Retiring Soon - open speculation

[trekgate502]

thanks, just trying to help some new users boost there sales

 

I also agree moving some low $ items at near cost like poly's helps keep people buying from you which gives them an opportunity to visit your store, give more positive feedback, etc which helps.

[Cross]

There is likely one on the board already... but a "How to Sell" thread would be killer. Sooooo many enter the game without the knowledge-base needed to properly and efficiently sell what they have. It's easy to acquire an inventory, but it all means nothing until you can connect with someone who wants to buy. I am one who started buying with almost no knowledge of what's needed to sell: a very solid reputation, great feedback, strong enough volume to be deemed "credible"- and very importantly-

 

an awareness of just how much $ is cut out of your sell-price once taxes and fees take their slice. And an awareness of just how much time, commitment, and effort building an established selling account requires.

 

Raven and Trek, what you have both posted above is pure gold for anyone trying to "figure out" how to get a return on their sets.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Cross

[Brickbuilder.g]

I really hope the batcave is gone for good...probably wishful thinking as another round may come out but if it's done this month...weeeee $$$$

Btw...anyone catch what the seal codes were on the target orders?

[ravenb99]

There is likely one on the board already... but a "How to Sell" thread would be killer. Sooooo many enter the game without the knowledge-base needed to properly and efficiently sell what they have. It's easy to acquire an inventory, but it all means nothing until you can connect with someone who wants to buy. I am one who started buying with almost no knowledge of what's needed to sell: a very solid reputation, great feedback, strong enough volume to be deemed "credible"- and very importantly-

 

an awareness of just how much $ is cut out of your sell-price once taxes and fees take their slice. And an awareness of just how much time, commitment, and effort building an established selling account requires.

 

Raven and Trek, what you have both posted above is pure gold for anyone trying to "figure out" how to get a return on their sets.

Yeah buying is the easiest process (not just LEGO but reselling in general).  

 

Selling and dealing with customers and keeping up scores is a whole other level.  Then growing to the volume to make it a full time job (if that's your goal).  Especially nowadays.  There isn't much margin for error / human mistakes.  You literally have to be close to perfect which is stressful in its own right. 

 

Even after 15 years I'm constantly adapting and changing every few months.  Something is always changing on ebay and it will continue to.  

 

Preparation to handle volume sales is a topic a lot don't really put much thinking into.  Box sizes, shipping supply quantities (if you have 100 of something you can possibly sell it in 1 day and not having enough supplies on hand for all the items in your store could crush your scores), the amount of time to pack to get the items out that day to keep your scores up and customers happy.  There's so much more that goes into it in the big picture.  

 

Its a process and even to this day I am constantly changing and learning more.  Just the set up of your packing station can save an hour or 2 a day.  Having all your boxes lined up properly.  Packing materials all in one place etc.  When you start talking 200 packages a day 10-30 seconds per package of time saved ads up.

 

The supplies you use can change your shipping rates.  Just using one over the other can make an item go from from a different class or weight causing you $1-2 more in shipping costs.  Add that up over 500 packages and you could be overspending $500-1000 a week.  

 

Maybe one day if I get the time I'll write something in depth.  After the holidays LOL

 

Anyways sorry for being off topic.  Feel free to move to Ebay thread if need be.

[zskid00]

And here I though packing 25-30 boxes a day was bad enough.  Though I haven't quit my day job yet.

[Cross]

Raven's post continues to build the case for a dedicated- and pinned- "how to sell" thread. New investors need to understand the full scope of the buying, storing, and selling process.

[matt1147]

I wish I could figure this out. Have sets of 4 listed for like 170 and they are ignored

Just curious if you have a store in ebay and/or have power seller status?

[hxckid88]

Raven's post continues to build the case for a dedicated- and pinned- "how to sell" thread. New investors need to understand the full scope of the buying, storing, and selling process.

I enjoy turning others on to deals and such and genuily helping each other out.

But a how to sell thread? Figure it out. I don't want to tell people my secrets etc etc. Why would we do that to what benefit?

[Cross]

If the general concept here is to help Lego investors, it's an interesting philosophy to help them acquire, and tell them to go F themselves and "figure it out"  when they want to sell. Why bother telling your acquisition secrets then? You haven't helped them at all in that case, just stuck them with a pile of $hit they can't figure out what to do with. Well done.

 

Maybe a second Brickpicker could be started, where people can go "F" themselves on how to acquire sets, but an incredible amount of information is given on how to sell them.

 

Or, maybe, this Brickpicker forum could remain what it is- both.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Cross

[FlatlinerNL]

I enjoy turning others on to sales opportunities and such and genuily helping each other out.

But a how to buy thread? Figure it out. I don't want to tell people my secrets etc etc. Why would we do that to what benefit?

 

Still sounds good like this?

 

And on topic: Did I mis 10226 going out? No availabillity at all online here.

[Neosphinx]

I don't see why that's necessary. The attentive reader of this forum finds all the information they need about stocking, packaging,placing and selling that he needs to. It would be the same as making a "Buy this set now" thread. In the end, you won't do this community a favor with it. I find this to be a reward for the people that are willing to put some time in investing by reading alot and posing questions, not those that just keep an eye on 1 thread and use the value-checker the founding fathers of BP have provided.

 

On the other hand, a second forum for selling in general can be acceptable, but it will unnecessary fragment BP and make things more complex in the end. So I think leaving BP as you stated, as it is, the best solution.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Neosphinx

[tractorboy]

To be honest, I wouldn't expect a seller who is trying to make a living out of this, share all his secrets if it's going to cut into his profits. This game seems to be getting more crowded by the day and some people have kids to support.

I think a lot of it is just common sense and being aware of how much time you're spending and thinking of ways you can make your workflow more efficient. As well as just doing the research. It's like anything else, you've got to put the time and effort in. There's no free money.

Everyone wants something for nothing these days without putting the effort in and being prepared to learn from their own mistakes as they go along. There's plenty of info here for anyone to be able to make money. I'm always grateful for any scraps of advice or info I can get, and I wouldn't hold it against someone if they wanted to keep that to themselves. It's a competitive market.

I can't see myself getting to the stage where I'm packing 30-40 boxes a day, or this becoming my main source of income. But I still need to be careful about what I spend and how I'm going to turn a profit on it. That's down to me, and if people are buying 1000s of dollars/euros worth of Lego and are struggling to make their money back, then that's on them. There's plenty of warning and info on here about how to avoid that.

[justapilgrim]

Sold 150+ polybags last month I'll hit top rated on the 20th

My feedback was around 30 when I started selling them

Helps w other auctions getting noticed

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Brickpicker mobile app

[redcell]

If the general concept here is to help Lego investors, it's an interesting philosophy to help them acquire, and tell them to go F themselves and "figure it out"  when they want to sell. Why bother telling your acquisition secrets then? You haven't helped them at all in that case, just stuck them with a pile of **** they can't figure out what to do with. Well done.

 

Maybe a second Brickpicker could be started, where people can go "F" themselves on how to acquire sets, but an incredible amount of information is given on how to sell them.

 

Or, maybe, this Brickpicker forum could remain what it is- both.

 

Any experienced seller who is willing to publicly provide a clear roadmap of how to go about selling Lego most effectively is either naive or stupid.  There is enough competition that develops organically from folks who put in the time and effort to figure it out...laying out the sales end of the equation only benefits people who are either lazy or opportunistic.  Besides, there is more than enough information already available on this website and others for anyone who is willing to put in the time and effort to figure it out.   

[Miami Bomb Squad]

In regards to helping out people, I'll give you a little story:
There are a lot of people collecting cardboard boxes to support themselves and I throw them outside my warehouse all the time to help them out.
They would come around and cut them up and fold them into their pickup trucks.
So One day, a collector told me to cut them up and stack them on the side of the building.
Can you guess the end of this story?

[exciter1]

In regards to helping out people, I'll give you a little story:

There are a lot of people collecting cardboard boxes to support themselves and I throw them outside my warehouse all the time to help them out.

They would come around and cut them up and fold them into their pickup trucks.

So One day, a collector told me to cut them up and stack them on the side of the building.

Can you guess the end of this story?

 

They set them on fire?

[Mos_Eisley]

In regards to helping out people, I'll give you a little story:

There are a lot of people collecting cardboard boxes to support themselves and I throw them outside my warehouse all the time to help them out.

They would come around and cut them up and fold them into their pickup trucks.

So One day, a collector told me to cut them up and stack them on the side of the building.

Can you guess the end of this story?

Emazer's showed up, kicked everyone's ass and took their boxes?

[biking_tiger]

My day job is education. 

 

Even if we share the "roadmap," plenty won't follow it. Work is work, and some people are lazy. 

[Crustybeaver]

In regards to helping out people, I'll give you a little story:

There are a lot of people collecting cardboard boxes to support themselves and I throw them outside my warehouse all the time to help them out.

They would come around and cut them up and fold them into their pickup trucks.

So One day, a collector told me to cut them up and stack them on the side of the building.

Can you guess the end of this story?

A homeless guy used them to build a house?

[biking_tiger]

In regards to helping out people, I'll give you a little story:

There are a lot of people collecting cardboard boxes to support themselves and I throw them outside my warehouse all the time to help them out.

They would come around and cut them up and fold them into their pickup trucks.

So One day, a collector told me to cut them up and stack them on the side of the building.

Can you guess the end of this story?

 

No one touched them.

[hxckid88]

Leaving us in suspense mbs....

I'll say this stop undercutting people. You won't move more product like that. Dniim mentioned it awhile back as did I.

I am never the lowest on eBay or other sites I use. And I sell faster and more then some items that are priced cheaper than mine. Reputation, good pics, and placement in a search matter more. That is all.

[supergtp1]

how about we start paying a yearly subscription fee for the "members only" sections? that'll help weed out the "quickies"

[biking_tiger]

Reputation... is that why I avoid K-Mart even though they occasionally have good deals? 

[Miami Bomb Squad]

Leaving us in suspense mbs....

 

Didn't mean to, thought it was an easy ending to figure out.

The point is: If I took the time to cut them up and stack them, I should just sell them myself. 

People are never satisfy with what they have.  You have free money and you want more. 

For a period of time, I stop throwing them out period.

What little I had to offer has ceased.

[biking_tiger]

Crazy speculation here... are the first wave of SW Microfighters on the way out? WIth "Series 2" coming in 2015, I could see it. 

 

Would Microfighters see the increases Mixels have? 

 

Like I said, crazy speculation, but complete "sets" of these small money items tend to grow well for the first in a series. Compare prices of CMF series 1 and 2 or look at the growth in Mixels series 1. 

 

Thoughts?