Does anyone here invest in Lego for a living or make great money per year?

[comicblast]

Does anyone out there do Lego Investing/Collecting/(according to some people) Hoarding full time? If so, how does it work? Long term or short term? If I want to start doing it full time, what are some steps I should take to start it?

[Huskers1236]

Does anyone out there do Lego Investing/Collecting/(according to some people) Hoarding full time? If so, how does it work? Long term or short term? If I want to start doing it full time, what are some steps I should take to start it?

While I am far from a full time collector, this would be my 2 cents.

1) Don't quit your day job.

Even if you have $100k to drop into Lego investing to start a business, you are still looking at 2-3 years before you see real gains, and this is if everything you purchased was already End of Line. Also assuming everything you bought did well, which it won't.

2) Storage Facility

You will need one. This also costs a lot of money and will dig into profit, See #1.

3) Buy on sale.

The best way to turn profit is not buying at retail unless absolutely necessary, like on Lego exclusives, and even they go on sale, or have VIP points from Lego.com to bring the cost down a bit. Buying during double point times of year basically make them 10% off. Sites like Amazon.com will have several sets for sale much of the year, and with free shipping and no taxes(depending on where you live) that can save a lot of money. Getting their rewards card also gets you something like 3% off too.

4) Diversify

Just like any other portfolio, you need to invest in different things. My Edward Jones account is loaded with different funds, money markets, etc. Your Lego portfolio should be the same, consider it a big plastic mutual fund consisting of different themes to make sure if one tanks, the others are there to pick it up. Remember, the only investment to make it through the depression without greatly struggling was the mutual fund. Diversification.

I am sure there are many more tips from guys that invest much more than I do. I have put in around 10k over the last 2 years and won't be able to start selling until this next Christmas season, and even then it will be a select few sets that have appreciated enough to see any real profit from.

[Veegs]

Does anyone out there do Lego Investing/Collecting/(according to some people) Hoarding full time? If so, how does it work? Long term or short term? If I want to start doing it full time, what are some steps I should take to start it?

I think it depends on your living expenses, in addition to the above points. Doing this full time is theoretically possible, but you would need a huge amount of capital to get started and the ability to continue to invest heavily in the first 2-4 years with new capital until sets start to really appreciate in value. Then I suppose you could sell enough to both re-invest (to ensure future gains) as well as take a cut for yourself. If you have that much free capital, you probably don't need to invest in LEGO as a fulltime job!

If I were to do this fulltime, (which would be a fun job!) I would want the ability to invest about $100,000 - $150,000 for three or four years consecutively without selling, then sell enough to make a profit as well as re-invest. Of course, if you don't have children/mortgage/expenses you could probably get by with less.

[Rich B]

Does anyone out there do Lego Investing/Collecting/(according to some people) Hoarding full time? If so, how does it work? Long term or short term? If I want to start doing it full time, what are some steps I should take to start it?

Unless you have a ton of $$$$ to invest, selling full time is extremely hard. While many of us would love to do it, we don't because there is a lot of risk and initial capital associated with it. I don't even know what the initial investment dollar figure would be to become a full time seller, but I would guess to do it, and live comfortably you would need to sink over $100,000 in Lego sets. You would probably need to sink more than that to be honest, but that's just a guess. I won't say it's not possible, just takes a lot of money, work, and most of all risk!!

[stephen_rockefeller]

Are you looking to only sell sets in the secondary market? If not then look into this option........ http://bricksandminifigs.com/Franchise_Opportunities.html

[Legodog]

I think all of us would agree that we would love to do this full time but I just don't see it as being practical unless like others have pointed out you invest $100k+ per year. I have owned my own business for 10+ years now. I work from home so my time searching for LEGO deals, buying, selling, etc is very flexible. My business gives me enough extra income to invest $5k/month in to LEGO. In a few years this may really start to pay off but I just don't see it ever supporting me full time. My suggestion if possible would be to get involved in a job (maybe your own business or a work from home opportunity) that is very flexible so that you can have the time needed to get your LEGO investing going at the level you would like. This will also give you a steady income while pursue your LEGO investing. When your investments start to pay off then you can limit your involvement in your other job more and more. I know this may be easier said than done but I figure if I can do it anyone can. LOL. Just keep in mind that even if your LEGO investing is paying very well you still have to pay taxes which are going to really eat in to your profits.

[StarPod]

Between my parents an I we have roughly 60,000& combined with in the last two years. Personally I would not recommend a storage unit. I live on Long Island and the recent hurricane destroyed much of the coast. I was just a bout ready to unload my sets into a storage unit. But then the hurricane hit. The storage facility was flooded out and they only insured people maximum of 5,000. Luckily for me I have an unfinished basement which is only used for storing Legos. Basically if you don't have room investing in Legos isn't for you. Even if you did rent a storage unit you'd be spending atleast 100$ a month which will destroy profits. If you have room and disposable income do it. My parents currently pay there mortgage and leases on two cars just from the money they make from Legos. If its done right and yu have the means to do it you could make a living off of it. But as said before dont quit your day Job. This should only be a side activity because unlike anything it could tank. But this is still the safest bet :D

[Legodog]

Between my parents an I we have roughly 60,000& combined with in the last two years. Personally I would not recommend a storage unit. I live on Long Island and the recent hurricane destroyed much of the coast. I was just a bout ready to unload my sets into a storage unit. But then the hurricane hit. The storage facility was flooded out and they only insured people maximum of 5,000. Luckily for me I have an unfinished basement which is only used for storing Legos. Basically if you don't have room investing in Legos isn't for you. Even if you did rent a storage unit you'd be spending atleast 100$ a month which will destroy profits. If you have room and disposable income do it. My parents currently pay there mortgage and leases on two cars just from the money they make from Legos. If its done right and yu have the means to do it you could make a living off of it. But as said before dont quit your day Job. This should only be a side activity because unlike anything it could tank. But this is still the safest bet

I agree with this. I would stay away from storage units if at all possible. First depending on where you live you would have to get a temperature controlled one which could cost quite a bit. Paying for the storage unit month after month is just going to eat in to your profits. Start small and grow from there.

[Ed Mack]

Two major obstacles to LEGO investing as a full time business. One...Storage. Lack of it or the cost of it. Two...The new LEGO practice of limiting purchases. This has carried over to other large retailers that sell LEGO. If large resellers cannot buy in bulk, they will have a hard time stocking up on valuable sets. Sure, you can go into Target and buy all the sets, but the truly valuable ones are available online only. Buying two sets here. Two sets there is time consuming and many great deals cannot be taken advantage of in large quantities.

[Arcanum777]

To look at it as Lego investing versus Lego selling you also have to factor in the one or two year commitment needed after your initial purchases until you start to realize some gains on the sets you have bought. As it takes that long for the investment side of the collection to go up to a point where it is advisable to sell and turn a profit, you would have to outlay a large amount as an initial investment in the first and second years and then finally be able to start a rotating selling and buying scheme in order to do it full time. In an ideal world I would have been able to invest like this: Year one - spend 100k on all the shiny Lego I could find Year two - spend 100k on all the new shiny Lego that I could find Year three - sell all the stuff that went EOL after I bought it in year one and turn that 100K into 200K. Spend 100k on new shiny Lego and pocket the rest Year four - copy the scheme of year three with all my year two sets and buy more Years five through... - Rinse and repeat until retirement Obviously the amounts could be less in order to make a decent living at it but that is a long wait and a large amount of risk for something that isn't a guarantee.

[Sgruschkus]

I know most Lego investors collect and sell as a hobby or use investing as a means to offset the costs of their personal collection but I was wondering if there are any full-time Lego investors who use this as their primary source of income. Or does anyone actually see this as a potential substitute for traditional investments ( stocks, bonds, IRAs, CDs, etc)? High school and college kids don't count.

[Anakinisvader]

I know most Lego investors collect and sell as a hobby or use investing as a means to offset the costs of their personal collection but I was wondering if there are any full-time Lego investors who use this as their primary source of income. Or does anyone actually see this as a potential substitute for traditional investments ( stocks, bonds, IRAs, CDs, etc)? High school and college kids don't count.

Not quite there yet full time but my goal is to be full time within a few years. It's a slow process but I believe it will pay off in the long run.

[stephen_rockefeller]

High school and college kids don't count.

Why not??

[Sgruschkus]

Why not??

Because their primary responsibility is typically school, although it would be interesting to know if any high school/college students rely on Lego investing as a true source of income.

Also want to clarify my question because I've seen posts similar to this. I'm curious to know whether it HAS it been done, not CAN it be done...

[Snowcrash]

Sure they do. They're called small business owners Seriously though, anyone who's moving the kind of volume of Lego necessary to generate enough income to sustain a modest standard of living isn't really an investor anymore. They're operating a toy business. There's really no reason you can't do this and be successful, but I think you'll find there's a huge barrier to entry if you're talking about an enterprise on that sort of scale. Not to mention you'll probably be 2 years in before you start to see a return on your investment. I think a more realistic approach would be to start out as a hobby/side income and see how it grows from there. If you find you enjoy hunting down the sets at discount, can keep careful records and accurately account for all expenses, have spare room in your home to store your inventory, and don't mind dealing with the inevitable headaches that will arise when selling your stock then scale up and keep those profits rolling in! Maybe someday we'll be reading about you in USA Today.

[Sgruschkus]

Sure they do. They're called small business owners

Seriously though, anyone who's moving the kind of volume of Lego necessary to generate enough income to sustain a modest standard of living isn't really an investor anymore. They're operating a toy business. There's really no reason you can't do this and be successful, but I think you'll find there's a huge barrier to entry if you're talking about an enterprise on that sort of scale. Not to mention you'll probably be 2 years in before you start to see a return on your investment. I think a more realistic approach would be to start out as a hobby/side income and see how it grows from there. If you find you enjoy hunting down the sets at discount, can keep careful records and accurately account for all expenses, have spare room in your home to store your inventory, and don't mind dealing with the inevitable headaches that will arise when selling your stock then scale up and keep those profits rolling in! Maybe someday we'll be reading about you in USA Today.

Yeah I realize it would be a pain in the butt and I'm not about to give up a reliable paycheck, health insurance, etc. because of a stack of Lego boxes I've got stashed in my son's closet. just wondering if people have been able to do this (other than those Brickpicker bros from the USA Today article). While we're on that topic, what the hell were those guys thinking when they agreed to be a part of that article? Gotta learn how to keep a secret sometimes.

[Snowcrash]

I believe a poster by the name of emazers runs an extensive business like you envision. Check out some of his posts.

[littlenicky]

They do exist. You have to have money/credit to begin with and slowly build. As you learn more about the Lego sets and have all the prices memorized, then the market prices memorized, you'll be able to spot a good deal and pounce. As you gain profit, you reinvest and rinse and repeat. Like any business, you don't get rich overnight. You need to put time in and constantly learn and scan for good deals. There is definitely a ton of competition out there so you need to keep up. Good luck!

[comicblast]

I know most Lego investors collect and sell as a hobby or use investing as a means to offset the costs of their personal collection but I was wondering if there are any full-time Lego investors who use this as their primary source of income. Or does anyone actually see this as a potential substitute for traditional investments ( stocks, bonds, IRAs, CDs, etc)? High school and college kids don't count.

OK. Well this is an ideal plan that I would have if I were to do investing full-time:

-Have $200,000 in the bank ready to invest

-Calculate living costs (food, rent, utilities, etc) and add that to above cost.

-First year buy $95,000 in Legos.

-Second year buy $95,000 in Legos.

**extra $10,000 is for backup money**

-Third year sell 75% of your year 1 sets and hopefully get your $95,000+ return. And buy another $95,000+ on Legos.

-Fourth year sell 75% of your year 2 sets and hopefully get your $95,000+ return. Buy another $95,000+ on Legos.

-Repeat all 4 steps until you are sick of Legos or decide to "retire" from investing.

[pickleboy]

I know most Lego investors collect and sell as a hobby or use investing as a means to offset the costs of their personal collection but I was wondering if there are any full-time Lego investors who use this as their primary source of income. Or does anyone actually see this as a potential substitute for traditional investments ( stocks, bonds, IRAs, CDs, etc)? High school and college kids don't count.

They called LEGO stores! :)

[hollywdbri]

How do you get an account buying wholesale from Lego? I thought they only deal with big-box (Target, TRU, etc...) these days.

[Deez_Brickz]

How do you get an account buying wholesale from Lego? I thought they only deal with big-box (Target, TRU, etc...) these days.

Exactly this question above. Has anyone from the board ever had luck with purchasing from a lego rep or distributor? I would be very interested in hearing stories about this or any contacts shared.

In the meantime, I rely on discounts and LEGO Shop at Home promos and/or points specials, or even purchasing at MSRP if I have to.

[Talon]

As snowcrash said emazers has written a lot about his experiences, To help you guys out here are a couple of recent posts from emazers with some minor editing on my part. Apologies to emazers if I have messed up his posts!

To set up an Account with Lego to buy Wholesale you need a Retail sales number that cost about $150, but the bad news is Lego just started with a new Policy that you have to buy 75 percent of their Lego Themes, Before you could order anything, Like 10 cases of the POTC Black Pearls, and 5 cases of Jabba

[Ed Mack]

Yeah I realize it would be a pain in the butt and I'm not about to give up a reliable paycheck, health insurance, etc. because of a stack of Lego boxes I've got stashed in my son's closet. just wondering if people have been able to do this (other than those Brickpicker bros from the USA Today article). While we're on that topic, what the hell were those guys thinking when they agreed to be a part of that article? Gotta learn how to keep a secret sometimes.

By the way, Jeff and I have day jobs and we don't sell LEGO sets to eat. We did the article because it tripled site volume and enables collectors like yourself to use the data FREE.

[StarPod]

I'm a senior in high school and my Lego investments will pay for nearly all of my college tuition at Boston university. I've been in this game since 2008 and have invested more then 50gs from my company. Being I started so early in life I feel this could be something I do full time temporary as I do not believe the market will stay alive for ever. Sets from now on to the next 5 years I Believe will be the last of profits and it'll be time to move onto something new