Overwhelmed by success?

BWA

Dear Fellow Owlers,

Lately we have been (pleasantly) overwhelmed by BrickOwls apparent success...,

Some 3 months ago we (completely) came over from the "other si(d/t)e" with approx 80K in items and 8K in lots...,
In the last period we haven't added any items..., and still orders/items sold keep rising, (while usually after x-mas business slows down)..., By now we have sold approx 1/5th of our (listed) inventory...,
We still have a lot to list, but are hesitant because the following influx off orders.., (trust me they are nice items....:))

Our main question is...., is Brickowl taking off that well...(overall)? Is our selection that good?, many new (buying) members?
Should we first sell empty before restocking etc...,

Any Thoughts?

Rgds,

BWA

Loremonger

For the first time in a long time, I feel like I can actually pursue reselling LEGO as a legitimate part-time job. When I reopened my store on Jan 3, after the holiday break, I had five orders before I went to bed. Crazy. For some perspective, I started out with about 27k parts, and one feedback I received included "excellent selection." So yes, you have a great selection.

My suggestion would be to restock as quickly as you can. If you seriously reinvest your profits, maybe, you can double up on inventory. I'm hoping to grow my shop to the pain point and then hire some help to fill orders.

Lawrence

I believe the rate at which people find Brick Owl is increasing, while at the same time customers who found us previously come back. As long as stores provide good service and continue to restock, things should keep increasing. It's certainly nice to see, and motivating to keep working on the site.

walstib

I hit the point I had to close the shop for a bit to catch up with the time I have. Yes Owl is doing that well.

Over 120 orders last month, no slow down, just increasing all the time without adding anything. Best month anywhere ever for me in all catagories.

I don't know for sure how I am going to manage slowing things yet out of all the options to do so. Limiting the number of lots available is one way I did not have on my list yet.

I would think there would be a tipping point where things would slow down too much to sell out everything profitably, finding a sweet spot with selection and minimum buy amount for your time is sounding like a reasonable plan to me right now.

Loremonger

@walstib You could always raise your prices. That will slow things down for sure.

walstib

That option, raising prices, is the last one on my list. I have done this once already this year, and my pricing strategy is part by part.

So on one hand I feel like I am pushing the limits of informed business as it is, and the other it is a crazy amount of work. Counter productive to saving time.

Even a higher minimum just does so much, only a handful of sales were small orders. Not complaining by any means, it's a wonderful problem and the kind of challenge that keeps me interested in selling.

Graham

Ssssh!

Too many (cooks) spoil the _____!

Keep quality high, prices "reasonable" and customer service #1 = success

… and I don't feel we need "help desk software" !! - THAT may be one of the biggest differences that fuels "the Owl"

personally I am on the edge :: do I/don't I - "go pro" - Wife would be very happy with option 2!!

Best wishes to all, Graham

Mach1baby1973

Honestly, and I have stores on both sites, I seem to be selling more parts here but sets on BL . Not sure why but that's my history so far. I've sold a few sets here but not to the extent of BL, so for me BO is definitely helping my parts inventory but my big money sales are still on the other place. Hope people start buying sets here

pumbaugh

Honestly, and I have stores on both sites, I seem to be selling more parts here but sets on BL . Not sure why but that's my history so far. I've sold a few sets here but not to the extent of BL, so for me BO is definitely helping my parts inventory but my big money sales are still on the other place. Hope people start buying sets here

I think this is part of the evolution here. I would hope that as traffic is driven here from the parts affiliate sites the other categories(minifigs/sets/instructions) pick up steam and can develop from there. Also the sellers are mainly parts sellers right now. The more people offering a wide variety of sets will grow the number of users coming here to look for sets. I imagine the number of people looking for sets will grow as does the available inventory here....hopefully

Mach1baby1973

Hopefully, seems when I am listing sets, I have the only one for sale so as with anything it's just time and hope it evolves but still do well over on BL. I like both sites to be honest it's nice to have a selling vice on more than 1 site.

Graham

As mainly a parts seller, The 'Owl is far better suited for me, too much hassle to sync stores with BL's attitude.

What happened to the Brickset affiliation? That would help set sales wouldn't it?

Maybe consider adding BrickPicker and BrickBadger as well? Perhaps other too...

Lawrence

Brickset is waiting on the new website, Brickpicker began implementation, I don't know the current status.

KyleJohnson11

@Admin You might want to talk with Huw. Here is the link to the new Brickset site, but no Brick Owl under links on the item pages: http://new.brickset.com/sets/10236-1/Ewok-Village

tamadrummer88

Guess I just don't have the quantity of parts yet, but I'm selling more of everything on bricklink (mainly minfigures). Hope things pick up here soon for me though cuz syncing my inventories between the two sights is a pain.

Brikomania

Check out brickpacker.com @Tamadrummer88

Graham

@ tamadrummer88

At the moment BrickOwl mainly attracts parts buyers - when I started on BO, BL hadn't gone with all the legal threats so syncing was easy!

During the time I had parallel shops, my order volume was higher on the then barely known BrickOwl, however $-wise they were about even, when I was forced to choose - I chose the 'Owl, mainly because of the better attitude, but also with equal sales on both sides - I foresaw growth here.

I have no regrets, as this has indeed happened.

Minigures will be slower here because that was the biggest change BL "forced" - BO has a different numbering system.

Search a given MF by BL # you will find listings on eBay, Amazon and numerous other websites, all of which obviously didn't get the threats that were issued against BO.

It gets more difficult because the "friendly" sites (Brickset/re-brickable) can still use BL #'s

I used to be a big MF seller "elsewhere" - they are now on the back burner.



@Admin It would be very helpful if you could attach the BL # behind the scenes somehow - I'm having a heck of a problem right now, parting out various MF's as they still have BL numbers in my stock - I can't see how that would infringe BL's "alleged" copyright, if it's never seen?

Graham

tamadrummer88

I'm actually using brickpacker, but it's still a pain to have to go to 3 different websites to upload inventory. I'm still turning a profit on just the figures I'm selling which allows me the ability to add the parts to my store for free. Eventually I'm sure I'll see the sales pick up on parts when I have more.