For sellers: problems with the other site

Leftoverbricks

Hi all,
We all know that Bricklink (the other site) is the biggest in comparison to BO and sites like Rebirickble. However, BL is really running into problems lately, like continuous 500 server issues. Most sellers here also sell on BL and Bricksync is a software solution that gets everything together. Nice!

However: recently I made a critical comment on the BL forum and as a result of that the admins on BL decided I that I earned a lifetime ban from the forum! I can't even reply to their emails about their decision because all communications between me and them are locked by the admins!

I'm posting this here because I no longer have access to BL to discuss it.
What I know for sure is that on BO there's freedom of speech because it's British and standing in a long tradition.

In the past I've made hundreds of contributions to the BL catalogue: inventories, images and so on. Since I no longer have access to the BL forum I can no longer make the LEGO catalogue better on BL. Because of that I will use my time and energy to make the BO catalogue better. I will upload pictures to BO that I used before on BL. Since BL is not compliant to GDPR, I'm certain that I still own the copyright to that content. As a beside: BL is too busy with keeping up their server alive (500-server issues) and banning critical European forum members than to take care of their core business.

I'm well aware that the above can cause eyebrows and questions. Please note that my only intention is to make the LEGO catalogues on BL and BO better. A personal note: I'm on the spectrum (Asperger) and I may not care about how my opinions will be received on the other end as long as I feel my opinions are factual. And all of the above is factual. :-)

Thanks for reading and have a smile from me!
Martin

Calibrick

Martin,
Welcome to BO full-time! I am soooooooo very sorry this is the way that it happened to you though. :-( I was mulling opening my store on the other site early this year (I just started selling in April, but have been a buyer on the other site for years), but after watching business decisions I did not agree with (full Brickarm integration in the catalog did it for me) and poor response from paid administrators (it really went downhill when it got bought out), I put all my energy into opening up here, enhancing the catalog, etc.

I have not regretted that decision for a micro-second. The admin over here is AMAZING (and cheerfully put up with all kinds of silly questions from me last Spring), all the buyers and sellers here I have worked with are sweethearts, and the forum is a friendly, highly supportive, and respectful place to hang out.

I hope you enjoy great success here! ::insert friendly welcoming hug here::

Sandy

Hoddie

Welcome to the "banned from Bricklink" club! They don't like awkward questions. As for whether or not they are GDPR compliant, there's a whole host of EU law that they fail to comply with, as do most of the European sellers using that platform.

phill

seems a common thing on other site i got a ban from there for a complaint i posted which was fine i was told of this site and have completed many models :)

Calibrick

WOW clearly I left before they started banning people just for complaining or pushing tough questions (in a respectful manner, of course) ('cause I used to whine and push over there quite a bit!).

Teup

Wow, that is so incredibly frustrating and unfair for you. Out of interest, could you PM me your message? I am just curious. It might make me post there to ask them to ban me as well, as I refuse to post in a forum where people do not share my concerns and judgements about the way Bricklink is managed, because all the ones that do are filtered out and what's left will be just the meek casual buyers.
I already HAVE decided that I WILL leave Bricklink. The drop that tipped the bucket is still fresh in my mind and I will not forget or turn around on that decision. The only thing that is keeping me there is financial dependence, but as soon as those ties are cut my account goes bye-bye. It's only a matter of time.
Again, just wish that BrickOwl besides having great management also had great and plenty buyers..

phill

sorry i no longer have the complaint and as i am only a buyer i was not to fussed but do think that other site is a strange place to be nothing like this one ,have placed many orders here and only the odd mistake which is to be expected, so keep up the good work looking forward to many more models to complete as i am redoing legoland from scratch for my grand daughter
phill

Leftoverbricks

Thanks all for the supporting messages! If feels good to be here!
@Teup: I'm rather busy right now but I will contact you in the weekend.

Calibrick

Phill, that is so nice of you to say! I know the sellers here (including myself) work super-hard. Word will get out over time, for sure!

Teup, good for you! While I'm absolutely sure I've sacrificed sales, I haven't regretted being here full-time and never opening over there for a second. The more of us that put time and love into BO, that communicate it on social media, and that continue to bring forth great ideas for global improvements/aids, the larger BO grows - without sacrificing it's small business-friendly and customer service-oriented attitude. :-)

I just wish someone here had an "in" with LEGO customer service staff - would be awesome if BO started catching on (unofficially of course!) as an offline recommendation to customers when Pick a Brick is missing items. That's yet another way to have people find us.

You can then starting getting into Google analytics and such to try to up our search engine positioning, but a lot of that is a mystery to me and is best left to the hard-working site owners/admins to think on.