Why is BO a bit more expensive than BL?

Lempi976

As you saw my question, I don’t understand, why BO is more expensive than BL, are there more fees on BO, or what is the problem.

Thank you in advance for you answers!!!

Greetings, Pit

White Horse Bricks

The fees are comparably, if not fractionally cheaper on BO for most sellers.

Speaking personally I sell on both platforms and my prices are the same on both sites.

There is both lower demand and lower availability on here compared to BL, so that may affect how people list things.

adjour

I've noticed a lot of race to the bottom pricing on B.L. especially post covid where all the hobby shops that opened no longer have free time and went back to work.

Most people doing this for a living have "normal" or "high" prices, if you look at the cheaper stores, they generally are on the smaller side.

I'd imagine once the big sell off is complete (and I'm of the opinion it nearly is, because my sales have picked up a ton and I don't see tons of people running discounts compared to last year) it will take 1-2 years for prices to stabilize again.

I think alot of people start on that site and then move here. I'd imagine more of the hobby sellers don't bother to run two stores, so when they dump their inventory, its only on B.L. just my opinion.

Lempi976

Thanks for your answers, okay now I understand why it’s that way, but do you think it’s better to open a store here, because the interface is better than the bricklink interface, but BO is not as famous as BL.

Hoddie

Some of those who sell on both sites jack up the prices here to account for the fact BO doesn't allow them to stiff buyers with fees at the checkout stage.

White Horse Bricks

@Lempi976 Why not both? As a seller it seems odd to limit your availability to buyers. There is some effort or cost involved in maintaining inventory on both sites but it's well worth it.

There are pros and cons to both sites. IMO BO is more user friendly and modern, there's not question that the inventory on BL is more extensive, and has greater parts availability. But my god is the forum on BL a PITA.

P6tu

I'm not a seller ... yet ... But I buy bricks mostly from BO. Yes, the prices are a tad more expencive, but that is due to the bigger pool of sellers in BL. There are multiple sellers that I am aware of, who sell on both sites, and for some reason - their prices are here higher than in BL. Why is that so, I do not know. Either way, it is more usable here in BO to purchase spare parts. When it comes down to sets, then I buy them from BL due to the cheaper price. This is just how it is...

TL;DR - it is purely influenced by demand/availablity. Less stores, bigger demand, easier to be "special" with some parts.

PS! My observation is mostly by sellers within the EU. But DD Bricks is one example, who has higher prices here compared to prices in BL. Nevertheless, I have bought from them and did the transaction here in BO despite the higher prices...

Lawrence

@P6tu That's very nice to hear that the user experience is nicer enough to counteract the smaller pool of sellers

Neiljones

We don’t sell on bl. We looked at starting one it just baffles us. BO is so much easier to use. And going by what people say here we could up our sales fourfold on BL. As we are both in our sixties we would not be able to cope. With all the sales. We are happy just selling here.

TLego

Personaly i'm happier to pay a bit more for BO. It has a better interface & a more personable feel to stores.

129samot

@Neiljones If you struggle to keep up with sales by opening a BL store you can raise your prices slightly. This way you will have more manageable sales while increasing the value of your work.

Neiljones

@129samot thanks for your advice. As I still work. At the moment we are happy just to sell on BO. When I retire I may reconsider opening up on BL.

Graham

Our prices are identical on both platforms. Shipping is similar, more accurate here. For buyers outside Tennessee prices will be less due to Brickowl not adding sales tax. It us surprising that sales are at least 3x higher on BL - wish it was the other way round!