I sold my first 4 sets on eBay this week. I thought I would post my results so anyone who hasn't sold any of theirs yet could see the results and all of the included fees. Maybe this will give you a better indication of how much you need to let your sets appreciate before you list them for sale. 10937 Sold For: $177.50 eBay Fees: $15.98 (9%) PayPal Fees: $4.21 (2.4%) Shipping USPS: $46.85 Total: $110.46 4841 Sold For: $177.50 eBay Fees: $15.98 (9%) PayPal Fees: $4.21 (2.4%) Shipping USPS: $26.90 Total: $130.41 7892 Sold For: $167.48 eBay Fees: $15.07 PayPal Fees: $3.98 (2.4%) Shipping USPS: $15.95 Total: $132.48 4840 Sold For: $113.01 eBay Fees: $10.17 PayPal Fees: $2.79 (2.4%) Shipping USPS: $11.30 Total: $88.75 All shipping was USPS Priority mail with tracking and insurance. I did end up making a good profit but I don't want to post what it was because the results are very skewed because of the fact I got these 4 sets incredibly cheap and I don't see that happening again in the future. If I were to do it all over again I might eliminate the free shipping option that I had on my auctions. I know it attracts buyers but the shipping costs were much higher than I expected. I could have shopped around at UPS or FedEx to see if I could get a better rate but I ended up shipping all through USPS.

looks like international shipping rates

looks like international shipping rates

All shipped to the US through USPS Priority mail with tracking and insurance.

really? the only one it looks like you actually made a profit on was the City Hospital. the Burrow, Arkham Asylum Breakout, and Hogwars Express look like you actually lost money after all the fees, etc. compared to what you paid on ebay for them

wow thats a lot..specially 46$ shipping for 10937..anyways thanks for sharing your experience

really? the only one it looks like you actually made a profit on was the City Hospital.

the Burrow, Arkham Asylum Breakout, and Hogwars Express look like

you actually lost money after all the fees, etc. compared to what you paid on ebay for them

I didn't want to share what I paid total for all these sets because it was a fluke which might not happen again but I paid $150 total for all of these sets. So I made a profit of $312.10.

Just to explain this is how I got them so cheap.

10937 - Before I knew what to look for to avoid drop shipping scams I bought this from eBay for $140. It ended up being drop shipped. I contacted LEGO and they didn't want it back. I contacted the seller and told him that whoever he is using is drop shipping these items using fraudulent credit cards and he apologized and refunded my money. So I paid nothing for this set.

4841 & 4840 - I bought these from the same seller on eBay and when they arrived they were heavily damaged during shipping. I was going to ship them back for a refund but worked out a deal for $100 with the seller to keep the damaged items.

7892 - Bought this from eBay with a buy it now for $50. The seller usually sells other items (household items) and apparently didn't know what this was worth. Since it was a 2006 set they probably figured it was worth a lot less than a new set. Anyway it was listed for about 3 minutes before I bought it up using a buy it now.

wow thats a lot..specially 46$ shipping for 10937..anyways thanks for sharing your experience

Yeah, shipping this one was insanely expensive. It is a big set though and I had to ship it in a big box. I need to really evaluate how I am going to ship things in the future and what is the most cost effective way so I can reduce these fees if possible.

awesome, you did really well with those then! as you got some great deals with all the discounts, etc. that hogwarts express box was really warped! but still sold well =)

Ouch on the shipping! Even if it means fewer buyers, I build in shipping costs & my own handling fees (which covers part of the ebay/paypal fees, anyway), but I am stubborn and willing to list/relist/bide my time and wait to get the price I want.

Ouch on the shipping!

Even if it means fewer buyers, I build in shipping costs & my own handling fees (which covers part of the ebay/paypal fees, anyway), but I am stubborn and willing to list/relist/bide my time and wait to get the price I want.

I will probably do the same in the future. On these I knew my profit margins were going to be so high that I figured I could spring for shipping if it helped get more bidders. But I think in the future I am going to have to ask the buyer to pay for at least some of the shipping costs.

Yeah, shipping this one was insanely expensive. It is a big set though and I had to ship it in a big box. I need to really evaluate how I am going to ship things in the future and what is the most cost effective way so I can reduce these fees if possible.

You paid too much on shipping. You must have used boxes (at least on the first 2) that were too big. If the box is over a certain amount (even slightly) you get charged a 20lb rate, which is deadly shipping costs to some states. It is a pain finding the right box sometimes.

Yeah, shipping this one was insanely expensive. It is a big set though and I had to ship it in a big box. I need to really evaluate how I am going to ship things in the future and what is the most cost effective way so I can reduce these fees if possible.

You paid too much on shipping. You must have used boxes (at least on the first 2) that were too big. If the box is over a certain amount (even slightly) you get charged a 20lb rate, which is deadly shipping costs to some states. It is a pain finding the right box sometimes.

I definitely need to figure out a better system and probably get boxes that are a better fit so I can cut some of the cost. This was basically my trial run and I don't plan on selling anything else until later this year.

Trial and error my friend......you did fine.

What is drop shipping? I only recently bought around 8 sets - the Batman asylums directly from Lego. I do plan to store the sets in their shipping box for selling in the future. I know you can buy boxes from UPS but have no idea re the cost. I wonder if you drive behind a TRU if they have boxes thrown away. All Lego uses inside the box are large air bags so they make a tight fit. Of course, one set from Lego was dinged (not from shipping). Other sets have never perfect - and they all came direct from a warehouse I assume. I have just accepted that no set is in mint condition these days. i.e. corners showing some rubbing damage, small wrinkles from the factory, etc.

Yeah, shipping this one was insanely expensive. It is a big set though and I had to ship it in a big box. I need to really evaluate how I am going to ship things in the future and what is the most cost effective way so I can reduce these fees if possible.

You paid too much on shipping. You must have used boxes (at least on the first 2) that were too big. If the box is over a certain amount (even slightly) you get charged a 20lb rate, which is deadly shipping costs to some states. It is a pain finding the right box sometimes.

I definitely need to figure out a better system and probably get boxes that are a better fit so I can cut some of the cost. This was basically my trial run and I don't plan on selling anything else until later this year.

You still did real well though. The box size thing never gets much easier. I have a house full of boxes & I still spend too much time looking for the right ones.

What is drop shipping? I only recently bought around 8 sets - the Batman asylums directly from Lego. I do plan to store the sets in their shipping box for selling in the future. I know you can buy boxes from UPS but have no idea re the cost. I wonder if you drive behind a TRU if they have boxes thrown away. All Lego uses inside the box are large air bags so they make a tight fit. Of course, one set from Lego was dinged (not from shipping). Other sets have never perfect - and they all came direct from a warehouse I assume. I have just accepted that no set is in mint condition these days. i.e. corners showing some rubbing damage, small wrinkles from the pfactory, etc.

Aspen, drop shipping is when someone sells you a set online, they don't have the set on hand but when you pay for the set they in turn order it from a big box retailer using stolen credit card info. There are tons of post concerning this topic in the forums.....go to the main forum page and type drop shipping in the search engine. There is also an article on the main BP page that explains it as well.

You still did real well though. The box size thing never gets much easier. I have a house full of boxes & I still spend too much time looking for the right ones.

Same issue here. The boxes take up way more room than my actual LEGO collection (I plan to break them all down and organize them at some point). It takes forever to find the right one.

Buying LEGO... fun. Selling LEGO... not so much.

Once you get a system going you will be ok

Checking the msrp prices for each of these, if you had paid that, you still made a profit on every set but Arkham Asylum. Arkham Asylum is a newer set and is easily available so I think that is why you lost on that one. I can understand why you wanted to sell it though being how you obtained it.

Hello, I have sold a lot of diiferent items on Ebay and corrugated boxes are always hard to find. I found a local packaging supply company here in Cincinnati that will allow you set up an account with a $50 purchase. I was selling 150+ old record albums (LP's) at the time and you can imagine finding boxes for these (big square box but too deep for the sale of one album). I contacted this packaging company and set up an account. I was able to purchase boxes made for shipping frames or pictures and these worked out great. I see the need again with reselling legos. When I purchase 2 sets from Amazon they arrive in one box. This is ok for storage but when I resell I will need to locate a box for one of the sets. Again check around in your area for a company that sells packing supplies and try and stay away from Office Depot, Staples etc.

I doubt this will happen but the name "drop shippers" should be changed. there are plenty of drop shipping programs out there that are legal, don;t use anyone's credit card and actually provide a decent service. It's really too bad they are being lumped in with the scamers...

Not sure what else to call it though.......it is drop shipping. But I do agree. I just guess I assume everyone in the forum understands the context in which we use the term.

Not sure what else to call it though.......it is drop shipping. But I do agree. I just guess I assume everyone in the forum understands the context in which we use the term.

I guess we should be calling it "illegal drop shipping".

Yeah, I am not sure what the correct answer is. Whatever it is, they are basically high tech thieves...

Ouch on the shipping!

Even if it means fewer buyers, I build in shipping costs & my own handling fees (which covers part of the ebay/paypal fees, anyway), but I am stubborn and willing to list/relist/bide my time and wait to get the price I want.

agreed...i do the same thing. i pack things very well, and ship either the same day or the very next day after an item has been paid for, but my time and trouble are not free. potential buyers see the s/**** fee i will be charging them, so if they do not like it then they do not have to bid on it. buyers who complain about s/**** after the fact make no sense to me. why did you bid on it then? there is more to shipping than just the cost of postage, but most do not realize that. if my items do not sell then i re-list and try again.

Looks like USPS made their move, they saw a noobie seller, and they highballed their shipping rates, haha.