How to Part Out a LEGO Set: 70803 Cloud Cuckoo Palace

I was strolling through my local Walmart and saw two Cloud Cuckoo Palaces.  Aware that this set was becoming hard to find, I decided to purchase one to part out.  I knew that parting out a set is something that many Brickpickers would like to know more about; therefore, I decided to write an article based on my personal experience. This article is for members who would like to have more knowledge on this subject. Without further ado, let's get started!

Part I: Know Your Set

Before you buy a set to part out, you must know the set you are purchasing.  I bought this set knowing that I would probably be able to sell the minifigures for about $30 to $35 dollars.  After that, I still had the rest of the set to sell.  If the rest of the set sells for $10 to $15 dollars, then I would make $20 to $30 dollars.  I consider that a successful endeavor.

Part II: Should I Break the Seals?

I spent quite a bit of time wondering if I should break the seals of this set.  I did some research on eBay and found out that the sealed set was selling for $30 to $40 dollars.  I figured that it would be good to get more experience in parting a set out, so I decided to break the seals.  For people looking for convenience, parting out might not be for you.  One thing that I was surprised by was the amount of time that it took to part this set out.

Part III: Shipping Costs/Creating Your Lots

This part does not take a whole lot of work, but with just a little bit of planning you can cut your overall shipping cost by a decent amount and make more money at the same time.  Even though the shipping cost will only be a few dollars, it is good to keep thinking about ways to save money.

The shipping cost is approximately one dollar for each padded envelope, and each envelope costs about fifty cents.  The rest of the set can go in a small box and the cost will be approximately $2.50.  I combined the cost of the envelope and the shipping cost to simplify the table.

The total expenses are $8.50. This one way to part the set out, and it is an effective way to accomplish the process - but is there a better way?

The total expenses are $8.50.  This one way to part the set out, and it is an effective way to accomplish the process - but is there a better way?

I would say that this is a better way.  By combining Emmet and Wyldstyle, we can subtract $1.50 from our expenses, bringing the estimated shipping cost down to $7.00 dollars.

You may have noticed that I added the snail to the Unikitty lot.  The snail is not nearly as popular as Unikitty, but when combined, the snail can make the lot sell a bit faster.

Part IV: Taking Pictures and Lighting

This part is optional.  Some people use official images in their eBay listings, but I like to show buyers exactly what they are buying.  The main problem with taking pictures is lighting.

I like to use an Ott-Lite that looks similar to this.  It gives a white light instead of a yellow light that most ceiling lights tend to give.  The second thing that I use when taking pictures is paper.  It can reflect light very well and can also soften it if you wrap it around the light.  Do not get paper near the light if it tends to get hot, as this could start a fire.

If possible, do not let light directly hit the object you are trying to photograph.  My favorite method to light a picture is to open the Ott-Lite just enough to turn it on and then slide a piece of paper in between the light and the bottom support to reflect the light indirectly onto the object I am lighting.

This way, there is not a nasty glare that hinders buyers from seeing the object you are photographing.  After you get your lighting system rigged up, you can place your minifigure on another sheet of paper and take a picture.  This is the result I got:

This is one of the simplest ways to light a minifigure.  It does cast a shadow at the bottom, but buyers can still see what they are buying, and that is the most important part.

Part V: Selling Your Items on eBay/Pricing Your Lots

After you have taken your pictures, you can just load them onto your listing.  I chose to use a padded envelope to ship the small things and a small box to ship the rest of the set.  I decided to list with free shipping.

Because I was familiar with this set, I had an idea of what the lots had been selling for, but it is always good to double check by looking up the sold listings on eBay.  After I researched trending prices, I decided on my prices, which you can see in the table below.

All this minus the $20 dollar retail price equals $25.38 profit!  That is approximately 127% profit!  I would say that this has been a success.  *Note* If you do use eBay to sell your items, they will automatically take away 10% of your profits.  I did not calculate that on my table.

Part VI: Packaging the Lots

Before I put my items in the padded envelope, I placed them in plastic bags to give the minifigures an extra layer of cushion to prevent scratching.  Here are a few of the minifigures in plastic bags:

After I dealt with the minifigures, I taped up the original bags with clear packaging tape so that the pieces would not fall out.  Now everything is ready to be shipped.

Summing it Up

I hope that you have found this article helpful and useful in your own investing experience.  Please leave a comment on what you thought about this article.  Your feedback is appreciated!  Once I finish selling all my lots, I will leave an update in the comments sharing the rest of my experience.  Thanks for reading!