Your investing moves of 2017 - the good and bad

[Leopard]

Winners - I went in pretty big on Disney Ariel undersea palace and friends livi pop star --- huge winners especially with the buy in. 

Losers - Pet Shop...expected a lot more but I'll hang onto for maybe next year. 

Edited December 26, 2017 by Leopard

[thrice28]

Winners: Jokerland at 65
Losers: Kylo Ren 75104 at 65 when will this set die

Yep - I can't believe how well the Jokerland set has done. I grabbed a few at the tail end of availability, and they all sold for a good price.

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[exciter1]

So, is this thread for 2017 buys or 2017 sales?

[Phil B]

Winner decisions: my decision at the beginning of the year to no longer put real money into my LEGO purchases (or only very little). Stuck to it by-and-large until October when the FBA earnings started rolling in. Especially KMart/SYW .... $4k in MSRP bought, $500 in cash spent. Total of 181 sets.

Also winner: My early on decision to go mainly small and medium sized sets (sub $50).

Final winner: Not listening to what others say here .

Bad decisions: Kylo Ren Shuttle polybags. Even though I got them for free, they just don't move.

[pawel_przybyla]

Winners: all 2016-retired: Technic sets, Wall-e and most of Friends sets

Losers: all Star Wars sets, Nexo Knights and -of course- Pet Shop

 

I believe that Technic and Friends will make my Christmas 2018 (48x 41101 Heartlake Hotels bought per 64-68£, 23x 42053 EW160E each 38£ and others are waiting.. )

 

 

 

 

[Val-E]

12 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

So, is this thread for 2017 buys or 2017 sales?

It´s best and worse investment decisions of the year. I guess selling too soon or too late would count for that. Or deciding to sell.

[exciter1]

Just now, Val-E said:

It´s best and worse investment decisions of the year. I guess selling too soon or too late would count for that. Or deciding to sell.

OK, I was confused by some of the picks here.

[Val-E]

3 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

OK, I was confused by some of the picks here.

It´s like selling on Ebay, people don´t look at the description.

[feed]

2 hours ago, Val-E said:

Problem is we aren´t always sure which sets in a theme will do well so we cover base. Getingt it wrong and going in hard on the duff sets is an expensive mistake.

Whilst I don’t generally pick the gems that double+.  I can pick those sets that have good demand and deliver solid and consistent returns.  I absolutely should only focus on those sets.  maybe 10 or so sets a year.  But I don’t and it’s dumb that I get distracted by other sets that I know aren’t going to perform as well, will be more difficult to manage or sell in lower volumes.   

[crayxlp]

from my individual point of view.. even the BP official dbase stats (avg price for a set sold) are not truly helpful.. not being  a part of either US or UK community, I face several challenges such as developing exchange rate ratio, intl shipping costs (+ adequate insurance for signed-for packages), plus exploitation ebay fees (10 pct) + additional 2.2 pct for paypal payments and still not feeling safe - what if someone tries to report a fraudelant case such as: "it came in - OPENED - I ordered SEALED". how can you possible defend yourself against that?

Edited December 26, 2017 by crayxlp
grammar

[Mark Twain]

Winner: stopped buying sets unless I could find them 75% off and even being picky about that.

Winner: Minecraft jungle treehouse was pretty surprising. Seems to have peaked around $100 on Ebay pre Xmas. Nice buy in for me at $15

Loser: I only bought five of them!

 

[Val-E]

27 minutes ago, feed said:

Whilst I don’t generally pick the gems that double+.  I can pick those sets that have good demand and deliver solid and consistent returns.  I absolutely should only focus on those sets.  maybe 10 or so sets a year.  But I don’t and it’s dumb that I get distracted by other sets that I know aren’t going to perform as well, will be more difficult to manage or sell in lower volumes.   

I think it´s part of the allure for those of us who are not professional sellers. It´s fun to seek out the hidden gems and take a punt on some untalked about sets in small volumes. For big box sellers, it´s a different store and is probably why sets like Dragon Sanctuary and Ekimu did so well.

[richiej1979]

A bit new to this and just wondering why Jokerland ended up doing so well? Does this mean Joker Manor will do well? 

[Val-E]

28 minutes ago, crayxlp said:

from my individual point of view.. even the BP official dbase stats (avg price for a set sold) are not truly helpful.. not being  a part of either US or UK community, I face several challenges such as developing exchange rate ratio, intl shipping costs (+ adequate insurance for signed-for packages), plus exploitation ebay fees (10 pct) + additional 2.2 pct for paypal payments and still not feeling safe - what if someone tries to report a fraudelant case such as: "it came in - OPENED - I ordered SEALED". how can you possible defend yourself against that?

2.2% is a great deal from Paypal. In many countries it´s almost 4%.

You can´t defend yourself against this type of fraud unless you take such extreme precautions that you make yourself unattractive to buyers. Specialist platforms like Bricklink and Brickowl offer lower fraud rates but you will sell a small fraction of what you would move on Amazon or Ebay. Perhaps one of my bad decisions was not to check to Facebook marketplace, now you mention it.

[LegoBro]

Winning Decisions:

Team and Level Dimension Packs from the 99 cent store bonanza. Even the Homer and Portal 2 packs bundled with other packs made some good money. Fueled my spending/accumulation of sets in the summer months.

City Sets - Looking at you Garbage Truck.  Bought at sub $13, still selling them at $50+

Friends, Disney, Elves - Sold too early on some, but when you're small and want to go big, gotta keep churning that money.

Jurassic World IR - Wish I bought more, but I started late last year...so would of could of should of...

Time spent researching many threads here on Brickpicker.  I'd pay to be a member here. srs

Time spent researching sales ranks, set history, sub themes, etc...

Picking the brains of fellow bros here on Brickpicker.  Thanks to all who answered my PMs or posts.

Hustling.......

Losing Decisions:

Not buying more dimension packs.  Doubted myself due to the doubts many of the veterans here had on the dimension outlook.  Can't blame anyone though.  It was hard to tell when you had an aisle filled with packs and an ever ending supply at all 99 cent stores those few months.

Diversifying into products I know very little about.  Easy to get caught up with the non lego investment thread. Money could have been better spent elsewhere or at least researching the non lego products a bit more before purchasing on a whim..

I obviously have sets that have underperformed just like anyone else on here.  Still stubbornly holding onto big large sets.  Bought in large part due to getting caught up with the horde.  I've since started to zig when they zag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Val-E]

1 minute ago, richiej1979 said:

A bit new to this and just wondering why Jokerland ended up doing so well? Does this mean Joker Manor will do well? 

Jokerland is not doing well in Europe unless your buy-in was 5 quid.

There are many many other sets that retired last year that have outperformed it, including XXL classic box.

[LegoMan1212]

Personal Set Winner:  Jestro's Headquarters: Buy in $20, sell $80+ (7 of them) and probably being able to flip some Rockets within a week of getting them for about $50 profit each.

Worst Decision:  Not sure yet, I have some inside thoughts but am overly pleased with my 1st near full year of doing this via starting with bulk buys only and moving into sets and deciding which one's to break out into the BL store while buying bulk around town.

Best Decision:  Shutting the BL store down in August to organize everything so that when an order comes in I can pull it very quickly and know exactly where an item is vs knowing "about" where the items may be.  I even built a 9 dresser drawer (about 4 feet wide, 5 feet tall) specifically for all my New pieces and absolutely love it.  I sometimes wish I would have built 2 at the same time though as the lots/part numbers continue to increase.  I originally thought that 10,000 pieces was a solid store size, then I thought 15,000 was good.  Now I'm at 50,000 and still looking to continue to add more and more as time allows me with family/other job.  Every order, no matter what size or sale amount puts a smile on my face. 

Other Best Decision:  Starting to do this. I think I was hitting a mid-life crisis while going through some health issues, lyme disease like, never confirmed but treated as if it was in the end (after nearly 3 years of searching for an answer) and needed  to find an escape at home and just from everything else.  I believe I found that new spark in my life.

Looking forward to a fun 2018.

[lodibricks]

I still have faith in several of the "losers" mentioned. 

[crayxlp]

46 minutes ago, LegoMan1212 said:

Personal Set Winner:  Jestro's Headquarters: Buy in $20, sell $80+ (7 of them) and probably being able to flip some Rockets within a week of getting them for about $50 profit each.

Worst Decision:  Not sure yet, I have some inside thoughts but am overly pleased with my 1st near full year of doing this via starting with bulk buys only and moving into sets and deciding which one's to break out into the BL store while buying bulk around town.

Best Decision:  Shutting the BL store down in August to organize everything so that when an order comes in I can pull it very quickly and know exactly where an item is vs knowing "about" where the items may be.  I even built a 9 dresser drawer (about 4 feet wide, 5 feet tall) specifically for all my New pieces and absolutely love it.  I sometimes wish I would have built 2 at the same time though as the lots/part numbers continue to increase.  I originally thought that 10,000 pieces was a solid store size, then I thought 15,000 was good.  Now I'm at 50,000 and still looking to continue to add more and more as time allows me with family/other job.  Every order, no matter what size or sale amount puts a smile on my face. 

Other Best Decision:  Starting to do this. I think I was hitting a mid-life crisis while going through some health issues, lyme disease like, never confirmed but treated as if it was in the end (after nearly 3 years of searching for an answer) and needed  to find an escape at home and just from everything else.  I believe I found that new spark in my life.

Looking forward to a fun 2018.

best of luck with your health progress!

[exciter1]

Winner - Being patient with Snowplow and Racing Bike Transporter

Loser - Not buying the 25 Mystery Mansions at the KMart store closing for $55 in Februrary.  I was holding out for one more drop which would have brought them down to $45.  I think I bought 4-5 at $55 then.  They had them marked $105 to start before discount.

[ThRok]

Best move 1: Buying two Death Stars (10188) for $250 each and flipping them for >$400 each during the run-up to Christmas.

Best move 2: Trading a bunch of City sets from “freeLego.com”. ($15.70 oop) for a 99% complete used MTT (7662) and selling it for >$200.

Worst move: letting go of too many Millennium Falcons (75105) too early (before they started selling for $170-$180 the last couple of weeks)


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[exracer327]

5 hours ago, REDUCE523 said:

Winners: Jokerland at 65

Losers: Kylo Ren 75104 at 65 when will this set die

Jump Ten shuttle was dead as soon as it appeared in the movienwith wings that swung out.  I know because I had bought a couple via tru sale.

thankfully tru made mistake and I got both for free.  flipped one instantly for only $95, while they were still for full price.  If ever there was a set in need if a remake it's this one.  

[Substored]

Big Winners for me this year were: CITY Artic Helicrane 60034 (They went fast and over 100% ROI.) Ninjago 70755 Jungle Raider (Thought i was going to be stuck with a bunch of these but like the heli they all sold FAST and again over 100% Roi.) And my last big win Were Jurassic World Diophosaurus 75916.

The crying game for me were in Series 14 minis.. Rey buildable figures.. (yeah i grabbed a few when they hit 50% off. you dont see 50% on lego here in Canada much so got excited. ;P) 

 

In the next year, I feel the City Heli's craze may continue so will load up. And as everyone here probably either knows or has a feeling, Star wars is slowing down. The sheer numbers of sets they have imo is just over saturating the market. HOWEVER i felt the same way a year or so back when i picked up some MTT 75058. When i bought those i looked up and saw literally 50-60 of them just sitting there at TRU. Near the end of a clearance and BOGO (only picked up a couple. DAMMIT.).  Never thought i would sell them but this year they went.. and made good $$ too so who knows right. 

[GregP]

The good - signed UCS MF with VIP card 

The bad - dr strange super hero’s sets. Still hanging around at TRU and a remake incoming!

The ugly - credit card bill!!

[landphieran]

Winners -
30 - Fire Planes for 140$+ bought these on a whim when someone on BP said they'd be a quick flip around the holidays.. 
45 - Livi Pop Star Houses for 165$+ bought at slightly higher then MSRP
15 - Technic Cranes 210-265??? Bought during TRU ban day

Losers-

Buying large stuffed animals to sell. What a flipping waste of space and time.
Got cold feet going in on some large orders this year when i had the opportunity Jungle Treehouse, Airport, pink duplo 
TRU Cancelling my orders without telling me, causing me to miss sets I had expected to receive