New Pick a Brick service now live in North America
Posted by Huw,
Following an announcement in January, and roll-out in parts of Europe last month, the new Pick a Brick service is now available to customers in the USA, Canada and additional European countries.
The two separate places to buy parts at LEGO.com, Bricks & Pieces and Pick a Brick, have been replaced with a new unified page at which you can find parts by searching by keyword, design or element number, by set inventory, and by type and colour.
A side-effect of the change is that some prices have moved: most upwards, but a few are now cheaper. There's also a minimum spend of £10/$14/12€ to avoid service fees.
The system is not without its bugs but it does seem to be an improvement on what was there before.
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49 comments on this article
Used this this weekend to buy a few parts! I never used the legacy systems, but this one seemed clean and easy to use. Some functionality improvements would be nice (better searching, filtering, ability to see more than 15 items on a page) and an increase in available parts would be great too. Also, when I view my order in my orders, I just see the SKU numbers, not pictures of the parts I purchased. That is one feature of Bricklink that I never knew I loved until now.
So looking at the website now, I think I was a little ahead of the curve. The site that was up this weekend had a very limited quantity of parts, but I now see that those parts were only the “best sellers”. The rest of the website has not gone live yet. The benefit to me is that I don’t have to wait weeks for my parts, but I definitely missed out on a much larger and more exciting order!
Sky Pirate MetalBeard can become real with this! I love it!
I may have gone overkill purchasing animals that I couldn't get on Pick a Brick. I take care of 14 actual sheep but kept it down to 3 LEGO versions; even though being as they were still cheap, it was SUPER tempting to go nuts.
Man, adult lions are expensive!
wow there are 614 pages of bricks.
So is in Hungary.
During the weekend the Bricks&Pieces was not available. I've just checked the new extended Pick A Brick, 12,286 parts are available
So, The Brick Fan pointed out the "bestsellers" and "standard" options, along with charges related to each.
Do you have any insight into how this works, @Huw? I understand that they originate from different domestic and international facilities, but does it change the overall pricing and accessibility to parts?
WTH? a dollar for an actual cheese slope?
So, the “Search by Set Number” feature is really convenient. Pro tip: you can type in “910001” and start your collection of Castle in the Forest for anyone who missed out! There are only 242 of the approximately 530 unique items in the actual set, but perhaps LEGO will be adding more parts. Additionally, the Search By Set Number does not automatically populate the quantity of each that you want, so if you wanted to buy all the parts new from LEGO, you would have to manually go through and enter the number wanted. I could think of worse ways to spend my days though!
@Huw said:
"There's also a minimum spend of £10/$14/12€ to avoid postage charges"
- really?? In Sweden it's clearly stated that the administrative fees (approx €3 for "Bestsellers" and €6 for "Standard" unless you order for approx €12 - from each) are separate from the postage charges, i.e. postage is added on top. Also, if you order both "Bestsellers" and "Standard" you have to pay postage twice (each of which is somehow higher than the postage charged if you buy a set).
You'd think all parts should be available as "Standard" so that you could order everything from the same place and avoid double fees and double postage but no, clearly the "new experience" is all about being as expensive and complicated as possible.
Bye bye Lego.com, from now on it's Bricklink only. Which is of course owned by Lego...
^ Sorry, I should have said 'service fees' not 'postage costs'.
Searching the whole selection by colour is a definite plus. There are still issues that need to be fixed:
(1) Duplo, one clic of a button and you get only Duplo bricks. You toggle that button and you get everything BUT Duplo. (the same concept should be done for Friends animals but might be a little harder to maintain)
(2) Definitely more than 20 items per page. Let's say 100 or 200 or all. Otherwise you spend all your time changing pages and coming back etc. (The time of 9600baud modem is long gone)
(3) As mentioned above: on your invoice, produce a picture of what is being bought - a number is not enough - nobody will remember more than a handful of piece numbers.
(4) naming convention are terribly bad! Hire someone or put someone on that project and fix that. Example: in Friends' world, a horse is called a horse. In system, a horse (item 10509) is called: ANIMAL NO.11 ASSEMBLED, NO.114 (What the fudge?)
Selection has been greatly reduced. If I look into BrickHunter (as of today 16th of March 2022), I get 430 parts for animals and plants (for example). In pick a brick, I get only 341 - that is a significant 20.7% less.
Edit: bestsellers is USELESS. Whenever you want a part, you don't care one bit if that part is well liked or not. Since it is easy to navigate by part colour or by part type or by set; there is no point having a 'short-cut' for 'bestsellers' parts. (my 2 cents)
Edit: What does bestseller means anyway? For animal and plants, best sellers will give you only 7 parts - 2 of which are shark bodies (14518) in dark blueish gray and sand blue. So, apparently those are best sellers but not the heads? Really? people buying lots of shark bodies without the head? (I seriously question those best sellers)
You can still get the sheep (78219) but the new cats and squirrels are gone.
"The system is not without its bugs but it does seem to be an improvement on what was there before."
I don't mean to complain, but I am confused. There are now service charges for small orders, and most of the price changes are in the upwards direction. I wish to know what makes this an improvement.
@HOBBES said:
"Searching the whole selection by colour is a definite plus. There are still issues that need to be fixed:
(1) Duplo, one clic of a button and you get only Duplo bricks. You toggle that button and you get everything BUT Duplo. (the same concept should be done for Friends animals but might be a little harder to maintain)
(2) Definitely more than 20 items per page. Let's say 100 or 200 or all. Otherwise you spend all your time changing pages and coming back etc.
(3) As mentioned above: on your invoice, produce a picture of what is being bought - a number is not enough - nobody will remember more than a handful of piece numbers.
(4) naming convention are terribly bad! Hire someone or put someone on that project and fix that. Example: in Friends' world, a horse is called a horse. In system, a horse (item 10509) is called: ANIMAL NO.11 ASSEMBLED, NO.114 (What the fudge?)
Selection has been greatly reduced. If I look into BrickHunter (as of today 16th of March 2022), I get 430 parts for animals and plants (for example). In pick a brick, I get only 341 - that is a significant 20.7% less.
Edit: bestsellers is USELESS. Whenever you want a part, you don't care one bit if that part is well liked or not. Since it is easy to navigate by part colour or by part type or by set; there is no point having a 'short-cut' for 'bestsellers' parts. (my 2 cents)
"
FYI the only reason for the bestsellers designation is that they originate from a regional shipping center vs the standard pieces which still come from Europe (in the US) so they have seperate shipping and service fees. Bestsellers will also ship much faster. Basically Bestsellers are the old PaB parts and standard are the old BaP parts.
I like the new system - BUT I am seriously disappointed in TLG's decision to remove all 2022 parts, this is a major downgrade IMO.
I really wish they would allow the part type to show up once, and choose the color as a sub-choice. The way they are doing it clogs up results badly and isn't even fully sorted so the same part can appear in a search in multiple places.
As with many things Lego and IT, they kinda skimped on the UI/UX side of things, and it shows.
It sure is lacking inventory from what I recently purchased from B&P, they aren't even listed as parts now. I wish they would show the part as sold out/out of stock like B&P did. Again seems to be a down grade from what they had, even less availability.
Why couldn't they just have left things as they were & added a link to B&P in the Bricks theme listing where Pick a Brick is listed.
Only good thing I see so far is the limit on the parts is less restricted, although the new color piece I want lots of, isn't a listed part any more.
I second having a toggle for Duplo bricks. Filter them out entirely.
Ideally there'd be page history so I could use my browser's back button.
If I have bricks in my cart and I hit the back button, ideally it would warn me about leaving Pick a Brick.
Overall, there are a LOT of rough edges, and I hope they're going to listen and improve the service over time...
Seem to be missing stuff from older Bricks n Pieces. Had a list on my computer of things to buy and they no longer exist here.
Many of the new astronaut fig parts are gone and I can't find the new chopsticks...
@Alrighty said:
"(...)
ability to see more than 15 items on a page!
(...)"
This, this, and a thousand times this!
Is this a step in Lego shutting down the Bricklink marketplace?
Up to over 100.00 in my cart, and just finished w/Animals and Nature category. Great!?...
This new system sucks to be honest. Every release season, I would order new parts from B&P instead of having to place 50 different orders on Bricklink. Now, parts are more expensive, and the new 2022 parts aren't even available. This was supposed to be an upgraded system; instead it is a serious downgrade.
@carlnyman said:
"Is this a step in Lego shutting down the Bricklink marketplace?"
No
Reason US consumers can't find some of the parts they used to is due to the fact they are not carried yet. The NA warehouse just opened it's part department and will be getting the full line up later this year.
New pick a brick service in North Africa? Yaaas!
@SirPetsmart said:
"Reason US consumers can't find some of the parts they used to is due to the fact they are not carried yet. The NA warehouse just opened it's part department and will be getting the full line up later this year."
I'm hoping this is true (this is what was announced - but Lego announces many things and their definitions and AFOLs definitions are often times contradictory). Assuming this is indeed true and everyone has the same definition, this means that 'best sellers' as explained by @THEMIDDLEBRICK will completely disappear: ALL the parts will come from North America and shipping will be faster on ALL order. Right?
@Mosquitosquisher7 said:
""The system is not without its bugs but it does seem to be an improvement on what was there before."
I don't mean to complain, but I am confused. There are now service charges for small orders, and most of the price changes are in the upwards direction. I wish to know what makes this an improvement. "
I was referring to the website and ordering process, not any price increases, inventory changes or service charges. Take them into account and it might be a different matter.
I think the pricing depends on what you're looking for. I've found a lot of price drops and now price consistency for same part in different colours. Plus there is only one list per element available.
It used to be that if there was a minimum spend threshold for a gift with purchase--let's use the $120 for Jane Goodall--and you were a few cents away, you could add a Pick a Brick. Three $39.99 sets and any piece, since the cheapest (1x1 round plate with hole) was $0.03, would be a total of exactly $120 plus tax. I did this last week as $119.98 didn't qualify.
The $14 minimum is much less desirable. Now that single piece has a $7 fee added, and piece prices have increased.
The old Bricks & Pieces in the Replacement Parts section had lots of 1x1 round plates (6141) at $0.03, but now those are $0.05. I bought a lot for some custom mosaics. The maximum of 200 in a single order is gone, which is nice as I needed 266 dark red for a small mosaic on a 32x32 white baseplate. However, instead of including 200 in one order and 66 in another for a total of $7.98 for the tiny studs (as I did multiple times), that would now cost me $20.30 unless I bought more pieces to avoid the service fee.
I realize they are now trying to avoid the absurdity of picking and shipping a single piece for $0.03--it makes total sense from a business standpoint--but that won't stop me from lamenting the loss of my loophole!
They're probably going to sell a lot more Xtra, Extra Dots and Dots bracelets, Creative [Color] Bricks, keychains, and blind bags to people trying to reach GWP minimums.
@SirPetsmart said:
" @carlnyman said:
"Is this a step in Lego shutting down the Bricklink marketplace?"
No"
Would you mind explaining your thinking on this one? Personally I think this integration very clearly indicates a desire to consolidate Bricklink further into the LEGO brand.
Right now, you can buy new parts, but there are thousands of used discontinued parts that LEGO can begin to sell again through integration. I could very easily see a few years down the line a “Community” section of Pick a Brick that features carefully selected Bricklink sellers by LEGO. These sellers would be vetted based on already existing feedback, random part quality checks, and willingness to oblige by LEGO’s requirements (probably can’t sell new parts to compete with regular PAB, but would be reimbursed in bulk for that store’s new inventory prior to integration, also can’t sell parts that have proven to be hazardous like those old magnets). LEGO has been working with AFOLs through the Designer Program and can consolidate revenue streams pretty easily.
Difficulties would be replicating BrickLink’s superior database, linking, ordering and messaging programs, and other features.
I think this works with LEGO’s desire to allow every child to get to have the LEGO play experience; kids can get special old parts to use in their creations. Just a few thoughts, I could be wrong!
Ah, I did find the out of stock button, that's a good addition, to be able to have it as an option. Unfortunately the piece I want is still not showing as a part, available or not. Hopefully it will be added soon, as well as other newer inventory items.
Best day of the year soo far :D this day has come
At the risk of making the article's comment section sound like a broken MP3...
By God, make it so 50+ (ideally 100+) pieces can show up in the same page. There's nothing more tedious when looking for parts than when you need to click and load pages upon pages of results, particularly when the same piece can show up in multiple different pages in different colours. Just display a piece of the same design once and then allow people to choose the colour from a sidebar or tiny popup screen or something.
EDIT: The sort by low to high or high to low filters don't even work properly... I'm getting 0.4c, 0.5c, 0.6c, 0.7c pieces all mixed up.
Ok, last super nitpicky but sorta basic stuff: You know when you're clicking through page numbers you always get "1, 2, 3, 4, ... [last page number]"? Normally if you click on, say, page 45, you would expect to see "1 ... 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48 ... [last page number]". On this website you get "1 ... 45, 46, 47, 48 ... [last page number]", meaning that if you want to quickly navigate some pages back (like page 38) without going all the way back to the first page and starting from 1, you need to go through each and every single page, one after the other, by clicking the "<" button until you get to where you want to be. Unless this is something on my end, I'd love to see it fixed.
That's all I got, have a nice day
@Alrighty said:
" @SirPetsmart said:
" @carlnyman said:
"Is this a step in Lego shutting down the Bricklink marketplace?"
No"
Would you mind explaining your thinking on this one? Personally I think this integration very clearly indicates a desire to consolidate Bricklink further into the LEGO brand.
Right now, you can buy new parts, but there are thousands of used discontinued parts that LEGO can begin to sell again through integration. I could very easily see a few years down the line a “Community” section of Pick a Brick that features carefully selected Bricklink sellers by LEGO. These sellers would be vetted based on already existing feedback, random part quality checks, and willingness to oblige by LEGO’s requirements (probably can’t sell new parts to compete with regular PAB, but would be reimbursed in bulk for that store’s new inventory prior to integration, also can’t sell parts that have proven to be hazardous like those old magnets). LEGO has been working with AFOLs through the Designer Program and can consolidate revenue streams pretty easily.
Difficulties would be replicating BrickLink’s superior database, linking, ordering and messaging programs, and other features.
I think this works with LEGO’s desire to allow every child to get to have the LEGO play experience; kids can get special old parts to use in their creations. Just a few thoughts, I could be wrong!
"
They would make so many people angry doing that, if they did. It would cause massive backlash - which might make Brickowl and Ebay happy. Also, there is logistics issues impossible to solve such as proposed "random part quality checks" and not selling old magnets. As for the latter, train builders and M-Tron builders use those magnets a lot. Would they really want to isolate their market that way?
Basically, the day that LEGO fully integrates Bricklink like what you're proposing is the day everyone with a ticket in the USA wins the lottery at the same time. It just ain't going to happen.
I'm having an unfortunate error with the system. Whenever I click 'add to bag' on my order and it takes me to my bag, the order has disappeared. Tried it numerous times to the same result.
I'm sure a lot of things improved in the back end and makes it a simpler business for the company to run... and if shipping times improve, that will be useful. But from what we see... higher prices, lower selection, added fees... basically a lot of stuff to dissuade us from using the service. If this was intended to help anybody, I'm pretty sure it wasn't the consumers. Maybe things will improve as time goes on and things get settled, but not the greatest outlook right now IMHO.
Well this is one way to decrease people shopping from you directly.
I was not pleased seeing the decrease in inventory and increase in prices. Disappointing to say the least.
Boy, I'm currently making a monster order to stock up on pieces that are cheaper in bulk through LEGO than Bricklink, and it's a pain having to wait until the price calculation updates before changing the wanted quantity of the next piece to avoid getting the "an error has occurred popup", particularly when going through a dozen different colours for each piece type.
I know I'm doing a lot of complaining, but I'm happy with the overall changes. My favorite feature so far is being able to quickly search more pieces of the same design or colour with just a couple of clicks. It's just really difficult wanting to take advantage of LEGO's prices while having to deal with LEGO's interface when Bricklink's is much more straightforward.
Is there anywhere we can leave feedback on the updated service? As to what works / what doesn't in our opinion?
Looks like its live in Australia too. Interestingly, I still have an order from the old system sitting in my cart, and it wont let me edit it. I wonder if they'd let me place the order... Not gonna find out the hard way on that.
When you say the prices have mostly increased, is that wrt the B&P prices or the PaB prices?
Big surprise the selection is absolutely terrible compared to B&P. Who could have... possibly seen that coming.
And somehow the UI is even worse, too. Again, very much in line with what I expect from Lego IT, they have... literally never changed anything for the better
Well...nuts, ordered before the 'switch over' to get the Bonus VIP points; but tried to B&P to find the button missing...oh well, six of one/half-dozen of the other (translation: next time:))
@Terrasher said:
"At the risk of making the article's comment section sound like a broken MP3..."
It wasn't your intention, but this single line made me realize...I'm getting OLD. :D
My thinking is that the reason that the 2022 pieces are not available is to reduce the number of orders right now to get the wait time caught up and to get the bugs worked out. Again, this is just a theory. I hope that they return soon.
For those that think that all the prices have risen, that is not true. For example look at 1x4x6 window panel (35294) which decreased from $0.54 to $0.16 and 1x4x6 window frame (40289) went from $0.64 to $0.38. Yes, some prices increased and some went up a lot, but prices for many basic bricks went down.
There may not be all the pieces Bricks and Pieces used to have; OTOH it has a lot of the special parts from CF sets and Build a Minifig, which weren't easy to find before. The sorting is as good as it used to be in B&P and much, much easier to process than Pick a Brick was. Overall, it's not too bad and a great deal better than I'd feared it would be.
Haven't read through every comment but I'm so disappointed I may no longer even be placing my planned order. SEVERAL pieces that I'd wanted - the new hospital gown, squirrels, kittens, the new friends hat/hair combos, chopsticks, etc. - all gone. And these are ALL pieces that were readily available from Bricks and Pieces only a week ago. I really, really, REALLY hope that these are just glitches to do with the changeover, but since it seems like Europe is in the same boat...
Was there always a service fee because I dont remember that being a thing? I just added 100x 2X2 to my cart which was $9 but the service fee is $7 dollars.
@Eky0017 said:
"Was there always a service fee because I dont remember that being a thing? I just added 100x 2X2 to my cart which was $9 but the service fee is $7 dollars."
Nope...new. Probably to help LEGO not lose money on small orders.
New limit is $14, so looks like you need to order more since you'll be spending the $7 either way. Might as well put it toward bricks instead of a service fee...
If an order is a mix of bestsellers and standard pieces, is there any way to direct the entire order to come from the standard piece source? Or are we stuck trying to meet the $14 minimum from both sites?
@SecretsOfTheVault said:
"If an order is a mix of bestsellers and standard pieces, is there any way to direct the entire order to come from the standard piece source? Or are we stuck trying to meet the $14 minimum from both sites?"
Looks like both need $14.
So before the Norwegian version of this site was launched I made an order at the old site. I managed to pick some of those hotel staff upper parts from 10297 and extra squirrels from 60326, but I forgot to add some of those kittens that come with 60321. However, they were available right up to the day before the old site went down. When I checked now, NONE of these items are any longer available for purchase. I don't think this is an improvement at all, the 12.000+ available pieces are obviously FEWER than it was before the launch. And the interface is terrible. I loved to purchase bricks from the old site, even though it could be somewhat frustrating at times, but this new site is just a huge disappointment.
I finally was able to look at the new site yesterday and I actually like it way more than I thought I would. The only concern will be having to meet different thresholds IF you need pieces from both warehouses. But I really like being able to shop by category like PAB which you couldn't do before on BnP. That helped guide me to a lot of pieces I didn't have on my mind.