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

[CNH1974]

After Ebay fees your 30% return on revenue drops to 8-12% This assumes you charge shipping at cost. But I agree the thrill of the hunt is the fun bit for me. I buy bulk lots and I love finding sets in there that weren't listed by the seller. Sometimes you can see them in the pictures, others you do not find out until you sort the pieces after you have won it. For example, the current lot I am breaking down I paid approx

[Ed Mack]

Looking at the graphs on the price guide the numbers sold for any one set shoots up in Nov/Dec time (and surprising January). But do these sets actually sell for more than they would during the rest of the year? Does the market not flood and lower the selling price?

The price shift is subtle overall, a couple of percentage points, but it is consistent. There might be some hot sets that go up substantially, maybe 10-25% or more, then drop back down to regular levels. People just want items around XMAS and are willing to pay higher auction prices. The trick with anything is finding that hot set and flipping it at the right time. January's sold units might go up because there are lower prices, but the prices drop to the lowest level of the year in January on eBay...this is a fact.

[Ed Mack]

After Ebay fees your 30% return on revenue drops to 8-12% This assumes you charge shipping at cost.

But I agree the thrill of the hunt is the fun bit for me. I buy bulk lots and I love finding sets in there that weren't listed by the seller. Sometimes you can see them in the pictures, others you do not find out until you sort the pieces after you have won it. For example, the current lot I am breaking down I paid approx

[Seifer]

[CNH1974]

The price shift is subtle overall, a couple of percentage points, but it is consistent. There might be some hot sets that go up substantially, maybe 10-25% or more, then drop back down to regular levels. People just want items around XMAS and are willing to pay higher auction prices. The trick with anything is finding that hot set and flipping it at the right time. January's sold units might go up because there are lower prices, but the prices drop to the lowest level of the year in January on eBay...this is a fact.Like my query with the price spike on 10226 Sopwith Camel Which shot up 30% in December to above RRP. A case of high demand low supply. The surprising thing was that it did not come down in January, either in price or units. But looking at January numbers of units sold in January they seem to be nearly as high as December, certainly higher than October/November. (on the sets I follow)

I never used to sell much in January but this year it was a record month, an income of nearly

[CNH1974]

[Alcarin]

Making a living just by selling LEGO is possible though only a few manage it. Problem is the fact to make living out of LEGO you need A) alot of money to invest a long time to acquire alot of money to invest. + you need tons of time getting the best deals. I personally think untill prices of LEGO sets do not equalize over the whole world (so retail price is the same everywhere and controlled by LEGO) (which will never happen) the only country that CAN make a living of LEGO is USA. Everyone else has atleast 100% harder time investing and making living out of LEGO.

[CNH1974]

I agree with A and B. Not sure about the rest though. The US is a huge market but this can lower prices. The UK market is smaller and the new prices are higher, and the corresponding secondhand market is also higher. Plus there is free trade in the EU. If I did what I currently do full time I estimate that I could market

[Alcarin]

I agree with A and B.

Not sure about the rest though. The US is a huge market but this can lower prices. The UK market is smaller and the new prices are higher, and the corresponding secondhand market is also higher. Plus there is free trade in the EU.

If I did what I currently do full time I estimate that I could market

[MrGold]

Mods! Correct me and place this somewhere else if i'm in the wrong forum. Does anyone make a living off investing in lego?

[spener90]

No. Don't try it. I'm sure there are some who make a decent income from selling Lego, but it is much more difficult then it might seem. When investing is used to grow "fun money", it can work, but you will here this from pretty much every regular on this site. Don't quit your day job.

[redeemed763]

Those who have enough money to put a lot into their lego investments are already making more at their day job than they ever will selling lego.

[Blackjack]

Horrible idea. I assume that most of the people here do it as a fun hobby to fuel their personal Lego collections, or as a way to make a few bucks on the side.

[dimsumonly]

Mods! Correct me and place this somewhere else if i'm in the wrong forum.

Does anyone make a living off investing in lego?

Ebay is a full time job but don't quit your day job. I sell to make a few bucks here and there to buy Lego with it. I don't intend on making a living. It's just too complicated and hard and you'll never know what's gonna happen.

[stephen_rockefeller]

Horrible idea for some, not for all. I would equate this question to people wanting to open a restaraunt. It seems like fun and games but the reality of it is that its much harder work than it seems.

[tigereyes5811]

I look at it as a small fun hustle. Trying to make it a living would be too tough. Remember the key word...LEGO Investing/Investment! Nothing wrong with breaking down sets and selling Minifigs, and sets with no minifigs on the side.

[Darth_Raichu]

Ebay is a full time job but don't quit your day job. I sell to make a few bucks here and there to buy Lego with it. I don't intend on making a living. It's just too complicated and hard and you'll never know what's gonna happen.

Yeah it is a part time job at best. Do whatever you can to keep your day job

[weakside]

Yeah, your day job (salary/hourly) is guaranteed money in the bank...don't quit. Would not be as fun if you really depended on re-selling to make a living/support yourself and family. Almost like playing poker full time or opening a restaurant as stephen_rockerfeller mentioned...harder than it seems.

[CNH1974]

I think I made approx

[comicblast]

A few other threads you might want to look into... http://www.brickpicker.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/2332/ http://www.brickpicker.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/1594/ Overall concensus is no, don't do it. It takes a huge amount of money, and it is pretty risky.

[Jeff Mack]

But, just to throw it out there, you can think about doing a full time business like the Bricks and Minifigs guys. A true store, devoted to LEGO. I have had quite a few conversations with them and they seem to be doing quite well.

[kerrmando]

I'm in college, eBay is a living for me right now. I just dont really need much money either hha

[Rich B]

In order to do it full time you need to have some serious capital, like $200k+ from the start capital if you want to dive in and make enough money in order live comfortably. Also you'd have to wait on the sets your buying to go EOL before you could start making nice returns. I build, collect, and sell Lego on the side simply because I love Lego and its fun, plus good returns keep me happy. As far as doing it full time, well it takes more capital than most people realize, and most people that have hundreds of thousands of dollars laying around probably already have a full time job that pays really well. Also I think starting to sell Lego full time, right now (2013) is really, really hard due to the amount of Lego investors/resellers in existence. Most of the people selling Lego full time started years ago before the market was flooded with resellers, when competition was low. Those that got into the Lego reselling game 5-10 years ago are the ones who are making a killing right now! Unfortunately things have changed and making big returns on Lego is harder than ever, but is still possible when choosing the right sets ;)

[akohns]

I would say it's pretty hard to make a living welling only legos. I sell over $20k on ebay yearly. It's a good part time supplement to my fulltime photography job. Since I can hit up retailers in areas other than where I live when I'm out photographing it helps me find plenty of stock without spending a lot of money on gas. I think it's more of a stock issue. You could make a living if you had $200k to go drop on retail but youd have to hold the stuff for a couple of years. If you are only going to buy sale items at 30-50% off than you're probably not going to be able to find enough stock to make a whole living on it.

[MrGold]

Wow! Thanks guys, I won't quit don't worry, I do enjoy it though! This post was bigger than expected. :)