Hello!
To use the forum, login or register above.
(If you are already logged in above, please click here)
Lot limits?
Posting a new thread to avoid diverting the other one.
I understand why some stores (especially any with employees) might want to have minimum lot values. I wonder, though, if it would just be simpler for everyone if minimum lot *averages* were done away with, and replaced with actual minimum lot Values.
If a seller wants a lot limit of $1 per lot, and they are selling a 5 cent part, then that lot simply shows up in the store with a minimum purchase of 20 units. The minimum would get calculated automatically by BO for every lot in the store. They would update if the lot lImit value was changed.
Buyers would never be confused about why their order doesn't meet a lot limit, because they could not create such a cart.
--
Marc.
I understand why some stores (especially any with employees) might want to have minimum lot values. I wonder, though, if it would just be simpler for everyone if minimum lot *averages* were done away with, and replaced with actual minimum lot Values.
If a seller wants a lot limit of $1 per lot, and they are selling a 5 cent part, then that lot simply shows up in the store with a minimum purchase of 20 units. The minimum would get calculated automatically by BO for every lot in the store. They would update if the lot lImit value was changed.
Buyers would never be confused about why their order doesn't meet a lot limit, because they could not create such a cart.
--
Marc.
Powered by Vanilla
Comments
I'm sure it would be easier for customers to understand than lot averages. Like bulk quantities, you couldn't put less than N of a lot into your cart.
@monochrome
If you set a value to a lot, and your quantity drops below the threshold, then the lot becomes 'unbuyable' for any customer, so it keeps sitting there in stock, seller doesn't realise (so doesn't adjust), and that may well be for a long time.
A cart 'lot' average is more effective as it never influences the lot's and still allows buyers to buy low quantities for certain items ;-)
after our planned trial period of 3 months.
When a buyer wants a selection of low value Technic pins or 1x1 parts etc, bulk quantities prevent the order completely. Average value serves the buyer better by at least allowing purchase of low value items alongside a higher value item.
For that reason, I'm of the opinion that (for us) bulk quantities are more of a problem than a solution.
The sooner average lot values become the norm at all venues the better!
Cue Hoddie
In my opinion, the debate should be between:
- Adopting simple rules that anyone can understand, like a minimum order value
- Agreeing to educate all customers into the peculiar and unique ways this online marketplace works
Experienced BrickOwl users (like all of us, forum regulars) will always prefer the second option, but let's not keep forget that most customers here have not been buying and/or selling LEGO online for years. They want an easy and smooth experience, like on any other modern website, and we ought to give them exactly that.
Contrast:
- Lots with a "bulk qty" set - this tells the customer up-front how many of that item they need to order if they want to complete the purchase.
- A store with a "minimum lot average" - absolutely no indication of how many of a particular item they need to order based on what's already in their cart until and unless they try and check out. This might be 30 mins later and although some customers will abandon the cart, I'm sure many others will simply add something high-cost to their cart that they didn't actually need just to enable them to check out, rather than having just wasted 30 mins of their life. In both scenarios some customers will probably be extremely pissed off and may never return to BO.
If anyone thinks the latter option doesn't drive (some) customers up the wall then they're deluding themselves.
I suggested it elsewhere but if a "minimum lot average" is deemed necessary, surely it would be appropriate customer service to offer customers an alternative store if the current store won't allow them to checkout with what's in their cart. A simple "convert cart to wishlist to see which other stores have these parts available" button is all that's needed.
The front end of the site should work for buyers NOT sellers. What next?
I had a good think in the shower about alternatives, there are an awful lot, but they all have their own positives and negatives.
Essentially, as a seller, your costs are per order (shipping, payment, looking at an order time) and per lot (walking to the lot and back). Per order costs can all go in in shipping and handling. Per lot costs are what all the things like bulk quantities, tier pricing, lot averages etc are trying to tackle. In my opinion the current system gives the most flexibility to the customer, but it's the least intuitive.
Regular online shoppers looking for an easy and smooth must also take cognizance of the fact that the LEGO aftermarket is by necessity a complex marketplace and one with which they will have to familiarise themselves. There isn't ever going to be a one-click checkout where there are 2 distinct types of seller, each having diametrically opposing motives and requirements:
1. 18-25 (Selling off their childhood collection, to fund something cool)
2. Part-time / Full-time (buys LEGO specifically for re-sale)
Uniquely to the LEGO aftermarket, both types of seller trade from the same website, competing against one another to sell thousands of product lines priced at under 10p/10c.
Type 1 sellers typically just want to shift product and will sell at any price just to get their hands on fresh cash for their current must-have lifestyle purchase. These sellers just want to sell and move on. Every year a fresh crop of type 1 sellers enter the market, so the downward pressure on part prices is maintained.
Type 2 sellers often rely on their LEGO stores to generate essential income. Many pay tax on the profit from sales. Full-time sellers with large inventories will have additional costs such as stock insurance or product/public liability indemnity, maybe even staff. Unlike type 1 sellers (who probably received their stock as gifts, therefore, at no cost to themselves), type 2 sellers typically purchase their stock for re-sale.
The difference in the cost base of the two seller types is massive, yet both have to compete in the same price driven marketplace, so the playing field is far from level.
Minimum average lot value provide a means for type 2 sellers to level the playing field that minimum order value simply does not.
The LEGO aftermarket is unlike any other for the reasons stated above, so will never look and feel like other mainstream online retail sites with which most are familiar. We should just accept that and stop fretting about it.
I don't believe this is true. It's a combination of things that drives customers to your store, be it previous experience, location, combination and quantity of parts offered. Price is important for some buyers, but in my experience only one of many factors.
Business sellers generally shouldn't be able to compete with those who are simply clearing out a Lego collection they no longer want. Putting tools in place to artificially allow them to do so doesn't help anyone.
I also don't agree with this either. Your costs are per order (shipping, payment processing, etc.) and then fixed (wages, insurance, etc.) There is already a way of incorporating a 'per lot' cost into your inventory and that's by increasing your 'per part' cost, just as you would to account for the fixed costs.
As a seller you can force customers to purchase more than one item per lot by increasing the Bulk Qty setting. Or you could simply encourage people to do so with Tier Pricing. The tools exist without the need for lot averages. Buy 1 for 10p, 2-5 for 7p each, 6 and up for 5p, etc.
Yes I have received orders with so many lots that my profit vs pull-time is terrible. But on average, over many orders, I maintain a level at around $20 profit per hour of pull-time. This is why I don’t feel I need lot limits.
But I understand why others want it. I don't believe so. It only looks that way because we set it up that way.
Little plastic baggies cost me about a penny each to acquire. How do the manufacturers and retailers maintain their profits by selling such penny parts? Do they require me to also buy a high-margin soda whenever I want to buy plastic bags? No. They simply require me to buy 100 at a time.
At what point does an individual lot become profitable -- that can be your minimum purchase for that item. All buyers understand this system because it is what exists everywhere else.
--
Marc.
We actually like this idea and may consider using it in the future. We are for creating as simple of a checkout as possible with as little hiccups as could be.
With that being said, we would like to see this one stipulation added:
If a lot is 10cents and the requirement is $1, then 10 items must be purchased at one time. If a store only has 8, the buyer can still purchase this lot. The seller will then have a slightly lower per lot average but this became necessary due to what was left in inventory for that lot.
I don't want any errors for the buyer in this scenario as to create a seamless buyer experience.
Chris
#1 a $0.05 part. Buyer sees that he must add qty of 20 and does. Cart at $1
#2 a $3 part. Buyer only has to add one, Cart is at $4
#3 a $0.20 part. Buyer only needs two and is able to select only two as his cart is "allowing" him an average at this point. Cart is not at $4.40 (Buyer still has $1.40 of leeway in his cart)
Now we just need a link in an obvious place "Change Buyer Settings" or something that is going to catch the attention of a more experienced Lego buyer, where they can go in, change their settings to where they are in charge of what quantities they add knowing that their end cart will have to meet the ALV. This way, more experienced buyers get what they want, it is just a setting they have to enable, and one time buyers are not met with any initial hassle.
Katie
It could simply appear as (minimum: 10) when adding to one's cart, and wouldn't let a buyer place less than this in his cart.
It could be configured as: any item with a value under X will have a minimum quantity for a total price of at least Y. I would suggest allowing X to be equal or less than Y.
Further, to avoid scenarios such as minimum quantities of 11 or 27 everywhere, which would be very ugly, BrickOwl should probably round the numbers. These two could become 10 and 30, for example. It's a simple detail that would provide a more pleasant experience for the customer.
Thanks for sharing the idea monochrome, I think it's pretty good!