Subject:
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Re: BAYLIT - Brickbay
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.theory
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Date:
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Sat, 30 Sep 2000 00:40:35 GMT
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Viewed:
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617 times
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In lugnet.market.theory, Jon Kozan writes:
> In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Larry Pieniazek writes:
> > In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Ran Talbott writes:
> > > In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Jon Kozan writes:
> > >
> > > > Third, linking to my BAYLIT site. Someone said that I was "coat-tailing".
> > Wasn't meant as a slander, apologies if you took it that way.
>
> OK, None taken. Thanks.
>
> > Were someone to accuse me of coattailing I would smile and say "Yes, wasn't I
> > clever?" (my usual opinion of myself, to be sure...).
>
> I wholeheartedly agree with the concept.
Which? coattailing, or that I think myself inordinately clever. If the latter,
take a number pal, you're not alone :-) Everyone knows that.
> So, no, I didn't get these from Mickey. (But if you've noticed the
> large Mickey set - it has the old-style lamp-posts!)
Yes, fabuland fans everywhere including my daughter Taya are rejoicing at the
Mickey line...
> > Or, alternatively, put real inventory there, priced comparably to your BAYLIT
> > inventory (not all of the BAYLIT inventory, but some, and feel free to tack • 2%
> > on to cover the cost) and let the market decide. If you get lots of traffic,
> > lots more than you get on BAYLIT, maybe you should consider moving, and • saving
> > yourself the bother of running BAYLIT. If you get zippo traffic, stay where
> > you are.
>
> Three thoughts here guys...
> 1) I put on Brickbay just the first of more-to-come lots of inventory that I
> choose to put there.
> (What I put for sale should be determined by me, I would think, unless someone
> creates an 'I don't like what you're selling, so you're excluded' concept.)
Indeed. You should always be free to do as you wish with your goods if you
harm no one with them, seems obvious to me, even if it isn't to the free lunch
crowd. My advice is more around what perception of your actions is likely to
be, that's all. Not what you *have* to do.
> 3) Finally the logical error here is that someone's assuming that there is a
> fixed pie of buyers and that they're only going to buy from Brickbay or BAYLIT
> .. and the tide's shifting, and I should get onboard. ...
No, I'm not claiming a fixed pie, not me, not ever. I'm in the "pie can
expand" camp in more than just this topic (like the total amount of wealth in
the world, just to pick a larger example). I may have overstated the shift I
see, but I do see that BrickBay is burgeoning. Whether it means less
convenient/stocked/pervasive venues shift, slow down, or what, is unclear.
> Actually, the buyers are always expanding as new kids are introduced to LEGO,
> and as more people find their love of LEGO on-line. The pie is not fixed, and
> I have not seen a decrease in BAYLIT sales.
Are yours increasing as fast as Brickbay's or the rest of the market though?
Dunno.
> > But do one or the other. Serve a real market on BrickBay or get off. If • you're
> > serving a real market, coattail with pride. (remember, my eBay lots serve a
> > real market, and I coattail with pride) If you're not, don't coattail at all
> > or risk damage to your rep as Ran said.
>
> Why? I disagree with your worldview...
> The world still buys from both the city market (Brickbay) and the supermarket
> (BAYLIT). (Even if the prices are lower at the city market.)
Which is which again? Based on price, it's the other way around. Based on
inventory for right now maybe the way you have it... Maybe not for long if
BrickBay growth rates continue... But in some ways BrickBay is more like a
mall than a supermarket. It's in some ways a portal to many stores but not
quite since it provides the inventory and sale management infrastructure,
sellers only have to handle fulfillment.
> This is my scary thought ... What if everyone raised their prices??? (I think
> we all could, though someone would certainly cry foul and cite FTC
regulations)
If everyone raises their prices they will lose me as a non emergency customer
as I will switch back to parting out sets. Getting the parts presorted is
worth a fixed amount, not an elastic amount. Raise them high enough and I will
pay my kids friends to sort for me, it will be cheaper.
> > Remember, when it's time to railroad, EVERYBODY railroads and the stagecoach
> > companies evolve or die (Wells, Fargo evolved into a bank. Everyone else, I
> > think, died) BrickBay is a railroad to my way of thinking. LUGNET could have
> > had the market if it wanted it, still could with a struggle, but it's lost
> > first mover there.
>
> "First mover" doesn't evenly apply unless the offerings are of equal _value_ • to
> the buyers -- that's how many companies still maintain share in increasingly
> commoditized markets -- provide the value the buyer wants. Product _and_
> service count.
Agreed. That first mover reference was a dig at Lugnet, not you. You make the
point that you feel you're not a stagecoach company, you're not threatened by
BrickBay. That's fine. The market will tell us. I honestly don't know if
you're right or not, yet.
However the original point remains, I suggest you load up your store with some
more inventory that's priced about the same as your BAYLIT inventory to remove
the *perception* of freeriding, justified or not, by the visitors who haven't
read our reasoned discussion here. (97%??) Take that suggestion and do what
you will with it, it's your reputation, not mine.
Perception isn't about fairness or reason, it is what it is.
First impressions stick. Several people have said they got that perception,
you're now free to do as you wish with the information. Personally, if you
damage your reputation, that's marginally incrementally better for the people
that I have close associations with that sell on BrickBay, but it's a third or
worse order effect. Still it shows that I have no personal stake in your
taking my advice, in fact I should theoretically rather you didn't. But I
don't. I hate to see reputations sullied needlessly.
++Lar
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: BAYLIT - Brickbay
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| (...) Nope, not very long at all: (URL) just passed BAYLIT in inventory. That's a raw metric of course, and says nothing about the quality and type of parts. (it's probably a good 20-40% basic bricks at the moment) So which is which again? ++Lar (24 years ago, 30-Sep-00, to lugnet.market.theory)
| | | Re: BAYLIT - Brickbay
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| (...) FWIW, I drove to ZB yesterday specifically to take a close look at Mickey's little Fire Engine. And the part it uses is indeed an old part, but a Basic version with an ugly Basic base. The ladders I've listed on Brickbay are NOT the parts from (...) (24 years ago, 30-Sep-00, to lugnet.market.theory)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: BAYLIT - Brickbay
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| (...) OK, None taken. Thanks. (...) I wholeheartedly agree with the concept. (...) I don't know if they're the same as Mickey's ladder or not, but I'll certainly findout. That's the problem with pulling out 25yr-old parts from a set that's not even (...) (24 years ago, 29-Sep-00, to lugnet.market.theory)
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