Dear BrickLink members,

All of us at BrickLink are so excited to announce the launch of the next generation of BrickLink, code-named BrickLink Facelift.

Based on the product roadmap of 2015 that we shared last October, this release covers three major milestones we promised to deliver by the end of this summer: New skin, On-Site Payment and Improved Search / Catalog UI.

As this project included changes on the most frequently used features, we gave BrickLink members a few weeks time to experience the new site and give us feedback before it went live.

Okay, let’s dive in to the new format and look at the features of BrickLink’s Facelift.


1. New Skin

BrickLink is going to sport a brand new look. Our main goal with this Facelift project was to continue the BrickLink legacy while making the site more inviting and lively. We also understand that the uniqueness of the original layout and design of BrickLink is sentimental to many of you. With that in mind, you’ll see that we reduced the amount of links and slightly rearranged the layout on the landing page. We also implemented a brighter color scheme throughout the site to reflect the vibrant community that makes BrickLink the site it is today.


NEW LANDING PAGE DESIGN

If you prefer darker background color, visit MyBrickLink > MySettings to change your default background color.

2. Onsite Payment


Along with the brand new look, BrickLink now supports Onsite Payment. With this new feature, buyers can complete the checkout experience on the website, which means that we are one step closer to Instant Checkout.

What is Onsite Payment?
Onsite Payment is a new feature that allows buyers to pay for their order after the seller issues an invoice without leaving BrickLink. Buyers will see a Pay button on their My Orders Placed, Order Details, or My Messages page. Payments that are accepted will deposit directly into the connected seller account.


PAYMENT PROCESS ON MY ORDERS PLACED PAGE

Which payment methods are supported?
Onsite Payment is supported through Stripe and PayPal. With Stripe, all sellers can accept major credit/debit cards including Visa, MasterCard, AmericanExpress, Discover, Diners Club and JCB.


Is this feature automatically enabled for PayPal?
No. If your store accepts PayPal, you must connect your PayPal account and enable Onsite Payment.


How can a seller enable this feature?
Connect* a Stripe and/or PayPal account and enable the Onsite Payment feature in your My Payment Methods page.


MY PAYMENT METHODS



3. All Items Search & New Catalog UI


We’ve heard a lot of complaints about the default item search feature of BrickLink. One of the biggest concerns is that it often returns too many pages of available item entries across all the stores. With the piles of search results, users have to go through many pages to pinpoint an item they wanted to search. Some advanced users prefer to use ‘Catalog Item Search’ instead of the ‘Items for Sale Search’ to avoid this problem. But, it also needs a few more extra steps to find available store inventories using the Catalog Item Search.

What is All Items Search?
In addition to traditional ‘Items for Sale’ and ‘Catalog Items’ search, we are proud to add All Items Search. The reason behind this name is this search encompasses both Items for Sale Search and the Catalog Items Search. It aggregates individual items into one entry of the result page just like the Catalog Item search, but it also shows information about available items for sale and links to list of the stores for seamless shopping experience. The new ‘All Items Search’ will be the default search option of BrickLink.


AUTO SEARCH SUGGESTION OF ALL ITEM SEARCH



SEARCH RESULT OF ALL ITEMS SEARCH


What are the benefits of All Items Search for Sellers?
With this more intuitive and less cluttered search, we expect more new buyers will be able to find and checkout LEGO products on BrickLink. In addition, it also is good news for sellers who offer custom items, as this new All Items search result will show all the types of items on the first page including custom items at the bottom, so you won’t need to worry about lack of public exposure of non-cataloged custom items.


How can you purchase items from the search results?
If you click on one of the item links, it will bring you to the newly designed catalog page that will list all the stores to choose from.


NEW CATALOG UI

What will happen to rich information part of catalog pages?
We understand that BrickLink Item Catalog pages are not only used for e-Commerce purpose. They have been built and maintained by the power of enthusiastic volunteer admins and the AFOL community and they have served for the purpose of an encyclopedia of LEGO parts and sets. All the information entries of existing Catalog pages will be preserved with an improved user interface.


COLOR INFORMATION OF A PART CATALOG ENTRY

How can I ask questions or give feedback?
If you have questions or feedback about the new site, feel free to add your comments on this news posting or other related forum postings. We will review and reflect your opinions to our next update as soon as we can.

We hope you all like the new BrickLink!

Thanks,
- BrickLink Team