Popular Post Gondorian Posted June 22, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2014 (Not sure if this is the right place for this. Apologies if it's not.) The Investor Phase: If you have savings, a decent job and a credit card that you don't need to pay off for a year, it's VERY VERY EASY to do this part. You just check various places every day for deals and buy buy buy!!! The lack of space in my house caused by stored Lego and my large credit card bill (0% interest until this October) are testament to this! Like most BrickPickers I'm aware of, my approach was generally to buy on 30% discount or more and get at least one of each set for my personal collection and then multiples of sets I thought would do well at EOL. Despite not really being a very organised person, I spent a fair amount of time logging all my sets and where they are stored, in anticipation for the day I start to sell them. I have about 1000 sets, ranging from the small ones up to SSD (one of). which isn't including minifigures and polybags. The Turning Point: I left my well-paid day job a couple of weeks ago (not by choice) and am going to try to be self-employed instead. With no steady income and possibly needing to downsize our house, and the credit card to pay off in October, I NEED to start selling the Lego for cash and space. If only I'd just left all the money in a savings account! Ah well! The Seller Phase: About 3 weeks ago, I sold my first set (on eBay). Since then, I've sold another 11 on eBay (10 posted and 1 sold this morning). Total money back in my pocket is about 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migration Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Good advice all around, sorry about the reason for your quick learning curve as a seller. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen9917 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Thanks for sharing and this is great for new investors to read. Know what you are getting into. I've seen people saying $5 profit is still profit, well, I wonder how much selling experience they have and whether they realize all the behind the scene costs, especially the time cost. To OP, of course the lesson here is not to overextend before getting a hang on the selling part, but your case is also a bit special as the financial situation forced you to sell early before a lot of your sets 'mature'. Maybe you don't have to quit in the future but just be more selective and down scale, even with all the deals out there. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asharerin Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Anyone can buy. Not many are good at selling. I would not call buying toys in the hopes of reselling them for a profit investing at all. As you have found out you have simply created a very low paying job for yourself, not even a small business. It would have been much better to buy everything on your credit card and keep your cash. Let the credit card bank take all the risk. Use your own money for judgment proof investments, use other peoples money to risk on building a small business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gondorian Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 I would not call buying toys in the hopes of reselling them for a profit investing at all. I find that comment controversial, given that we are in the Investing Forum here. If done properly, it is undeniably an investment. We've had the heated debate on whether quick flipping is investment or not, but buy-and-hold of a Lego set is pretty much the same as buy-and-hold of a no-dividend stock. It's investing. Just look at the BrickPicker logo! Your first point is great though. Anyone can buy. Not everyone can sell. Thinking more about this though, I reckon I put a fair amount of time into tracking down the deals and picking them up from shops (Amazon being the exception). I am saving that time now, so maybe I can reallocate it to the selling. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauromosis Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 thanks for sharing there's definitely an addiction process in buying new sets. I've got a lot invested into Legos but I'm trying to transition back into stocks. that being said I seem to make money quicker with Legos than with stocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Guapo Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 One trick to help streamline the selling is to buy a good label printer. Saves me a ton of time...also buying bulk lots of boxes is good too. Should be able to save you time in the shipping department! Good luck to you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veegs Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I feel (some) of your pain. I spent a heck of a lot more time last Oct-Nov-Dec packing and trudging to the post office than I thought I would. I'd recommend going the Emazers route - he seems to have each set packed and labelled and ready to go as soon as he gets them (or at least that is what I've gleaned from some of his photos). To that end, I've tried to spend a couple hours here and there organizing, packing and labeling so that I don't need to spend all my free time doing it this holiday season. That being said, I have a lot of sets, and I'm not nearly done getting everything packed/stored. I find that part of the 'job' the most boring. Buying and hunting for deals is fun, listing isn't too bad once you've got a template, but packing kills me. I also hate going to the post office if the weather is terrible or I'm just feeling too damn lazy. Plus my local post office has tons of old people endlessly ahead of me in line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njseale Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 There is a good takeaway from this. It does take time and effort to sell. I think a fair amount of people are in for a somewhat rude awakening when they go to sell and they have never done it before. Much harder than hitting the sell button on a stock. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gondorian Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 There is a good takeaway from this. It does take time and effort to sell. I think a fair amount of people are in for a somewhat rude awakening when they go to sell and they have never done it before. Much harder than hitting the sell button on a stock. Yes, a rude awakening for sure. I think it will do me good overall because I feel like this has broken the hoarder in me. I will be selling Lego and other things. When I'm done, I will have more space than ever and great selling skills and experience. Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzy_bricks Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 One of the best pieces of advice I read on here when I first started buying was to sell a few sets, just to understand the process and work involved. This is pretty key, unless you have sold stuff before, as it will show you the other components to selling that you mentioned, packing, listing, fees, etc. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Mack Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Gondorian, thanks for sharing. LEGO reselling/investing/flipping is a grind. In many cases, it's a nice way to subsidize one's income, but very few can make a decent living from it alone. As asharerin stated above, flipping certain types of sets amounts to a minimum wage job. I like the comment about "an hour per set" is taken from your life. Sounds about right. Point is, make that set a worthwhile one. Are you going to make $10 an hour or $100 with the same time invested? Granted, to make $100 per hour, a more expensive set would have to have been bought and maybe more time/space holding onto that set to reach such levels, but it takes money to make money as they say. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
33Lego Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 True that, it is easier buying than selling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaweedsm7 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Lack of storage force me to sell my other stuff, i got addicted at buying sets and next thing you know it took half of the room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephMali Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Is sounds like we need a new thread about people addicted to buying lego (it probably already exists). I good test for my addiction will be the second half of this month and all of next month in which I have zero money for investing. Gondorian, I'm sorry to hear about your situation and the one way street you are on. I hope the selling goes well (and the home business). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TabbyBoy Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 This is the sole reason why I'm offloading all my small/medium sets to concentrate on > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gondorian Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 This is the sole reason why I'm offloading all my small/medium sets to concentrate on > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvail8 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 You need to have a template set up. Take a look through some sold listings, find one you like, and copy the format. Then all you need is a few pictures and a weight. That shouldn't take more than a few minutes. Packing and labels shouldn't take all that long either. Hoard your boxes and shipping supplies when they come in. I try to pick up a lot of a few sets, instead of a few of a lot of sets. Then you just do one listing and let it ride until they all sell. I'm also constantly amazed by the number of sellers who waste time waiting in line at the post office. USPS offers free pickup. Schedule online, never leave the house. Done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauromosis Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 How do you find the brickset forum for trading in your area? And local Facebook groups, how do you find those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TabbyBoy Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Why did you buy the City Theme? Sheesh. Everyone knows that's not much of a grower. (I still bought some though!) Super Heroes is where it's at. And Lego Friends. Mostly..... Vehicles like Garbage Truck, Flatbed Truck & Cement Truck at -50% or less. Fire stations, Fire Planes & Fire Boats at -60% or less A year after EOL it's hard to recover purchase price so I'm done with this theme. However I'm keeping Town Square and Coast Guard sets for the long haul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ciglione Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I can relate to what you write Gondorian. I also have spent alot of money (almost 18k) on lego the last six months. I have been selling a bit too and I made some profits (not even 1k). So not something to write home about. I have started a topic called "insecurities and doubts" some weeks ago cause I also was doubting if I was doing the right thing. I know constrain myself by not buying anymore everything like a chicken without a head. Some things that I keep to mind are: Yes, I am tempted to buy other 10 SSD's cause I know they will do good. I have only three of them and when going EOL I will loose money cause I did not buy more of them when I had the chance. But this thought is wrong. When the SSD goes EOL now. I will have three. And with this three I will make some profit. And then I am happy with that. I can miss some money but I am not Emazers. Also I have a family too, and a house to pay, etc. I am very sorry to hear what happened to you. I really think it can happen to any of us. I hope maybe with Brick Classifieds you can unload a fair part of your investment without to much hastle. I would call to out to all the brickpickers in your area to help you whenever possible. Cause I also think we all have some influence on people's buying habits. Good luck and I hope you can solve your problems. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asharerin Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 buy-and-hold of a Lego set is pretty much the same as buy-and-hold of a no-dividend stock. It's investing. Just look at the BrickPicker logo! So you are telling me buying and reselling toys is pretty much the same as trading shares of Amazon or Google? I guess the brains trust was on vacation during that debate. Reselling toys carries tremendous risk that you are not exposed to when reselling shares in an S&P 500 company. I would have no problems investing my hard earned money in either Amazon or Google in my judgment proof retirement account but I would not invest a dime of that hard earned money in a reselling business - the return is simply not great enough to compensate for the risk assumed. Other peoples money (especially banks) I have no problem "investing" in a resale operation. Just ask the OP if he would rather have $20k of Lego or $20k of Google shares right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gondorian Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 So you are telling me buying and reselling toys is pretty much the same as trading shares of Amazon or Google? I guess the brains trust was on vacation during that debate. Reselling toys carries tremendous risk that you are not exposed to when reselling shares in an S&P 500 company. I would have no problems investing my hard earned money in either Amazon or Google in my judgment proof retirement account but I would not invest a dime of that hard earned money in a reselling business - the return is simply not great enough to compensate for the risk assumed. Other peoples money (especially banks) I have no problem "investing" in a resale operation. Just ask the OP if he would rather have $20k of Lego or $20k of Google shares right now. You speak of the stock market as though it can't drop. I really hope you are careful. Speculative stocks are not safe. Sure, the past year has been great and hindsight tells us all that shares in Apple would have been much smarter than investing in Lego since last July (it went from $400 to $650ish before the stock split) but you never know where the next crash is lurking. This whole market has been talked up way beyond where it should be and it will come crashing down, but only when the big boys are already out. I got into Lego because, to me, it felt safer than stocks. I could not take the anxiety of being in the stock market, with the investment value so far out of my control. I would watch the news every day, read MarketWatch.com, and my emotions would be aligned with whatever the market was doing that day. It was hell. Sure, it was great when I was winning, but surprises can come at any time. And, like Lego, you only realise the gains when you are out. You have to get out to confirm the win. I got out with 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Mack Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Nothing seems to affect the stock market now. There is turmoil all over Eastern Europe and the Middle East...and not just your garden variety, but serious crap and the stock market just keeps on hitting new highs. Years ago, any serious world event would affect the markets. It just seems like a rigged market. As for LEGO investing, as the OP stated and many know, gains are nice, but the selling and shipping is a job. Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sroster Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 A little bit OT and I apologize but reading some of these posts where you guys are saying box it up before selling to ship, do you take pictures before sealing it up or use stock photos? Because I hate stock photos, I want to know the condition of the box when I buy and see the ACTUAL product I am bidding on or buying. Maybe I'm the exception and if you have 100 of the same set I guess forgetting about that and only using stock photos is worth the trade off of all the additional work of actual pictures of the set for sale. Kind of a trade off, I think using stock photos pushes away some potential buyers...do you think the amount of time saved is worth the trade off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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