NEW BRICKPICKER MEMBER FAQs & INVESTMENT QUESTIONS

[Wazzapova]

7 hours ago, badmofo said:

I have $10,000+ worth of unopen Lego.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to unload it all at once?  I have sold on eBay before but not sure if I want to deal with all the listing and shipping of individual sets or themes.  Are there any companies that will buy large lots?

 

 

I was thinking the same just last week. I am compiling my list and most of it must go.  I have about $10K as well in Lego and would rather have it all go to one place for a set agreed upon price. Are we allowed to supply a list on this site without getting in trouble? To be easier I can also upload a PDF of my list. I live in South Windsor, CT FYI. 

[Pebble&Park]

11 minutes ago, Wazzapova said:

I was thinking the same just last week. I am compiling my list and most of it must go.  I have about $10K as well in Lego and would rather have it all go to one place for a set agreed upon price. Are we allowed to supply a list on this site without getting in trouble? To be easier I can also upload a PDF of my list. I live in South Windsor, CT FYI. 

You absolutely can create a thread in the for sale section and sell off your sets, either piecemeal or as one large lot. Just be prepared when listing - you are not unloading $10k of Lego sets to a collector - you are selling to a reseller. So you will not get anywhere near current Amazon, or even Bricklink prices for sets. There has to be meat on the bone for that reseller as well, so expect to get about half of going rates for sets, maybe a little more depending on the set makeup, condition, etc. 

[badmofo]

Thanks

[Guest TabbyBoy]

I've sold a lot of "Buyer's Remorse" job lots on here to fellow members. I set the price so that they get a good enough deal to take the whole lot and that I still at least break-even. I even made 1p each on my Exo Suits! ;-)

[ilegälego]

Hi and hello

I'm all new to this site, so lets start with a question. Sorry if you've heard it alot already:

Is there a (significant) difference between products from one country to another? I mean; I'm realy new to this; i saw on your page, that the set 75163 Krennic's Imperial Shuttle™ Microfighter is in a high ranking. I checked and yes, it's no longer available in the official Lego store. But I still can find it in stores where I live (in Switzerland). That would mean I could just buy and sell it with an instant return... But the packaging is slightli different from the official store to the local toys'r'us (same Picture, not same text; for an exemple; the number of bricks is not printet)

Is this relevant for international "customers"?

Thanks for your answer, just befor I go and invest my savings into the Little Imperial Shuttle :-)

Greetings Thomas

[t_mafia]

16 hours ago, ilegälego said:

Hi and hello
I'm all new to this site, so lets start with a question. Sorry if you've heard it alot already:
Is there a (significant) difference between products from one country to another? I mean; I'm realy new to this; i saw on your page, that the set 75163 Krennic's Imperial Shuttle Microfighter is in a high ranking. I checked and yes, it's no longer available in the official Lego store. But I still can find it in stores where I live (in Switzerland). That would mean I could just buy and sell it with an instant return... But the packaging is slightli different from the official store to the local toys'r'us (same Picture, not same text; for an exemple; the number of bricks is not printet)
Is this relevant for international "customers"?
Thanks for your answer, just befor I go and invest my savings into the Little Imperial Shuttle :-)
Greetings Thomas

United States packaging includes information (such as number of pieces) that European boxes do not include. But yes you are looking at the same set in each photo you have included

[Ed Mack]

The minor box "art" difference is not really important to the value of the set.

[stanstusteve]

I collect all different Legos and am trying to donate them to local boys & girls club but if over $5,000 you need appraisal ! Unable to find a TOY appraiser.

If anyone knows of one in live in Maine and even called legos and they didn't know anyone!

[ilegälego]

On 26.2.2018 at 2:58 PM, southcollector13 said:

United States packaging includes information (such as number of pieces) that European boxes do not include. But yes you are looking at the same set in each photo you have included

Thx

[ilegälego]

On 26.2.2018 at 6:25 PM, Ed Mack said:

The minor box "art" difference is not really important to the value of the set.

Thx for the fast reply. Appreciate it.

[t_mafia]

I was wondering if somebody could explain to me how Lego pricing works? I was recently at the Lego store in Rome, Italy. It was my first time seeing pricing outside of the United States. I understand that some international prices include tax, which US RRP does not include, but still... some of the pricing had me scratching my head. That piece of garbage First Order ATST was a whopping 59 Euros, which translates into over 70 USD (compared to a RRP of 40 in the US). Looked at the price in Czech Republic for the same set and it was almost 90 USD when converted!

I hear a lot of stuff about promos internationally (3 for 2, discounts on exclusives, etc., which don't happen as frequently in the US)... so are there just better sales on the RRP at international stores? Or are these prices normal for Europeans to pay? No disrespect to anyone, Italy was absolutely fantastic. Thanks in advance to anybody who can explain!

Also, got a hint of time travel when there was a damaged box Sandcrawler at the Rome store for 300 Euro. No discount for the damage though.

[Guest TabbyBoy]

12 minutes ago, southcollector13 said:

I was wondering if somebody could explain to me how Lego pricing works? I was recently at the Lego store in Rome, Italy. It was my first time seeing pricing outside of the United States. I understand that some international prices include tax, which US RRP does not include, but still... some of the pricing had me scratching my head. That piece of garbage First Order ATST was a whopping 59 Euros, which translates into over 70 USD (compared to a RRP of 40 in the US). Looked at the price in Czech Republic for the same set and it was almost 90 USD when converted!

I hear a lot of stuff about promos internationally (3 for 2, discounts on exclusives, etc., which don't happen as frequently in the US)... so are there just better sales on the RRP at international stores? Or are these prices normal for Europeans to pay? No disrespect to anyone, Italy was absolutely fantastic. Thanks in advance to anybody who can explain!

Also, got a hint of time travel when there was a damaged box Sandcrawler at the Rome store for 300 Euro. No discount for the damage though.

If you mean 75201, it's £54.99 including tax which is about $76. The RRP of LEGO in the UK is a joke apart from the Saturn V and Destinys Bounty and Stars Wars sets are an utter piss-take so I'm done with that theme. In the UK, we only have a chance of reselling if the discounts are huge. RRP? Forget it!

[HHakley]

Hi all, new member here. Rediscovering my Lego enjoyment and starting to put an eye towards sets for investment potential in addition to ongoing personal use.

My new guy question: I see RRP/MSRP used and members obviously advocate (heavily) discounted items. So the question is: is a discount generally calculated as any reduction from the LEGO Shop at Home price (seen in either retail stores or the odd Lego LEGO Shop at Home sales)? Or is it more calculated as whatever is offered retail w/r/t aftermarket “sold” data? 

Thanks all, I look forward to continuing to gather insight from this grou. 

[Phil B]

Hi all, new member here. Rediscovering my Lego enjoyment and starting to put an eye towards sets for investment potential in addition to ongoing personal use.
My new guy question: I see RRP/MSRP used and members obviously advocate (heavily) discounted items. So the question is: is a discount generally calculated as any reduction from the LEGO Shop at Home price (seen in either retail stores or the odd Lego LEGO Shop at Home sales)? Or is it more calculated as whatever is offered retail w/r/t aftermarket “sold” data? 
Thanks all, I look forward to continuing to gather insight from this grou. 

Welcome! Discounts are reported here versus the original list price on LEGO LEGO Shop at Home. You can look these up for current AND retired sets by going to http://www.brickset.com.

[The Builder]

 I also have 10k worth of Lego sets, and I think the best way to sell, and from what I've herd the best places are...1. Amazon 2. Bricklink 3. Ebay 

I sell allot on Ebay and Amazon, so if anyone has ALLOT of Lego's to sell, I recommend Amazon as my first pick. Use FBA on Amazon to sell bulk lots. And I also invest in some Cryptocurrency, It's a digital form of currency, and allot of the recent prices of Lego sets are different in each country is because of the form of currency they have, it could be Coins, or Paper Dollars, like what we have in america, If that helps. 

[mgvand01]

Hey all! I've been using this site and others lately as a resource to start pricing my old collection from when I was a kid. But I'm thinking of trying to keep this going as a hobby for some side cash. I know that the more time you invest into something, the greater the return but I'm not aiming for this to be my main source of income...I got mouths to feed.

But just starting off with my collection, I'm having to pick through all of my bricks, reassemble the sets to verify it's all there and then figure out a price...which I'm actually really enjoying! With that being said, as a new  hobbyist seller, what's everyone's experience with used collections vs. new set collections? I've been gleaning Craigslist for local buys to keep this party going and here's the dilemma: 1) 15 brand new, in the box 2017-18 Star Wars sets for $350 (retail of ~$750) that I'd have to drive a ways to get or 2) unsorted collection (19 lbs) with a bunch of minifigs, 30 instruction books with themes that interest me for $300.

I'm leaning towards the second because I don't think I have the self-control to leave those SW sets in the box and I know as soon as I open them up, they're value drops even more. But I'm definitely a build-it-once-then-display kind of guy so the bricks wouldn't take a beating. Anyway, I'm super pumped to be back building and appreciate any tips or advice!

[scatttcat]

2 hours ago, mgvand01 said:

Hey all! I've been using this site and others lately as a resource to start pricing my old collection from when I was a kid. But I'm thinking of trying to keep this going as a hobby for some side cash. I know that the more time you invest into something, the greater the return but I'm not aiming for this to be my main source of income...I got mouths to feed.

But just starting off with my collection, I'm having to pick through all of my bricks, reassemble the sets to verify it's all there and then figure out a price...which I'm actually really enjoying! With that being said, as a new  hobbyist seller, what's everyone's experience with used collections vs. new set collections? I've been gleaning Craigslist for local buys to keep this party going and here's the dilemma: 1) 15 brand new, in the box 2017-18 Star Wars sets for $350 (retail of ~$750) that I'd have to drive a ways to get or 2) unsorted collection (19 lbs) with a bunch of minifigs, 30 instruction books with themes that interest me for $300.

I'm leaning towards the second because I don't think I have the self-control to leave those SW sets in the box and I know as soon as I open them up, they're value drops even more. But I'm definitely a build-it-once-then-display kind of guy so the bricks wouldn't take a beating. Anyway, I'm super pumped to be back building and appreciate any tips or advice!

How funny, you sound like me a year ago. I was in the exact same boat, re-discovering my old sets and wanting to piece them back together and sell them. My goal was also always to keep profits and put them back into Lego (whether it is for personal builds / or more investment sets). So far it has worked out quite nicely. I've definitely managed to keep these funds as separate play money for Lego and I like that aspect a lot.

I ALSO went deep with used lots, and I would agree with you that option 2 sounds more exciting. You will find people on here though that HATE buying used lots and sorting them out for resale... and they have a valid point. It is tiring and can take a lot of time.

Fast forward to me a year (and a half) later, I still have used lots to go through that I bought when I started. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret the purchases and there is still a lot of profit to be made... but they are slightly daunting to tackle. So keep that in mind when going the route of used lego... There will ALWAYS be another used lot you think is worth something and it takes discipline to pace yourself. It can add up quick and then finding the time to sort through it all can feel intimidating.

I do a little bit of both currently, hit up the clearance sales and pick up sealed sets to sit on, and then I have my used lots to still piece out. I still love to inventory, sorting, building, taking good photos, and selling these used sets so I am content right now.... but it does take some serious patience at times, so I understand people who dread it. 

 

Advice would be, option 2 sounds more exciting to me and seems like thats where you are gravitating towards anyways..... just pace yourself haha.

 

 

[Zelgazra]

The summarize Scatt's comments, the long and short of it is that there's usually more profit in Used lots.... IF, and only if, you don't pay yourself an hourly wage for the time taken to sort and build and photo and unbuild before the sale. If you break that time down, you're making pennies on the hour, which is why a lot of the aforementioned folks steer well clear of Used bulk. If you're enjoying the therapeutic qualities of sorting bricks, and the genuine satisfaction of making a set 0% complete to 100% complete, Used lots are for you. Highly advise starting small though.... 19lbs is a nice bite size lot. But 3 or 4 of those without some solid time put in to process them, and you'll be in the 'too intimidating to even start' boat. 100+ pounds of loose lego bricks is not approachable without a very practiced, and established system in place. 

[Tarka]

Is there a list of recommended threads anywhere? I'd like to get a handle on what historical and ongoing threads are worth going through and monitoring.

 

Thanks

[raywilbury]

Is there a way to add sets in the price guide directly to my Brickfolio?

[The Builder]

Just now, raywilbury said:

Is there a way to add sets in the price guide directly to my Brickfolio?

From what I've seen, you can only add sets to your brickfolio if they are already in the database. The price guide is updated every few months from what I've seen. To your question, I do not think you can add sets to the price guide, that job I think is for the leaders of BrickPicker like Jeff and Ed.

 You can add sets to your brickfolio and they might have the pricing history? Some of my sets don't have any pricing history because they are not in the database. 

[raywilbury]

Thanks....  what I'm looking for is when I'm already in the price guide section, that I can add those sets to my personal Brickfolio directly...  it would be more convenient since all of the sets are right there.  Brickset seems to have that functionality.

[The Builder]

Just now, raywilbury said:

Thanks....  what I'm looking for is when I'm already in the price guide section, that I can add those sets to my personal Brickfolio directly...  it would be more convenient since all of the sets are right there.  Brickset seems to have that functionality.

In that case, no. You can only add sets to your brickfolio from the tad that says, "ADD BRICKFOLIO ITEM " in your brickfolio, once you click on it type in the number of the set you want to add, then the set will appear below, than click on it and customize it, then click submit. It's simple.  

[Gleb Skywalker]

Hi guys! I am newbie here. I work in China and buy Lego here, isn't it a problem to sell the lots from China to Europe or US? Is there a quality or prestigious difference of lego between countries of purchasing?   

[Brick Cypher]

Hello everyone, strange question, but does anyone know what the Amazon prices on old sets are based on, and if anyone actually pays them? I look on amazon occasionally, but I often see them charging several times what a MISB set on bricklink or eBay would go for, and I've been curious what they base these numbers on. I assume if any of these sets sell it is due to ignorance of other marketplaces by the buyer, but I am curious if anyone has bought or sold a valuable retired set on there. Thank you for your input!

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