Items at local retailers may be priced differently from store-to-store. We are already providing pricing and availability information by simply viewing the product page for any item by clicking on the product. In addition to that, we also offer the ability to search your local area to look for pricing and availability manually by using one of our provided Inventory Checker pages, but the information that you'll see is the same information that you would see on the product page for that item.
The search results on BrickSeek are updated as soon as the retailers report changes to us, some retailers report information sooner than others. In addition, some retailers may only report information on items if they are eligible for store pickup online, so the data that the retailers are reporting may actually be different than what is actually found at the store. We will report whatever information they are reporting to us and this information will often match their own app and website.
As a reminder, the total number of store results returned on the Inventory Checker pages do vary by membership level and based on your My Stores selections. BrickSeek Basic members will see up to 2 results when conducting a search but a BrickSeek One member may see anywhere from 6 results to 75 results, depending on how many My Stores they have selected for that retailer. By default a BrickSeek One member will have 6 My Stores per retailer but with our My Store add-on pack they can choose up to 75 additional My Stores that can be divided by whichever local retailers that they choose.
Let’s take a look at the Inventory Checker pages so that you can learn how to use this page to help you find great deals. Each retailer may use different unique identifiers to look up items in their system, often called a SKU, but you may also see the option to search by the UPC number as well. The identifier to look up the item can often be found on the retailer's website on the product page for the item. It can be the number at the end of the website URL or it could be listed on the product information.
In the example below, we'll use Lowe's, which uses either the Product # or UPC to identify the item.
Using the Inventory Checker pages is very simple -- just enter the SKU/DPCI/Internet #/Product # or UPC of the item you’re wanting to search locally and then click the 'Check Inventory' button. This page doesn’t default to the UPC field, so if you want to lookup the item by its UPC, you must first tap on the UPC toggle before entering the UPC in the UPC field. If you are a BrickSeek One member, you will also have the option to search items by zip code instead of searching your My Stores.
If you don’t know an item's identifier or UPC, you can use the SKU/Product/Internet/DPIC Finder tool to assist you. Click on the SKU Finder button; type the name of the item you’re looking for; then click on the item from the results that are returned.
Once you search an item, the results page will load. Depending on your browser and display, you may have to scroll down the page to see the local results! The screenshot below is a good example of needing to scroll further down the page to see all of the local search results.
When you’re viewing the search results page, there are a few things that you may notice right from the start -- like a picture of the item, the reported MSRP from the retailer, the SKU, the UPC, and a link to a scannable barcode for that item. There are also links to the BrickSeek Snapshot for that item, link to the retailer's product page, and a button to add the item to your Shopping List if you'd like to be notified of price drops for this item locally. You will also see that friendly shareable BrickSeek URL, as well as any available online pricing information for the item.
Can't find the item on the shelves and need help from a store employee to help you locate it? Click on the barcode icon next to the UPC to pull up the item's scannable barcode, and have it handy in case an employee needs to scan it with their handheld device to view its other possible locations in the store.
Now let's focus on the item search results, so that you know how to interpret the information returned to you. Starting with the Availability column, you’ll see the stock status and any applicable quantities. The exact quantity counts do not appear for all retailers or for all items. Sometimes the availability and quantities reported by the retailer are specific to the online order pickup availability, not the in-store availability. The results are color coded for ease of use, with red being out of stock, green being in stock, and yellow indicating that there is limited stock.
Next, we’ll take a look at the prices, which are also color coded. If the price is green, then it’s the lowest price in your search results. If it’s grey, then it’s the highest price in your results. If it’s black, then it’s somewhere in between the highest and lowest price returned to you.
As mentioned previously, not all retailers report information the same way. Some retailers may not report information for all items that they carry and sometimes they may report the information differently for certain items than they do for other items. In general, we will always report whatever information that they report to us. The table below lists what information you can typically expect from each of our supported retailers.
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