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  • Are LEGO Bricks a Better Investment Than Stocks?


    Ed Mack

    After the recent Telegraph article going viral all over the world stating that LEGO bricks and sets were better investments than Gold over the past few years, one has to wonder what other investment vehicles do LEGO bricks outperform. With the recent roller coaster on Wall Street and foreign markets, a question presents itself...Are the LEGO secondary markets and LEGO collecting and investment in general, more stable and profitable over the long haul than other more high profile investments? Let’s analyze some data…

    With 2015 coming to a close, the final financial year-end data on stock markets, crude oil and gold prices is available. Take a look at the major stock market and commodity returns for 2015 stated in an article from the USA TODAY:

    bp_vs_stock_chartimage2.jpg

    A quick analysis indicates an overall poor year for most major indexes and benchmark commodities. Only the tech heavy NASDAQ escaped the carnage and posted positive gains for the year. Now, compare the above chart to the “average” LEGO set returns over the past five years and this is what you find:

    bp_vs_stock_chartimage3.jpg

    Now, when I say, ”Average LEGO Set,” I am referring to the “mean” appreciation of all LEGO sets in our database. The Return On Investment is calculated from the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). There are thousands of LEGO sets in our database that get aggregated into these figures, some new and available at retail, but most retired and no longer available at primary retailers. The data shows a very consistent pattern for LEGO sets over the past five years. Even when other major investment vehicles were having a hard time getting into the black in 2015, LEGO sets held their ground. In an overall bad year for investing, LEGO bricks and sets still appreciated close to historical levels. Themes like Jurassic Park, Mixels, Speed Champions, Ideas and Lord of the Rings all had banner years, while Friends, Monster Fighters, Minecraft, DC Comics and Marvel Super Heroes themes all took a huge hit. There are many sets that appreciated very well, while others stagnated or fell in value. Just like stocks, the trick is picking the right sets.

    Now, before everyone goes out there and dumps their stocks, bonds and gold for LEGO sets, a potential LEGO investor needs to realize the pitfalls of investing in little ABS plastic bricks. First off, they are difficult to store and take up a lot of space. LEGO boxes play a large role in their values. The better the condition, the higher the value in most cases. They are susceptible to moisture and sunlight. Boxes are large and delicate, and a person can easily fill up a small room with a moderate LEGO collection. Another issue with LEGO investing is their expense. Their impeccable quality comes at a high price. They are very expensive toys. Period. Unlike stocks, bonds and gold, they are not liquid. A person has to sell and ship them to realize profits. This takes time and effort. Buying LEGO sets is easy. Selling and shipping them is not. Speaking of selling them, many LEGO secondary market sites such as eBay and Amazon charge high commission fees...ranging anywhere from 10-15% (Unless of course you sell on Brick Classifieds with ZERO commission and fees). This takes a huge bite from your appreciation. Granted, if you choose wisely and pick the right LEGO sets to invest in, these negative factors can be overcome, but many people do not choose wisely and end up failing at this endeavor.

    So are LEGO sets a better overall investment and more stable than stocks, bonds, gold and crude oil? At this point in time, probably, if you choose the right LEGO sets to invest in and buy and sell them with some creativity and frugality. What they seem to be is more consistent. Take a look at the chart below:

     

    YJCrNE4bBMJ8zcMO4beBSJ6X7foUJ2BD6ifWiSW_


    A quick glance indicates a rather steady growth pattern for LEGO sets, while the various stock market indexes are quite turbulent. Even when stocks were down, LEGO sets yielded in the 10% range. Pretty solid. While the LEGO secondary markets will probably never take off into stratospheric levels like stocks did in 2013, there are multiple individual LEGO themes and sets that could explode in growth at any given time. To find those sets, one needs to research the markets and study the products. It also takes effort to find deals on LEGO sets when purchasing and work to properly list, package and ship LEGO boxes. Experience also matters. While a novice can make profits from investing in LEGO sets, it often takes experience in buying, selling, packaging and shipping to maximize profits. LEGO investing is no longer “easy” money as it once was, but if you educate yourself, make prudent choices, adapt to changing trends and get a little lucky, you can still see solid profits...

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    2 hours ago, Haay said:

    I fully agree with you that it's a dangerous game to speculate on Lego using borrowed money. Then not only do your Lego profits have to counter the positive interest your money would have gotten on a savings-account, you also have to make up for the negative interest you have to pay back on the loans. I was taught by my parents to only have a loan for a house while for everything else to first save the money and only buy it when you have the money for it.

    Positive interest on savings, you're so funny :lolu:

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    I wonder how long it will be for RBS and the likes start advising people that things like Playmobil and Lego are safe investments.Some enterprising person will surely soon offer to manage people´s investments by providing storage space with insurance, packaging, shipping and even advising what sets to buy and sell and when.

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    14 minutes ago, valenciaeric said:

    Some enterprising person will surely soon offer to manage people´s investments by providing storage space with insurance, packaging, shipping and even advising what sets to buy and sell and when.

    Sounds almost like Amazon FBA.

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    27 minutes ago, Sprocket77 said:

    Positive interest on savings, you're so funny :lolu:

    We're not there yet where we have to actually pay interest to have our savings stored on a bank, but the market is clearly moving towards that.

    Currently I'm only getting 0.9% interest on my savings-account now, while I'm still paying 4.2% interest on my mortgage. So save from having a buffer for unforeseen set-backs, it's more prudent to put extra savings into decreasing my mortgage. :) 

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    Without the crushed boxes! The added value will be in the broker part of advising what to buy and sell and even negotiating bulk purchases for your customer portfolio. Imagine if you set up and bought  80 000 Ecto 1´s at half price from Lego to cater for your customers.

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    7 minutes ago, Haay said:

    Currently I'm only getting 0.9% interest on my savings-account now, while I'm still paying 4.2% interest on my mortgage. So save from having a buffer for unforeseen set-backs, it's more prudent to put extra savings into decreasing my mortgage. :) 

    I don't necessarily agree with that approach. Even if you are paying more interest on your mortgage, I'd still be saving more rather than paying off the mortgage, unless the overpayments mean you can take payment holidays should you need them for some unforeseen circumstances.

    As you said yourself, always goof to have that savings buffer for when life decides to kick you in the gonads.

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    7 minutes ago, Haay said:

    We're not there yet where we have to actually pay interest to have our savings stored on a bank, but the market is clearly moving towards that.

    Currently I'm only getting 0.9% interest on my savings-account now, while I'm still paying 4.2% interest on my mortgage. So save from having a buffer for unforeseen set-backs, it's more prudent to put extra savings into decreasing my mortgage. :) 

    Wow! Who did you buy the mortgage from? Toys R Us?

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    11 minutes ago, valenciaeric said:

    Without the crushed boxes! The added value will be in the broker part of advising what to buy and sell and even negotiating bulk purchases for your customer portfolio. Imagine if you set up and bought  80 000 Ecto 1´s at half price from Lego to cater for your customers.

    Oh yeah, Lego would really love you. 

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    6 minutes ago, Sprocket77 said:

    I don't necessarily agree with that approach. Even if you are paying more interest on your mortgage, I'd still be saving more rather than paying off the mortgage, unless the overpayments mean you can take payment holidays should you need them for some unforeseen circumstances.

    As you said yourself, always goof to have that savings buffer for when life decides to kick you in the gonads.

    I agree with Hay - pay off the mortgage first if there is such a big diference as you also get tax relief from amortising it, so long as you have enough savings for an emergency.

    Mortgages also bring extra costs like bank commissions, insurance so the sooner you finish the sooner you can cancel them too. Also, in present times we have seen that money in the bank is no safer than under the mattress - just look at what happened in Greece, Cyprus or with Northern Rock.

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    7 minutes ago, Sprocket77 said:

    Oh yeah, Lego would really love you. 

    Why wouldn´t they? You would save them a lot of hassle making smaller shipments and they could achieve production savings. It´s what they do with TRU exclusives, after all.

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    8 minutes ago, valenciaeric said:

    Why wouldn´t they? You would save them a lot of hassle making smaller shipments and they could achieve production savings. It´s what they do with TRU exclusives, after all.

    They seem to have a thing against resellers though, don't know why, we're a lovely bunch :phew:

    Well most of us anyway.

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    Yes but to them you would be a distributor/wholesaler with non exclusivity. Probably what you would do as a broker is look at the sets that are not appreciating well after EOL, sell them off for the best money you can get and replace them in your customers´ portfolios with other products - just like an investment fund does.

    In fact, your customers could actually just buy a participation in the fund and not the actual Legos and you are the one responsible for selling them.

    Edited by valenciaeric
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    1 hour ago, valenciaeric said:

    I wonder how long it will be for RBS and the likes start advising people that things like Playmobil and Lego are safe investments.Some enterprising person will surely soon offer to manage people´s investments by providing storage space with insurance, packaging, shipping and even advising what sets to buy and sell and when.

     

    Like a commodity-based mutual fund but with Lego? 

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    Yeah, it´s only a matter of time before the next Madoff creates a monster. I can imagine the tagline now - invest in Lego without the inconvenience of stocking, purchasing, insuring, transactions or knowing the product and with simplified accounting and fiscality. Invest a minimum of 3000 euros in the scheme with a 10% management fee annually or any time you wish to modify or end your participation.

    Edited by valenciaeric
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    1 hour ago, valenciaeric said:

    Yes but to them you would be a distributor/wholesaler with non exclusivity. Probably what you would do as a broker is look at the sets that are not appreciating well after EOL, sell them off for the best money you can get and replace them in your customers´ portfolios with other products - just like an investment fund does.

    In fact, your customers could actually just buy a participation in the fund and not the actual Legos and you are the one responsible for selling them.

    They'd expect you to purchase large quantities of Nexo Knights, Friends, Super Heroes, Chima and other themes before they'd consider you seriously. 

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    32 minutes ago, valenciaeric said:

    Yeah, it´s only a matter of time before the next Madoff creates a monster. I can imagine the tagline now - invest in Lego without the inconvenience of stocking, purchasing, insuring, transactions or knowing the product and with simplified accounting and fiscality. Invest a minimum of 3000 euros in the scheme with a 10% management fee annually or any time you wish to modify or end your participation.

    I bet we start to see crapola like that over the next year. 

    It's getting weird.  Even my old honey holes that were easy pickings are now being swarmed by competition.  I went to a TRU the other day, and it was filled with two other "investors" that were picking and chatting and had no problem filling carts up with what I would deem "too early junk".  That was a bit of a spooky experience, because I DO my research quite a bit on stuff, and they seemed to have done none.  I wouldn't have done what this one 20 something was doing loading up on new star wars items, some superhero sets, speed racers, etc all at TRU inflated retail costs .  Then I went to my local BAM which had at one point 6 UN Architecture buildings two weeks ago.  I was considering buying a couple, but passed, then I went back this week, and they were all gone.  I'm starting to even think the architecture line, which has a small but fanatical fanbase, is now becoming swarmed by resellers.  2 years ago, most sets like Sungnyemun, Robie House, Burj, Guggenheim, etc were hardly hoarded like most of the sets are now and I attribute the rise in costs to many of those older architecture sets to the fact that not many people were buying them to hold. 

    Don't get me wrong, this christmas selling season was great.  I just sold another Farnsworth house at 120 a day ago which gave me about a 96% return on investment from my buy-in, and the prices on Fallingwaters, Sydney Opera Houses, etc are definitely at a spot, where doubling your money, even after fees if you bought in at discounts are a given.  But, do I think this will continue like this next year on the six sets that just retired?  I'm not so sure...  I actually have some doubts on many of them. 

    Add in all the extreme rookies that have flooded this site over the last couple weeks that don't even seem to have much knowledge about lego, and it's left me thinking that it's time to be a lot more selective this year, but scale down on my buying by 60% compared to last year, with the goal of buying things I would open, but then just hold them in the box for a year or two.  If things go south, then they become birthday and christmas presents and i'm not out on a huge loss.

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    1 hour ago, valenciaeric said:

    And you would want to buy those as well because they would be sold at RRP to generate short term liquidity and pay off the debts and fixed costs.

    Or be stuck with huge quantities of unsold sets because no one wants them at retail price. Competing in a market against huge reputable retailers who can afford to undercut smaller sellers and offer free shipping doesn't make for an easy venture.

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    You and I know that but what about the scheme investors who are just looking for easy profit? I mean, if someone invests in a fund its because they trust the organiser knows more about the subject than they do - otherwise they would just create their own share portfolio.

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    I am definitely scaling down my purchases of Lego in 2016. I will no longer be purchasing large quantities of sets to hold and resell a few years later. There is obviously alot more selling competition but I also think the brand is slipping. There are also going to be some big changes in 3P selling on Amazon over the next 3-5 years and I really don't have any faith in the ebay platform. All this adds up to not enough reward for shouldering all of that risk for me. In 3-4 years I will be completely out of the Lego game in any serious way. I think the easy money is now in selling services to resellers and Amazon stock did not let me down this year. I will be mainly concentrating my reselling efforts on items I can realize a good ROI bi-weekly rather than every 2 years. I no longer feel the brand is as safe as it has been in prior years and unfortunately I can start to see some larger cracks appearing in my local brick and mortar private chain of brick stores. For my business model the Lego brand just isn't going to work as far as reselling their toy line. I think there is a good market for complimentary brick related and reselling merchandise tho.

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