Quarantine Trends - LEGO Online Selling Prices

[KShine]

  On 5/18/2020 at 6:00 AM, Darth_Raichu said:

Just spent a couple of hours packing some sets to ship tomorrow.  I thought the buying wave ended last week.  I was wrong

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Yep, still going strong - The ever increasing traffic counts have started going down a little bit, but my strong sales are still keeping pace.

[Huskers1236]

  On 5/18/2020 at 6:00 AM, Darth_Raichu said:

Just spent a couple of hours packing some sets to ship tomorrow.  I thought the buying wave ended last week.  I was wrong

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Between both BL and Ebay, anything new that I put up, sells.  

I have sold out of VW Vans and down to my last Sydney Opera House and have been raising prices on them.  I couldn't give away T1's on FB a few months ago.  I'm seeing parts of my storage room that I haven't seen in years.  

[elmaslıefendi]

For you guys in the US this may be the best time ever to get rid of big sets. I checked 50 big sets or so on eBay yesterday and it's truly insane what people are willing to pay for stuff. Holding retired sets right now is pointless, as prices will fall again... i think the only exception are sets that are oos & retire this year.

Edited May 18, 2020 by elmaslıefendi

[dennugsmello]

  On 5/18/2020 at 1:04 PM, elmaslıefendi said:

For you guys in the US this may be the best time ever to get rid of big sets. I checked 50 big sets or so on eBay yesterday and it's truly insane what people are willing to pay for stuff. Holding retired sets right now is pointless, as prices will fall again... i think the only exception are sets that are oos & retire this year.

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Could be.

Or the reseller supply of large sets gets thinned out by binge purchasers leaving a limited supply of large sets for collectors in the future. Those who hold may see greater returns. It will be interesting to observe the Lego game in an uncertain future. Win or lose boys, make your bets. 

[Lego Lass]

  On 5/18/2020 at 2:29 PM, dennugsmello said:

 Win or lose boys, make your bets. 

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Don't forget about us girls! 😉

[$20 on joe vs dan]

I think we should start considering the reality of the Mexico factory shut-down.

There is ZERO chance of them being able to "catch up". especially since even if the shut in is lifted, the additional  health measures and considerations will reduce most company's efficiency.

We all expect LEGO to make some decisions and plan...but let's face it...the single clear theme in the whole Covid-19 situation has been an utter LACK of planning and foresight across the board...so why should LEGO be any different.  

Here's how I see it go down:

Mexico eventually lifts SIP and factories open again.

Lego factory in Mexico tell LEGO we are 3 months behind and down 30% in efficiency, there's no way we can fulfill this order in the timeframe scheduled.

If you were LEGO...how would you respond?

[MotorCityMuscle]

  On 5/18/2020 at 7:03 PM, $20 on joe vs dan said:

I think we should start considering the reality of the Mexico factory shut-down.

There is ZERO chance of them being able to "catch up". especially since even if the shut in is lifted, the additional  health measures and considerations will reduce most company's efficiency.

We all expect LEGO to make some decisions and plan...but let's face it...the single clear theme in the whole Covid-19 situation has been an utter LACK of planning and foresight across the board...so why should LEGO be any different.  

Here's how I see it go down:

Mexico eventually lifts SIP and factories open again.

Lego factory in Mexico tell LEGO we are 3 months behind and down 30% in efficiency, there's no way we can fulfill this order in the timeframe scheduled.

If you were LEGO...how would you respond?

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grin and bear it

[fuzzy_bricks]

  On 5/18/2020 at 2:29 PM, dennugsmello said:

Could be.

Or the reseller supply of large sets gets thinned out by binge purchasers leaving a limited supply of large sets for collectors in the future. Those who hold may see greater returns. It will be interesting to observe the Lego game in an uncertain future. Win or lose boys, make your bets. 

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I'm taking a "bird in the had" approach to some of these sets.

Camper Van, Sandcrawler, Sopwith Camel, Tumbler, Tower or Orstank, now is the time to offload these duds.

[firstofminifigs]

  On 5/18/2020 at 7:03 PM, $20 on joe vs dan said:

I think we should start considering the reality of the Mexico factory shut-down.
There is ZERO chance of them being able to "catch up". especially since even if the shut in is lifted, the additional  health measures and considerations will reduce most company's efficiency.
We all expect LEGO to make some decisions and plan...but let's face it...the single clear theme in the whole Covid-19 situation has been an utter LACK of planning and foresight across the board...so why should LEGO be any different.  
Here's how I see it go down:
Mexico eventually lifts SIP and factories open again.
Lego factory in Mexico tell LEGO we are 3 months behind and down 30% in efficiency, there's no way we can fulfill this order in the timeframe scheduled.
If you were LEGO...how would you respond?

Reach out to the Brickpicker user base to inquire about their current inventories and ability to fulfill purchase orders from the box retailers *full circle*

[$20 on joe vs dan]

  On 5/18/2020 at 10:47 PM, fuzzy_bricks said:

I'm taking a "bird in the had" approach to some of these sets.

Camper Van, Sandcrawler, Sopwith Camel, Tumbler, Tower or Orstank, now is the time to offload these duds.

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funny, I have wanted all these sets for some time

I guess eye of the beholder...or shall we say the iyre of the long holder

[dennugsmello]

  On 5/18/2020 at 7:03 PM, $20 on joe vs dan said:

 

If you were LEGO...how would you respond?

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I would produce all the high demand out of stock as obviously there is demand. Then I would delay and cut the number of new sets to a minimum until things improve. 

 

Why retire sets that people and resellers want? All you need to do is produce them. Makes sense to restart production with preexisting molds. 

[$20 on joe vs dan]

  On 5/19/2020 at 6:45 AM, dennugsmello said:

I would produce all the high demand out of stock as obviously there is demand. Then I would delay and cut the number of new sets to a minimum until things improve. 

 

Why retire sets that people and resellers want? All you need to do is produce them. Makes sense to restart production with preexisting molds. 

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I agree that's what would make sense for AFoLs and resellers....but pretty much goes against LEGOs basic marketing strategy.  It's like expecting a car manufacturer to stop making new models and divert back to prior ones. The industry and alas the hobby and (for the good of resellers) is based on ever new products.

I think wishful thinking  on LEGO's side will rule the day through the end of the year...basically hoping Mexico's plant will "catch up"...and when it becomes bloody obvious to everyone...LEGO will make a "statement" admitting many sets have "retroactively" retired.

[SpaceFan9]

 From the Daily Deals thread:

  On 5/19/2020 at 3:27 PM, exracer327 said:

  On 5/19/2020 at 3:10 PM, SpaceFan9 said:

This is common when the item is out of stock, and happens with many items---not just lego.  It will show up again in a search when its back in stock.

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I guess what I find curious is that it is in stock, in some stores, just not online.  I guess by removing it from online they are protecting store stock from being bought up online? 

The Stranger Things set has been sold out for weeks, but I can still find it online on target.com. 

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Good point.  A few weeks back, I went to order baking supplies on-line, and items that I had previously ordered months ago were nowhere to be found (like Rumford aluminum-free baking powder). But I could find the page based on my order history: items were both out-of-stock on-line and in-store, so I presumed that's why they didn't show up on a search.. Now that things have calmed down, they are in-stock and showing up in search again.  But, you're right... it's clearly inconsistent.

[MrToes16]

Maybe it was just me, but I gotta believe this is some of us when we see the newest eBay invoice for the month.

[Darth_Raichu]

  On 5/20/2020 at 12:13 PM, MrToes16 said:

Maybe it was just me, but I gotta believe this is some of us when we see the newest eBay invoice for the month.

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Wait till you actually go through each line and try to make sense of all the charges and credits

[exracer327]

  On 5/20/2020 at 1:54 PM, Darth_Raichu said:

Wait till you actually go through each line and try to make sense of all the charges and credits

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lol, literally did that yesterday.  It took... a while. 

My real ah-ha was realizing paypal is taking 2.9% of the taxes remitted by the buyer as well.  I couldn't figure out why my actual received by paypal was lower than what ebay was sending (minus fees of course).  Yesterday I made the discovery and could consistently replicate it with 2.9% of taxes being paid by buyer. 

I'm thinking about limiting sales to communities with 0% sales tax.  lol, not really, but wish I could.

[Phil B]

  On 5/20/2020 at 5:01 PM, exracer327 said:

lol, literally did that yesterday.  It took... a while. 

My real ah-ha was realizing paypal is taking 2.9% of the taxes remitted by the buyer as well.  I couldn't figure out why my actual received by paypal was lower than what ebay was sending (minus fees of course).  Yesterday I made the discovery and could consistently replicate it with 2.9% of taxes being paid by buyer. 

I'm thinking about limiting sales to communities with 0% sales tax.  lol, not really, but wish I could.

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Though I'd like it to be different as well, you can't really fault Paypal for that ... they are a payment processor and take 2.9% of the total payment amount. Doesn't matter what is included in that payment amount from a "service transaction" perspective ... taxes, shipping, handling fees etc. They process the amount and take a cut.

[$20 on joe vs dan]

  On 5/20/2020 at 5:58 PM, Phil B said:

Though I'd like it to be different as well, you can't really fault Paypal for that ... they are a payment processor and take 2.9% of the total payment amount. Doesn't matter what is included in that payment amount from a "service transaction" perspective ... taxes, shipping, handling fees etc. They process the amount and take a cut.

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the bigger issue is being forced to pay taxes on items that have already been taxed.  If the seller procured merchandise pre-tax then I understand taxing the final sale; but for those of us who purchased retail and paid taxes...then what is owed to the government has been satisfied (IMO)...basically the government is double dipping and in many cases triple dipping or more.

[Phil B]

  On 5/20/2020 at 7:00 PM, $20 on joe vs dan said:

the bigger issue is being forced to pay taxes on items that have already been taxed.  If the seller procured merchandise pre-tax then I understand taxing the final sale; but for those of us who purchased retail and paid taxes...then what is owed to the government has been satisfied (IMO)...basically the government is double dipping and in many cases triple dipping or more.

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True sellers will have obtained their merchandise from a distributor using Tax Exempt status, so the above is not an issue. The issue is that we are mostly on the "grey" market - we are normal consumers buying from retail channels who by-and-large don't accept our Tax Exempt paperwork (if you even have this). I don't see a way how the governments (local, state and federal) can make this fair - they can either tax nothing (but then buying from an official reseller who obtained merchandise under a tax exempt certification would not have any tax on throughout the full sale chain) or tax every transaction (which is what is happening now). Any intermediate solutions (stopping tax exempt even for official resellers, or having sellers declare cost to the buyer so they only pay tax on the value add) are clearly unacceptable.

[LegoMan1212]

  On 5/20/2020 at 7:50 PM, Phil B said:

True sellers will have obtained their merchandise from a distributor using Tax Exempt status, so the above is not an issue. The issue is that we are mostly on the "grey" market - we are normal consumers buying from retail channels who by-and-large don't accept our Tax Exempt paperwork (if you even have this). I don't see a way how the governments (local, state and federal) can make this fair - they can either tax nothing (but then buying from an official reseller who obtained merchandise under a tax exempt certification would not have any tax on throughout the full sale chain) or tax every transaction (which is what is happening now). Any intermediate solutions (stopping tax exempt even for official resellers, or having sellers declare cost to the buyer so they only pay tax on the value add) are clearly unacceptable.

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5-6% state and local tax

10% self-employment tax

25% federal tax

Wiping out an entire aisle of Lego when 50% hits - priceless... until the CC bill comes due

[exracer327]

  On 5/20/2020 at 5:58 PM, Phil B said:

Though I'd like it to be different as well, you can't really fault Paypal for that ... they are a payment processor and take 2.9% of the total payment amount. Doesn't matter what is included in that payment amount from a "service transaction" perspective ... taxes, shipping, handling fees etc. They process the amount and take a cut.

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Oh, I agree... reluctantly.  It's a matter of how the platforms work together. 

Paypal is the financial aparatus by which the sale takes place.  So technically, paypal is both the sender and receiver of the funds (not ebay).  So paypal places a fee on the whole amount of the transaction and pass that "fee" to the seller, none of it to ebay.  Then paypal sends the funds to the correct destinations (ebay for taxes and the seller for sale and shipping). 

So instead of the end recipient being the one who pays the paypal fee, the seller pays all of it.  I suspect ebay and paypal have worked this out as a service to the seller since the seller is technically responsible for collecting the taxes on the sale.  I feel like a lawyer somewhere is laughing right now... but I have a headache and am still miffed (bummed) that I'm loosing an additional $.25 (on average) in additional paypal fees for taxes collected on each ebay sale I make.

[kevinp]

So how about selling newer sets now vs Christmas season? For example, I have some 31084 Pirate Roller Coasters. Sell now or wait?
 

[zaphoid]

  On 5/21/2020 at 9:26 PM, kevinp said:

So how about selling newer sets now vs Christmas season? For example, I have some 31084 Pirate Roller Coasters. Sell now or wait?
 

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I've sold all of mine already.  Could I have made more if I held out for longer? Maybe, but never look a gift house in the mouth.

[kevinp]

  On 5/21/2020 at 9:36 PM, zaphoid said:

I've sold all of mine already.  Could I have made more if I held out for longer? Maybe, but never look a gift house in the mouth.

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Wise thoughts... Thank you!

[$20 on joe vs dan]

getting a feeling things are cooling down sales-wise