Help with Buying and Parting Out?

[bricklerbricklington]

Hello, new guy here. I've been a lurker and I registered a while back but haven't really been active.

 

I had luck with one set, Cloud Cuckoo. I parted it out and sold it (a single set) on eBay. My goal is to slowly (very slowly) turn $300-400 into a full-fledged business. How can I do this? I have full-time availability. Here are my questions:

 

1. What is the research process for picking a set? That is, do I pick a random set and part it all out on paper, or is there a way to narrow down my selections first to say, 5 or 10 sets and do the math from there?
2. How do I part out a set? My thinking is each minifig separately plus the set pieces. Maybe it'd be better to separate the set pieces by color and sell lots of each color?
3. The only avenue I know of for getting rid of sets is eBay. It works (so far), but does anything else compliment this? I've heard about bricklink - is it good? What about CL?

 

I realize some stuff might be guarded secrets. I just don't want to spend my college years broke (haha). Thanks for any help you can give!

[knarrff]

Did you read this: http://blog.brickpicker.com/part-lego-set-70803-cloud-cuckoo-palace/ ?

 

While it really only mentions one set (yours ...), it should make it pretty obvious what to look for in a set. I didn't part out anything myself yet (and don't plan to do it in the future), but essentially you are looking for sets that have either minifigs that sell well alone, or have lots of rare (and thus expensive) parts, preferably lots of both. Ideally you can also get this set for a decent discount from a reliable source (so you can part out the same set over and over again, limiting the amount of work you have selling it).

 

Especially for the "remaining parts", bricklink or brickowl (or similar) would probably be a "must", or is at least a "very nice to have".

[justafrog]

If you can work this full time and have the organizational skills, you're going to make more money with a Bricklink store than with parting out large pieces to eBay.

 

I have found that selling highly desirable and/or licensed theme minifigs on eBay and everything else as individual pieces and parts on Bricklink is working very well for us in transitioning from a full-time online bookselling business to a full-time online LEGO parts business. That's only going to improve when Bricklink updates their site and user interface and/or when a competitor like Brick Owl really starts to take off.

 

The margins on parting out on eBay (minifigs and buildings, minifigs and vehicles, etc.) are pretty tight and I don't see most people being able to make a decent living doing just that.

[bricklerbricklington]

knarrff and justafrog, thanks. justafrog, So minifigs on eBay, parts on bricklink or Brick Owl. What do you try to achieve? My thinking is breakeven on minifigs and a profit on the pieces? Am I right, wrong, close?

[Migration]

Listen to the Frog. The only times I part out sets is when I get them at an insane discount like the At-Te's I got at Target for $27 or if you have a situation similar to Cloud Cuckoo where a set suffers from a limited availability and has some highly desirable mini figures that can sell for a premium. Without a full fledged bricklink store to deal with all the pieces you are general limited to those two types of situations, or you have to maintain an extremely high volume with a thin margin to make any money. There are those who pull it off, but it is a lot of work.

[bricklerbricklington]

Thanks everyone. I have lots of time, but money? Not so much. And volume requires money. I just wish I could "do Lego" for a living... :(

[justafrog]

If you don't have much to invest and find the idea of a parts store on Bricklink feasible, consider starting in used parts instead of new - less money in (if you buy smart at garage sales and thrift stores and Craigslist) so easier to get started with minimal capital. The other option is to get a boring job for a few months to stack up some money and use that to start the ball rolling.

 

Bricklink is slower money for sure, just better money. We are just now starting to see significant dollars coming in and are still reinvesting all of that right back in to fund our climb there.

[bricklerbricklington]

It's funny how a set like the Cloud Cuckoo Palace can look so good because it's "scarce"...I have at least 20 available to me here at my local store lol...guess that goes to show you the whole market inefficiency thing. justafrog, any tips for picking up enough inventory at *** sales, cl, and thrift stores? What is your tatget price (per lb?) and max price?

[Migration]

It's funny how a set like the Cloud Cuckoo Palace can look so good because it's "scarce"...I have at least 20 available to me here at my local store lol...guess that goes to show you the whole market inefficiency thing. justafrog, any tips for picking up enough inventory at *** sales, cl, and thrift stores? What is your tatget price (per lb?) and max price?

It's not any more, it had a period of about a month where it was sold out everywhere. It was quite profitable then, now it's back in stock pretty much everywhere.

[justafrog]

I don't deal in used so I only have a basic understanding of that model, but other used dealers have said they shoot for about $5/pound with some variance when they come across what's obviously more desirable bulk.

 

The investment in money is low, but with used parts the investment in time is much bigger - cleaning, sorting out the non-LEGO, inspecting for damage, identifying and properly cataloging the parts, etc.

 

Buying new sets to part out is much faster, but of course more expensive, so there's a trade off.

[bricklerbricklington]

Ah. Ignorance is bliss. Trust me I know.

[bricklerbricklington]

justafrog, so you CAN part out new sets? I don't mind waiting or making .50 the first week, .75 the next, and 1.00 after. But I just don't know what to buy or where. I've got a very convenient Lego Store location here...

[justafrog]

I'm not sure I understand the question.

 

Here on Brickpicker, parting out often means to break the sets into minifigs and large sections of the set (like you did with the Cloud Cuckoo).

On Bricklink, parting out always means to break the sets into their individual parts and pieces, except Minifigs might be sold as the complete fig OR sold as their parts and pieces.

 

In either case, yes, it's possible to part out new sets - but you do have the expense of buying the sets and then waiting for people to buy the pieces from you. Generally, you can sell those chunks of set faster on eBay for less profit, or in their individual pieces on Bricklink for more profit.

 

As for what to buy and where: you want the most desirable pieces or minifigs or vehicles or buildings at the lowest possible price. Simple! But not easy.

 

To learn what to sell, pay attention to eBay sold listings and Bricklink sales averages, set value if parted out, etc. That'll give you a baseline of what your profit MIGHT look like - when you sell.

 

Running a business isn't for the faint of heart or, in many cases, the very busy college student. Not to discourage you, but in all likelihood the first couple of years you'd probably make more money delivering pizzas.

[feed]

If you

[legoman12323123]

I'm not sure I understand the question.

 

Here on Brickpicker, parting out often means to break the sets into minifigs and large sections of the set (like you did with the Cloud Cuckoo).

On Bricklink, parting out always means to break the sets into their individual parts and pieces, except Minifigs might be sold as the complete fig OR sold as their parts and pieces.

 

In either case, yes, it's possible to part out new sets - but you do have the expense of buying the sets and then waiting for people to buy the pieces from you. Generally, you can sell those chunks of set faster on eBay for less profit, or in their individual pieces on Bricklink for more profit.

 

As for what to buy and where: you want the most desirable pieces or minifigs or vehicles or buildings at the lowest possible price. Simple! But not easy.

 

To learn what to sell, pay attention to eBay sold listings and Bricklink sales averages, set value if parted out, etc. That'll give you a baseline of what your profit MIGHT look like - when you sell.

 

Running a business isn't for the faint of heart or, in many cases, the very busy college student. Not to discourage you, but in all likelihood the first couple of years you'd probably make more money delivering pizzas.

  Since the flood of these fake minifigures and more competition its no longer possible to make decent margains selling on ebay breaking up minifigures / sets. I just scrapped that altoghether and went with bl full time. The margains are alot higher. At first I agree its slow and I didnt see any money coming in until 2-3 months into it. Now that I am established I get about 10k min. in sales a month. Like you said you only have $300 to spend ( started with about 20k in inventory, im up to about 400k now) .. its going to take you a year or 2 to get started in the beginning you will not get many sales maybe 1 or 2 a month ect. I was able to get my store up and running super quickly because i opened alot of my investment sets hehe

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

  Since the flood of these fake minifigures and more competition its no longer possible to make decent margains selling on ebay breaking up minifigures / sets. I just scrapped that altoghether and went with bl full time. The margains are alot higher. At first I agree its slow and I didnt see any money coming in until 2-3 months into it. Now that I am established I get about 10k min. in sales a month. Like you said you only have $300 to spend ( started with about 20k in inventory, im up to about 400k now) .. its going to take you a year or 2 to get started in the beginning you will not get many sales maybe 1 or 2 a month ect. I was able to get my store up and running super quickly because i opened alot of my investment sets hehe

 

I still do perfectly fine selling minifigures on Ebay. You just have to know how to adapt.

[legoman12323123]

I still do perfectly fine selling minifigures on Ebay. You just have to know how to adapt.

 I can guarantee I make higher profit margains on bricklink than ebay. What works for you, I put in alot more time into bricklink therefore getting huge returns. If you clear about 7.5k in profit every month for every 10k in sales on ebay I would bow down to you. I have a well established bricklink store which I spent hundreds of hours setting up.

 

I also do this for a living and well off, As I recall you work a job and do ebay part time. You telling me you can support yourself financially( and live comfortably) parting on ebay I dont think so.

[legoman12323123]

I still do perfectly fine selling minifigures on Ebay. You just have to know how to adapt.

 Another benefit bl has over ebay is .. no matter how s****y the set is parting it for bricks will always net you money .. there are some sets that just will not sell parted out ect. I dont mind buying chima at 50% off .. or galaxy squad .. parting that out one bay set/fig prob would barely make you even money .. parting on bricklink well doesnt matter what the theme is if you are selling by individual bricks. I just think bl is superior to selling on ebay which you seem to disagree without actually ever selling on bricklink. I used to sell on ebay like you and was making 20k+ in sales around christmas time. And than I sat down and really looked at my profit margains and they were slim, Sure I did alot of sales and the big numbers made me think I was making phat stacks, but the margain was not good after closely examining my numbers so I adapted and move to bl.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

I probably could come close to that, but I have a day job so I will not be doing much expanding.

[legoman12323123]

I probably could come close to that, but I have a day job so I will not be doing much expanding.

So you can buy a sets for $20 and turn it into $80 all day long on ebay  .. haha

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

I mean you were the one that failed on eBay. Not me. You said so yourself.

Parting out is hard. But it's no where near impossible. While everyone else has been complaining about profits on eBay mine have been growing.

[bricklerbricklington]

Thanks everyone for your input. I hope I didn't cause a keyboard battle. I appreciate everyone's input. I think what works for one person might not work for the next.

[justafrog]

Thanks everyone for your input. I hope I didn't cause a keyboard battle. I appreciate everyone's input. I think what works for one person might not work for the next.

 

Nah, you're no more than the bone between warring dogs, not your fault. Good luck, and don't let the fussiness discourage you from asking more questions if you have them.

 

FWIW, I've been selling on eBay since December 1997, much of the time full time for a living, and I find Bricklink far more lucrative for LEGO, too - though I still do fine with minifigs on eBay, I am selling at a far lower volume there than Iketart used to. I don't know how bad the saturation point for minifigs is on eBay. I haven't reached it yet, doesn't mean that I won't.

[Migration]

Thanks everyone for your input. I hope I didn't cause a keyboard battle. I appreciate everyone's input. I think what works for one person might not work for the next.

Point is eBay or Bricklink making a go of this full time is HARD. That's why so few do this as their primary source of income. Sure you can make a better margin on Bricklink, but you can still make good money on eBay, and not have to sort thousands of individual pieces.

[bricklerbricklington]

I think what I've generally gsthered is that it IS possible to start with a little cash, but with used bulk. Also, it will be painfully slow.

But I'm okay with painfully slow. An immediate family member owns a business that received an initial investment of mid 5 figures. After 3 years, it is now profitable.

I'd personally rather wait 3 years on $500 or even $1000 compared to $10k, 20k, or more. If I lose $500, it's easy to make again even without a degree. Heck, I could get a second job at the golden arches and work night shift for a month. 80 hours is hard, but not for a month.

Even if I had $1,000,000, I'd feel 100 times more comfortable aggregating that risk over 10k investments that I usually lose at but that collectively make me 10% than two investments of 500k that are 75% sure.

I may buy a few new sets and list them while I wait on good bulk deals. Any tips to find bulk is appreciated (cl wanted ad comes to mind).

Also, justafrog, any ideas for a set or two or three to buy multiples of to part out, I'd love to know.

Finally, I know every part doesn't sell. Is there a usual "junk percentage" from new sets?

Thanks everyone for your friendliness and generosity with your time.