Bricklink Question

Foamrider · Post by **Foamrider** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:33 pm

Been rather curious about this for some time...

Bricklink has a rule about needing to be 18 to use it and all that jazz....
Yet I'm pretty sure that I've seen photographic evidence somewhere that minors do in fact use it.
Is it something as simple as not giving your real age, or something else more legal?

castlebuilder100 · Post by **castlebuilder100** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:59 pm

Well, my account is in my mom's name. So it's mine but it's technically hers. And yes lots of teens use Bricklink.

Post by **SavaTheAggie** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:03 pm

When you order off a store on Bricklink, you are entering into a contract. Because you are not actually buying from Bricklink, but a seller using the Bricklink service, Bricklink acts as a third party, initiating a legally binding contract between buyer and seller.

Because Bricklink is located officially in the United States, it is subject to US law, which states that in order to legally enter a contract, both parties must be at least 18 years of age.

Ergo - you must be at least 18 to use Bricklink.

--Tony

Voran_the_Scholar · Post by **Voran_the_Scholar** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:02 am

SavaTheAggie wrote:When you order off a store on Bricklink, you are entering into a contract. Because you are not actually buying from Bricklink, but a seller using the Bricklink service, Bricklink acts as a third party, initiating a legally binding contract between buyer and seller.

Because Bricklink is located officially in the United States, it is subject to US law, which states that in order to legally enter a contract, both parties must be at least 18 years of age.

Ergo - you must be at least 18 to use Bricklink.

--Tony

Therefore, politely ask your parents to make your purchases for you.

God bless.

Tom

Foamrider · Post by **Foamrider** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:12 am

Just wanted to see if there was some other way besides breaking the law.

Lamanda2 · Post by **Lamanda2** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:50 am

Yep - Since '04 "My" account is really my Mom's Bricklink account, as I'm not yet old enough to run one on my own.

It's not so bad, though, asking for somebody's permission. Just so long as I get my LEGO I'm happy as can be. Plus, I've only got about 9 more months until I can take ownership of the account - Yay!

~Amanda

Lcuan82 · Post by **Lcuan82** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 5:17 am

Here's a more detailed answer you really want to know.

Minors lack capacity to contract, but the contract they entered into are only voidable, instead automatically void.

Voidable means that the minor can breach and not be held liable. However, the adult, on the other side, cannot breach and is bound by the contract, if the minor performs.

It seems like an odd result. But, before you go and take advantage of this "minority" loophole by placing 100 orders and not paying for them...

In this case, since Bricklink requires proof of age during registration, you will have committed fraud by misrepresenting your age. That makes all the subsequent contracts void.

Gomur · Post by **Gomur** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 2:37 am

Here's another bricklink question: why on earth would I shop there?

I just surfed it for an hour or so and nearly every set or figure I found was overpriced. I can walk into any target or TrU and get the new sets for $x.xx and the Bricklink stores want $x.xx times 30%. What gives? I don't get what's so great about this service. I did find an old Black Monarch's Ghost for $10, that I thought was reasonable, but aside from that the prices were bordering on the scammy. I'm dying to get my hands on the regular castle chess set and Lego.com says it's not available in the US. Is this true?

Post by **JoshWedin** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 3:46 am

Gomur wrote:Here's another bricklink question

You have actually asked a lot of questions and I will try to answer them. But before I do, you should know that I am not a Bricklink seller. Also, at this precise moment in time, I have placed 145 orders on Bricklink, which is minor compared to a lot of people.

Gomur wrote:why on earth would I shop there?

No one is forcing you. If you don't want to, you shouldn't. If you can get what you want for cheaper prices, you would be a fool to pay more. However, not everyone in the world has the same access you have. Some people are willing to pay an inflated price to someone who does have access. For me, it is ridiculous to pay those prices for new sets, but its also ridiculous to expect the sellers on Bricklink to charge the same price that they paid.

I don't get what's so great about this service.

There is much more to Bricklink than new sets. It is a great place to get the pieces you need without buying entire sets. You mentioned Black Monarch's Ghost and how the price was reasonable. However the price you mention is a 27.5% markup from the original price, which is real close to the 30% that you said was unreasonable. You probably felt that its reasonable because you don't have access to that set any more. So Bricklink is also a good place to get sets that aren't available to you.

I'm dying to get my hands on the regular castle chess set and Lego.com says it's not available in the US. Is this true?

This set is exactly why Bricklink has its place. The regular chess is not available anymore, though a few Lego stores might have one or two. The most likely place to get that set is through the secondary market, which is naturally going to cost more than retail.

Just my thoughts, its fine if you don't agree,
Josh

porschecm2 · Post by **porschecm2** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 4:43 am

Also, Josh just briefly touched on this, but Bricklink is a great way to get specific pieces needed for a project. If, say, you suddenly find that your current MOC would be alot better if only you had 36 blue 1x2 tiles, but you only have 7 in your collection, Bricklink is the perfect place to go buy those other 29 blue tiles without buying a dozen sets that have 2 or 3 each.

In fact, that is exactly what the vast majority of Bricklink buying and selling is about: individual pieces, not whole sets. Sure, you can buy some individual pieces on Lego's online PAB now, and for those particular pieces, Lego will probably be the cheapest method. But Lego only stocks around 900 pieces, wereas Bricklink has tens of thousands, including some pieces that were never available in sets anywhere.

Cm2

Chrislad77 · Post by **Chrislad77** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 4:45 am

Gomur wrote:Here's another bricklink question: why on earth would I shop there?
I just surfed it for an hour or so and nearly every set or figure I found was overpriced. I can walk into any target or TrU and get the new sets for $x.xx and the Bricklink stores want $x.xx times 30%. What gives? I don't get what's so great about this service. I did find an old Black Monarch's Ghost for $10, that I thought was reasonable, but aside from that the prices were bordering on the scammy. I'm dying to get my hands on the regular castle chess set and Lego.com says it's not available in the US. Is this true?

Well I sell and buy. My prices are all very reasonable. If you want lower prices you should try smaller shops. Most people start with the large stores with massive inventories. For the bonus of having more choices your going to pay double the price.

Bricklink is a better deal for older used parts than new parts that haven't come out in many sets yet.

It is a good deal if all you want in the Indiana Jones sets is Indy himself. Instead of spending at least 10 dollers you can buy one for 2 dollers. The value might be less but, if thats what you want its a deal.

Gomur · Post by **Gomur** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 12:25 am

JoshWedin wrote: Just my thoughts, its fine if you don't agree,
Josh

Not at all, I was hoping for exactly the clear answer you gave, and thanks. I just couldn't get a sense of why something that was clearly so old/rare/out of print might be priced still pretty affordably and something brand new that could be had almost anywhere would be marked up, but I figured it was more like a secondary-market setup like you explained. I just couldn't get a really good explanation in any of the threads I looked at.

/probably an utter n00b question, but thanks for the straight answer just the same.

Gomur · Post by **Gomur** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 2:51 am

porschecm2 wrote:Also, Josh just briefly touched on this, but Bricklink is a great way to get specific pieces needed for a project. If, say, you suddenly find that your current MOC would be alot better if only you had 36 blue 1x2 tiles, but you only have 7 in your collection, Bricklink is the perfect place to go buy those other 29 blue tiles without buying a dozen sets that have 2 or 3 each.

In fact, that is exactly what the vast majority of Bricklink buying and selling is about: individual pieces, not whole sets. Sure, you can buy some individual pieces on Lego's online PAB now, and for those particular pieces, Lego will probably be the cheapest method. But Lego only stocks around 900 pieces, wereas Bricklink has tens of thousands, including some pieces that were never available in sets anywhere.

Cm2

That makes a lot more sense to me. The PaB didn't seem particularly worth it online, though the in-store version with the bins would probably be awesome for $7.99/$14.99 for the small/large buckets of smallish pieces and tiles that you can get loads of.

And it seemed great to be able to get the old 80's and 90's sets at anything even approaching a reasonable price (Black Knight's Castle for $100? Woot!), but I just couldn't quit scratching my head when I saw the listings for The Knight from the current line, incomplete, listed for more than the actual retail. Then again, I went into two stores so far this weekend and neither of them had even that small set, so maybe there's something to it.

I'm actually most interested in getting new sets for the new pieces/look, and I'm having trouble finding the ones I want. I was looking for the regular (not giant) chess set, the Knight, maybe the knights pack, etc, and I haven't seen any of those in stores. I see a ton of the dwarves stuff and the big packs, and I was hoping I could get those cheaper online somewhere. Surfing here I found someone said the best way to build your army of the newer figs was with the smaller chess set, and (inconviently) they don't sell it anymore in the US apparently.

Any other advice?