Getting started..

[Jonesfrog]

Hi All,

I’ve been looking at starting investing / collecting Lego, enjoyed playing with them as a kid and now I have kids of my own I can see how much the kits have improved. 

As a starter for investment I’ve looked at the Steamboat Willie set that is out now, seems to tick a few boxes in that it’s quite ‘unique’, it’s Disney, and there’s potential for interest to peak for the 100th anniversary of Steamboat Willie in 2028. Only downside is that it seems quite expensive for what you get. 

What are people’s thoughts on getting started, if you could start out again, how would you do it?

Thanks,

Chris. 

[Ed Mack]

Hello...Welcome to the site.  Buy some tickets to the Brickpicker LEGO raffle and win some retired sets would be a good place to start.  

[Shortbus311]

Hi All,
I’ve been looking at starting investing / collecting Lego, enjoyed playing with them as a kid and now I have kids of my own I can see how much the kits have improved. 
As a starter for investment I’ve looked at the Steamboat Willie set that is out now, seems to tick a few boxes in that it’s quite ‘unique’, it’s Disney, and there’s potential for interest to peak for the 100th anniversary of Steamboat Willie in 2028. Only downside is that it seems quite expensive for what you get. 
What are people’s thoughts on getting started, if you could start out again, how would you do it?
Thanks,
Chris. 

Hello and welcome! I agree that the steamboat willie set is unique and may be a good seller in the future for investors. But, this set was just released and probably has another 2-3 years until retirement and then you would probably need to hold for another year or 2 before prices start to rise enough to make it a worthwhile investment. Waiting 3-5 years before you can even think about reselling is not a great way to invest in Lego in my opinion.
And as you can pick up by reading virtually any thread on this board, no one here really buys sets at full price. This set will go on sale eventually, maybe next black Friday, maybe during a Barnes and Noble bogo 50% off sale, but there will definitely be opportunities to purchase it for less with less hold time. With that said, I did go ahead and buy one from the first release with the box numbering error just in case it turns valuable due to the error.

If you really want to start out investing in Lego, wait for good sales to happen (for most sets a good sale is at least 40% off) or rare Limited Edition buying opportunities. And concentrate on sets that have been out at least a year or two as those will be closer to EOL (end of life) and your returns from selling will come much quicker.

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Brickpicker Forum mobile app

[justapilgrim]

Tons to read and welcome.

Picking winners is part of the game. I have found that your success is more dependent on .

1. % off MSRP purchased (or combined with promos)

2. How close a set is to retirement.

So...pick a winner, and buy it near retirement for a deep discount with promos

[Jonesfrog]

Great feedback thanks. I’m going to hang fire on the Steamboat set having read the advice and keep an eye on it. 

Is there a concise way of finding out how long sets have been running, and how many have been produced? 

I appreciate a lot of the questions I’m asking are probably covered in threads out there, I’ve just started reading stuff and it’s already taking up a fair bit of time. Can see this becoming a time consuming hobby!

Chris. 

[roxio]

17 hours ago, Jonesfrog said:

Great feedback thanks. I’m going to hang fire on the Steamboat set having read the advice and keep an eye on it. 

Is there a concise way of finding out how long sets have been running, and how many have been produced? 

I appreciate a lot of the questions I’m asking are probably covered in threads out there, I’ve just started reading stuff and it’s already taking up a fair bit of time. Can see this becoming a time consuming hobby!

Chris. 

brickset and bricklink will give you set data for release, rrp etc but for 99.99% of sets the production numbers are unknown.

[cuttingcorners47]

Have a budget. Have a set amount of money that you feel comfortable spending every month. 

[LegoMan1212]

In all honesty, I probably would tell my past self to steer away from this and use that time and energy in other places.  Now I'm in deep and although I'm okay with that, it is A LOT of work.

Think of all the time and effort to do the following:

1. Research nearly every Set

2. Research how much each set has sold for (mins/max's)

3. Research if the set has been made before, has a minifig been made before, is it a new minifig completely, etc...

4. Follow prices nearly daily, weekly, hourly

5.  Be prepared to buy something with near zero research because of a sudden sale or glitch

6. All the storage space this takes up, boxes needed for shipping, dealing with anything shipping in general

7. If parting out, everything that goes into that. (WAY MORE TIME NEEDED than selling sets)

8. Beating your competition.  We talk on here but we are all competitors too.

9. Knowing that even though you might have gotten a great deal, someone out there probably got a better one.

10.  Buying is easy, Selling takes Time and a lot of Patience for many sets.

11.  Bottom line, this is not a cakewalk by any means.  Be ready for it and be ready to not see a return immediately.

[mizeur]

5 hours ago, cuttingcorners47 said:

Have a budget. Have a set amount of money that you feel comfortable spending every month. 

Have a plan for selling.

[iahawks550]

I haven't read through everything. But if you can't sell on Amazon, you are already in a much tougher spot.

[Belac]

5 hours ago, cuttingcorners47 said:

Have a budget. Have a set amount of money that you feel comfortable spending every month. 

 

2 minutes ago, mizeur said:

Have a plan for selling.

 The" buying is easy part "is sooo true!  Be wise with your capital.

[ravenb99]

obviously need to add learn riddle deciphering and poetry...

[Jonesfrog]

Genuinely very impressive advice, thanks everyone. I feel like people have a quicker turnaround with their sales than I was expecting, sometimes selling almost straight away if they get the right set. I was more thinking about buying something and holding on to it in my loft for a few years before selling. I guess that happens as well. 

[Franz123]

Welcome.

[$20 on joe vs dan]

For someone starting out (which was me 6 months ago)...I would say two things:

It's only work if you rather be doing something else

and go for the low hanging fruit first and see what type of reseller you want to be.

 

Low hangers are exclusives that comes by once in awhile such as the DArth Vader bust, the gift w/ purchase at Lego stores and if your local Walmarts have 50%+ sales (and even then focus in easy sells which means popular and fits typical priority mail fixed rate boxes [i.e., no shipping surprises]. You might also get lucky thru in-person local deals...my most lucrative was from a singel CL seller who I kept going back to for more stock...along w/ adding to my personal collection I sold over $1k worth w/ typical buy-in at 50-70% off.

The MOST important factor is an understanding wife.