Query with Part 57051 Metal Axle for Train Wheels

beaverbrick

Hey all,

Had a customer order 1 x part number 57051 (Metal Axle for Train Wheels).
I sent the one part, but she's queried it, saying she expected it to be a 2 pack of axles. She said the website that linked her to BrickOwl described it as a 2 pack.

If you look at the catalog entry on BO, the 'Lego Name' field does actually say 'Prepack with 2 Axle' (actually says Asle but I assume that's a typo :P) but there's no mention of it being a 2 pack in the description.

Anyone able to shed any light on this?
Should it be a 2 pack or is the catalog entry intended just for an individual axle?

Many thanks

OvertheBrick

Looking at the number of 57051 listed in 60052 and the actual number of axle it should be a 1 pack

robernat

@Lawrence
Please delete 'Lego name' and 'cleaned Lego name' and all design ID's except 57051and the Peeron (x1687), as these are leading to confusion (the other design ID's are packages of 2 axles and 4 axles). Please also remove the image of the 'package' under that entry and please also delete every 'lego item numbers' should there be any as they might also refer to packages of 2 and 4 axles, so should users enter them based on item numbers in instructions, they would make the wrong assumption as stated by the OP.
Thanks in advance, Eric

Hoddie

Yes, as Eric says these axles are supplied by Lego in cardboard packs of 2 and 4, each printed with their own identifying Lego ID. Other pack sizes might exist but I'm unaware of them if so. I wouldn't delete these Lego IDs from BO though as people might search for them, I know I sometimes do if I'm unsure what's inside a cardboard box. The listing should be clear though that the axles are sold individually (just as rubber bands are which normally come packed as a pair), which on the face of it would mean removing/modifying the 'Lego name' from the item.

The alternative would be to have three separate items, a new one representing one axle, and two with inventories of 2x and 4x axles.

Stragus

Separate items would be a bad idea, customers will find items with no sellers.

It just needs to be clarified it's sold individually... somehow.

beaverbrick

Thanks for the feedback guys
Hopefully the catalog can be 'cleaned' so that this confusion doesn't happen again.

Lawrence

The Lego name on that item has now been adjusted, this wasn't possible before. I will check it again in a few hours to make sure the change has "stuck".

robernat

@Lawrence
Just realised that there are other items that TLG packs in 'more' quantities within those small cardboards.
Example: Capes... (just giving 1 example)
For instance: set 75034 holds a 'cape' package with ID 6063262, but it contains 2 capes, as the set holds 2 identical figs, so if a member enters this number on BL he/she will be lead to:
http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-red-cape-with-dark-red-back-20458-50231
and *might* expect 2 capes under that particular ID (as that is what the LEGO instruction says)
Now recently TLG produced a new set (75093) with those same figs BUT: they suddenly changed the ID towards 6116033, also attached to the same entry, but now in quantity 1, because the instruction indicates a quantity of 2...
Just to be clear, this is about a decorated cape (and the description is vague), but I know the same thing happens with standard capes (uni-color), sometimes 'packed' with 2, sometimes 1, and I even had cases in sets where 2 colors where packed under 1 ID. If all those imports of ID's (either from Rebrickable, Brickset or TLG) automaticly 'add' all these ID's to catalog entries, then a lot of sellers are going to enter in the same situation as the OP, buyers will be expecting 'more', based on the ID they enter straight from an instruction...
No just a week ago we had the same discussion in private about those new harpoons (and the old ones 'on sprue') and their ID's, a pretty similar case, and my last message was clear I believe: Do not trust or rely on LEGO's inventories and ID's, as sooner or later it's gonna mess up the database. The OP just proved me right and the example I just stated as well I believe.
The catalog needs management and research and tuning, not just 'imports' and automated adding of ID's I'm afraid... Several members have mentioned 'bugs' on catalog entries the past few months, and weeks actually, make no mistake, it will only increase if it ain't cleaned up.

Now the OP has to deal with his buyers 'issue' (neither the OP's fault, neither his buyers fault), tomorrow it will be someone else...

Cheers, Eric

Hoddie

Unless explicitly stated otherwise no items on BrickOwl are sold in anything other than multiples of one. I don't see why items packaged within small cardboard boxes should be any different - it is the item(s) within the cardboard that are for sale, not the cardboard package as a whole. I can of course understand why the OP's buyer assumed otherwise, and when issues like this occur it's only right that reasonable attempts are made to help prevent the same thing happening again, but I think inventorying everything down to the nth degree is not the way to go. Too many set inventories are missing or lacking before we start creating additional ones to worry about. What next, we inventory each numbered bag within a set?

IMO it's only correct that the Lego ID as printed on the cardboard box(es) should be included on the page of all enclosed items, for no other reason than it is undeniably associated with those items. It is ultimately still the buyer's responsibility to ensure they're ordering the correct item(s) in the correct quantity.

Personally I think it might be a good idea to remove the 'Lego name' data from the customer-facing pages, while retaining the current implementation of checking within that data when a customer performs a search.

Regarding the harpoon issue, I think that's a clear cut case of simply ensuring the correct IDs are present on the two separate BOIDs (one BOID being a single harpoon, the other BOID being 2 harpoons on a sprue). If Lego is using the same ID for both of these, then it should be included on both BOIDs IMO, and buyers should be left to pick the item they want when both appear in the search results.

BO is not a reference catalogue for Lego inventories. Neither is BL or Rebrickable. It would be nice if it were but the functionality doesn't exist on any of these sites to allow for it (consider those sets that have several different versions, all under the same set number but with substantial differences between the versions). The ultimate aim of BO is to connect Lego buyers with Lego sellers, the inventories are a substantial part of helping that happen, but not so important that they need to be unwieldy.