Site Improvements & General FAQs

[TheBrickMeister]

Do the Brickpicker values include shipping and handling charges from the ebay auctions?

[Ed Mack]

Do the Brickpicker values include shipping and handling charges from the ebay auctions?

No, but if there is a particular set that you are interested in, we can supply that information. We filter out shipping charges and listings that use shipping charges as a way to jack up the sales price. There are some sellers that will list a UCS STAR DESTROYER MISB(for example) for $200, then hit you for $700 in shipping charges to avoid EBAY fees.

Also, shipping fees are quite variable, so we just take them out of the equation. Thanks for your question.

[stackables]

No, but if there is a particular set that you are interested in, we can supply that information. We filter out shipping charges and listings that use shipping charges as a way to jack up the sales price. There are some sellers that will list a UCS STAR DESTROYER MISB(for example) for $200, then hit you for $700 in shipping charges to avoid EBAY fees.

Also, shipping fees are quite variable, so we just take them out of the equation. Thanks for your question.

I was just going to ask that same question. With ebay's new final value fees, sellers are charged fees on shipping too. So sellers cannot bypass the final value fees. In theory this is a good idea but if you charge actual shipping, you lose money.

[Ed Mack]

No, but if there is a particular set that you are interested in, we can supply that information. We filter out shipping charges and listings that use shipping charges as a way to jack up the sales price. There are some sellers that will list a UCS STAR DESTROYER MISB(for example) for $200, then hit you for $700 in shipping charges to avoid EBAY fees.

Also, shipping fees are quite variable, so we just take them out of the equation. Thanks for your question.

I was just going to ask that same question. With ebay's new final value fees, sellers are charged fees on shipping too. So sellers cannot bypass the final value fees. In theory this is a good idea but if you charge actual shipping, you lose money.

Well, the whole Brickpicker idea was created two years ago before EBAY changed their shipping fee system. That should only help with more accurate listings. Believe me, Jeff and I had this discussion many times about whether or not to include shipping fees as part of the cost. It basically came down to simplifying things and removing the shipping data. Bricklink's data does not have shipping charges included and we wanted to keep the data similar, to give the LEGO collector a universal price guide. One day, we would like to include Bricklink's data form past sales, but they are very protective of their information.

[TheBrickMeister]

No, but if there is a particular set that you are interested in, we can supply that information. We filter out shipping charges and listings that use shipping charges as a way to jack up the sales price. There are some sellers that will list a UCS STAR DESTROYER MISB(for example) for $200, then hit you for $700 in shipping charges to avoid EBAY fees.

Also, shipping fees are quite variable, so we just take them out of the equation. Thanks for your question.

I was just going to ask that same question. With ebay's new final value fees, sellers are charged fees on shipping too. So sellers cannot bypass the final value fees. In theory this is a good idea but if you charge actual shipping, you lose money.

Well, the whole Brickpicker idea was created two years ago before EBAY changed their shipping fee system. That should only help with more accurate listings. Believe me, Jeff and I had this discussion many times about whether or not to include shipping fees as part of the cost. It basically came down to simplifying things and removing the shipping data. Bricklink's data does not have shipping charges included and we wanted to keep the data similar, to give the LEGO collector a universal price guide. One day, we would like to include Bricklink's data form past sales, but they are very protective of their information.

Thank you for the response. This makes sense to me that the shipping charges were taken out of the Brickpicker values. I suspected as much, but figured I ought to ask. I like the consistency between Brickpicker and Bricklink. I often compare the 2 sites on sets I'm really interested in, so it helps to understand that they treat shipping charges the same.

One other question I have is why we can only see 12 months of historical values on Brickpicker? I think it would be great if the historical values were available as far back as possible. I've been trying to determine the best holding period for my Lego investments and that information would be helpful for my analysis.

[Ed Mack]

No, but if there is a particular set that you are interested in, we can supply that information. We filter out shipping charges and listings that use shipping charges as a way to jack up the sales price. There are some sellers that will list a UCS STAR DESTROYER MISB(for example) for $200, then hit you for $700 in shipping charges to avoid EBAY fees.

Also, shipping fees are quite variable, so we just take them out of the equation. Thanks for your question.

I was just going to ask that same question. With ebay's new final value fees, sellers are charged fees on shipping too. So sellers cannot bypass the final value fees. In theory this is a good idea but if you charge actual shipping, you lose money.

Well, the whole Brickpicker idea was created two years ago before EBAY changed their shipping fee system. That should only help with more accurate listings. Believe me, Jeff and I had this discussion many times about whether or not to include shipping fees as part of the cost. It basically came down to simplifying things and removing the shipping data. Bricklink's data does not have shipping charges included and we wanted to keep the data similar, to give the LEGO collector a universal price guide. One day, we would like to include Bricklink's data form past sales, but they are very protective of their information.

Thank you for the response. This makes sense to me that the shipping charges were taken out of the Brickpicker values. I suspected as much, but figured I ought to ask. I like the consistency between Brickpicker and Bricklink. I often compare the 2 sites on sets I'm really interested in, so it helps to understand that they treat shipping charges the same.

One other question I have is why we can only see 12 months of historical values on Brickpicker? I think it would be great if the historical values were available as far back as possible. I've been trying to determine the best holding period for my Lego investments and that information would be helpful for my analysis.

I agree with you 1000%!!! The problem is that the Terapeak data we use from EBAY is extremely expensive and would cost thousands in additional dollars to get data from previous years. Being that the site is FREE, there is a limit(at this time) on how far we go back with data. The MSRP and its comparison to current prices, basically gives you enough information to make educated guesses on purchasing LEGO sets. Buying older data from EBAY is always a possibility, but we have to weigh how much benefit we will actually get from it. Thanks for the quality questions. I want people to realize that this site is legit and is not made up BS. ;-)

[Ed Mack]

Hi your site is really cool. I love LEGO stuff and talking about LEGO. It'd be nice, in the top right corner, if the 8 "share with friends" icons did not cover the list of search hits. Perhaps the list of search hits could be brought forward, so it appears over the 8 "share with friends" icons. Also, it'd be nice to be able to give points to other users who post great tips. Great!!

Jeff looked into it. Basically, we have been adjusting some pages and looks and sometimes things get messed up where you least expect it. I think it is fixed. Let us know if you see anything else that might need tweaking. Thanks

[legoFan88]

Great, thanks!

[stackables]

Just another thought I had while looking at my brickfolio. I was thinking that a place to enter personal notes about a set would be nice. Just a suggestion.

[Ed Mack]

Just another thought I had while looking at my brickfolio. I was thinking that a place to enter personal notes about a set would be nice. Just a suggestion.

Yes, that is an addition we will be adding. We will also be adding a miscellaneous category so that you can input items like LEGO displays, collector's items like SDCC(San Diego Comic Con) and Toy Fair sets, custom MOCs, etc... and input a value that you come up with.

I have a ton of custom items and store displays that have substantial values, but are rather difficult to get a figure on. Jeff and I have been talking about this for awhile and will be adding it shortly. If you have some more suggestion, feel free to pass them along.

[johncrumpton]

Would be great to see the "logged in confirmation screen" dropped - just take me straight to the page I was on. If there is a problem with my username/password by all means let me know, but if everything is OK on with the content!

[Ed Mack]

Would be great to see the "logged in confirmation screen" dropped - just take me straight to the page I was on.

If there is a problem with my username/password by all means let me know, but if everything is OK on with the content!

I'll talk to Jeff about it. Thanks

[Yogibara]

Ok I have two suggestions. After I imported the data from brickset I noticed that they're all listed as "New". That's fine even though they're part of my collection. However, if I changed it to "Used" the price drops significantly. My guess is that the search doesn't take into consideration whether or not the set includes the minfigs. Is that an accurate statement? If so, would it be too difficult to include a checkbox under used to include a search term for "with" or "without minifigs"? As you know the value of a used set is significantly higher if it includes the figs. The second suggestion is perhaps allow us to differentiate between our personal collection and our resale inventory? I'd like to have a one stop shop for everything Lego and be able to filter out my collection when I want to see market trends on items I plan on selling. Thanks and Cheers! Yogibara

[Ed Mack]

Ok I have two suggestions. After I imported the data from brickset I noticed that they're all listed as "New". That's fine even though they're part of my collection. However, if I changed it to "Used" the price drops significantly. My guess is that the search doesn't take into consideration whether or not the set includes the minfigs. Is that an accurate statement? If so, would it be too difficult to include a checkbox under used to include a search term for "with" or "without minifigs"? As you know the value of a used set is significantly higher if it includes the figs.

The second suggestion is perhaps allow us to differentiate between our personal collection and our resale inventory? I'd like to have a one stop shop for everything Lego and be able to filter out my collection when I want to see market trends on items I plan on selling.

Thanks and Cheers!

Yogibara

Hello...

Brickset does not differentiate between new and used in their database I believe, so we just set your default set listings as new and let you adjust them accordingly. We are concerned with the set's value, so that is why we must separate the two. The price drops when you change a new set to used set because a used set is worth dramatically less than a MISB or new set. Maybe less than half sometimes. Even a used set with box, instructions, minifigures and all the pieces in great condition will still be worth less than a new, sealed set of the same type.

You have to understand that we have to aggregate thousands and thousands of new and used LEGO set data from EBAY monthly(sold listings) and filter out poor quality or inaccurate listings to come up with a number for our price guide. It is not a perfect science and the numbers are close, but not 100%. There could be hundreds of variations of listing types(new, used, no minifigs, one minifigs, missing pieces, box, no box, etc..etc..) and to get a price for all the different possibilities is very, very difficult and time consuming.

We are a price guide and give the LEGO fan an approximate value of thousands of LEGO sets. But it is just a 'guide,' and many varaitions and valuations can still exist with each set. You are correct when you say that the listings don't account for 'no minifigs.' At this point, the set is considered 'used,' regardless of the set and box condition. There are really just too many variations to get an accurate number, so we simplify the 'used' sets and lump them into one big pile. Even within used sets, without minifigs, valuations can be different.

For example, if I had a perfect used 10179 Millennium Falcon that was missing all the five minifigs, the value of the set would still be close to the average used price of $1350. I would lose maybe the value of those minifigures, maybe $100, or 7% of the total value. If I took out the four minifigures from a 7655 Clone Trooper Battle Pack, the set would be worthless because the four Clone Troopers are what is valuable in the set. The 10179 has 5000+ pieces, which is what makes that set valuable. The minifigures in that set are a non-factor. See my point?

As a for your second question, I would suggest just making a second account(YogiBara 2) and use that to differentiate the personal and retail part of your collection.

Thank you for your quality question. I hope you can understand my gibberish. LOL

[Yogibara]

I completely understand. After I started looking through the differences I started noticing that the used prices skew dramatically between complete and no minifigs. I think I'll stick with new so that I can assess a rough value of my collection (which I never intend on selling). I find this site useful, especially when trying to put a value on my set for insurance purposes. So far it's over 14K which was shocking. Especially since I own a carousel, UCS falcon, UCS Star Destroyer and all the modular buildings. All on display and are great conversation pieces. :)

[Ed Mack]

I completely understand. After I started looking through the differences I started noticing that the used prices skew dramatically between complete and no minifigs. I think I'll stick with new so that I can assess a rough value of my collection (which I never intend on selling). I find this site useful, especially when trying to put a value on my set for insurance purposes. So far it's over 14K which was shocking. Especially since I own a carousel, UCS falcon, UCS Star Destroyer and all the modular buildings. All on display and are great conversation pieces.

One correction, my brother Jeff just told me that Brickset does let you differentiate between new and used in their Advanced Collection Manager. We have to make some modifications in order to accept this information. :)

[Yogibara]

Sweet! Thanks for the update.

[Jeff Mack]

Just one small update tonight, but one that will make people some people happy since I received messages about it. If you are looking at several sets and hit the "limit reached" page, once you log in, it will take you back to the set you were just looking at. You will no longer be taken to the home page first, or somewhere else that wastes your time :)

[cody.riggins]

Is there any way that you can capture the market of mini figures and the newer collectible mini figure series based upon individual figure. I believe that is a market unto itself in the brickvesting community that hasn't been captured on this site.

[Ed Mack]

Is there any way that you can capture the market of mini figures and the newer collectible mini figure series based upon individual figure. I believe that is a market unto itself in the brickvesting community that hasn't been captured on this site.

Hi and welcome to Brickpicker. Minifigures are something will will definitely try to come up with a price guide for, but it will take some time. There is so much we would still like to add and change and improve on the site now, that it is difficult to find the time. It is like a second job

[cody.riggins]

I understand it's a lot of work and time, but I'm glad its on your radar of things to do.

[ericholm]

Hi, I have been trawling through the posts to see what updates are likely to be made in the future. As a new member there are things I would like to see (Net profit, Total of price paid, GBP not USD, custom reports for research, i.e. being able to determine if a set has plato'd, sets that have best price/part, etc.) I am sure many of these points have been raised before and things are in the pipeline. I wonder if you have a plan or 'roadmap' you can share with us on the development of the site, i.e. which things have priority and any estimate date of completion? However, you might have this tucked away on the site already and I have not come across it? Just a thought and keep up the good work it is coming along nicely! :-)

[Jeff Mack]

@ ericholm, thanks for the feedback. The Brickfolio is still in it's infancy. There is a lot of room for improvement and I am working on it. There are quite a few projects going on here right now. A few are totally new and will open completely new avenues in the LEGO community which is exciting. The Brickfolio is a huge portion of what this website is about, so that will always be a work in progress. We do a have a few notes in the forum here about what issues and things we are working on for that right now. I am going to add a Changelog in the footer that will be a simple page that will help people know what has been updated, when the data was updated and links to learn more about what was updated. As far as posting a roadmap, that is a nice thing to let people know what you are up to, but overall, it can turn into problems. Users will start yelling at us, "Hey you said you were going to fix this by this date, and you said this was in the works, but where is it". Things never go as planned or other more important issues come in and take the place of other items that are on the list. So we will continue to use the forum to let people know at times what we are working on or when they are just about to be released or updated.

[Ed Mack]

Here is a quality question that I received from purpleparadox about the Brickfolio that relates to some improvements we a currently working on:

I joined up for Brickpicker not too long ago, and I already love it. The Brickfolio feature is awesome. I just have one idea that could make it better. I

[purpleparadox]

Hi Purpleparadox