loose used legos multiple questions

[anon33]

Anyone know a good going rate for a pound of legos?

I was perusing craigslist and saw lego city lot collection, all loose for $300... 45pounds total...

The following are a list of some sets which are in the lot

Maersk train

harbor

mine

airport

space center

police station

Fire station

misc vehicles

Is such a lot worth 300...

only thing I see of value is the Maersk train if its complete....

thoughts?

[tonysbricks]

Hard to tell without pics, but if all that was included was newer city sets I would have passed. It will take years to recoup the 300.

[kerrmando]

I'd buy it. Going rate is usually about 6 bucks a pound so that puts you close!

[Diabolos80]

That's about $6.67 per pound. A good price if you want to keep it, but too much if you want to resell. And I agree witn tonysbricks, it'd take a while to get your money back. Ask the seller if you can buy just the train for a good price. You wouldn't have any trouble selling it.

[CNH1974]

City sets do not seem to appreciate much in my experience.

 

Isn't the US rate $10/lb

 

In the UK I aim to buy at

[tonysbricks]

$10 is the suckers rate or a high quality collection... retired HP, SW, IJ, etc.

[CNH1974]

45lb is approx 20kg.

 

In the UK, this would sell on Ebay for anywhere from

[Diabolos80]

Another factor to consider is the current state of the collection. Are the sets built? Or is it a couple tubs full of loose bricks? Does the seller still have instructions for all the sets? Yesterday I bought a 60 pound lot for $250, it's mostly SW with some Agents, Bionicle, and Indiana Jones. A good price, but it's 60 pounds of loose bricks. I need to sort, build, photograph, list, sell, break down, and ship all of it. I'll definitely be earning my profit.

[kerrmando]

Another thing to take into account is that you can always resell bulk to me

[CNH1974]

 A good price, but it's 60 pounds of loose bricks. I need to sort, build, photograph, list, sell, break down, and ship all of it. I'll definitely be earning my profit.

 

That's half the fun - and how I got into this game before discovering the investing side of it.

 

I now keep a stash of spare parts to complete the supposed complete sets. I am trying to find the bits for a 1978 853 Car Chassis at the mo.

[Huskers1236]

That's half the fun - and how I got into this game before discovering the investing side of it.

 

I now keep a stash of spare parts to complete the supposed complete sets. I am trying to find the bits for a 1978 853 Car Chassis at the mo.

Yep, this is what I got started doing to earn money for investments.  Buy $300 worth of bulk Lego using some sound judgement in which lot to buy, and turn it around into completed sets, usually doubling my money.  It's not the easiest way to make a buck, but it's a lot of fun if you're into searching piles and piles of Lego.

[comicblast]

I would buy it. 300 for 45 lbs is a fairly decent deal. Now it is fairly tedious to go through that much LEGO, but it is worth it in the end. At least to me it is.

[Darth Lego]

As the others have said, I would buy it. $6.67 a pound is right around $6. Are you willing to spend the time to sort through it? If not then I wouldn't buy it.

[justgod]

Another factor to consider is the current state of the collection. Are the sets built? Or is it a couple tubs full of loose bricks? Does the seller still have instructions for all the sets? Yesterday I bought a 60 pound lot for $250, it's mostly SW with some Agents, Bionicle, and Indiana Jones. A good price, but it's 60 pounds of loose bricks. I need to sort, build, photograph, list, sell, break down, and ship all of it. I'll definitely be earning my profit.

I am curious to know why you build the set and then take it apart. Isn't it easier to go through BrickLink to see the pieces and quantity? (assuming you do not have the instructions that list a piece count)

[Grolim]

This page can also prove to be useful:

http://www.brickpicker.com/bpms/bulkdata.cfm

[Diabolos80]

I am curious to know why you build the set and then take it apart. Isn't it easier to go through BrickLink to see the pieces and quantity? (assuming you do not have the instructions that list a piece count)

Just for the fun of it. And maybe it makes for a quicker sale if buyers can see that it looks complete. But mostly for the fun of it. I'm a builder at heart, my profit from this deal will probably go straight into a Tower of Orthanc or Sydney Opera House to build.

[CNH1974]

Also, buyers of secondhand old lego sets prefer to see what they are buying.

I have just parted out an old 1978 853 chassis set. I am sure I will get more if I now build it rather than taking a stock photo or one of a pile of bricks.

Having said that I recently sold two technic sets that had instructions. Here I did not build them , I used the instructions with a pile of bricks next to it as the selling incentive.

Swings and roundabouts I suppose. :)

[Grolim]

I usually build the set and take a photo with the instructions and the box if I have it so the buyer can see the condition clearly.  I do use a BL parts list to pull out all the bits from a larger pile first though.  Couple of times when building a set I have found parts i missed when doing the list.

[Snowcrash]

If the Maersk Train is complete you may actually make some decent money on that lot.  You're paying a bulk rate, but from the list you posted it actually seems like you've got a bunch of complete sets which have just been jumbled together.  If you want to spend a weekend or two getting your hands dirty sorting you might make some decent money sorting those sets out and then selling them on, especially if all those sets come with instructions and really are 100% complete.  You could also get hosed and just have a bunch of half complete scrap you'll be lucky to recoup your initial investment on.  If there's no really desirable sets in there which will peak collector's interests when it come's time to sell then $300 is probably what you'll get at auction on eBay.

 

The question then becomes do you pay eBay prices for a cash transaction through CL?  Can you also verify if the Maersk train is at least actually in the lot?  That would go a long way, at least in my mind, towards whether or not I'd consider the deal.

[meowingthings]

I will only pay about $3 a pound for used Legos. I have bought a lot of used Lego lots and have learned if people don't put their sets back in the box you will almost always be missing pieces or will have a lot of chewed/damaged. Throwing everything in a big box doesn't exactly scream great organizational skills.