Call to sellers: please help with <missing data>!

Leftoverbricks

As a seller I regularly check the items in my inventory for missing data on Brick Owl. Go to https://www.brickowl.com/mystore/inventory and on the left side you will find a list of missing data.
Early July I added missing data for instructions in my inventory and guess what? Since than I sold almost all instructions that I updated!
Conclusion: if you want to sell the items that are collecting dust in your cellar: go ahead and fill in missing data.

Calibrick

Seconded! I noticed when I added the last of my missing images and other data to those few of my remaining items that had been missing them, several (which had been languishing) suddenly sold. Literally, within a week. I was admittedly surprised, but in a great way!

Adding dimensions helps too... lazy buyers like me rarely want to take the time to do a quote. Enter dimensions in missing data and the problem goes away (if you have your shipping setup correctly, of course). :-)

Having the correct data in fields like theme, a findable part name, a proper linkage to a host set (a biggie) or something as simple as an image (a bigger one than I had realized) makes a HUGE difference to connecting you with your buyer!

Bravo for raising this, Leftoverbricks!

WESTIEKaTH

good advice :)

brickrepository

On this note, what exactly does "Name needs improvement" mean?
Because most of my inventory is marked as such...

Even the basic bricks are under there, stuff like "Brick 2 x 2 Corner (2357)". How can one improve on that?

Hoddie

I think that flag means that the name on BO matches the name from the Lego import, which is often nonsensical and usually not in the format that the rest of the BO database is.

unbrickable

currently i do not have the time to add data but a big thanks for everybody who is contributing !!

Oldfan

> @Hoddie said:
> I think that flag means that the name on BO matches the name from the Lego import, which is often nonsensical and usually not in the format that the rest of the BO database is.

Is there a tutorial or other information on the site that describes what the proper naming conventions should be? My biggest issue with inventory assist is not quite understanding what and how I can help...members' forum posts have been extremely helpful to this end, though.

Calibrick

Not that I've ever found... the best way to learn is viewing similar items and how they're named. I went basically through trial and error (rejection and acceptance) until I figured that out.

Jay37

It seems that brevity is the key now, especially decorated/stickered parts. I try to work out the most important element that people might be searching for. For example if a part has a control panel I will use 'Controls' as the main description (Tile with Controls). This should still appear in a search for 'control panel'. If I feel that other elements are relevant I'll submit tags for those.

Calibrick

Yes, I learned that with stickered parts, too... I try to keep it short while ensuring I have a different title than the errr other site (to avoid potential legal probs and because copying isn't cool), then use the tags feature for the Set number (if not already there) and other descriptors - I also ensure I leverage that theme field and have a good picture. And if the theme (e.g., Star Wars) is prone to people using an acronym ("SW" in this example), I ensure SW is a tag.

I really have learned that items with pictures DO sell better! :-) That still trips me out, but it makes complete sense.

For titles, I do think you can get away with a bit longer, e.g., "...Tile with Control Panel" vs. just controls, or even "Tile with Controls and Joystick". I've had those kinds of titles accepted.

I've been having fun making my photos look a bit snazzier using Burner Bonanza online (it's free). Looks slick and more professional... have started submitting updated images gradually across my store. Of course, burning the background off a white part is a big pain if your background is also white, but it works for that 90% of the time really well. :-)

brickrepository

Can something be done about the false positives? @Lawrence

A concrete example:
https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-axe-head-15549-15550-20731

This item shows up in my "Missing Data" list under both "Facial Hair Color" and "Facial Hair Type" (and maybe more). That's obviously incorrect, but this is only apparent after one click-click-clicks through a few menus. And after I do that there's no way to mark it as "already reviewed, nothing missing here" or something similar, so when I come back a few weeks later I'll have to do it all again.

Making this process a little less cumbersome might get sellers to do it more.

leopard37

The item in question is missing a picture of the reddish brown color...

carlptaylor

thanks @Leftoverbricks, I've taken the baton and started clearing a lot of my items with missing information, this has certainly helped to sell a few additional parts; many thanks again.

Lawrence

@brickrepository I've updated the "missing data" to only show head specific missing data for categories that have heads in them

brickrepository

Thanks @Lawrence that helps

I have another problematic one here:
https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-pineapple-recessed-solid-stud-15829

Because it's listed as a minifigure head it's expecting a bunch of qualifiers for eyes, mouth, facial hair, etc.
I can set the facial hair color and type to "None", but that option doesn't show up for any of the other head-specific dropdowns.

Lawrence

For that particular item it’s probably best to just leave it as it. We don’t have a way to mark items as not requiring specific data.

brickrepository

Something I've noticed with the heads, but it's being flagged as missing for minifigures as well: gender.

What gender to select for:
- Ninjago bots
- Nexo Knights demons
- Minecraft monsters
- Groot
- Star Wars aliens and droids
- Skeleton and Droid torso

I think this needs either a "None" or "Undefined" value, to distinguish from the "N/A" that causes it to get flagged.

Calibrick

I would argue Groot is a boy, since Vin Diesel voices him. ;-)