Getting Shipping Boned on BrickLink

[S_Bartfast]

I'm new to the scene here but have been working on an MOC for a little while now.

After creating my MOC in Lego Digital Designer I then went about working out how to get all the pieces I needed from BrickLink. I have been using the fantastic optimiser Brickficiency to find relevant sellers and while I find I'm able to optimise my parts list with this tool unfortunately the tool doesn't factor shipping charges into the cost calculation and when I come to actually order the parts I keep getting lumped with surprisingly high shipping fees. After the postage cost, PayPal fees, currency conversion costs and God knows what else typically the price I'm charged ends up being two to three times that of the listed price of the bricks. I live in Australia and I understand the bricks need to be sent halfway round the world but still the rates are surprisingly high. I buy stuff internationally all the time (as anyone net savvy in Australia does) and I've never encountered such high charges before. Why is it that shipping charges are so high on BrickFiciency, and is there anything that can be done to bring them down? I mean what's the point in optimizing a parts list if the metric your optimising scarcely even covers half the cost?

Here is an invoice I received just this morning for a modest 100 piece order from "MyTwoPence" in the UK:

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Order Summary:

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Total Items: 97

Unique Items (lots): 27

Total: GBP 7.50

Shipping: GBP 8.20

Insurance: GBP 0.00

Additional Charges 1: GBP 0.50

Additional Charges 2: GBP 0.00

Credit: GBP 0.00

Grand Total: GBP 16.20

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Items in Order:

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*

* Batch #1 (submitted Jun 28, 2015 14:35)

*

[New] Black Brick 1 x 2 x 5 (x2) ..... GBP 0.0549 each = GBP 0.1098

[New] Black Brick 2 x 10 (x5) ..... GBP 0.2412 each = GBP 1.206

[used] Black Brick 2 x 2 Corner (x4) ..... GBP 0.0295 each = GBP 0.118

[New] Black Brick 2 x 6 (x15) ..... GBP 0.1106 each = GBP 1.659

[New] Black Brick 2 x 8 (x1) ..... GBP 0.1434 each = GBP 0.1434

[New] Black Plate 2 x 10 (x3) ..... GBP 0.1032 each = GBP 0.3096

[New] Black Plate 6 x 12 (x1) ..... GBP 0.4482 each = GBP 0.4482

[New] Black Slope 18 4 x 1 (x6) ..... GBP 0.0543 each = GBP 0.3258

[New] Black Slope 30 1 x 1 x 2/3 (x2) ..... GBP 0.0275 each = GBP 0.055

[New] Black Slope 33 3 x 3 (x2) ..... GBP 0.1199 each = GBP 0.2398

[New] Black Slope 45 2 x 8 (x1) ..... GBP 0.207 each = GBP 0.207

[New] Black Technic, Brick 1 x 10 with Holes (x2) ..... GBP 0.1213 each = GBP 0.2426

[New] Black Technic, Liftarm 1 x 13 Thick (x1) ..... GBP 0.1802 each = GBP 0.1802

[New] Black Tile 1 x 3 (x2) ..... GBP 0.0556 each = GBP 0.1112

[New] Black Tile 1 x 4 (x8) ..... GBP 0.061 each = GBP 0.488

[New] Dark Bluish Gray Plate 1 x 4 (x2) ..... GBP 0.0328 each = GBP 0.0656

[New] Dark Bluish Gray Plate 2 x 3 (x2) ..... GBP 0.0241 each = GBP 0.0482

[New] Dark Bluish Gray Plate 3 x 3 (x2) ..... GBP 0.0858 each = GBP 0.1716

[New] Dark Bluish Gray Plate 4 x 4 (x2) ..... GBP 0.0369 each = GBP 0.0738

[used] Red Brick 1 x 1 x 5 (x8) ..... GBP 0.0348 each = GBP 0.2784

[used] Red Brick 1 x 2 x 5 (x10) ..... GBP 0.0335 each = GBP 0.335

[New] Red Brick 1 x 8 (x2) ..... GBP 0.0824 each = GBP 0.1648

[New] Red Brick 2 x 6 (x3) ..... GBP 0.0757 each = GBP 0.2271

[New] Red Slope 30 1 x 1 x 2/3 (x3) ..... GBP 0.0261 each = GBP 0.0783

[New] Red Slope 30 1 x 1 x 2/3 (x2) ..... GBP 0.0261 each = GBP 0.0522

[New] Red Slope 33 3 x 2 (x1) ..... GBP 0.0288 each = GBP 0.0288

[New] Red Tile 2 x 2 with Groove (x5) ..... GBP 0.0268 each = GBP 0.134

I don't mean to bad mouth the seller as they are probably only passing on the direct cost of shipping, but GBP 8.20 to ship some 250g worth of pieces seems a lot. I mean the bricks themselves are only worth GBP 7.50!

According to the weight calculation on BrickLink my order should come in slightly under 250g. I know the calculation is only meant to be used as a guide and doesn't include packing material etc. so it could possibly be a little over 250g by the time it's sent, which may bump the parcel into the next bracket (which is upto 500g) but even so, GBP 8.20 seems a lot for a 500g parcel.

Do you guys all get slapped with these exorbitant shipping fees as well or is there something one can do about it?

[AmperZand]

If the seller is claiming to charge postage at cost, you can check on Royal Mail's site: http://www.royalmail.com .

Bear in mind that postal prices from the UK (and I believe elsewhere in the EU) now depend on volume as well as weight. Your slopes and bricks (but probably not your plates) may push you from the large letter category into the small packet band. Royal Mail are very strict about the volume of packets and if the packet is borderline between categories, they won't give the sender the benefit of the doubt. They have a template with which to measure the thickness of packets and absolutely won't squeeze packets to make them fit.

I'm in the UK and sometimes order from UK BrickLink sellers even though their parts price may be higher than those of international sellers because the total including postage will be less.

[Legotom]

Royal Mail does have very high charges now for parcels. In the UK other shippers are often cheaper now. And some even collect from you. Next time you order from the UK you could try and see if there is a cheaper shipper to you (such as DHL, or FedEx etc.) and then ask the seller to use them. Although I must say that, having sent quite a lot of parcels to my Australian niece, £8.20 doesn't seem that high. I know it's a lot when your parts are only £7.50 though.

Also look at the sellers splash page on Bricklink before you place the order. It should have a rough idea of postage costs and additional fees they might charge.

[Deathleech]

Prices are generally pretty good for me on BrickLink, but I try to buy within the U.S. so it's all sent in the same country. About the only time I recall shipping being high was a recent order I made from France. It was an order for 12 minifigures, but the shipping alone ended up costing 7.50 euro and then he had an additional charge of 1.70 euro bringing the total to 9.20 euro (or $10.21). Not quite as bad as your £8.20, but then again it is when most of my orders are around $2-3 for shipping.

It probably didn't help he used one of those larger bubble mailers, the ones around the size of a legal piece of paper (11x14 inches I believe). I had another order from Belgium which was 4 less minifigures, yet the shipping for that order was a mere 3 euro. Not really sure how the guy in France had to pay triple the shipping charges when he is closer to me, but whatever. It seems like some people try to jack up their shipping charges to make a little extra money per order on the side?

[djm]

As a fellow Antipodean (on the other side of the ditch), I share your pain. You're not getting stiffed, the international postal charges are high in a lot of countries. The UK's are available at http://www.royalmail...-March-2015.pdf which, for your particular order comes in at GBP 8.45.

Because of the freedom that BrickLink allows each seller to specify their store terms, I would think it is infeasible for BrickFiciency to work out anything other than the raw part cost.

I tend to start off with a preliminary list of potential stores in BrickLink but then have to check each of the store's terms to look out for the gotcha's e.g. minimum average lot price, minimum shipping charge, etc. If you are looking for a small number of parts, I have found that sometimes Eastern European shipping costs can be lower and France too. But expect a delivery time of 2+ weeks.

Regards,

David

[S_Bartfast]

Thanks for your responses guys.

If the seller is claiming to charge postage at cost, you can check on Royal Mail's site: http://www.royalmail.com .

Bear in mind that postal prices from the UK (and I believe elsewhere in the EU) now depend on volume as well as weight. Your slopes and bricks (but probably not your plates) may push you from the large letter category into the small packet band. Royal Mail are very strict about the volume of packets and if the packet is borderline between categories, they won't give the sender the benefit of the doubt. They have a template with which to measure the thickness of packets and absolutely won't squeeze packets to make them fit.

I'm in the UK and sometimes order from UK BrickLink sellers even though their parts price may be higher than those of international sellers because the total including postage will be less.

The order is for 100 bricks so I'm not expecting the package to be particularly small and the price on RoyalMail does come up as being GBP 7.45. I buy a lot of stuff on eBay and Amazon and alike and I'm not sure how they ship stuff but the rates do seem a lot less.

Of course when you're buying items for a listed price you can never be sure of exactly how much of that price is for the item and how much is for the postage even if the postage price is listed separately, but still, many of these online retailers just can't be paying as much as RoyalMail (or AusPost) charge. I mean, I've received faulty items from HobbyKing and the cost to send the faulty item back is almost the same as what it cost to buy the thing in the first place, so however it is that HobbyKing send stuff is clearly not the same as what you or I would do. I know these BrickLink stores are in a different league to HobbyKing but there are several 'fly by night' eBay stores that seem to manage to ship things extraordinarily cheaply so I was hoping there may be a way.

Royal Mail does have very high charges now for parcels. In the UK other shippers are often cheaper now. And some even collect from you. Next time you order from the UK you could try and see if there is a cheaper shipper to you (such as DHL, or FedEx etc.) and then ask the seller to use them. Although I must say that, having sent quite a lot of parcels to my Australian niece, £8.20 doesn't seem that high. I know it's a lot when your parts are only £7.50 though.

Also look at the sellers splash page on Bricklink before you place the order. It should have a rough idea of postage costs and additional fees they might charge.

I have check DHL and FedEx and unless I'm looking at the wrong thing their price is astronomically high! Like USD 61.55 or something!

I did also check the 'Splash' page and 'Store Terms' page and international shipping is listed as:

250 grams: £5.00

500 grams: £7.70

I'm not exactly sure how we got to GBP 8.20 though.

(Note there is also a GBP 0.50 handling charge which is listed on the invoice separately).

Prices are generally pretty good for me on BrickLink, but I try to buy within the U.S. so it's all sent in the same country. About the only time I recall shipping being high was a recent order I made from France. It was an order for 12 minifigures, but the shipping alone ended up costing 7.50 euro and then he had an additional charge of 1.70 euro bringing the total to 9.20 euro (or $10.21). Not quite as bad as your £8.20, but then again it is when most of my orders are around $2-3 for shipping.

It probably didn't help he used one of those larger bubble mailers, the ones around the size of a legal piece of paper (11x14 inches I believe). I had another order from Belgium which was 4 less minifigures, yet the shipping for that order was a mere 3 euro. Not really sure how the guy in France had to pay triple the shipping charges when he is closer to me, but whatever. It seems like some people try to jack up their shipping charges to make a little extra money per order on the side?

I'm not accusing the sellers of falsifying their charges, I do believe they really could spend GBP 8.20 on sending it, I was just hoping they didn't have to ;)

As a fellow Antipodean (on the other side of the ditch), I share your pain. You're not getting stiffed, the international postal charges are high in a lot of countries. The UK's are available at http://www.royalmail...-March-2015.pdf which, for your particular order comes in at GBP 8.45.

Because of the freedom that BrickLink allows each seller to specify their store terms, I would think it is infeasible for BrickFiciency to work out anything other than the raw part cost.

I tend to start off with a preliminary list of potential stores in BrickLink but then have to check each of the store's terms to look out for the gotcha's e.g. minimum average lot price, minimum shipping charge, etc. If you are looking for a small number of parts, I have found that sometimes Eastern European shipping costs can be lower and France too. But expect a delivery time of 2+ weeks.

Regards,

David

I do think Brickficiency does a fantastic job, I just wish it would also calculate the mass of each order as well.

Even if the shipping costs were readily available for each seller incorporating them into the algorithm could well be too difficult as it would add another dimension to the optimisation, as would incorporating a minimum purchase. Summing up the total weight however shouldn't be too hard as BrickLink does have a weight listed for each piece. I contacted BrickFiciency's creator and requested that the total mass be added to the order information so the shipping can be estimated by hand and even offered to add the feature myself (I'm a code monkey by trade) but haven't heard back.

Anyway, all that being said I think I just have to suck it up and cough up the fee.

[Legotom]

Thanks for your responses guys.

The order is for 100 bricks so I'm not expecting the package to be particularly small and the price on RoyalMail does come up as being GBP 7.45. I buy a lot of stuff on eBay and Amazon and alike and I'm not sure how they ship stuff but the rates do seem a lot less.

Of course when you're buying items for a listed price you can never be sure of exactly how much of that price is for the item and how much is for the postage even if the postage price is listed separately, but still, many of these online retailers just can't be paying as much as RoyalMail (or AusPost) charge. I mean, I've received faulty items from HobbyKing and the cost to send the faulty item back is almost the same as what it cost to buy the thing in the first place, so however it is that HobbyKing send stuff is clearly not the same as what you or I would do. I know these BrickLink stores are in a different league to HobbyKing but there are several 'fly by night' eBay stores that seem to manage to ship things extraordinarily cheaply so I was hoping there may be a way.

I have check DHL and FedEx and unless I'm looking at the wrong thing their price is astronomically high! Like USD 61.55 or something!

I did also check the 'Splash' page and 'Store Terms' page and international shipping is listed as:

250 grams: £5.00

500 grams: £7.70

I'm not exactly sure how we got to GBP 8.20 though.

(Note there is also a GBP 0.50 handling charge which is listed on the invoice separately).

I'm not accusing the sellers of falsifying their charges, I do believe they really could spend GBP 8.20 on sending it, I was just hoping they didn't have to ;)

£7.70 for post, plus 50p for packing materials I guess. And maybe an extra 50p handling fee as your order was under £10. I've had that a few times.

I guess Royal Mail is probably cheapest for international packages. The discussion I saw on another forum was about domestic UK packages. People like UK Mail, and MyHermes are now much cheaper than Royal Mail, partly because they're not so obsessed with size. But also because they can pick and choose business, whereas the Royla Mail has a universal carrier obligation and must deliver a parcel from Shetland to the Sciliy Isles for the same cost as one from North to South London.

People like Amazon can post things cheap because a) they don't use Royal Mail much (over here anyway), and b) they are sending HUGE volumes so can negotiate a very good discount. In fact Amazon now have their own logistics service for delivering some parcels in the UK that even delivers on a Sunday. There's been a massive explosion of this with big firms sub contracting to individuals who use theirs own cars or vans and are paid per parcel they deliver. But I digress as that's not going to work for the UK- Australia market. Some large bits of water in the way to start with.

If you're ever over in the UK bring an empty suitcase, go to one of the large Lego stores in London and fill it up from the PAB wall.

[AmperZand]

Prices are generally pretty good for me on BrickLink, but I try to buy within the U.S. so it's all sent in the same country. About the only time I recall shipping being high was a recent order I made from France. It was an order for 12 minifigures, but the shipping alone ended up costing 7.50 euro and then he had an additional charge of 1.70 euro bringing the total to 9.20 euro (or $10.21). Not quite as bad as your £8.20, but then again it is when most of my orders are around $2-3 for shipping.

Domestic postage for large letters and packets is almost always less than international (there are some reciprocal international arrangements that keep prices down but they're not that common). That's especially true in comparison to the US's low cost of domestic shipping.

It probably didn't help he used one of those larger bubble mailers, the ones around the size of a legal piece of paper (11x14 inches I believe). I had another order from Belgium which was 4 less minifigures, yet the shipping for that order was a mere 3 euro. Not really sure how the guy in France had to pay triple the shipping charges when he is closer to me, but whatever. It seems like some people try to jack up their shipping charges to make a little extra money per order on the side?

The French seller may have erred by using an envelope that was bigger than required, but not necessarily. It could be that even if he had used less packaging, it still would have qualified as a packet rather than a large letter and therefore been significantly more expensive. Prices are based on volume, not just weight, and the volume bands are quite broad. When you go up one of the volume categories, prices jump. It may not be that he was trying to overcharge you for postage.

I don't know if French and Belgian international postage rates are different, but I doubt distance had anything to do with what you were charged. You're right that Belgium is further from the US than France, but not much. The two countries share a border.

[Deathleech]

Domestic postage for large letters and packets is almost always less than international (there are some reciprocal international arrangements that keep prices down but they're not that common). That's especially true in comparison to the US's low cost of domestic shipping.

Ya, I am aware its going to be significantly cheaper to ship within the U.S. or ship from one state to another. I have had multiple international orders though, and they all seem to be fairly low as well. Obviously not as low as if I were to have it shipped in the U.S., but still fairly close. Definitely not over $10. The France order was extraordinarily high compared to what I am used to. The nearly $2 handling fee didn't help much on the already high shipping cost.

The French seller may have erred by using an envelope that was bigger than required, but not necessarily. It could be that even if he had used less packaging, it still would have qualified as a packet rather than a large letter and therefore been significantly more expensive. Prices are based on volume, not just weight, and the volume bands are quite broad. When you go up one of the volume categories, prices jump. It may not be that he was trying to overcharge you for postage.

I don't know if French and Belgian international postage rates are different, but I doubt distance had anything to do with what you were charged. You're right that Belgium is further from the US than France, but not much. The two countries share a border.

I dunno. He used an 11x14 inch mailer rather than the much more standard 6.5x9 inch one most people use for small orders. I know these larger bubble mailers are usually around double the price for the actual mailer alone. Why he used one I have no idea as the order easily would have fit in the smaller packaging. Maybe I am being bias since the France order also forgot 2 of the minifigures I ordered, but it just struck me as weird that an order from France would cost $10.21 and a similar sized order from Belgium (only 2 less minifigures) would cost only $3.36... almost a third the price *shrug*

[rollermonkey]

What you are describing is why it is so important to reduce your orders so that you purchase from as few stores as possible. Just because store X charges 3 cents less for a piece than store Y, often you will save more money by only paying one shipping price than you will paying more for the bricks.

I usually search for stores based on how many unique lots they have that I need, then see if that store is price-gouging. If they are close to, or below the 6-month average on the parts I need in the highest quantities, or if they have something particularly rare, then I buy.

For example: I'm building 10179, and there's a store in Portugal that has ALL of the parts I need, but at double the average cost. I could get the whole set, NIB for less than he wants for the parts. I won't buy from him unless absolutely necessary, even though I'd save on shipping, it wouldn't be worth it.

[Robianco]

That store always tops my list of stores with unique parts when searching through but I never even click on it anymore due to their pricing.

Some stores now have the option of asking for a quote on shipping which is a help.

[Legotom]

What you are describing is why it is so important to reduce your orders so that you purchase from as few stores as possible. Just because store X charges 3 cents less for a piece than store Y, often you will save more money by only paying one shipping price than you will paying more for the bricks.

Brickficiency is very good for this. You give it a parts list and it will search for possible combinations of stores. You can add filters to sit search in certain countries as well. Getting a parts list into it can be a bit fiddly, but it certainly makes life a lot easier, especially hunting for combinations of rare parts.

[rollermonkey]

That store always tops my list of stores with unique parts when searching through but I never even click on it anymore due to their pricing.

Heh, heh. Makes me chuckle a bit that I didn't even need to say a name. :)

[CaptainToad]

I generally use only PAB and sometimes bricks and pieces every once in a while, I mostly wait until there is a promotional set included - the prices are generally higher but at least they dont charge for shipping and I can be sure the parts are new.