New User Advice: How to Sell 200+ Sets!

[rbrow01]

Great site that I stumbled on and searching for some guidance.  My boys are now grown and our collection of Lego's over the years has overgrown their playroom.  Since the wife wants the playroom converted to something else the judge has decided the Lego's must go.

I've cataloged what sets we own.  Have manuals for all of them and a few boxes.  All of them are used as they wanted to put them together.  Part of me says sort into sets and sell.  I sorted 1 and changed my mind!

Assuming I have 95% of the pieces across the 200+ sets where many are likely full sets.

 

What's the best way to potentially sell all of these in bulk?

 

Appreciate any advice.

[mizeur]

The usual options are Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, mobile apps like OfferUp and LetGo, or ebay. If the sets aren't sorted, inventoried, and cleaned you're most likely going to end up getting paid by the pound with a slight premium for whatever manuals and boxes you have. List the total weight, the sets you think are in the lot, which boxes and instructions you have, and a desired price. Be prepared to negotiate.

If you want top dollar, sort, inventory, and clean everything. Then sell them either as complete individual sets, small lots, or 1 big lot.

If you want a middle ground approach, figure out which sets are the most valuable/desirable and just sort, inventory, and clean those to sell separately.

Alternatively, save the work, donate them and take the tax deduction.

Edited November 15, 2017 by mizeur

[conceptmachine]

Question; how do tax savings work with toys?  Say I have 100k Msrp in sealed sets can I send them to good will and write off it all, or is there a set price per sealed toy?

Edited November 15, 2017 by conceptmachine

[Clintonjoseph]

Pack them away and give them to your kids when they have children themselves. If you have over 200 sets, your kids must have really loved lego, and may someday come out of what adult lego fans call their "dark ages", or at least enjoy seeing their kids play with them someday.

[vincevaughn]

Pack them away and give them to your kids when they have children themselves. If you have over 200 sets, your kids must have really loved lego, and may someday come out of what adult lego fans call their "dark ages", or at least enjoy seeing their kids play with them someday.

This, i am so glad my parents kept my childhood lego. Bout a month ago I finished the sorting, inventory and archiving of all my childhood sets and they are way more special than my current collection because they were the actual bricks i played with for countless hours as a child.

[matrosov]

What sets do you have?  Depending on what they are I'll be happy to take them off your hands :).  I enjoy the heck of rehabing building and selling used lego while my new investment sets collect dust on the shelves waiting for the price to increase :). 

 

[terrymc4677]

On 11/13/2017 at 2:45 PM, rbrow01 said:

Great site that I stumbled on and searching for some guidance.  My boys are now grown and our collection of Lego's over the years has overgrown their playroom.  Since the wife wants the playroom converted to something else the judge has decided the Lego's must go.

I've cataloged what sets we own.  Have manuals for all of them and a few boxes.  All of them are used as they wanted to put them together.  Part of me says sort into sets and sell.  I sorted 1 and changed my mind!

Assuming I have 95% of the pieces across the 200+ sets where many are likely full sets.

 

What's the best way to potentially sell all of these in bulk?

 

Appreciate any advice.

Where are you located? I'm sure a local picker would love to have first crack at them, and any sales for cash with no selling fees is a win win for everyone involved.

On 11/14/2017 at 10:04 PM, Clintonjoseph said:

Pack them away and give them to your kids when they have children themselves. If you have over 200 sets, your kids must have really loved lego, and may someday come out of what adult lego fans call their "dark ages", or at least enjoy seeing their kids play with them someday.

This would be my approach as well. I'm forty and I still have all of my sets from the eighties when I grew up, but only because my parents saved them for me. I'm so glad that they did, because now that I have two kids of my own I was able to get them all back out and build them again. My kids and I created a huge city layout combining the classic town sets that were mine and some of the newer City sets. Most importantly, we had a blast doing it. My kids are 12 and 11 and have already entered their dark ages, so the hundreds of sets in their collection are in storage until it's time to pass everything onto the grandkids. I feel it's my duty to save them and pass them on since my parents did the same for me. Lego truly is a timeless toy.

Edited December 6, 2017 by terrymc4677