Selling CMF - sealed or open?

[Thouhand]

To expand upon the previous question, does this info only pertain to sealed cases or to single packs as well? I could see why being a sealed case would make all the difference, but if there isn't one then that is all the better.

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[StarCityBrickCompany]

I am looking for advice from any experts on selling Collectible Minifigures.

 

When selling new ones, does the sealed bag really add much worthwhile value? I am sure that there is some, but there are probably also occasions when a prospective buyer would prefer to see the actual item (not just the bag). Series 1 & 2 are easy enough to decipher (bar codes, Euro and US), but the bump codes can be maddening (especially now that I need to get reading glasses). And now, with the Movie ones - they apparently have different codes for different regions within the US.

 

It appears that most sellers seem to sell them "New - Removed from bag", but what are the expert opinions?

[Snarkie]

I don't sell them but I buy alot of them and am perfectly fine with new but with opened bags. I wouldnt want to risk getting a different minifigure from what I bought.

[naf]

I'm pretty good and telling what figure is in the bag by feeling it, but I've made mistakes before so I always open the bags to verify.  As long as you don't assemble the figure you can sell it as brand new even when opened.

[Mos_Eisley]

Whether they're put together or not, you can list an open, unused minifigure as new. 99% of the minifigures listed as new on eBay are assembled. I doubt there's really too much difference in value between a sealed and new, opened CMF, but I think it's pretty easy to tell what's inside so I just sell mine sealed. I'll give the fun of opening their brand new minifigure to the buyer.

[Noodlenut]

I have sorted through two boxes of Series 11.  The first box, I just tried to distinguish which minifigure I had by feeling for it.  After I was done with that, I realized that the bump codes were the same for each kind of minifigure.  On the second box, I used bump codes and double checked by feeling for the minifigure.  I have sold a few and have not had a problem with people getting the wrong minifigure.

[gregpj]

I think it depends on the buyer and the buyer's reasons... I recently bought a pile of minifigs (but on Bricklink) to round out our CMF collection. I paid more for the unopened variants as they are gifts to my partner and I thought she'd enjoy opening them. If I couldn't find them unopened for a reasonable price, I then bought from a local seller who did the "slice the back under the flap" and then taped them shut to find out what was in them. It "appears" they are unopened. Lastly I finished off with opened and unassembled.

 

If they were for me, I'd be satisfied with open but unassembled across the board since I'm opening them anyways..

[Blackjack]

Either list a sealed, random bag from a series, or open the packaging and place the pieces directly into one of the little minifigure sized ziplock bags.

[fatboycarney]

Hi all

 

I wasn't able to find any topic on this so I figured I would post it up for the minifig sales experts. What is the best way to sell CMF minifigs. 

 

Would you open and identify and sell so people can buy the ones they want or would you sell blind random packs? 

 

My concern with blind random is the buyer isnt happy or gets dupes and wants to return. 

 

Interested to hear experiences

[TheDarkness]

Personally I do. I haven't found that it matters at all to sales.

[mlussardi9614]

I've sold tons of these, I don't recommend selling them as blind packs if you really don't know what they are some can be worth a good bit more than others. The way I do it is if you have sealed packs just use the feel method to identify which figure it is and list it by the figures name and as a factory sealed pack. I've been able to always get a little more by doing this vs opened packs. It does take some time and it's not much more money but I have always enjoyed figuring out the figures through the packs.

[mlussardi9614]

Also the last time I bought so called random blind packs off ebay it was 10 series 5 packs. I got 3 Zookeepers,3 Deceives,

2 fitness Instructors and 2 cave women, I'm almost positive that they aren't random and I wasn't happy so I sent then back I didn't open them I felt the bags.

[Alcarin]

I personally think the best is to feel the bags and sell them factory sealed with known contents.

[fatboycarney]

Thanks all seems unanimous. Guess I better get smoosh practicing!

Sent from my Passport using Brickpicker mobile app

[TheOrcKing]

Sealed or not for sale, that is the question which has been asked on a regular basis for this area of the site therefore all old topics have been merged to this thread pinned for future discussion. Carry on.

[angmotan]

I can see that sealed packs can fetch a higher price vs opened/repacked when reselling them.

This is happening in my country, Singapore.

[Zender]

Hi new here but I ready to ask my first question...

 

I got a load of minifigures series 13 at extremely cheap price that I would like to offload all but 1 set.  I have about 4 full sets at least from what I can tell (all bags are sealed) and a bunch of extras.

 

What would be the best way to go about selling these?  I was thinking around $60 - $70Cdn per set + shipping?  Should I leave them sealed?  I am not sure I can guarantee the full set if they are all sealed but I can identify most of them by feel.  I could open just to verify and ship packaging and all opened too...

 

Just not sure how to go about it.  Might sell locally on local forums too to save on fees.

 

Thoughts?

[androclies]

I was wondering from an investment stand point if it is better to open the minifigures or try to sell them sealed. Thanks!

[stephen_rockefeller]

Unless you know what's in the sealed bag you should open them.

[androclies]

Thank you very much.

[fossilrock]

Sealed sets that are accurately identified via smooshing will go for higher prices than opened sets.  I've managed to sell the monsters, and series 13 sets unopened and sealed, even if my prices are higher than those that opened.  

But only do it if you have a good rating that screams "this guy isn't a scammer", and going into it by knowing that you accurately identified them.  But, having sealed, properly identified complete sets of a line is more valuable than used sets that are opened.  Kinda like normal lego sets - some people like them sealed, and they are willing to spend more to get something completely "new".

Edited September 30, 2015 by fossilrock

[SlashMcGee]

First time I bought a complete box of minifigs - series 15. I have to say, didn't find it too hard to distinguish each one. A couple of them are hard but when you keep them till the end, you still can feel which ones are the same, even when you don't know which ones they exactly are. When you plan on selling them as a complete unopened set it does't matter anyway.

So I got 3 complete sets out of my box and gave the rest to my sons friends on his birthday party, they were all correct as I thought.  I would be astonished if the sets I put together wouldn't be accurate.

I used http://www.brothers-brick.com/2016/01/12/guide-to-feeling-blind-packs-for-lego-collectible-minifigures-series-15-review/ to identify them.  I have to say it took me 2h30.

Haven't put them up for sale yet though, I'll let you know how it turns out!

Edited February 12, 2016 by SlashMcGee

[KSYC]

On 3/18/2015 at 8:24 PM, Zender said:

Hi new here but I ready to ask my first question...

 

I got a load of minifigures series 13 at extremely cheap price that I would like to offload all but 1 set.  I have about 4 full sets at least from what I can tell (all bags are sealed) and a bunch of extras.

 

What would be the best way to go about selling these?  I was thinking around $60 - $70Cdn per set + shipping?  Should I leave them sealed?  I am not sure I can guarantee the full set if they are all sealed but I can identify most of them by feel.  I could open just to verify and ship packaging and all opened too...

 

Just not sure how to go about it.  Might sell locally on local forums too to save on fees.

 

Thoughts?

Your best option is to leave them sealed.  i've sold CMF and sets for about a year now and never had a wrong identification.   Just needs a little practice and you can easily identify them very quickly.  Each individual packs are labeled when I ship them just in case the buyer needs to know.  

[Frank Brickowski]

What are the chances of selling figures from opened blind packs vs. several unopened blind packs vs. full boxes of blind packs?

Are there many people paying inflated prices for blind packs or does investing here only work well for opened figures?

What is the logic behind successfully selling minifigures?

Edited April 12, 2016 by Frank Brickowski

[arslock]

Is a sealed CMF bag is worth more than an open figure?

I'm just wondering if they are worth more or more desirable still in the bags. A lot of sellers I've noticed will keep them sealed (mostly) but might snip a corner to verify the figure, and I've seen others open them and assemble for photos. I have not noticed much of a price difference, but was wondering what you guys thought.