Newbie Lego Buying Binge ???

[retrosycick]

I went on a huge lego buying binge yersterday and bought a bunch of craigs list star war lego sets. These are the sets i bought. 6975, 7151, 7101, 8037, 7957, 7748, 7965, 8018, and 7962. All are complete except 8018 missing 2 of the silver bulky droids. No boxes with these used sets just instructions which are in good shape. I paid $305 dollars for all. I also have 3 boxes of bulk legos and a couple instructions that i mite be able to peice together an extra non star wars set or 2. Like 10 extra mini figs, star wars and other random mini figs. I think i just got to excited and tried to bargin but they wouldnt come down much and after a 45 min drive just bought every thing in site lol.

 

What do you think about my buy ?? Bad or good ?? I was hoping to sell these to make a quick profit or at least recoop most of my money back. What would be the best way to do that ?? Brick Link ?? Ebay ?? Both at the same time, I know there are fees involved. I think i lost money here !!! Sucks !!! Im a newb so lol. Any way thanks for your time.

[Sauromosis]

Probably ebay, or you could always build the sets and do a nice photograph and put them right back on CL.

 

Don't feel bad, everyone makes a few bad choices early on...I look at some sets I paid full MSRP for and cringe.

 

Try to get 30% off new sets in the future.

[Quacs]

I went on a huge lego buying binge yersterday and bought a bunch of craigs list star war lego sets. These are the sets i bought. 6975, 7151, 7101, 8037, 7957, 7748, 7965, 8018, and 7962. All are complete except 8018 missing 2 of the silver bulky droids. No boxes with these used sets just instructions which are in good shape. I paid $305 dollars for all. I also have 3 boxes of bulk legos and a couple instructions that i mite be able to peice together an extra non star wars set or 2. Like 10 extra mini figs, star wars and other random mini figs. I think i just got to excited and tried to bargin but they wouldnt come down much and after a 45 min drive just bought every thing in site lol.

 

What do you think about my buy ?? Bad or good ?? I was hoping to sell these to make a quick profit or at least recoop most of my money back. What would be the best way to do that ?? Brick Link ?? Ebay ?? Both at the same time, I know there are fees involved. I think i lost money here !!! Sucks !!! Im a newb so lol. Any way thanks for your time.

 

Here's a quick list of the sets and their values from BP's used prices:

 

 

It looks like you paid near retail for this lot, so it could be a lot worse, and you may do okay once the bulk piece lot and stray minifigs are sold.  The Millennium Falcon will have some room to move after retirement so if you can wait, that may be your saving grace for the lot.

[retrosycick]

Should i keep the sets intact with the minifigs or part every thing out and sell it all seperate, minifigs / ships. Some of the minifigs i was looking at on BL look like there going for a pretty good price. I see alot of figs for sale, are people acually buying the figs from that site ?? I see like 250 of one fig. Doesn't look like any one is buying Them. I also see a huge price difference at BL for the used sets for sale that i have than the quoted used price on brick picker. What is the reason for that ??

Also what about the random minifigs that don't mean very much do they acually sell ?? Should i sell them in one big lot ??

 

I also have quite a few bulk legos from the stuff i bought yesterday and my own collection from when i was a kid over the years. Do those sell ?? I heard that you should oraganize them in color / brick type, is that true ?? Sorry for the 50 qestions just trying to learn by doing instead of just reading for days and days about it all. Thanks for the quick replys.

[Quacs]

Should i keep the sets intact with the minifigs or part every thing out and sell it all seperate, minifigs / ships. Some of the minifigs i was looking at on BL look like there going for a pretty good price. I see alot of figs for sale, are people acually buying the figs from that site ?? I see like 250 of one fig. Doesn't look like any one is buying Them. I also see a huge price difference at BL for the used sets for sale that i have than the quoted used price on brick picker. What is the reason for that ??

Also what about the random minifigs that don't mean very much do they acually sell ?? Should i sell them in one big lot ??

 

I also have quite a few bulk legos from the stuff i bought yesterday and my own collection from when i was a kid over the years. Do those sell ?? I heard that you should oraganize them in color / brick type, is that true ?? Sorry for the 50 qestions just trying to learn by doing instead of just reading for days and days about it all. Thanks for the quick replys.

 

Whew, lots of questions here.  Start at the top:

 

1. When figuring out where to price your figs, ALWAYS look at the sold prices, not the list prices.  You may be seeing significant differences in list prices between the two portals because listings on BL can remain a lot longer than listings on eBay.  On eBay, I believe the longest a BIN listing can run is 30 days, so there's more incentive to set a reasonable price.  Anything will sell if it's priced correctly, even if there's 250 other listings of the same fig.

 

2. Sell whole used sets w/ minifigs, or part out figs and sell sets separately - like everything, it depends.  Unless you have some killer, unique figs in some of these, I don't know if it's worth your time to part them out from your set. 

 

3. Bricklink - People buy from Bricklink all the time, and these sets are new enough that there should be some sold listings on the figs.  I just made a BL purchase last night!  Signing up for a store is free, so there's no risk there.  I would say that you will likely get a sale faster on eBay, but it depends on how competitively you price your listings. 

 

4. Random figs - bulk or part out?  If there are any special or even decent figs, take these out and sell them separately.  These would include troops of any kind and/or licensed figs of any kind.  You could even consider listing any fig with significant detailed printing if you wanted to spend the time.  I would consider selling the rest of the random figs in bulk. 

 

3. Desirability of bulk lots - Bulk lots do often sell, but you will likely get more return on your bulk lots by parting them out.  The downside to this is it will take a LOT more time to post these lots, and a LOT more time to sell these lots.  If you've got the time, then consider parting out your bulk lots by color/brick type. Some members who do this often and successfully do this in front of the TV as part of their before-bed relaxation routine...

 

Hope this helps a little-

[justafrog]

Quacs, just a small correction on the eBay in #1 - a BIN listing can run indefinitely, in 30 day increments. It's called "Good till cancelled" so the fixed prices on eBay can be very misleading - they may have been up there for years without a sale. Look at sold on eBay and that'll give a better idea.

[Quacs]

Quacs, just a small correction on the eBay in #1 - a BIN listing can run indefinitely, in 30 day increments. It's called "Good till cancelled" so the fixed prices on eBay can be very misleading - they may have been up there for years without a sale. Look at sold on eBay and that'll give a better idea.

 

Thanks for the clarification! 

[JoshTX]

There's some stinkers in there but overall you probably didn't do all that bad. I tend to have buyers remorse as well from time to time, and I've been investing in other toys and merchandise for awhile. It happens. I guess my advice would be try not to be too emotional when you are looking at stuff. View it with the mindframe of how you think you can sell it as opposed to viewing it because you want it.  

[retrosycick]

Wow thanks so much for all the info you guys are awsome. Its kinda funny because I invest in property for a living, which means i should know better. It changes things when its a smaller purchase though, especially legos. I have always loved legos. Now I can actually buy and collect what I love and try to make some money at the same time. Im also trying to teach my ten year old how to buy and sell legos. Really good stuff guys talk to you soon. Good luck investing.