Netherlands?

[Jack Sassy]

Hello everyone,

 

(Now, I'm not sure how anyone may find this offensive but if someone does, understand that I'm just curious, I'm not saying that things should change.)

 

Anyway, I have been browsing BrickLink for some classic parts and can't help but notice that there are so many stores from Netherlands that sell such parts (or any parts for that matter), also, I've noticed that a lot of members on here are from Netherlands (that's not a bad thing). I've been wondering, how come there is so much interest in Lego specifically from Netherlands? Was the country main place to sell all Lego sets back in the day? If for that, then what about Denmark (after all, Lego originates from there)?

 

It's just a thought that was racing through my mind. Again, I don't mean to offend anyone and am not making any point, nor am I saying that there should be less, it's just a sheer curiousity. 

 

Jack Sassy

 

 

(After checking I noticed that Netherlands has 933 stores on BL, one of the highest amount of stores per country.)

[1963maniac]

You know, I have noticed this situation too, and wondered about it. There are a lot of Lego AFOLs from the Netherlands. What's the story guys?

[JopieK]

Indeed LEGO has been and still is very popular in The Netherlands. My dad (1951-2016) already had LEGO when he was a child, long before the ABS era. I don't know any child in our family and friend circles that did/does not have Duplo or LEGO. Of course most of them end up in their dark ages around their teenage years, but still. We have a number of LUG's and still NL is quite small with only 17 million inhabitants. LEGO is also very popular in Germany and Belgium. LEGO events are even organized by local communities (that do not have an AFOL link). Also the FIRST LEGO League is very popular in most parts of the country / BeNeLux (biggest in NL). I think it has to do with a number of factors, relatively high income rates, parents that focus on kids having useful toys that are suitable for both playing and learning. The toys also last long and can be combined over and over again.

[Jack Sassy]

56 minutes ago, JopieK said:

I think it has to do with a number of factors, relatively high income rates, parents that focus on kids having useful toys that are suitable for both playing and learning.

Sounds like a fun childhood. 

[JopieK]

11 hours ago, Jack Sassy said:

Sounds like a fun childhood. 

Well and a lot of spoiled children: Quite some kids here are probably very ungrateful compared to Latvian kids. But the idea to stimulate kids is a good one, better than all those pointless videogames.

[Jack Sassy]

41 minutes ago, JopieK said:

Quite some kids here are probably very ungrateful compared to Latvian kids.

Pretty much most of the people in Latvia grew out of it as time goes by. Well, I believe we didn't have any Lego till at least 1991 so it's definitely hard to find some classic sets for sale in my country because even when they did come out, most of the people couldn't afford them.

 

In comparison, Netherlands sounds like a paradise. 

[Trance89]

Popularity aside, you could say trading is in our blood since the Dutch golden age. Nowadays export is still our biggest income. Lego is an expensive hobby, so AFOL's sell to finance their hobby while other sellers might not even be AFOL's. Next to Lego there is more stuff that Dutch people sell or services that they do to gain an extra income. Websites like BrickLink, ebay, Amazon etc. also make it a lot easier to sell stuff without having to be a good sales man or woman.

[Jack Sassy]

9 hours ago, Trance89 said:

Popularity aside, you could say trading is in our blood since the Dutch golden age. Nowadays export is still our biggest income. Lego is an expensive hobby, so AFOL's sell to finance their hobby while other sellers might not even be AFOL's. Next to Lego there is more stuff that Dutch people sell or services that they do to gain an extra income. Websites like BrickLink, ebay, Amazon etc. also make it a lot easier to sell stuff without having to be a good sales man or woman.

Ah, but of course! How come I didn't think of it? 

 

It is quite logical to think of Netherlands when a word trade comes around. So could this reason be an explanation to this mysterious popularity of Lego among Dutch people? 

[AmperZand]

I wish I could order from BrickLink sellers in the Netherlands, but being in the UK, that’s a risky proposition. Nothing to do with Brexit. Everything to do with orders from the Netherlands going missing (about 50%) or taking an inordinate time (up to 8 weeks by airmail). I suspect it has to do with packets of small parts being mistaken for narcotics and either stolen by postal workers (Netherlands’? UK’s?) or delayed by Customs.

When I have ordered from Dutch sellers near the Belgian border, I always ask them to send from Belgium. I’ve never had a problem with an order from Belgium.

[Stuartn]

Just now, AmperZand said:

I wish I could order from BrickLink sellers in the Netherlands, but being in the UK, that’s a risky proposition. Nothing to do with Brexit. Everything to do with orders from the Netherlands going missing (about 50%) or taking an inordinate time (up to 8 weeks by airmail). I suspect it has to do with packets of small parts being mistaken for narcotics and either stolen by postal workers (Netherlands’? UK’s?) or delayed by Customs.

When I have ordered from Dutch sellers near the Belgian border, I always ask them to send from Belgium. I’ve never had a problem with an order from Belgium.

I only received a BL order from the Netherlands only a week or two ago, it only took about two-ish weeks (great since three Australian postage and delivery companies were going on strike at the time), which seemed spectacularly fast considering the time I was expecting.

[Faefrost]

It's probably also one of the first main European Markets that Lego really got established in outside of Denmark. With one of the broadest sweeps of Generations that grew up with Lego products. So there is a lot of Lego there, and a lot of Classic Lego. 

[Jack Sassy]

9 hours ago, AmperZand said:

I wish I could order from BrickLink sellers in the Netherlands, but being in the UK, that’s a risky proposition. Nothing to do with Brexit. Everything to do with orders from the Netherlands going missing (about 50%) or taking an inordinate time (up to 8 weeks by airmail).

I'm lucky that all my orders so far have arrived to my doorstep. I found PostNL to be a reliable delivery service (far more better than DHL, also less expensive), though sometimes it may take a bit longer for them to send some orders.

4 hours ago, Faefrost said:

So there is a lot of Lego there, and a lot of Classic Lego.

[ks6349]

That many people in the Netherlands sell Lego on this site doesn't necessarily reflect that Lego is more popular in this country rather than the others. There are a lot greater and more reliable platforms in the world than the one you mentioned. In China and japan and many other Asian countries there are many many Lego fans too but we seldom sell on this site.

[Jack Sassy]

1 hour ago, ks6349 said:

That many people in the Netherlands sell Lego on this site doesn't necessarily reflect that Lego is more popular in this country rather than the others.

Well, we can't possibly sell on Eurobricks (unless we were to count Sell & Trade forum) but I'm not saying that Lego is more popular in Netherlands than other countries, I'm just saying that there is a whole lot of fans on internet coming from this country. There's a lot of active fans in Lego forums from UK. Sure, we can count stores from China and Japan but there's not that many to go on with. Now, I'm not an expert regarding Lego popularity specifically in these two countries, but from what I've heard, apparently knock-off brands are more popular in China, again, I'm not sure whether this information is 100% true so feel free to correct me on that subject.

 

My point is (though earlier I said that I'm not making any points) that I'm surprised by the sheer amount of Lego stores on BL and users on EB from Netherlands, so that was a question that I was looking for an answer.

1 hour ago, ks6349 said:

There are a lot greater and more reliable platforms in the world than the one you mentioned.

I find BrickLink to be very reliable in this regard, it's an official worldwide Lego store owned by The Lego Group and it's statistics seem reliable to me. If you have more reliable sources, I would be pleased if you were to present them to me.

[MAB]

2 hours ago, Jack Sassy said:

I find BrickLink to be very reliable in this regard, it's an official worldwide Lego store owned by The Lego Group and it's statistics seem reliable to me. If you have more reliable sources, I would be pleased if you were to present them to me.

ks6349 is an anti-bricklink troll, and puts down bricklink and bricklink sellers at every opportunity. 

[Jack Sassy]

12 minutes ago, MAB said:

ks6349 is an anti-bricklink troll, and puts down bricklink and bricklink sellers at every opportunity. 

Then I'm lucky to be only a BrickLink buyer. 

[danth]

On 10/26/2021 at 5:36 PM, AmperZand said:

I wish I could order from BrickLink sellers in the Netherlands, but being in the UK, that’s a risky proposition. Nothing to do with Brexit. Everything to do with orders from the Netherlands going missing (about 50%) or taking an inordinate time (up to 8 weeks by airmail). I suspect it has to do with packets of small parts being mistaken for narcotics and either stolen by postal workers (Netherlands’? UK’s?) or delayed by Customs.

When I have ordered from Dutch sellers near the Belgian border, I always ask them to send from Belgium. I’ve never had a problem with an order from Belgium.

Oh yaaay.

I have my first large parts buy being shipped right now. Store was in Budapest. Guess where my package was shipped from?

The Netherlands.

It's been on a ship or something for the last week.

[ks6349]

17 hours ago, Jack Sassy said:

Well, we can't possibly sell on Eurobricks (unless we were to count Sell & Trade forum) but I'm not saying that Lego is more popular in Netherlands than other countries, I'm just saying that there is a whole lot of fans on internet coming from this country. There's a lot of active fans in Lego forums from UK. Sure, we can count stores from China and Japan but there's not that many to go on with. Now, I'm not an expert regarding Lego popularity specifically in these two countries, but from what I've heard, apparently knock-off brands are more popular in China, again, I'm not sure whether this information is 100% true so feel free to correct me on that subject.

 

My point is (though earlier I said that I'm not making any points) that I'm surprised by the sheer amount of Lego stores on BL and users on EB from Netherlands, so that was a question that I was looking for an answer.

I find BrickLink to be very reliable in this regard, it's an official worldwide Lego store owned by The Lego Group and it's statistics seem reliable to me. If you have more reliable sources, I would be pleased if you were to present them to me.

You are not possibly going to lose your money if you pay through Paypal on that site because you can start dispute but a waste of time is unavoidable. Try to explore local shops in your area, you can check the Lego bricks in details before paying and when it's done, pay and go, quick and easy. I always buy on Amazon, or local shops, prices are often better and sources are always more reliable

[Clone OPatra]

@ks6349 You do indeed seem to take every opportunity to badmouth Bricklink (and sometimes LEGO Stores and LEGO employees). That you have some problem or perhaps bad experience with Bricklink is your business, but has nothing to do with this thread.

Bricklink is beloved and widely used the world over, though especially in Europe, the North America and Australasia. The OP has brought up an interesting point for discussion, and received mostly interesting answers.

If you have nothing to contribute on the actual subject, don't contribute.

[Jack Sassy]

4 minutes ago, ks6349 said:

You are not possibly going to lose your money if you pay through Paypal on that site because you can start dispute but a waste of time is unavoidable. Try to explore local shops in your area, you can check the Lego bricks in details before paying and when it's done, pay and go, quick and easy. I always buy on Amazon, or local shops, prices are often better and sources are always more reliable

Well I'm rather unlucky because where I live, they closed the last physical Lego shop I think in 2016 or 2017. 

 

So I'm happy to have started buying individual bricks from BL, sure , the website isn't perfect but it's the best place where to buy bricks. If I wouldn't be using BL, then I would've never been able to do so many big projects I had. I've never used Amazon, besides, it's with Dollars (that would mean I have to always crack my head to find out how much that price will be in Euros), there is, of course a German Amazon but I'm not such a big fan of buying there, I find Amazon bit less reliable.  Also, I don't have a PayPal account, but maybe I should get one. 

[MAB]

On 10/27/2021 at 1:36 AM, AmperZand said:

I wish I could order from BrickLink sellers in the Netherlands, but being in the UK, that’s a risky proposition. Nothing to do with Brexit. Everything to do with orders from the Netherlands going missing (about 50%) or taking an inordinate time (up to 8 weeks by airmail). I suspect it has to do with packets of small parts being mistaken for narcotics and either stolen by postal workers (Netherlands’? UK’s?) or delayed by Customs.

When I have ordered from Dutch sellers near the Belgian border, I always ask them to send from Belgium. I’ve never had a problem with an order from Belgium.

I've ordered probably 20-25 times in 10 years or so from Dutch sellers and never had an issue with delays or open packets. Some would have been boxes but mainly jiffy bags of minifigs or minifig parts. Although I've not ordered since Brexit and the new VAT rules. UK seller prices are often more competitive now, once VAT and higher shipping costs are factored in.

[ks6349]

3 hours ago, Jack Sassy said:

Well I'm rather unlucky because where I live, they closed the last physical Lego shop I think in 2016 or 2017. 

 

So I'm happy to have started buying individual bricks from BL, sure , the website isn't perfect but it's the best place where to buy bricks. If I wouldn't be using BL, then I would've never been able to do so many big projects I had. I've never used Amazon, besides, it's with Dollars (that would mean I have to always crack my head to find out how much that price will be in Euros), there is, of course a German Amazon but I'm not such a big fan of buying there, I find Amazon bit less reliable.  Also, I don't have a PayPal account, but maybe I should get one. 

If you don't have a Paypal account and pay with offline method on that site, it is undoubtedly adding further risk. If you insist to buy on that site then avoid expensive items.

[Jack Sassy]

59 minutes ago, ks6349 said:

If you don't have a Paypal account and pay with offline method on that site, it is undoubtedly adding further risk. If you insist to buy on that site then avoid expensive items.

I don't see how it could be risky, this way I don't have to pay any fees. Perhaps I'm a bit uneducated on that subject or maybe even old-fashioned but I prefer shopping on BL the way that's best for me. This subject is definitely off-topic from my original question, like @Clone OPatra said, it has got nothing to do with this thread.

[MAB]

1 hour ago, Jack Sassy said:

I don't see how it could be risky, this way I don't have to pay any fees. Perhaps I'm a bit uneducated on that subject or maybe even old-fashioned but I prefer shopping on BL the way that's best for me. This subject is definitely off-topic from my original question, like @Clone OPatra said, it has got nothing to do with this thread.

Most sellers on BL don't charge you for making PayPal payments, as it is illegal to do so in many countries. The Netherlands is one country where sellers are allowed to charge you fees for accepting payments, but even then they cannot charge you more than it costs them.

[Jack Sassy]

3 hours ago, MAB said:

Most sellers on BL don't charge you for making PayPal payments, as it is illegal to do so in many countries. The Netherlands is one country where sellers are allowed to charge you fees for accepting payments, but even then they cannot charge you more than it costs them.

Indeed. I always have thought that concept of giving someone to keep your money so they can take a little bit from it every month as a fee for keeping it is rather daft. We can't do much to change it, though.