@Stragus?

Bulkbrickvault

Any word On Stragus and his return? My store has been closed since the 11th due to brick sync registration.

Leftoverbricks

What’s your problem with Bricksync? It is working flawless for me.

Hoddie

@bulkbrickvault can you reduce your inventory temporarily to get under the limit, until stragus returns? Or maybe try making parts of your inventory with a ~ so that BS ignores them (not sure if BS still considers such lots towards the threshold, but worth a try).

Leftoverbricks

Oh well, It's about the registration issue. Didn't read that at first.

Bulkbrickvault

Well It would be nice if any one knew when Stragus was going to be back, so I have an idea how long my store will be shut down, days weeks months?, give me a better idea and course of action in handling this matter. I am not a coder or super technical with Brick sync to add~ or figure how to delete 50,000 plus parts from my inventory but if it is going to take months it might be worth learning. I also have like 20,000 more parts to add, and 1,000 lbs of used parts to sort and list as well. I add stuff every day not sure how easy it would be too delete that many parts and keep track of what to delete, likely be days worth of work, and also prevent me from adding more parts confusing the matter. I appreciate the suggestions.

Graham

@Bulkbrickvault Just FYI my real inventory is at approximately 280k... so where I had qty200+ of a lot I reduced to qty100 and made a BrickStock file of what I removed.
They were all either technic pins, 1x1 plates with a price of less than $0.03 ea or bulk parts that rarely sell.
I am sailing under 250k by only adding after sales.
I too am now sitting on at least 50 sets waiting part out.

This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Finally got everything in place to run, even a massive custom battery back up that will power modem, router and computer for several days. Purchased a load of products Go to register only to find no @Stragus
I may see if I can find a local “expert” to look at the code, if successful I’ll pay him later

Graham

@Bulkbrickvault Just has a look, your only just over, remove 1500 technic pins and 1000 1x1 plates and you are sorted!

Bulkbrickvault

yea technic pins popped when you mentioned it, I have a huge freezer bag full

Thanks great advice

Bulkbrickvault

I think I have it now I had to edit 50 or so items, I have added a lot since the inventory you looked at has been updated, Brick sync is running now, and Store will open Shortly Thank you Graham giving me that nudge I needed. power back up for the computer sounds excellent or using a laptop with a battery may also work, but with cable internet I wonder if the signal for cable goes down being on a separate cable? Providing you have your router and modem on back up power. I suppose if you loose power you could shut both stores down temporarily or just one with mobile phone.

Graham

@Bulkbrickvault yup it’s quite amazing how those pins add up, guess that’s why they are always “best selling”
We had unreliable cable (x2) up til recently. Earlier this year we got 1Gig fiber that’s been without any issue so far... fingers crossed.
Which prompted my decision to go across platforms... wife had an unused laptop, which is now dedicated solely to bricksync.
I went OTT with back up, using an Aimes inverter/charger with a 100AH battery, works just like a UPS. The modem, router and laptop are all on that. As of now haven’t had to rely on it.
In the event of complete extended outage, then yes I would close one store as bricksync will catch up later, however, I don’t know if it matters which, that is unless we are snowbound

Bulkbrickvault

It really sucks having 1,000s of parts unlisted, I seen you where kicked by walmart? did they give you deals of sorts, I have a hard time finding Lego at a good price, but did hit up Walmart clearance a while back, I must have missed the online one. I wish I hit it day one I hit it on the last day but went to 6 Walmart's all day Trip A few at target but there deals where not comparable to Walmart. I wish Lego did reasonable wholesale

Graham

@Bulkbrickvault I hear you there, same situation for me. I fear @Stragus has gone on walk about, his store on BL says “gone for a very long time” being away from internet suggests either in the Far East or Africa.

For me maybe a moot point, my ban is Walmart.com, not tried to use my tax exemption in store yet. If it’s in store too then I am down to one source. Sales tax is 10% here, tho I’m only 30 miles from VA.

LEGO do wholesale, but only to select B&M stores. That said I know there is a way. There are enough “big boys/girls” here in US getting stock, legally, of course they won’t share how or where. Just need to crack it!

I have too much time and money in this now to just quit!

Hoddie

^ find an independent toy store, agree to take their leftover stock at cost so they don't have to ship anything back to distributor. They get better prices and can choose from a wider range because they're meeting volume targets, and you get reduced pricing and a semi-regular supply. If particular sets take your fancy, ask them to purchase a few cases just for you and agree a price somewhere between cost and RRP. Or at least that's how I used to do it years ago when I sold bulk on Ebay.

Wild Bricks

Are there such things as independent toy stores around anymore? I don't think I could name 1 in the entire Atlanta, GA metro area.

Hoddie

Well, times have changed that's for sure. I'm sure they still exist if you look hard enough. Maybe aim a little higher than independent stores if you have to, even chain stores have sales and returns targets, and managers often have latitude to reduce prices for volume sales (especially if it prevents returns to warehouse/supplier which can be costly things to deal with). I started out by agreeing a deal with one of those stores aimed at babies and toddlers, sold mostly Duplo but some Basic (back in the day!) too.

Graham

@Hoddie I’ll have to look into that for sure. There are no independent toy stores round abouts, that I am aware of. And I did find out from Barnes and noble that LEGO keep tight reigns on them, they actually dictate when they may put things on sale, and not allowing discounts that b&n allow on everything else! At least that’s what I was told at the nearby store.

Bulkbrickvault

Yea, independent toy store good luck finding one of those, maybe getting the ins even at like a Walmart if you Knew the store manager, or tried talking to him, worth a try anyhow, maybe around clearance time he might help you out any how.
I just really wish some one knew when Stragus would be back
Is brick sync open source if I where to hire a coder to crack it? Not much use to have a donation program and when donations are made nothing happens, or no one to update or provide assistance.
I really am thinking of shutting down down again, I have inventory pilling up, and what's the point if I can't list it. The question is do I generate more sales with 2 stores or one store with all my inventory.

Graham

Nobody seems to know where he is or when he will return, now I am assuming “he” however I’ve never met, nor seen his/her/they name.
Stragus did say bricksync would eventually be open source, after sufficient donations. I was considering similar, however don’t have the knowledge. Honestly if you find someone to crack it and pay @Stragus later I don’t see a problem, that’s what I would do, and would do if I were able.

I am definitely generating more sales with both venues, currently it’s about 65%BL/35%BO.

I also have a load of sets to part out.

Hoddie

Maybe it's worth BO funding a new version of BrickStock - which is open source - which works with both BL and BO, and has features of BrickSync. Or maybe some crowd funding?

Graham

Possibly, however there is a possibility in the (near?) future, of BL closing off BrickStock, thru obsolescence, when they implement the seller tools that have been in the rumor mill for over a year. I may have misunderstood what I read in the forum, and may just require modifications to the coding. Time will tell.
Also BrickStock isn’t open source, the older Brickstore is.
Again back to @Stragus. Stragus was working on a similar project, to what you suggest, last I read a year or more back. But as Stragus seems to be a mythical being, my guess is that won’t come about!

It definitely would be a perfect situation to be able to sync both stores, yet have pricing separate using BO data for pricing here, and BL over there, and function on iOS/android.

As it stands right now I see a great opportunity for a programmer to make good money creating software that is Bricksync and BrickStock combined, make it tiered subscription based on #lots and value of inventory.

Hoddie

BrickStock is open source, or at least claims to be, but the author doesn't make the source code available.

BrickStock is already in danger. Its pricing and catalogue data comes from the author rather than BL direct. If the author does a @Stragus, BrickStock too will quickly stop being useful.

To be honest, it's in BO's interests to enable a bridge between itself and the current market leader. I'd be happy to pay an annual subscription for a BrickStock-type program that uses the BO database, and I'm sure there'd be a few others, but it would need to be enough to justify someone dedicating support, updates, etc. to it.

minithingsforlife

Hi all. I am a experienced programmer with over 25 years experience. I am in the early stages of writing a sync program between Bricklink, Brick Owl and with thought on syncing with ebay, and other popular commerce platforms. Once this is up and running I will start working on further products. This will not be a hobby project. I will be taking this project and future ones seriously and setting up a company to do so, with the model being monthly or annual subscriptions.

leopard37

@minifigforlife Be warned that BL may not be happy about that. I believe the only reason they let BrickStock / BrickSync have access is because they do not charge monthly rates (that could be rumor or conjecture) but from the posts on BL it seems they have no interest in a third party using their data. Whether or not it's available through the API. They have dragged their heels on their seller tools, however they could cut off access very easily if wanted. I would send a cursory email to both websites to see what they would allow/not allow.

Hoddie

Preventing access to the API only forces users to do something much more resource-intensive like scraping, which is very difficult to prevent if you're putting data into the public domain. They can (and probably will) try IP banning resource-intensive scrapers, but these days scripts can be run via services that have access to dynamic IPs so even that's not insurmountable. It's possible BL will start hiding the data behind a login, but so long as the data is accessible to someone, a good programmer will find a way to get at it. In a similar way that people pull set inventories, images and instruction PDFs from Lego's servers.

qwertyboy

Some comments on several things that have been said here, just my CAD 0.02 -

BrickStock uses a database which is being compiled by Patrick semi-regularly. This database contains info about items, colors, inventories etc, but does not contain any pricing data.

Both BrickStock and BrickSync use the BL (and BO) API to communicate. There are many large BL stores that use the BL API extensively in their internal software (we do as well, although I would not call our shop large). Not only does this allow these people to have those own programs, it also offloads quite a bit of resources, as these shops don't need to have BL generate entire web pages, so having an API is in BL's interest as well.

The only way that BL actions would break BrickSync functionality is when they stop providing their API. If they do, there would be a _big_ issue with many of the large shops. I don't see BL doing that any time soon (or even ever).

Niek.

minithingsforlife

I have re4ad the Terms and conditions of the API. As long as you are not charging your customers for access to the API solely, then you are ok. I shall make sure that full access to the Bricklink API is available through my software for free, the piece I am charging for is synchronising, between two sites, ie the bit in the middle.

Randyipp

Ugh, it is unfortunate being in the same situation, having to edit my inventory just to keep bricksync going automatically. I just wish I would have gotten registered the last time I donated. Anyone have a suggestion for the right size donation for registration when he gets back?

Graham

@minifigforlife
How soon do you anticipate completing this? Coming up on active season, its now either add all those parts and close BrickOwl store or maintain sub 250k. Both options are unappealing

minithingsforlife

Graham.

It will be a couple of months.

Graham

@minifigforlife 👍🏻
Encouraging thanks

Calibrick

@minifigforlife sounds like you're going to be a hero down the road here!!! :-) Keep up the good work!

Bulkbrickvault

Good to hear, I can't wait
How much you plan on charging monthly, Yearly?
its now either add all those parts and close BrickOwl store or maintain sub 250k. Both options are unappealing - same boat
I already donated to Stragus for Brick Sync, i would donate more but until it works that isn't going to happen. Every time I think of shutting down Brick owl I get some good orders, Stuck under a rock in a hard place. I thought about splitting inventory between to sites and run them separate however that too would not be ideal, crossing my fingers Stragus walks out of the woods. now I am also waiting for this new program, god speed minifigforlife.

Graham

Another work around I’m thinking is two separate stores, not sure about BL on that, they used to merge stores if you opened another. However one of the big players does have two stores there, albeit one appears to be parts and the other sets. If it is possible then it would mean running BS on separate machines, and start from scratch with store 2, later it would be download store 2 inventory and add to store 1.
Thoughts?

minithingsforlife

Graham yes it is against the rules to have two Bricklink accounts, secondly it currently takes about 6 weeks to open a bricklink seller account, and they require proof of address etc and would probably note your other account with the same address.

Bulkbrickvault.
I plan on offering both monthly and yearly options. At the moment I am looking at $9 (£7) per month, with a discount for yearly, with 1 month free trial. Included in that price is full support.

Also to be clear, as I have had another message on PM. This will firstly be a sync only program, with more features planned in the future to turn it into a fully fledged store/inventory management tool.

One_Click_Off

Hard not to say this: Been a buyer on both sites. Sellers, do you see the writing on the wall? Come over from the "Dark Side"... IOW pick a side. Such a beautiful buying experience here! Can't say enough about the differences! Aren't there a lot of problems that crop up with those sales on BL- stuff that's not under your control, navigating the issues with checkouts that don't fit the current model of online buying and things that simply don't get addressed, the endless miniscule mould differences, and it goes on. Contribute to the catalogue and let's move into the Age of BrickOwl- intuitively contrived, beautifully orchestrated and easy for us customers to understand. To quote another movie line, "If you build it, they will come."
Really, buying lost items for a set, or putting together a build of pieces, maybe in a different colour than the original, should be FUN- on BL...it is not fun...

minithingsforlife

One_Click_Off
I totally agree with what you're saying from a buyer's perspective, however the facts are still the facts, there are still more buyers on Bricklink than here, and sellers would be foolish not to cater for them.

One_Click_Off

Thank you for such a lovely response, and so understand marketplace drive for sales- What we would like to impart is this: we are like those buyers on BL who leave positive feedback, but our experience with BL at Large is less than positive- If we, here on BrickOwl, could capture the marketplace for after-market sales of LEGO- it would be a blessing to All!

Calibrick

I would +1 @One_Click_Off absolutely... there is just no comparison in the buying experience between here and BL (and I used to buy a LOT over there before I moved 100% here) - BO's intuitive design blows theirs out of the water. But objectively, I believe that buyers go where their widest range of options is and the most competition! :-)

If more sellers bit the bullet and came over here, closing their BL store (which I did 1.5 years ago after the Brickarms debacle) - especially the BIG guys - the buyers would follow IMHO.

The challenge of course is for anyone who actually LIVES off their store. I don't so it's easy for me to have cut off and come over here - I have a F/T job (as does my husband). We do our store for our fun money (translation: so I can buy LEGOs for me, they've gotten too expensive!) and for charity.

I have little doubt there would be a downturn of some amount of time while buyers figure out this is the place to be (though coupling with a heckuva marketing strategy could mitigate that risk in part, which is where @Lawrence would need to come into the conversation). But a temporary downturn (weeks, months) is almost guaranteed IMHO without some marketing avenue that accompanies it.

Just another perspective to consider. :-)

Graham

Getting old adding 1k parts here and there.
I’ve got a ton of sets to add, yet again in holding pattern.
So no one knows where he is or when he returns. I don’t think there are many places in the world without some form of internet connection. Even Bhutan has communal internet.
His BL store has been axed for non payment.

Maybe it’s not a vacation?

Anyways @minifigforlife hope you get this going soon!

Bulkbrickvault

Axed for non payment ? hmm would seam he left in a hurry. I just uploaded a hair over 250,00 parts today and got no error or registration prompt? Fingers crossed something happened don't dare add more yet. I will let it drop under than go over again with a test by a lot and see what happens. I did send a donation though, not sure if he does something on his end or he sends me something, I am not familiar with how registration works. any one else who registered fill me in on how it is done?

Hoddie

Left in a hurry? Nah, it's easy to forget to take care of little things like that. In my mind it just backs up his claim that he's travelling without easy access to the internet.

BUT his lengthy and seemingly unending absence does betray how dangerous it is to rely on tools created and curated by one person.

bricksinbins

I have no idea what's going on but I doubt lack of internet is the problem. But yes, it's worrisome to depend on anything backed by a single person.

Bulkbrickvault

Still waiting, where is Stragus, where is Stragus, getting stir crazy with all this unlisted inventory

Graham

Where in the world is there zero internet? Gobi desert, and other deserts maybe! Even the remotest places have some form of shared internet access.

@Bulkbrickvault could he have deactivated the registration requirement? My inventory shows more on BL than BO, maybe the trigger is the lower figure? Please let us know how you fare

Hoddie

He may have intermittent internet on a poor connection, on a device with a small screen, without the developer tools and coding resources necessary to update BrickSync. I once modified some PHP on a mobile phone, was not a nice experience and took me an hour instead of a few minutes.

Maybe he's been taken seriously ill? Maybe he's in prison? Or maybe he's just moved on with his life. Who knows.