Author:  Teup  Posted:  Mar 6, 2024 14:08  Subject:  Re: Seriously?  Viewed:  86 times  Topic:  Catalog Cancel Reply

BrickLink ID Card Teup (6607) Location:  Netherlands, Utrecht Member Since Contact Type Status May 6, 2004 Seller Store: BLOKJESKONING

In Catalog, Tracyd writes:    In Catalog, BrickCompulsion writes:       No idea. But they people who get to make the decision are for it. OK - well the general feeling I got was that most posters were not for it and seeing issues with doing it. Therefore I suggest that "they" were hearing but not listening If you own something, do you solicit others' opinions on what to do with it? If you want to do X, but a lot of people say no do Y with it, do you do what you want or what they want? They don't have to listen, that they have changed some doesn't mean they have to change all. Again, they can do anything they want as they own the website. Or for the pedantic, they work for the owner of the website. Ok, I was planning to let this whole discussion go, but it's just really getting on my nerves now. Not so much personally, but I really feel for Axaday, Randy and the other great contributors. Secondly, for the people who are just sincerely bummed by this and keep on having their feelings invalidated by such replies. This wall of text is not directed specifically towards the previous poster or anyone in particular so feel free to stop reading anywhere you like I see people complaining it's getting repetitive, but in my opinion, the whole "they own it so they can do whatever they want" is the most repetitive thought-terminating cliché in the whole discussion. And not only in this one. It keeps popping up whenever something happens on Bricklink. Here's the deal: It doesn't actually work like that. Legally speaking, yes, it does. But not everything that is legal is right. Bricklink isn't a hotdog stand where if you don't like the mustard (Bricklink forum reference unintended) you just walk on to the next one and everything is fair. Interestingly, the people who bring this up - "they can do what they want, you are free to go elsewhere", etc - only seem to apply this logic to companies. Never to people. They would probably never say: "Well darling, I am an adult, so I can do whatever I like. If you don't like my choices, then you are free to leave. Nobody is forcing you to be with me. Go vote with your feet". Again this is legally 100% correct, but people have every right to say this person is a son-of-a-brick. And moreover, they'd be right. The argument does not excuse any actions. Companies have responsibilities too. They can't just treat workers in whatever way they like. The are agreements with trade unions and governments on how people should be treated. Now, the users here may not be employees of Bricklink, but Bricklink is not a free service either. In some form or shape, there is a cooperation going on between Bricklink on the one side and the users on the other. There is a mutual investment. That may not bring along hard legal obligations outlined in agreements, but it does bring along soft rules. Like respect, decency, and reliability. Willingness to cooperate. Dialog. Sure, Bricklink has the legal right to change this whole site into a Barbie marketplace overnight, but people who are invested in Bricklink (whether as contributors or as people trying to provide for their families) will be right to be extremely disappointed if that happened. Doing that without any notice, without valid reasons, would not be a decent way of treating people. Letting contributors work on this particular thing for years and then throwing it away is not a decent way of treating people. Making big changes in a confusing way with poor communication where timing, order, promises, and reasons keep on changing, is not a decent way of treating people. By the way: There are plenty of examples where even free services cannot do "whatever they want because they own it". Facebook still has obligations to combat fake news, hate speech and scams. Because companies are a part of this world and influence people's lives. I've noticed this argument - "if you don't like it, just don't use it" - is often heard in poor countries with dysfunctional systems by people trying to defend the status quo. I'm not suggesting it's the same type of people as the ones bringing up on Bricklink, but the effect is the same: It's a progress-undermining attitude. People may say it about prices ("if it's too expensive, just don't buy it then" or services like public transport ("if you think it's always late, then just use another means of transportation". With an air of "stop being so negative" around it. But the actual negative thing is to invalidate people's sincere complaints and take a position against them. The positive thing is to complain, constructively, in order to show empathy and to facilitate some kind of progress. Typically people keep repeating the mantra and meanwhile their situation gets worse and worse. In my opinion it's really quite sad to see community members not backing each other up on this kind of thing. Even if everyone's preferences and concerns are not the same. We all are a little different from one another but all of our wants and needs are equally valid. I could go to a Playmobil forum and laugh at every topic because I don't care about Playmobil, but that doesn't mean I am right and they are wrong. Then there's another thing. Besides the difference in opinion, there's also the matter of: Is Bricklink correct? Will the action achieve what they aim to achieve? This is not certain at all, and owning this site does not automatically mean you're right about everything. They may need some input on this Russell already mentioned people in the office were surprised and caught off-guard by the responses to this decision. That already shows (besides of course a rich track-record of unfortunate decisions) that Bricklink is not always correct in what they believe. (For exmaple: Personally I believe it's not a good decision. I think that not wanting to be the ultimate encyclopedic resource will result in not being the ultimate marketplace either. Because the catalog really is Bricklink's only selling point compared to other marketplaces. But that's just my estimation). People are right to raise questions about it and are also right to consider it wrong if Bricklink rushes this update without allowing that dialog that could expose any mistakes in the reasoning and lead to better choices. (Bricklink did allow this to a very limited extent, though they didn't plan to at first) And as for: "If you don't like it, sell somewhere else" - many people don't have this opportunity. This would be the same as saying "Facebook has no obligations to society and if you don't like it, post somewhere else" - it doesn't work like that, because you can't just start your own social media like that. There is a dependency as a result of the actions of the company. I was able to move away from Bricklink and sell elsewhere, but not everyone has that opportunity. Years of feeling bad (sick, to a point) about what Bricklink was and wasn't doing has lead me to take my business elsewhere. I implemented everything I asked for on Bricklink for years, and as a result the business is much more succesful than it ever was. But do I feel like I "won"? Not really. I really would have preferred to keep everything on Bricklink, if Bricklink only didn't cause me that many sleepless nights. And Bricklink didn't win either, because they're out on $1500 in fees a year from me. Voting with your feet isn't a win for anyone. TLDR: Bricklink belongs to Bricklink in the strict legal sense, but otherwise, Bricklink belongs to everyone who is involved in it and who makes it what it is. There, that was more than enough from me for a while I think. Back to some selling

Message is in Reply To:

Re: Seriously? - Tracyd (418)

[...] If you own something, do you solicit others' opinions on what to do with it? If you want to do X, but a lot of people say no do Y with it, do you do what you want [...] (3 months ago, Mar 6, 2024, to Catalog)

Message Has 2 Replies:

Re: Seriously? - BrickCompulsion (3041)

[...] Great post I did try to be constructive which I hope came across (3 months ago, Mar 6, 2024, to Catalog)

Re: Seriously? - wildchicken13 (876)

[...] I'm sure BrickLink makes good money from fees. They're not missing much from one or a few sellers that decide to close their shop because they're unhappy [...] (2 months ago, Mar 9, 2024, to Catalog)

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