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Anyone else experiencing major drops in eBay sales lately???


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Guess you better get out of the business then :D

 

Like I said, more sellers isn't necessarily the end all of Lego selling as there are probably a ton more buyers than before.  Yes, the days of selling Cafe Corner for $1000 are probably over, but that happens in every speculative market.  There's still money to be made, it just has to be made smarter.

 

Pretty ovb. you are a newbie  .. any long term seller will agree .. the competition in reselling legos has raised to new levels weather its parting out, selling current sealed sets, or retired .. well for me at least I can tell that my sales are slowing down.

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Where's your facts that back up your claim of thousands getting out everyday? I'll give you facts that the number of Lego investors are growing. Lego listings on eBay grow daily. This site has many new members daily, I'm sure Ed can fill you in with traffic figures and how about regular claims from members stating profits are getting harder to come by. It's pretty obvious numbers are increasing

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Do u really think there are that many new resellers? Lego investing isn't cheap either... It's not like beanie babies or other fads.

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I wouldnt say lego investing is that expensive .. if you want to open a stock account at minimal you would need $25k just to get your foot in the door ... lego investing on the other hand can be done with only a few hundred even thousand and work your way up. Working your way up in stock market with only a few hundred or thousand is likely not going to happen .. unless you wanna gamble with biotech stocks or penny stocks lol ... trust me lego investing is not that expensive.

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Pretty ovb. you are a newbie  .. any long term seller will agree .. the competition in reselling legos has raised to new levels weather its parting out, selling current sealed sets, or retired .. well for me at least I can tell that my sales are slowing down.

 

I am a newbie, and my response was a bit tongue in cheek.    If you're trying to make a living doing this full time, then yes I'd probably be a bit worried.  As a hobby, smaller investment, way to fund your toy collection, etc, there's still money to be made here.  But if the market collapses and retired sets start selling for less than MSRP I'll eat crow.

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Where's your facts that back up your claim of thousands getting out everyday? I'll give you facts that the number of Lego investors are growing. Lego listings on eBay grow daily. This site has many new members daily, I'm sure Ed can fill you in with traffic figures and how about regular claims from members stating profits are getting harder to come by. It's pretty obvious numbers are increasing

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there is always an equilibrium - people get in people get out.  more people getting in than getting out now, but its not a one way deal.  people buy 2 thousands worth of legos, then they need a new car, get sick, want their money back and sell it.  these are likely the good deals that people are still getting on ebay like posted yesterday where someone scored a TB, a PS and a CC for 440or something.  that's a seller who is throwing in the towel on investing.  while this site has a lot of heavy hitters in the lego universe, there is just such a larger group out there than we can comprehend - after all who is doing all the buying to begin with.  more and more lego fans are born every day.

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I think many investors are young like myself or past middle age. Those older people will pass away eventually or just not do it anymore cause its work and they are freaking 75. Those younger like myself well most will have life happen. Marriage moving changes etc where it's just not feasible for then anymore. I know I'm in left field a bit but I have a huge luxury right now with storage situation, money etc. Things may not always be that way. If I eve have to move the first thing *** thst would pop on my mind is damn I have a lot of lego. Do I really want to move all of these or trust movers in whatever. Or should I just sell and take what market dictates. I know this is so far from op but seems it's gone that direction of bubble speculation. Life happens and when it does lego investing is bottom of totem poll for most. My real job, gf, happiness etc would come first.

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I will continue to complain about Helm and Vampyre because if they were going to be money makers, they wouldn't still be available.  I'm not a newb, been at this for over a year.  Look how quick Fire Brigade dried up...that should have happened with two 100+ dollar sets that everyone universally loved.

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I will continue to complain about Helm and Vampyre because if they were going to be money makers, they wouldn't still be available.  I'm not a newb, been at this for over a year.  Look how quick Fire Brigade dried up...that should have happened with two 100+ dollar sets that everyone universally loved.

 

If you want to see a set that has really stalled take a look at Diagon Alley. Back in 2012 it was thought of as one of the best sets you could pick up for investing. In the last 6 months it has seen only 3.8% growth and only 62% growth over retail.

 

As for lower sales part of that has to do with the time of year. March, April and May are always slow. But also the number of resellers is really starting to show. Just a year or two ago a set on Amazon would have maybe a dozen or couple dozen 3rd party listings. Now many sets have hundreds of other resellers. 

 

I've pointed this out before but no one really seems too concerned or responds to it much. If you look at the BP home page in the footer you will see some site stats. I have been keeping track of these for a while now. Here is one stat that really has me thinking there are too many investors buying very large amounts.

 

January 31, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 8,537,670.56

 

February 8, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 10,497,434.00 

 

February 26, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 14,688,530.08 

 

March 19, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 16,999,452.07 

 

March 25, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 17,317,887.53 

 

As you can see in less than 2 months we have added well over $8 million dollars in inventory to our brickfolios. Of course some of this increase is due to our brickfolios increasing in value but that is only calculated once a month. When you see millions of dollars added every couple of weeks it gets a little scary.

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It doesn't help that everybody and their mother is "investing" and selling legos on Ebay, Craigslist, "online store", etc now. One simple search on Ebay by Average Joe, the casual lego consumer/collector, will throw a light bulb on that legos sell very well on the secondary market and then the idea is planted. After that, a quick Google search leads to many sites like this and, just like that, we have a new lego investor saturating the market. I'm sure that is happening and will happen on a weekly basis for the forseeable future, especially seeing what some of these higher end sets are selling for now. I mean, let's be realistic. This site is great and informative but at the same time is "giving away the secret" to how it is all done, right done to the very last minute detail. Delusions of grandeur are one of human beings worst traits. Not to mention the economy is not that great anymore so many of these newbies will be contempt with making only a few bucks on the side to get by meaning they are willing to lower their prices below what many here would sell their product for. On top of that, so many of us have 10-50 sets that we want to list two years after retirement, all at the same time. I mean seriously, what do we really think is going to happen!!?? One has to admit that it's beginning to get a little out of hand.

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As you can see in less than 2 months we have added well over $8 million dollars in inventory to our brickfolios. Of course some of this increase is due to our brickfolios increasing in value but that is only calculated once a month. When you see millions of dollars added every couple of weeks it gets a little scary.

 

When you have 100's or 1000's of new members, the total Brickfolio will increase in sync with new memberships as well.

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If you want to see a set that has really stalled take a look at Diagon Alley. Back in 2012 it was thought of as one of the best sets you could pick up for investing. In the last 6 months it has seen only 3.8% growth and only 62% growth over retail.

 

As for lower sales part of that has to do with the time of year. March, April and May are always slow. But also the number of resellers is really starting to show. Just a year or two ago a set on Amazon would have maybe a dozen or couple dozen 3rd party listings. Now many sets have hundreds of other resellers. 

 

I've pointed this out before but no one really seems too concerned or responds to it much. If you look at the BP home page in the footer you will see some site stats. I have been keeping track of these for a while now. Here is one stat that really has me thinking there are too many investors buying very large amounts.

 

January 31, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 8,537,670.56

 

February 8, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 10,497,434.00 

 

February 26, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 14,688,530.08 

 

March 19, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 16,999,452.07 

 

March 25, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 17,317,887.53 

 

As you can see in less than 2 months we have added well over $8 million dollars in inventory to our brickfolios. Of course some of this increase is due to our brickfolios increasing in value but that is only calculated once a month. When you see millions of dollars added every couple of weeks it gets a little scary.

 

I don't put too much faith in that total $ much (lots of people just play around), but the 400+ additional members a week since the newspaper article - now that to me is concerning.

 

I know people say, well they don't come here just for investment info - but if you are looking to discuss your love of LEGO, we all know there are a lot better places to do it.

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If you want to see a set that has really stalled take a look at Diagon Alley. Back in 2012 it was thought of as one of the best sets you could pick up for investing. In the last 6 months it has seen only 3.8% growth and only 62% growth over retail.

 

As for lower sales part of that has to do with the time of year. March, April and May are always slow. But also the number of resellers is really starting to show. Just a year or two ago a set on Amazon would have maybe a dozen or couple dozen 3rd party listings. Now many sets have hundreds of other resellers. 

 

I've pointed this out before but no one really seems too concerned or responds to it much. If you look at the BP home page in the footer you will see some site stats. I have been keeping track of these for a while now. Here is one stat that really has me thinking there are too many investors buying very large amounts.

 

January 31, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 8,537,670.56

 

February 8, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 10,497,434.00 

 

February 26, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 14,688,530.08 

 

March 19, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 16,999,452.07 

 

March 25, 2014

Total current value of member Brickfolios: $ 17,317,887.53 

 

As you can see in less than 2 months we have added well over $8 million dollars in inventory to our brickfolios. Of course some of this increase is due to our brickfolios increasing in value but that is only calculated once a month. When you see millions of dollars added every couple of weeks it gets a little scary.

Funny you should say this about Diagon Alley.  That was a set I was super excited to get right before it retired.  I finally just dumped it because I was afraid it would be forgotten about altogether.  I know there will always be Harry Potter fans, but there is just nothing there to maintain the interest.  Diagon Alley could have (and should have) grown a lot more in value by now, so I decided to sell it and walk with $80 profit.  It may go higher, especially at Christmas, but I would rather be up $80 than wait nervously for the chance to be up a little more.  It's kinda like that casino mentality... get greedy, keep gambling, and lose big.  Lol.

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lego-Big-Zoo-6157-/331152969703

 

This is the lego market today. Lots of people working for scraps.

 

The good news is once these sellers go hungry they leave the lions share of profits for the rest of us a few years down the road.

Maybe all those Big Zoos fell off the back of a truck somewhere, and anything they get for it is profit.  :D

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Just to add my two cents... I think too many people here are counting on a lot of the new sellers "going hungry" and giving up.

 

I don't think there will ever be any shortage of the dimwits who sell things on eBay, and as long as their sale prices exceed what they paid, they think they are making money without ever considering all the expenses involved.  eBay selling is fun when you first get into it, and what better thing to sell than Lego.  It is a very trendy toy right now, and people are obviously seeing the value in selling it.

 

Need more evidence? Look at Bricklink prices now, compared to what they were 6 and especially 12 months ago.  (This is assuming that you bought and/or sold on Bricklink within that time frame.)  There are so many people selling on there now that you practically have to give things away to make sales.  I exaggerate of course, but there is no question that individual part values have taken a plunge due to the increased amount of competition.

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This reminds me of the 90's when all the sports memorabilia collectors became dealers. There was money to be made very quickly. Then, as soon as the market was ruined with too many dealers undercutting each other, they all got out and sold everything dirt cheap. We are starting to re-live the 90's folks. Its ok if you don't want to believe it. Some will survive it. Some won't. But, mark my word, the secondary market will be ruined when all is said and done. Not a bubble, not a sky is falling, just another friendly reality check. (now remember, this has nothing to do with the production or quantity of baseball cards produced, but EVERYTHING to do with the number of dealers and people who wanted a piece of the money pie at the time so don't start comparing sports cards to LEGO -- Its about comparing the markets - not the product.)

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Seems like there are a flurry of new sellers on eBay , cl and in general. I stopped selling online and only sell locally now . Since I opened my shop I have been approached by 4 people wanting to do what we do.... Sell lego full time. These people are new investors buying up sets looking to make a quit buck by flipping right away. I get customers coming in telling me they have 5 of something and looking to buy multiples of sets. I even had one guy tell me he's opening a lego shop near me... It does worry me to see lots of new investors but eventually a lot of them sell out. I think if the big wig buyers continue to absorb smaller investors we will all be ok .

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Perhaps a poll is in order, something like ...

 

Are you a ...?

 

1) Investor/Reseller

2) Hobbyist (1 for me & 1 to sell down the road)

3) Collector (Just want to know about good deals for me and for gifts)

There already is a poll thread like that somewhere on the site. As for exactly where, I have no idea off hand. :dontknow:
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