Subject:
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Re: Proposal for website to sell individual Lego parts in quantity
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade
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Date:
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Mon, 26 Jul 1999 05:10:08 GMT
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Viewed:
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545 times
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Troy,
not to burst your bubble, but you will not be able to buy from Lego to sell
online unless you fulfill ALL of the following:
Have 30+ RETAIL OUTLETS
Sell in all three Distribution areas (West, North and South) i.e. be Nationwide
Carry a phenomonal inventory (I forgot the exact amount)
The ONLY exception to this rule is eToys. I tried to do this with Lego
because I wanted to order half a truckload of the bulk tubs and they basically
told me to take a hike. I have spoken to people who deal with them and they
say that Lego is a horrible vendor to work with.
You could probably get them at a discount from Toys R US, but you better
hurry, as TRU cannot order them any longer. Bulk tubs and buckets are
history. The closest we will get is from Freestyle and Basic sets. You will
probably end up with thousands of sets of Timmy and that chick.
Other than that, I would be happy to see you get one going. I was planning on
doing it, but I am too busy to do it alone and my wife isn't really enjoying
sorting bricks. Let me know when it is up and I will probably place a good
order.
Mike
In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Troy Cefaratti writes:
> I have a proposal for a new website for everyone here, and am hoping to get
> feedback on wether there would be a demand for such a service among Lego
> builders.
>
> What I am proposing is a web site that would sell individual Logo pieces in
> quantity and for a set price to whover wanted them. The following are just
> some thoughts that I had on the subject, and am looking from feedback from
> you, the people who would hopefully use such a site.
>
> * Would start out carrying "basic" bricks (probably from the big tubs) and
> would expand from there to other parts (Plates, flats, sloped bricks, etc)
> and eventually into the very theme-specific parts.
>
> * Site would be fully e-commerce capable, with the ability to take secure
> credit card orders and possibly online checks (depending on the cost of
> implementing this). This would include calculating shipping costs, atleast
> to the US.
>
> * Bricks would be sold individually (not is packages or lots), so that if
> you needed say 300 blue 1x6 bricks, you would be able to get them without
> having to also take (and pay for) any other bricks that you may not need.
>
> * In all likelyhood, there would probably need to be a minimum order
> ammount, to prevent someone from ordering just one 4 cent part, as this
> would cost alot in transaction processing fees.
>
> * Pricing would be set based on the cost of the parts, demand and
> availability of the parts, and the going rate in other places, such as other
> parts sales or auctions.
>
> * All parts would be brand new and taken from sealed sets.
>
> * Parts would idealy be obtained directly through Lego, as we would
> probably have a large enough volume to do this.
>
> * A secondary source of parts would be "close-outs" and sales from local
> stores.
>
> * There would, of course, be a section for requests so that interest could
> be gauge and the right products purchased.
>
> * There is the possibility of expanding into telephone orders for those
> that do not have an internet connection. (Depending on demand for this.)
>
> * Products would ship within 1 day of ordering. This would of course
> depend on the number of orders and the ability to count out the pieces quick
> enough. This problem could be countered by having pre-counted bundles of
> bricks and/or using a counting scale to speed up the process (expensive, but
> VERY accurate. I've used them to count very tiny electronic components in
> the past).
>
> * Would like to be able to keep all products in stock at all times, so that
> you can always get what you need when you need it. This likely would not
> happen immediately though, but would be something that could be smoothed out
> as demand and popularity of certain pieces was gauged and purchasing
> adjusted acoordingly. It would also depend on availability of specific
> parts from Lego. If they don't put it in any sets, then it won't be
> possible to obtain it.
>
>
> Well, I think that is about it for now. I am sorry that the post is so
> long, but these things have been floating around in my head for a while now
> and i needed to write them down. I hope to hear from you all with comments
> on what I have proposed above and with any ideas that you come up with that
> you think would make this site more attractive to prospective users.
>
> If something like this already exists, someone please point me to it. I
> have seen Auxilla (which is great, but is an auction and is cyclical) and
> numerous other auction sites. I have also seen some sites that directly
> sell bricks, but unfortunately none of them ever seemed to have anything in
> stock at the time.
>
> Also, i know that i am new to the newsgroups, and that many of you may not
> have seen me here before, but I have been an avid Lego builder since I was a
> kid (I'm 27 now). I feel that, having run an ISP in the past, I have the
> skills to pull this off should there be a demand for it. Further, pending
> the sale of my current company (A weekly newspaper) I may actually even have
> the funding to get something like this started (Costs associated with site
> design and software, as well as the innitial purchase of product from Lego.)
>
> Well, i guess that is enough for now, let me know what you think.
>
> Troy Cefaratti
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