Retiring Soon - open speculation

[stackables]

2 hours ago, redcell said:

If they’re making money on the content, good for them…I don’t think making content is stupid in and of itself. What’s stupid and short-sighted in my mind is someone who is trying to make a serious go if it reselling LEGO and at the same time creating content instructing other people on how to invest/resell.

While you’re still operating at a relatively small scale (e.g., less than $300k/year in sales), it’s easy to get lulled into viewing the reselling world through a “rising tide lifts all ships” lens and mistakenly conclude that the market is so deep that the scope and extent of your competition doesn’t matter so why not train up a bunch of new resellers if you can generate some additional revenue off of them. However, if you scale past that point, the effect of competition starts to become more pronounced and easily identified.

If the content creators are really aiming to build a sustainable reselling business, teaching other people to do it too is a profoundly stupid thing. If they are trying to leverage knowledge about reselling as a primary source of revenue, it’s not stupid at all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You do know you are on a site called brickpicker and the intent of the site was basically to do the same thing? 

[redcell]

You do know you are on a site called brickpicker and the intent of the site was basically to do the same thing? 

Gee. Somehow I must have missed that…I also missed the part where the Macks and other posters distill essential points of reselling into easily digestible content that any slack-jawed yockel who read about how LEGO is worth more than gold can find, consume, and get well on their way to getting in the game.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[donbee]

You do know you are on a site called brickpicker and the intent of the site was basically to do the same thing? 

I think the Macks would disagree with that statement to some degree.
Though they did allow a guy, not them, to make some educational videos about lego investing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[donbee]

There’s “helping people to learn from my mistakes.”
And then there’s “helping people to learn was my mistake.”
The line blurs easily. And the longer I do this, the more “my mistakes” cost me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bold-Arrow]

5 minutes ago, donbee said:

I think the Macks would disagree with that statement to some degree.
Though they did allow a guy, not them, to make some educational videos about lego investing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thought they were set reviews and a vague prediction about investment value later on. Been so long I can’t remember. However I have to agree with everything @redcell has been posting 

[BrickLover80]

Look at that:

 

 

 

[Bold-Arrow]

4 minutes ago, BrickLover80 said:

Look at that:

 

 

 

another idiot, stopped watching at "patreon consultation" then complain about crowding. smh 

[brickolodon]

2022 great  time to start LEGO investing....again

[TheBrickClique]

Savvy LEGO investor only buys poly bags.

Savvy LEGO investor buys sets that their kids walk right on by without taking any notice in the store — the “silent winners”

Savvy LEGO investor buys DOTS.  Especially at 50% off. Go ahead and cash out your 401K and load up on DOTS. They are free money.

Savvy LEGO investor buys any LEGO set that is tied to new unproven and unlicensed themes because it may not last — ensuring low supply and many happy profits.

Savvy LEGO investor avoids any of the top 100 Brick building sets on Amazon ranking — the market for those sets has been saturated. The bone is bare.

Savvy LEGO investor watches what sets their grandma is buying and goes deep on them.  Go ahead, max out those credit cards.

Savvy LEGO investor does their own research and makes their own investment decisions.

 

[donbee]

Don’t forget. Savvy investor buys already retired sets with a proven track record with expectations of a guaranteed higher return in the future.
Speculation on new sets is for newbs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gmpirate]

14 hours ago, TheBrickClique said:

Savvy LEGO investor only buys poly bags.

Savvy LEGO investor buys sets that their kids walk right on by without taking any notice in the store — the “silent winners”

Savvy LEGO investor buys DOTS.  Especially at 50% off. Go ahead and cash out your 401K and load up on DOTS. They are free money.

Savvy LEGO investor buys any LEGO set that is tied to new unproven and unlicensed themes because it may not last — ensuring low supply and many happy profits.

Savvy LEGO investor avoids any of the top 100 Brick building sets on Amazon ranking — the market for those sets has been saturated. The bone is bare.

Savvy LEGO investor watches what sets their grandma is buying and goes deep on them.  Go ahead, max out those credit cards.

Savvy LEGO investor does their own research and makes their own investment decisions.

 

Wow, I feel really stupid now for all the Mighty Dinosaurs I’ve been stockpiling the fast few years . . .

[TheBrickClique]

13 hours ago, donbee said:

Don’t forget. Savvy investor buys already retired sets with a proven track record with expectations of a guaranteed higher return in the future.
Speculation on new sets is for newbs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes. I forgot.

Savvy investor must definitely invest in sets that officially retired six months ago but still sell at permasale prices at major retailers — easy flipping times await. 

[biking_tiger]

16 hours ago, TheBrickClique said:

Savvy LEGO investor only buys poly bags.

Savvy LEGO investor buys sets that their kids walk right on by without taking any notice in the store — the “silent winners”

Savvy LEGO investor buys DOTS.  Especially at 50% off. Go ahead and cash out your 401K and load up on DOTS. They are free money.

Savvy LEGO investor buys any LEGO set that is tied to new unproven and unlicensed themes because it may not last — ensuring low supply and many happy profits.

Savvy LEGO investor avoids any of the top 100 Brick building sets on Amazon ranking — the market for those sets has been saturated. The bone is bare.

Savvy LEGO investor watches what sets their grandma is buying and goes deep on them.  Go ahead, max out those credit cards.

Savvy LEGO investor does their own research and makes their own investment decisions.

 

You had me at "poly bags."

I'm all in. 

 

[stackables]

On 9/17/2022 at 1:08 PM, donbee said:

I think the Macks would disagree with that statement to some degree.
Though they did allow a guy, not them, to make some educational videos about lego investing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No, they actually made their own videos about investing/reviews etc. 

[fuzzy_bricks]

5 minutes ago, stackables said:

No, they actually made their own videos about investing/reviews etc. 

Here they are, but I believe belljohn was the user that made these.

https://www.youtube.com/c/Brickpicker

[belljohn]

On 9/19/2022 at 3:14 PM, fuzzy_bricks said:

Here they are, but I believe belljohn was the user that made these.

https://www.youtube.com/c/Brickpicker

Well, since my name was called out, I can throw you a few Fire Bikes worth of knowledge.  If you want the synopsis, here it is: 

There is no one watching youtube videos that will influence the secondary value of a lego set, so don’t worry about it.

My most watched video was on the Bugatti Veyron technic set and I encouraged people to consider buying the Speed Champion version because the $/sq ft of the box was so much higher (more efficient to store), it was much closer to retirement, and I thought it would outperform after retirement.  I think there were about 150k views while the Speed Champion was still 11.99 everywhere.  How much influence do you think my video had?  How many large Bugattis did I buy?  2.  How many little Bugattis did I buy? 40-50.  I just wish I hadn't sold them all at $90.  How much did my video influence the market?  0.  Did I enjoy making it?  Yes.

There have been countless articles, videos, websites, books, and podcasts about Lego investing.  It is not a secret.  Don’t give anyone so much credit that they can influence the market.  Legos are not Doge or Gamestop.  They are not liquid assets.  Selling Lego is not easy work.  The masses are looking for easy.  The real arbitrage and resale money is made elsewhere, and most often not in Lego.   You don’t hear much talk about how to buy surplus, how to amass 1000’s of a set, abandoned cargo, store buyouts, ect…  Buying last minute from Walmart is chump change.  Although I do remember scoring about 10 last minute Town Halls at retail from Walmart thanks to a post here.

So what was my motivation to start making videos?  Did I want to be an Idiot?  No, I wanted to diversify my income stream.  Brickpicker had just released a book on Lego investing and was looking to diversify the web site.  I offered to make videos and support Brickpicker with a split of ad revenue.  They paid me about $300 over a year and half as my share and they gave me a cool Brickpicker polo shirt.  I hope the videos are still generating a little revenue for the site.  

I really enjoyed making them as I am an educator at heart, but time and space pulled me away.  I will be honest that I don’t have a thick skin for online hate either.  I switched gears to importing and selling chocolate from all over the world.  I just started making my own too.  So let me know if you want some amazing chocolate.

I still sell Lego because it is fun but less than 100k per year as a small timer.  I still relish the day I sold my first 20 #7655 Clone Trooper battle packs for $40 a piece.  It still brings a smile to my face, so I hope that is why everyone is here on Brickpicker.  I hope that it is fun for you.

So don’t put down people that make vides and try to make money off them.  Everyone can make it fun in their own way.  The only idiots are those that will buy because someone told them too.  I have made this mistake (I think I still have some Cinderella lipstick around somewhere).  Don’t get pissed if someone mentions your favorite Disney Duplo set.  They aren’t going to influence the market.  There are way too many sets, the market is way too big, and there is too much conflicting advice.

That’s all I got.  Just my opinion.

But back on topic.  Is it too early to start buying Galaxy Explorers?  How many should I buy?

[Darth_Raichu]

4 minutes ago, belljohn said:

I really enjoyed making them as I am an educator at heart, but time and space pulled me away.  I will be honest that I don’t have a thick skin for online hate either.  I switched gears to importing and selling chocolate from all over the world.  I just started making my own too.  So let me know if you want some amazing chocolate.

Now we are talking.  Do you have a website or online store I can check out? I am a big fan of dark chocolate

[landphieran]

6 minutes ago, belljohn said:

"Buying last minute from Walmart is chump change."

I feel called out right now  

10 minutes ago, belljohn said:

But back on topic.  Is it too early to start buying Galaxy Explorers?  How many should I buy?

I'm going all in on Eternals sets 😎 Movie slated for 2024. Going to be huge sleeper profits 🤑

[belljohn]

2 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

Now we are talking.  Do you have a website or online store I can check out? I am a big fan of dark chocolate

Since you asked.  www.yaharachocolate.com 

 

[joneyyy1981]

On 9/17/2022 at 7:01 PM, Bold-Arrow said:

another idiot, stopped watching at "patreon consultation" then complain about crowding. smh 

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by joneyyy1981

[Kevink24]

8 hours ago, belljohn said:

Since you asked.  www.yaharachocolate.com 

 

belljohn is a good guy. Bumped into him at his store down in Stoughton (pre-covid). I let the kids pick out some chocolate for their mom for Christmas. You guys should try some of it.

Side note: Belljohn, do you still put up a Lego display in your store window?

 

[gmpirate]

11 hours ago, belljohn said:

There is no one watching youtube videos that will influence the secondary value of a lego set, so don’t worry about it.

There have been countless articles, videos, websites, books, and podcasts about Lego investing.  It is not a secret.  Don’t give anyone so much credit that they can influence the market.  Legos are not Doge or Gamestop.  They are not liquid assets.  Selling Lego is not easy work.  The masses are looking for easy.  The real arbitrage and resale money is made elsewhere, and most often not in Lego.   You don’t hear much talk about how to buy surplus, how to amass 1000’s of a set, abandoned cargo, store buyouts, ect…  Buying last minute from Walmart is chump change.  Although I do remember scoring about 10 last minute Town Halls at retail from Walmart thanks to a post here.

I will ad this to those who think secrets are outed by Youtube.  I will agree that any and all competition hurts and affects the market but I think the masses in Lego now has more to do with Covid happening, the economy, people looking for alternate ways of making income and Amazon opening their gates.

You can tell people exactly how to do something to be successful and 99% will still not do it.  They may be initially motivated but that enthusiasm will die off.  Most will simply not put the effort into fully ingesting the information to be able to properly apply it.  There are countless speakers out there who are asked the same question of why they would share what they know.  Their answer is they enjoy what they are sharing and most people will make no use of the information anyway.  If the case were otherwise we would not have the number of paycheck to paycheck people that we do.  With the internet there is information out there for anyone in any field that will show them the way.  Most still do nothing or make only temporary improvements.

[fuzzy_bricks]

11 hours ago, belljohn said:

Well, since my name was called out, I can throw you a few Fire Bikes worth of knowledge.  If you want the synopsis, here it is: 

There is no one watching youtube videos that will influence the secondary value of a lego set, so don’t worry about it.

.....

Thanks for replying, I was pretty sure it was you but not 100%.  I went to your profile to try and check and saw that you hadn't logged on in a while so wasn't sure you would respond even if it was you.  Glad you're still upright.

[biking_tiger]

40 minutes ago, gmpirate said:

You can tell people exactly how to do something to be successful and 99% will still not do it.  

As a (former) teacher and (former) slush reader at a literary magazine, I can agree on the 99% will still not do exactly what they need to do to be successful. 

Like, "why do I have to follow the submission guidelines like everyone else?" "Why do I have to follow the directions for this assignment?"

Time will always reward hard work and persistence and following good advice. Most people can't do one of the three, let alone all of them. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by biking_tiger

[Justy6969]

On a positive note… I have a lot of time for the shared wisdom and opinions of this and other forums on BP.

Whilst I haven’t always followed conventional wisdom, we all make our own investment decisions,  enjoy the successes and kick ourselves over the ‘failures’. I have leaned a lot from what people share here on a regular basis.

 I am never going to be a huge player in this market.

For me it’s a hobby I enjoy, and a small £15k turnover pa, side hustle that keeps my enjoyment of buying and selling LEGO.