Craigslist ad: "selling" his online Lego business

[Kenxxx]

I saw this in my local Charlotte craigslist the other day. A guy offering his Lego business for $17,900.

 

https://charlotte.craigslist.org/tag/4730306684.html

 

I contacted him and asked for a complete inventory. He sent me a spreadsheet - if you're interested, I'm sure he'll send it to you. But, if you check out his website, he basically has 1 each of just about every item shown (2 or 3 of a few items).  I didn't price everything out, but going over about 25% of his list, I found a "book value" of about $4500 (25 % of his asking price).. To put that another way, 25% of the total list has a book value of 25% of his asking price, therefore he appears to be asking full book value on the entire lot.

 

To me, his inventory is mostly cats and dogs (mostly dogs)... a high percentage of small kits that - even EOL - are still only worth $4 or $5 each. Of course there's no Fire Brigade, nor HH, nor anything that's really hot right now. A few old classics.  A large Star Wars collection - much of which is listed as "MIB", which -according to him - means he has built it, displayed it, then put it back in its original bags and box.

 

I talked to him on the phone, and seems like a nice enough guy.  Also seems willing to break it up, or sell individual pieces... whatever you like.  I just didn't see anything that I'd want.

Edited October 30, 2014 by Kenxxx

[Huskers1236]

High prices, probably on here, lol.

[stephen_rockefeller]

Did he tell you specifically on the phone what MIB meant because I think you be mistaken on that part.

[Kenxxx]

Yes, that was HIS definition of MIB.  Anything you see on his site as MIB, is open box, displayed, disassembled and repackaged.

[ravenb99]

I saw this in my local Charlotte craigslist the other day. A guy offering his Lego business for $17,900.

 

https://charlotte.craigslist.org/tag/4730306684.html

 

I contacted him and asked for a complete inventory. He sent me a spreadsheet - if you're interested, I'm sure he'll send it to you. But, if you check out his website, he basically has 1 each of just about every item shown (2 or 3 of a few items).  I didn't price everything out, but going over about 25% of his list, I found a "book value" of about $4500 (25 % of his asking price).. To put that another way, 25% of the total list has a book value of 25% of his asking price, therefore he appears to be asking full book value on the entire lot.

 

To me, his inventory is mostly cats and dogs (mostly dogs)... a high percentage of small kits that - even EOL - are still only worth $4 or $5 each. Of course there's no Fire Brigade, nor HH, nor anything that's really hot right now. A few old classics.  A large Star Wars collection - much of which is listed as "MIB", which means he has built it, displayed it, then put it back in its original bags and box.

 

I talked to him on the phone, and seems like a nice enough guy.  Also seems willing to break it up, or sell individual pieces... whatever you like.  I just didn't see anything that I'd want.

He has had that lot up since June 2012.  I was in contact with him back then to buy it when it was a lot larger.  Was going to drive up to SC and then never heard back.  A lot of the better sets have sold since then as the ad has been updated periodically every few months.  

[stephen_rockefeller]

Ok then.....seems fishy to me but condition definitions are a whole other can of worms. His inventory is weird, like you said nothing really flashy.

[ravenb99]

Heres a copy of the original ad from 5/27/2012.  I had added it up at ebay value at the time and came up with about 10k retail when they were asking 20k so it was a no go for me at the time as well.  Said there was plenty of sets not on the spreadsheet so that is why I was going to take a look.

 

Was a nice guy on phone as OP stated.  Bricklink ID was "Playitagain"

 

 

Date: 2012-05-27, 4:31PM EDT
Reply to: k2tfb-2991018552@sale.craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

 

Up for sale is my Lego Store - I have over 700 sets for sale. Over 500+ are different with over 200+ sets that are duplicates. All sets are BRAND NEW in the box!! Inventory is well over $25,000 (Only counting Sets) and hundreds of these sets are Retired from Lego. This figure does not include many open complete sets, hundreds of extra Mini Figures, and Mini Figures series 1-7 packs. I will also throw in probably 200 pounds of loose Lego blocks that are sorted by color, and in storage boxes. Dozens of extra Lego Instruction books, and many loose empty boxes. To much stuff to list on this site. Will be glad to send you a list of all the sets if interested? You can take this inventory right into your store or sale online. Email me if interested. Asking price is $20,000.00 and you can't go wrong! 

• Location: Boiling Springs, SC

[exciter1]

He can't spell "loose" right, that's a scam indicator.

[Kenxxx]

C'mon exciter1... he spells most things right, and uses punctuation and everything. In South Carolina, that's college scholarship material, y'all!

[Darth_Raichu]

Although similar, the ad that ravenb99 posted "sounds" different than the ad on OP. Almost like 2 different people wrote them. Plus the locations were different, even though both were in SC.

So, seller(s) had 700 sets in 2012 and 900 in 2014, BUT the valuation went down from $20k to $17.9k ?? Just something to think about ;)

Edited October 30, 2014 by Darth_Raichu

[pickleboy]

I'm certainly not interested but he should throw in the website too and a few hours of training to drive up the price.  I am sure there are people her who would like a turn key website that already has some traffic and is index by the search engines

[ISO8T0]

Yes I've emailed with Brian before as his craigslist ads never illuded to the fact that he was "playitagain", but seemed more of a collector wanting to liquidate a few sets.

He is legit. I guess most people dont like ordering from a website and not under the protection of ebay, amazon or bricklink.

I would assume that alll intelectual properties are included in the sale, website, website domain etc.

 

My guess is he's burnt out.

[ravenb99]

Although similar, the ad that ravenb99 posted "sounds" different than the ad on OP. Almost like 2 different people wrote them. Plus the locations were different, even though both were in SC.

So, seller(s) had 700 sets in 2012 and 900 in 2014, BUT the valuation went down from $20k to $17.9k ?? Just something to think about

Its the same guy, thats' why I posted his bricklink of playitagain as its also referenced in the new ad under website www.playitagainlegos.com.

 

Boiling Springs is just a suburb of Spartanburg so its not a different location.  When you list in your city you tend to use the suburb you're in.  Example if you put Atlanta where I live and you are on the north side you have a 1.5 hour drive without traffic and a 3 hour drive with traffic from the far south of Atlanta to the far north.  So everyone here just puts the suburb to cut down on wasted time.  

 

He had an active business at the time so his inventory has just changed over the 2 years.  He was still buying and selling so the value of the sets could of changed just by the inventory he held at the time.

 

Either way it was overpriced to make any money back then and it still is now.

[Darth_Raichu]

Ok. I was not suggesting it was a fake, but it was possible the 2012 guy sold the whole business (inventory + name) to 2014 guy.

Either way, increased inventory with lower valuation is not a good sign

[ravenb99]

Ok. I was not suggesting it was a fake, but it was possible the 2012 guy sold the whole business (inventory + name) to 2014 guy.

Either way, increased inventory with lower valuation is not a good sign

I agree, been following it the last 2  years.  IMO just a person that wants to get out but doesn't really want to let go hence the high price.  

[Kenxxx]

I agree with you raven99.  My guess is his kids are growing up and he's winding down his business, so his more desirable stuff is selling, and this is what's left.  Maybe he's tough negotiating, you know, starting out at a high offer price?  I was thinking about maybe offering $4000 or $5000... of course, he'd never accept that and -  looking at the inventory again - I wouldn't even want it at that price.  If I'm going to spend $4000 on Legos today, I think I could come up with a much better list of new merchandise that's available now, rather than take on this stuff.

[DadsAFOL]

Rather than start a new thread, I'm bumping this one because its close enough.  Is this someone here?  $75k asking.

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/tag/4912673105.html

[gmpirate]

pass

[Migration]

A bit high in my estimation.

[DadsAFOL]

Yeah, no kidding.  Seems like they overdid it on clearance buying without being smart and doing research.  It doesn't look like an inventory a BP'er would have, but it could also be someone who has all the good stuff in another room and is trying to recover from bad decisions.

[Migration]

Yeah, no kidding.  Seems like they overdid it on clearance buying without being smart and doing research.  It doesn't look like an inventory a BP'er would have, but it could also be someone who has all the good stuff in another room and is trying to recover from bad decisions.

I was thinking along the same lines.

[redcell]

Yeah, no kidding.  Seems like they overdid it on clearance buying without being smart and doing research.  It doesn't look like an inventory a BP'er would have, but it could also be someone who has all the good stuff in another room and is trying to recover from bad decisions.

 

The price he is asking is quite high and he has held onto a number of those sets longer than he should have, but this guy made very solid decisions in what to buy (assuming he bought the sets on clearance).  In fact, a substantial amount of the capital that I'm working with right now was made from selling a lot of the sets that he has.   For example, the Mace Windu starfighter was sold on clearance at WM for $20 and now goes for around $90 on Amazon.  If he had sold within one year of EOL, he would have doubled his money after taxes and fees on each one he sold.  Similarly, the 8083 and 8084 battlepacks that he has a stack of were clearanced for $5 and now sell for around $30 on Amazon.  The Venators were clearanced by LEGO Shop at Home for $50 and now sell for over $400.  There is definitely some dreck in there (e.***., Freeco Speeder and The Twilight), but, on the whole, this lot of sets has a lot more value than you folks are giving it credit for. 

[justapilgrim]

I like the one close to me for 10k. It at least has GG and HH, listed as 345lbs of lego, looks like about 20 totes, I noticed a few pirate ships too and a lot of HP.

Not posting like because I'm considering making an offer

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Brickpicker mobile app

[Migration]

The price he is asking is quite high and he has held onto a number of those sets longer than he should have, but this guy made very solid decisions in what to buy (assuming he bought the sets on clearance).  In fact, a substantial amount of the capital that I'm working with right now was made from selling a lot of the sets that he has.   For example, the Mace Windu starfighter was sold on clearance at WM for $20 and now goes for around $90 on Amazon.  If he had sold within one year of EOL, he would have doubled his money after taxes and fees on each one he sold.  Similarly, the 8083 and 8084 battlepacks that he has a stack of were clearanced for $5 and now sell for around $30 on Amazon.  The Venators were clearanced by LEGO Shop at Home for $50 and now sell for over $400.  There is definitely some dreck in there (e.***., Freeco Speeder and The Twilight), but, on the whole, this lot of sets has a lot more value than you folks are giving it credit for. 

Buying on clearance and selling for a few multiples is one thing, but buying those sets now, for what he's asking is another thing entirely.

[@rtisan]

It`s a shame when you see people like this listing all their finds in 1 lot. You put in all that work/effort then give up. This is why it`s so important to have a good system going if you`re going to be moving that much quantity. 75K worth of Lego (asking price obviously, anyone want to count it up?) just sitting there is stupid, why on earth would you amass that much only to turn around the give up? He`ll never get that much for them, not for what is pictured, there is no way. Not trying to pick on anyone, but seriously, it`s just a waste when someone goes about liquidating this way. 

 

That said, still an impressive assortment, but a sight for the eyes wasted is still a waste. Ok, that was lame....