink store more effectively and have gotten tons of useful information. Plus, love know the fact you also work in telephony! :-)
I would do exactly what you describe Stacey - estimate the size of the final package, invoice them with that estimate and ONLY pick the order once the money is sitting in my account!
its a tricky one, in Canada here everything goes by size weight and destination, so really its hard to estimate anything thats thicker than 2cm or 1/4" . so we almost have to pull to figure out the shipping,. becasue of one part the shipping can go from 2.00 padded envelope to very small box approx $20.00 start.
I’ve talked about this a lot over the years. I agree with this in general but I don’t think people outside of some of those larger stores deal with an order of this volume. The issue was really more that I’m not use to people with high feedback to be slow at paying. This guy was over 1000, if it was under 100 I would have just charged him $200 and refunded him if it was less than that.
I never Pick the order before they pay. I look through the order and look after large items that will change shipping price. Then if I’m in doubt I contact the buyer and invoice for the worst case shipping cost and promise to refund the shipping if it gets cheaper. This have happened a couple of times and buyers have been very positive about the process. Keep up the great videos. All the best from AXOS Bricks in Denmark.
Personally I do not pull any orders until the buyer has paid. If they haven't paid for the order then haven't paid for it to be picked either. For me, Invoices and advice are free but picking, packing and posting services are very much paid for seevices. 😊
I don’t pull big orders or invoices until paid. Like you said I don’t want to waste my time even so I’m doing this full time. I wish bricklink would ban non paying buyers on the first offense because like you said the process takes a while and you could sell the parts in that period of time. Robert from Colorado
I don't think a customer can cancel an order if they have paid and you have all the parts they ordered. I could be wrong, but I think they can request to cancel the order, but it is up to you if you want to or not. If you are missing any parts from the order, then yes, I believe you would need to cancel if they ask.
I have more store set up so buyers can do manual invoice to get exact shipping (mainly set that up for my fellow Montanans) and over a certain size and/or weight. I would say that 90% of my sales are instant check. I didn't notice any increase or decrease when I switched from all manual invoice to instant checkout.
On the other hand what about the seller who has been suspended and I have an order with them which is paid for? Sometime between my payment and delivery he disappeared.
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I wouldn't pull until paid. I have my store set to pay at checkout. I don't mess with the invoicing because of this exact scenario.
What he said.
I don't bother with invoicing. I do flat rate shipping on orders up to $24.99, then free shipping for $25 and up. Instant checkout only. Simple and I have never had an issue (1242 completed sales on BL). I am careful not to offer heavy/oversized items in my store, those generally go on eBay. If I was ever to offer invoicing, I would do it the way you do. I would only pre-pull an order before payment if I was familiar with the buyer.
My husband and I discussing offering free shipping over $X amount. Or doing something different so buyers feel they are getting a better deal on shipping.
Normally we never pick before paid but trying to figure out something that could cost anywhere from $50 to $200 just to ship, I was worried about overcharging or undercharging. With this order everything could be individually bagged so while it would have been inconvenient to put back in store if no payment, it wouldn’t have really taken terribly long.
Maybe I should have free shipping or flat rate above a certain amount. Most everything we ship can fit in padded envelope. This wouldn’t even safe to put in one box. It was $88 to ship in 4 large flat rate boxes vs $184 if I shipped in 1 custom box. I think the buyer might have been confused when I told him it would be in 4 boxes, but he finally paid after 5 days. I immediately printed shipping labels and sent him the 4 tracking numbers. Once it’s sold I want it gone asap - lol
I checked his feedback too so that factored in to it as well.
Funny, because right after I did this video I had several large orders come up as manual invoice due to the way I have things set up for my store. One, I waited on payment before pulling and the other I pulled because it was someone who had ordered from me before (and has a good amount of feedback).
And I hope you didn't think I was calling you out or being negative, I just thought it was an interesting problem and wanted to see how others would handle it. I've loved your videos since I started researching how to run my Bricklink store more effectively and have gotten tons of useful information. Plus, love know the fact you also work in telephony! :-)
I would do exactly what you describe Stacey - estimate the size of the final package, invoice them with that estimate and ONLY pick the order once the money is sitting in my account!
Pay 1st. Then Pull. Period.
its a tricky one, in Canada here everything goes by size weight and destination, so really its hard to estimate anything thats thicker than 2cm or 1/4" . so we almost have to pull to figure out the shipping,. becasue of one part the shipping can go from 2.00 padded envelope to very small box approx $20.00 start.
What kind of seller pulls orders before receiving payment? You are asking for trouble
I’ve talked about this a lot over the years. I agree with this in general but I don’t think people outside of some of those larger stores deal with an order of this volume. The issue was really more that I’m not use to people with high feedback to be slow at paying. This guy was over 1000, if it was under 100 I would have just charged him $200 and refunded him if it was less than that.
I never Pick the order before they pay. I look through the order and look after large items that will change shipping price. Then if I’m in doubt I contact the buyer and invoice for the worst case shipping cost and promise to refund the shipping if it gets cheaper. This have happened a couple of times and buyers have been very positive about the process.
Keep up the great videos.
All the best from AXOS Bricks in Denmark.
Thank you for commenting and watching my videos!
Personally I do not pull any orders until the buyer has paid. If they haven't paid for the order then haven't paid for it to be picked either.
For me, Invoices and advice are free but picking, packing and posting services are very much paid for seevices. 😊
I don’t pull big orders or invoices until paid. Like you said I don’t want to waste my time even so I’m doing this full time. I wish bricklink would ban non paying buyers on the first offense because like you said the process takes a while and you could sell the parts in that period of time.
Robert from Colorado
I would want them to pay first them I would pull the order , because having to put 6000 parts back in bricklink takes a lot of time .
Instant check out is your friend, no quote/invoice
you mentioned " whose video" for this big order?
BrickTsar. Long term LEGO seller with a good amount of subscribers.
Pulling only after payment but sometimes end up putting the orders back anyway as customers here have the right to cancel their order at any time.
I don't think a customer can cancel an order if they have paid and you have all the parts they ordered. I could be wrong, but I think they can request to cancel the order, but it is up to you if you want to or not. If you are missing any parts from the order, then yes, I believe you would need to cancel if they ask.
I don't do invoicing. I only do instant checkout. How much more business do you get by invoicing?
I do instant checkout but I didn’t have options for something 23 lbs
I have more store set up so buyers can do manual invoice to get exact shipping (mainly set that up for my fellow Montanans) and over a certain size and/or weight. I would say that 90% of my sales are instant check. I didn't notice any increase or decrease when I switched from all manual invoice to instant checkout.
On the other hand what about the seller who has been suspended and I have an order with them which is paid for? Sometime between my payment and delivery he disappeared.
Did you pay through PayPal? Then you should be able to get your money back (if you haven't already!). So sorry this happened to you!
Waiting on the payment is always a plus. But we have more then enough parts to cover simular orders. Nice video.
Sadler_bricks