Help with Buying and Parting Out?

[bricklerbricklington]

By the way frog, I wish I was the bone between two warring women sometimes. Oddly, it never happens. They just never seem to argue over me. It's probably for the best...the misses would kill them both.

[justafrog]

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.

 

Caveat: Assuming you're going to do Bricklink...

 

Purchasing new sets - anything at as deep a discount as you can. Specifically, I often look for sets with very desirable minifigs that I can sell to recoup my costs (and often something more) on eBay, so that the rest of the parts are "free" for me to list on Bricklink. Check out the Daily Deals thread.

 

When you have a choice, neutral colors (grays, browns, black, white) over bright colors and "basic parts" (bricks, plates, tiles) over fancy parts. This does not mean the bright colors and fancy parts don't sell, they do and you will want them in your store too as it goes along, just that people need more neutrals and basics than they need colors and fancy.

 

Dud parts: they exist, but don't be too fast to identify them. I have sold some big quantities of some weird parts and have been on Bricklink only about a year now. We do have some plans in place for bulk discounts on the slowest moving if they start to represent too much of our inventory, but probably won't even look at that until next year.

 

I don't really have a recommendation for specific sets as so many of them will do well on Bricklink (and as Iketart pointed out, the worst of them will still do well if you get them at a big enough discount).

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

Caveat: Assuming you're going to do Bricklink...

 

Purchasing new sets - anything at as deep a discount as you can. Specifically, I often look for sets with very desirable minifigs that I can sell to recoup my costs (and often something more) on eBay, so that the rest of the parts are "free" for me to list on Bricklink. Check out the Daily Deals thread.

 

When you have a choice, neutral colors (grays, browns, black, white) over bright colors and "basic parts" (bricks, plates, tiles) over fancy parts. This does not mean the bright colors and fancy parts don't sell, they do and you will want them in your store too as it goes along, just that people need more neutrals and basics than they need colors and fancy.

 

Dud parts: they exist, but don't be too fast to identify them. I have sold some big quantities of some weird parts and have been on Bricklink only about a year now. We do have some plans in place for bulk discounts on the slowest moving if they start to represent too much of our inventory, but probably won't even look at that until next year.

 

I don't really have a recommendation for specific sets as so many of them will do well on Bricklink (and as Iketart pointed out, the worst of them will still do well if you get them at a big enough discount).

 

Bulk discounts will work well for those parts for sure. Parts are kind've one mans trash, another's treasure. Same concept on Minifigures on Ebay. I have some that don't sell well. I will then discount them and all of sudden, for some unknown reason, someone buys 10 of them.

[feed]

If you are going to buy bulk. Couple of tips.

 

Avoid any mega bloks / kreo or other non-Lego.  You'll likely get some in a lot, but if it

[bricklerbricklington]

Thank you migration, justafrog, donotinsertintomouth, iketart87 and feed for all the tips and help. I feel like you might have saved me at least 3 months of experimenting (which costs $$).

 

I'll check out the daily deals thread regularly and try to stock up. If $20k can be grown into $400k in a few years, maybe $1k can grow into $20k in the same way. I can always invest slowly as I go.

[Kriterian]

I have a question for the Bricklinking folks about selling parts. I've been wanting to get into it but I'm worried that I'm going to set up a store and every few days I have to drive to the post office to mail out 2 tiles. Do you put a minimum sale amount in your stores or sell parts in groups of 10, 50 or 100? Do these kinds of things scare buyers away? 

[justafrog]

I have a question for the Bricklinking folks about selling parts. I've been wanting to get into it but I'm worried that I'm going to set up a store and every few days I have to drive to the post office to mail out 2 tiles. Do you put a minimum sale amount in your stores or sell parts in groups of 10, 50 or 100? Do these kinds of things scare buyers away? 

 

You can set minimum buys. Yes, it does drive some customers away, but some sellers find it worth it.

 

We have no minimum buy. Orders under $10 are unusual, orders under $5 almost non-existent (we do get a few). Basically postage charges are going to prevent most buyers from the "two tile" scenario most of the time, unless they REALLY need those two tiles. They're going to want to order more so that it's worth it for them on the postage charges.

[Kriterian]

You can set minimum buys. Yes, it does drive some customers away, but some sellers find it worth it.

 

We have no minimum buy. Orders under $10 are unusual, orders under $5 almost non-existent (we do get a few). Basically postage charges are going to prevent most buyers from the "two tile" scenario most of the time, unless they REALLY need those two tiles. They're going to want to order more so that it's worth it for them on the postage charges.

 

That's a good point, but I think you'd have to a huge amount of parts so that people can buy enough to feel it's worth it. I'm worry that starting out with just a few wouldn't get me much, but it's not I lose anything while they sit there. 

 

What is your store called? I've been looking for some minifigs to complete my CMF series and would like to buy from someone here.

[justafrog]

I'm no help with CMF but my store name is the same as on eBay, genteelfrog.

 

Even when we started and had only a few thousand parts, tiny orders were rare. Now that we're solidly over 100K, of course they're rare-er.

 

The other option beside the minimum buy is a small handling charge, if that works better for you. Some sellers charge .50 cents or a dollar per order to defray the costs of packaging, postal runs, beer, or what-have-you.

[Kriterian]

I'm no help with CMF but my store name is the same as on eBay, genteelfrog.

 

Even when we started and had only a few thousand parts, tiny orders were rare. Now that we're solidly over 100K, of course they're rare-er.

 

The other option beside the minimum buy is a small handling charge, if that works better for you. Some sellers charge .50 cents or a dollar per order to defray the costs of packaging, postal runs, beer, or what-have-you.

 

Okay, thanks for all your help. I'll give it a shot after a few more successful runs to the PAB wall.

[bricklerbricklington]

Speaking of PAB (which I was unable to define until yesterday), I'm headed to the Lego store now. Trying a simple 2x4 brick run in a large cup with a minimum of 25 bricks per color. Should fit a minimum of 600 depending on technique. Any tips on colors? I've researched the following better options: light gray, bright light blue...actually, most colors that are not "basic" (blue, black, green).

Anyone care to chime in?

[bricklerbricklington]

600 minimum? Typo...sorry.

[Kriterian]

A few PAB tips from someone who is becoming a pro.

 

The small cups are a better value. They don't get smaller at the top like the large cups, so you get more volume for your money with two small cups vs. one large one.

 

• You can get around 600 1x2 bricks in a large cup but there is no way you're doing that with 2x4s since they take up twice as much space.

 

• It takes a long time to stack that many bricks, so expect a few stares. I usually only fill two smalls cups during a trip because of the amount of time it takes.

 

• If you're planning on doing this for money, bring an iPad along to check prices on bricklink. If you forget your iPad, take pictures of all the parts later so you can look up prices when you remember what they're called.

 

• Build in layers and sprinkle in small pieces like 1x1 studs, 1x2 tiles or 1x1 wedges to fill in the gap. Even if you stack in layers, there are a surprising number of gaps on the outside edges. 

 

• Check before you finish that the lid only has to touch the cup and that they'll tape it down for you. I've run into several jerks that required the lid to shut completely.

 

• Don't forget that you can fit 4 2x4s into the gap created on the lid by the stud. Also, you can fit 41 1x2s into the recess at the bottom of the cup. Stand them on end and do two rings of 28 and 13 I think it is.

[gorbasho]

I have a question for the Bricklinking folks about selling parts. I've been wanting to get into it but I'm worried that I'm going to set up a store and every few days I have to drive to the post office to mail out 2 tiles. Do you put a minimum sale amount in your stores or sell parts in groups of 10, 50 or 100? Do these kinds of things scare buyers away? 

Personally as a buyer I hate when stores have quantity requirements, ie this 1x1 plate can only be purchased in multiples of 10. Most of the time I'm bricklinking to get the pieces for an incomplete set or for an MOC, and don't need a bunch of extra pieces of this one element that I'm never going to use again. A minimum purchase amount is fine to me, because as long as the store has a decent selection of items for sale, I can always find something to hit the minimum, like a bunch of this one part I use a lot, or a minifigure just for fun.

[bricklerbricklington]

 

• You can get around 600 1x2 bricks in a large cup but there is no way you're doing that with 2x4s since they take up twice as much space.

 

Thanks Kriterian. That was a very thorough response and a lot of help. Do you find 1x2s more profitable when compared to 2x4s? If you had to name your favorite 4 or 5 standbys - pieces you find almost every time that you can usually sell for a good return - what pieces and/or colors are they?

[Kriterian]

Thanks Kriterian. That was a very thorough response and a lot of help. Do you find 1x2s more profitable when compared to 2x4s? If you had to name your favorite 4 or 5 standbys - pieces you find almost every time that you can usually sell for a good return - what pieces and/or colors are they?

 

So far I haven't sold anything, I'm just trying to build up a selection of parts before I open my store. 2x4's are ALWAYS in stock at the Lego store in the basic colors, thus they're only 1 cent each usually. The same is true for the various things to make cars, since I think that's a requirement that the store always stock wheels, axles, etc. 

 

So far my biggest finds were dark purple 1x2 tiles, light pink 1x2 plates and trans-black 1x2 bricks. Those are priced high enough that IF you sell them all, you'll pay for two small bucks of parts and have enough profit to buy two more. My last trip they added horses to the wall, which are selling for close to 4 dollars each, but you can only take 1 per small cup or 2 per large cup. They also have "Friends" colored pieces, which I'm sure will be popular, hence the purple tiles and pink bricks.

 

The main problem I've been having is that I can't figure out what color something is. I'm tempted to send the Frog one of these new pieces because I don't know if it's a shade of purple or pink. There are like 10 variations of each it seems like.

[TheOrcKing]

The main problem I've been having is that I can't figure out what color something is. I'm tempted to send the Frog one of these new pieces because I don't know if it's a shade of purple or pink. There are like 10 variations of each it seems like.

I know what you mean with the various pinks and purples as there are quite a few of them currently in use between bright pink, dark pink, magenta, lavender, medium lavender, light purple, and dark purple. I think I can tell the pinks apart and magenta but the two lavenders are confusing.

[justafrog]

Get a photo of the part in good light and I'll give it a shot. There are a lot of colors but fortunately some of them are retired so won't be showing up on the PAB wall, narrows it down some.

 

Keep in mind I'm not the world's greatest  color expert either - the vast majority of our parts come from sets, and they very nicely tell me the color, I don't have to guess.

[b-ran]

I know what you mean with the various pinks and purples as there are quite a few of them currently in use between bright pink, dark pink, magenta, lavender, medium lavender, light purple, and dark purple. I think I can tell the pinks apart and magenta but the two lavenders are confusing.

 

One really helpful idea if you are going to be working through bulk lots is to get a color guide which helps you identify the various pieces.  You will want to find a reputable seller on Bricklink to get your colors from to make sure they are right  from the start.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

One really helpful idea if you are going to be working through bulk lots is to get a color guide which helps you identify the various pieces.  You will want to find a reputable seller on Bricklink to get your colors from to make sure they are right  from the start.

 

Or pay someone else to do it. Not a fan of bulk. lol.

[TheOrcKing]

Or pay someone else to do it. Not a fan of bulk. lol.

Isn't that what kids are for?