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Amazon Warehouse Deals - Worth the Risk?


edgecrusher

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Almost a full year ago, Bold-Arrow started a thread about his experience with Amazon Warehouse Deals. As I mentioned in today's Daily Deal thread, we recently had our third child, and there was a ton of down time in the hospital. I spent a lot of time browsing the back alley's of Brickpicker's forums, and Bold-Arrow's thread was one I stumbled across. About every 15 minutes or so, I'd refresh the listing of AWD and browse through the results. It's amazing some of the cool older sets that pop up on there! Many of them aren't investment worthy, or even buy and build worthy, but they are interesting to discover even if I ultimately decide not to purchase. I have bought 13 sets in the past 10 or so days, and I have not yet done anything but open the shipping box to verify there was an actual Lego set delivered. I figured I might as well share the excitement of exploring the purchases with all of you while we wait for some actual Lego deals to pop up. My format will go as follows, with each set in an individual post:

 

Set Name:

Set Number:

Release Year:

Retired (Y/******/Maybe):

Regular Retail Price:

Current Brickpicker Value (New and Used):

Purchase Price (Discount):

Listed Condition:

Description of actual condition (maybe some pics too!):

Worth the Purchase?: 

 

 

If any of you have also made recent AWD purchases, feel free to post your own! I'm guessing what we'll find is that the condition code is impossible to crack, but that there may be some trends that develop and can be used to our advantage. I don't think I purchased any "Item is Damaged" sets, but I'm kinda curious to know what that means in regards to Lego. It would be pretty difficult to "damage" any actual bricks, and if any were they can be replaced relatively cheaply on Bricklink/Brickowl/etc. I'm going to go in chronological purchase order, starting with a 9493 X-Wing. 

 

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Set Name: X-Wing Starfighter

Set Number: 9493

Release Year: 2012

Retired: Retiring Soon per Lego LEGO Shop at Home

Regular Retail Price: $59.99

Current Brickpicker Value (New and Used): $51.88/$35.79

Purchase Price (Discount to MSRP): $54.61 (9% discount to MSRP)

Listed Condition: Used - Very Good - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging will be damaged. Minor cosmetic imperfection(s) on item.

Description of actual condition (maybe some pics too!): I bought this set because I wanted an old school X-Wing for my kids IF the value doesn't take off on these. I'm sure a lot of you out there were able to grab them at bigger discounts in beautiful boxes, so I'm fully expecting to end up building this one with my boys. When I opened the shipping box, I was somewhat appalled at how bad the box actually looked. There was a lot of tape and TWO "Inspected by Amazon" stickers. I'm going to need to open this to verify I'm keeping it. The seals are already cut and retaped, so no harm no foul here. First thing that falls out is the sticker sheet; it's in perfect condition. Wait a second, what is this.... A second sticker sheet! Instructions are in good shape also, and all mini-figs are accounted for in still sealed bags. So that's the good news. There are 5 bags, and bag #4 has a small tear. Damn, now I'm going to have to inventory the parts. Might take an opinion here from you guys...I should just go ahead and build this one right? Maybe I set this out in my office as a display model for a bit until prices come up on 9493. If it's incomplete, I'll update this post about whether I keep it and track down the missing pieces or return it and get my money back.

Worth the Purchase?: I'm going to say yes. This was a set I wanted and neglected to grab before they disappeared from B&M and online retailers. This was definitely a two way purchase that could have gone for investment hold or personal build. I think the major lesson learned (with one data point) is that "Minor Cosmetic Imperfections on Item" might mean an open bag. At least I got that extra sticker sheet!

 

Pics:

XW3'' target='_blank'>XW3>XW3

 

XW4'' target='_blank'>XW4>XW4

 

XW2'' target='_blank'>XW2>XW2

 

XW1'' target='_blank'>XW1>XW1

 

XW5'' target='_blank'>XW5>XW5

Edited by edgecrusher
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So I've played Warehouse roulette over the past few weeks and I pretty much agree with BA.  It's nigh impossible to know what you're going to get.  It's not that hard to identify open boxes, I wish they would note that in their descriptions, or at least not list open items as "Like New".

One thing I did notice is that they all came well packaged, better than most orders from Amazon.  Since I wasn't in a big hurry for any of these, I opted for their promotional digital credit so I could at least rent a movie if things didn't work out.

-----

Dolphin Cruiser - 41015
$44.99


Like New - Item has no cosmetic scratches or blemishes. Item has no cracks or dents. Item will come in original packaging. Packaging may be damaged. All accessories are present and undamaged.

 

The box was in pretty good condition but it was open.  I was able to verify everything was there.  I decided to keep it, this was the cheapest I came across them, until YoYo had their sale.

-----

Mini Off-Roader - 42001

$8.62

Very Good - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging will be damaged.

 

This was basically a pancake.  It was for a personal build so I was happy with what I received for the price.

-----

Minecraft Micro World - 21102

$28.40

Very Good - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging will be damaged. Item has minor cosmetic damage to top, front or sides.

 

This description was pretty accurate.  The box was still sealed, but caved in a little on one side.

-----

Minecraft The Village - 21105

$30.44

Like New - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging may be damaged.

 

The box was creased at the base, but not bad.  Pretty happy with this one considering it was sold out everywhere.

-----

Minecraft The Nether - 21106

$30.75

Like New - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging may be damaged.

 

The box was in great shape, but the seals were cut, with scotch tape over them.

-----

Ariel's Magical Kiss - 41052

$17.73

Very Good - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging will be damaged.

 

Part of the box printing had been peeled off one end, it was pretty minor, and some light creasing on the bottom of the box.  Very happy with this considering the box condition and price.

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Great idea for a thread!

 

My experience.  I bought 2 MF off of AWD last week and a Simpsons house on Sunday for my son's birthday.

 

#1 MF listed as like new for 125. Box was pristine but seals were broken.  I verified all bags and instructions were sealed and  present.  I photographed all bags and the box and listed it as new with open box and sealed bags on Ebay.  It sold in 5 hours for 199.95 shipped.

 

#2 MF listed as very good for $115.  Box was creased, not badly, and open.  As above it was photographed and listed for $199.95 and sold in less than a day.

 

#3 Simpsons House for $164 listed as very good. The box was pristine...better than some new sets I have ordered.  All bags and instructions sealed and accounted for.

 

I didn't make big bucks off of the MFs but they were easy to flip and ship.  I just had to retape them and slap a new label on them.  I would take the risk again.  You can always return it if you feel it was not as advertised.

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Since you thread my old thread; item description means jack . Amazon WH is a separate company and their feedback is horrible . ( plenty of not as described)

Having said that , if you don't have any x wing set I would keep it. Won't get any cheaper

 

Amazon Warehouse Deals is not a separate company - the listings are simply separate than traditional listings so no one gets confused.

 

The item descriptions are not always accurate - this part is true. There are hundreds of different people across the country grading items. It is extremely difficult being consistent. I've graded items for WHD in years past and currently work in quality dpt. Amazon damages and sells on WHD sets that have a dinged corner all the way to completely smashed/reboxed.

 

Personally I would definitely take the risk on "Like New" listings because quite a few are truly near pristine shape. Anything below that and you should expect a set you won't be able to easily resell.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000656811

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Set Name: Minecraft Micro World: The Nether

Set Number: 21106

Release Year: 2013

Retired (Y/******/Maybe): No

Regular Retail Price: $34.99

Current Brickpicker Value (New and Used): $37.80/$0.00

Purchase Price (Discount): $28.66 (18%)

Listed Condition: Used - Very Good - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging will be damaged.

Description of actual condition: I'm not going to take any pics, but each of the corners are crushed, with some worse than others. There is a small tear at one corner, but not large enough to remove any contents from the box. All seals are intact.

Worth the Purchase?: I bought this to try and complete the set of 4 (along with my next entry here, a 21105 Microworld: The Village). To get this for less than $30.00, I'm hoping I can sell this in the set of 4 for between $170 and $200 on eBay to at least clear a little cash on the deal. With the recent $19.99 Micro Worlds floating around, I would not buy this again. I'm going to be staying away from Minecraft now, as I have no personal interest in building the sets if I can't sell them.

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Set Name: Minecraft Micro World: The Village

Set Number: 21105

Release Year: 2013

Retired (Y/******/Maybe): No

Regular Retail Price: $34.99

Current Brickpicker Value (New and Used): $41.77/$29.93

Purchase Price (Discount): $30.44 (13%)

Listed Condition: Used - Like New - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging may be damaged.

Description of actual condition: Liars! The box is in great shape with the top seals intact. The bottom seals...different story. Both were cut, and resealed with clear packing tape. Going to have to open this up to verify contents. It better all be there. I will say this; it's nice that the "Inspected by Amazon" stickers are easy to remove.

Worth the Purchase?: As mentioned above, I bought this to try and complete the set of 4 Micro Worlds. It appears everything is present inside the box, as they could not have fit another bag in there. I'll be able to claim open box to verify contents on this one, as the box is in pretty good shape and even the brick separator is present. I'd certainly prefer intact seals, but this isn't the end of the world. I'll certainly let you guys know when and for how much I'm able to sell these two sets along with my MISB 21102 and 21107.

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Set Name: Exo-Suit

Set Number: 21109

Release Year: 2014

Retired (Y/******/Maybe): No

Regular Retail Price: $34.99

Current Brickpicker Value (New and Used): $49.44/$0.00

Purchase Price (Discount): $30.41 (13%)

Listed Condition: Used - Like New - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging may be damaged.

Description of actual condition (maybe some pics too!): No pics are necessary, because this looks damn good. There is a very very small crease across the Lego logo at the top left of the back of the box, but otherwise this wouldn't look out of place in the shelf at a Lego Store. 

Worth the Purchase?: Full disclosure: Eff the haters on the Exo-Suit. This may not be a great investment piece with its wide availability, but it hasn't been discounted anywhere to the best of my knowledge. I'm a huge fan of Peter Reid's builds, and I fully plan on breaking this out when I have some me time. This one is for the personal collection. I bought an Exo-Suit at full price to sit on when they first came out, so I'll continue to sit on that one for "investment" purposes. 

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Set Name: Millennium Falcon

Set Number: 7965

Release Year: 2011

Retired (Y/******/Maybe): Yes, sold out on LEGO Shop at Home with the telltale 20% discount

Regular Retail Price: $139.99

Current Brickpicker Value (New and Used): $120.01/$94.90

Purchase Price (Discount): $113.74 (18.8%)

Listed Condition: Used - Very Good - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging will be damaged.

Description of actual condition (maybe some pics too!): Similar to the Exo-Suit, there are some minor scuffs and creasing, but it's no worse than a highly trafficked TRU, WalMart, or Target set might look with shelf wear

Worth the Purchase?: Totally worth the purchase. These are selling for around $200 on eBay right now, and I'm hoping to flip this locally for about the same price. I managed to snag another one of these yesterday for $126, I'll write it up when it arrives.

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Set Name: Sandcrawler

Set Number: 75059

Release Year: 2014

Retired (Y/******/Maybe): No

Regular Retail Price: $299.99

Current Brickpicker Value (New and Used): $272.76/$0.00

Purchase Price (Discount): $260.96 (13%)

Listed Condition: Used - Like New - Item has no cosmetic scratches or blemishes. Item has no cracks or dents. Item will come in original packaging. Packaging may be damaged. All accessories are present and undamaged.

Description of actual condition (maybe some pics too!): This box is huge! It's really in average shape, with some cuts, scrapes, and creases. The seals have been broken and taped on one end, so we're digging in to find out what's inside today! Ho. Lee. Sheeeeeeeet Clay Davis. There are a ton of bags in here. I'm guessing that there were two larger white  boxes inside, but only one remains. Bags 1, 2 (2 of them), 3, 5, 6, 7 (2 of them), 8 , 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16 (2 of them) are loose in the large box. Where are 4, and 13, and are there other multiple numbered bags? Time to open the still sealed white box and find out what is in there. Another 1, Bag 4, Another 5, Another 6, Another 8, Bag 13, and Another 15 are in there. The instructions and sticker sheet are still sealed in their bag and well protected with cardboard. My desk is covered in bags of pieces. 

Worth the Purchase?:  I had also been planning on getting an Amazon Visa to take advantage of the 3% back from AMZ purchases for a while, but for some stupid reason just had not done it. When this popped up for $260 I wavered and ultimately declined to buy it, but finally decided to apply for the Visa. When I found there was a $70 bonus AMZ giftcard for signing up, I changed my mind and decided to pull the trigger on the Sandcrawler for effectively $184 out of pocket after the giftcard and 3% cashback. I'll probably try and flip this for around MSRP locally and make a quick $40, but I'm guessing I'll be building this if nobody jumps on it within a few weeks. I'll definitely be doing some research on this one, as I could see an early retirement with the Slave 1 and a possible 2nd UCS Star Wars set coming out this year. If that's the case, this could possibly jump like a mini SSD. I don't think it would be as popular, but this could be a $500 set at EOL easily.

 

Pics:

 

SC1'' target='_blank'>SC1>SC1

 

SC3'' target='_blank'>SC3>SC3

 

SC2'' target='_blank'>SC2>SC2

 

SC4'' target='_blank'>SC4>SC4

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So here's some thoughts so far:

 

  • It's strange how some of the same sets keep popping in and out. I see a lot of Simpson's Houses, Modulars (Palace Cinema, Pet Shop, and Parisian Restaurant mainly, with a few Grand Emporiums), and the Police Boat 7287. 
  • The price fluctuations are sometimes curious. Like, there has been an AT-TE on there for weeks. I think it's always been "Like New" and I swear the price keeps changing between a range of $66-$78. Odd.
  • A lot of 2008-2011 Star Wars sets pop in at wildly inflated pricing. Where are they coming from? Why are they being returned 5 years after their EOL date? Did they fall behind racking off the back of pallets?
  • Two of my items purchased as "Like New" had the seals cut and were re-taped. Beware to those of you purchasing Like New thinking it will be just that. On the flip side, the Exo-Suit and Millenium Falcon were pristine. We should start calling Amazon Warehouse Deals "AWD-YMMV" . 
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I think tracking purchases here could be helpful for everyone, or at least everyone looking to AWD as a possible source of inventory. I know my viewpoint is very short-sighted as I've only been in this game for about 4 months, it seems like this is a possible avenue for acquiring undervalued inventory. The more data we have on our end, the more valuable AWD may be.

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I'll add info on my AWD purchases.  I buy for my own collection, and when I do buy for investment purposes, I never get more than 1 or 2 extra of a set. So I look at AWD as a good way for me to save on sets I'm likely going to build anyway, so no big deal if already opened.

 

LEGO Castle Mill Village Raid 7189

Condition: Used - Very Good - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging will be damaged.

AWD price: $104.11

 

Box shows heavy shelf wear.  It was sealed, but the seals showed stress and I couldn

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Well they think they are. They won't apply tax exemption on AWD orders because it's a separate LLC.

 

I stand corrected then. :)

 

 

those can be returns bought from 3P sellers

 

Yep more than likely an FBA item that was either a.) damaged and purchased by Amazon to damage out/sell on WHD or b.) lost, paid for by Amazon, then later found.

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Set Name: Imperial Star Destroyer

Set Number: 75055

Release Year: 2014

Retired (Y/******/Maybe): No

Regular Retail Price: $129.99

Current Brickpicker Value (New and Used): $105.04/$98.83

Purchase Price (Discount): $105.50 (19%)

Listed Condition: Used - Like New - Item has no cosmetic scratches or blemishes. Item has no cracks or dents. Item will come in original packaging. Packaging may be damaged. All accessories are present and undamaged.

Description of actual condition (maybe some pics too!): The box is in good shape, but seals on both sides have been opened with the box re-taped. Upon opening the taped box, all bags are accounted for and unopened. Instructions and stickers are perfect.

Worth the Purchase?: This was a stupid late night purchase. I'll probably be competing against people who bought these brand new for less money. I should not have bought this ISD, but it had nothing to do with the condition it arrived in. I'm going to try to combo it in an "Original Trilogy Lot" with a 7965 and the 9493 and move all three at once. Wish me luck!

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Set Name: Architecture Studio

Set Number: 21050

Release Year: 2013

Retired (Y/******/Maybe): No

Regular Retail Price: $159.99

Current Brickpicker Value (New and Used): $182.05/$170.67

Purchase Price (Discount): $115.83 (27.6%)

Listed Condition: Used - Good - Item in original packaging. Packaging will have cosmetic damage.

Description of actual condition (maybe some pics too!): On a set I was planning to keep because I assumed the box would be destroyed, I got an almost 28% discount on this set for a small puncture hole in the bottom of the box. Take a look at the picture. I may actually try and flip this for a quick $50 profit on Craigslist.

Worth the Purchase?: Absolutely. By far the cheapest price I've ever seen on this set. Maybe some coupon stacking magic could get you down around $100 at TRU or B&******, but I'm really torn about whether to hold this or not now. If they could have just sent me a terrible box I would already be building little white houses!

 

Pics:

 

AS1'' target='_blank'>AS1>AS1

Edited by edgecrusher
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Set Name: Trevi Fountain

Set Number: 21020

Release Year: 2014

Retired (Y/******/Maybe): No

Regular Retail Price: $49.99

Current Brickpicker Value (New and Used): $55.29/$0.00

Purchase Price (Discount): $35.42 (29%)

Listed Condition: Used - Very Good - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging will be damaged.

Description of actual condition (maybe some pics too!): It's like they switched the condition of this and the Architecture Studio! I'm not mad though. Seals are still intact, and my strategy with these small architecture sets is to buy them as cheap as possible, build them, then sell them after EOL for a little profit. They are perfect office display pieces, and I'm in commercial real estate. I really prefer the buildings, but this is nice too.

Worth the Purchase?: Absolutely. Almost 30% off.

 

Pics:

TF1'' target='_blank'>TF1>TF1

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Set Name: Grand Emporium

Set Number: 10211

Release Year: 2010

Retired (Y/******/Maybe): Almost certainly

Regular Retail Price: $149.99

Current Brickpicker Value (New and Used): $225.25/$183.80

Purchase Price (Discount): $228.57 (no discount here!)

Listed Condition: Used - Like New - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging may be damaged.

Description of actual condition (maybe some pics too!): The box is in ok shape, but the seals are open on both sides. I don't believe "Like New" without a notification that the box has been opened is honest. This was my first modular purchase (with one more to follow), and I'd like to start collecting these. When this popped up about $20 cheaper than the others I'd seen on AWD, I jumped on it. 

Worth the Purchase?: I'm not even going to look through it to see if it's complete. Unless you guys convince me otherwise, I'm going to return it and try to find a used complete display GE for $100 cheaper. I think that's a better strategy with this recently retired set.

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Set Name: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Set Number: 21004

Release Year: 2009

Retired (Y/******/Maybe): Yes

Regular Retail Price: $39.99

Current Brickpicker Value (New and Used): $77.58/$44.93

Purchase Price (Discount): $29.33 (27%)

Listed Condition: Used - Very Good - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging will be damaged.

Description of actual condition (maybe some pics too!): The box is in pretty good shape, with some minor shelf wear. The seals are cut, and the box has been taped. Upon removing the tape and opening the box, one side is torn at the corner. The set is in a ziploc bag, with no original bags present. The instructions are in great shape. Good thing I was planning on building this!

Worth the Purchase?: Yup. I've been trying to get a hold of this one for a long time at a good price, and less than $30 is good as long as all the pieces are here!

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