Jeff Mack Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 The problem with Bricklink's price guide is that it is an average over 6 months. The other thing that is wrong is that they don't go past that. I have been working with adding their values to Brickpicker and it's really tough when you have a set with low sales there over time. Sometimes they even 0 out. There are hundreds of sets with 0 sales that I have a $0.00. If you are looking at a set that has good sales activity, then the values are solid, otherwise you may have to really study it a bit more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaisonline Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 10 minutes ago, Jeff Mack said: The problem with Bricklink's price guide is that it is an average over 6 months. The other thing that is wrong is that they don't go past that. I have been working with adding their values to Brickpicker and it's really tough when you have a set with low sales there over time. Sometimes they even 0 out. There are hundreds of sets with 0 sales that I have a $0.00. If you are looking at a set that has good sales activity, then the values are solid, otherwise you may have to really study it a bit more. Before setting prices for my "for sale" sets, I manually look at current prices on Amazon and eBay plus sold prices on both bricklink and eBay plus brickpicker. Not only do I agree with everything Jeff typed but I'll take it further. Bricklink prices used to be an accurate gauge (compared to other Lego selling websites) because many sets were being sold (aka more data points). Since their last major redesign, I see less sets being sold (less data points). Thus many sets have 0 sales per month or even the 6 month span. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil B Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 21 minutes ago, mark34932 said: How reliable are the set values on bricklink.com I feel like they are always pretty low on sets, compared to what Im seeing on Ebay/Amazon, and then I feel they go way high on individual pieces and mini figures compared to what I see on Ebay...what are those values based on, and how do you set values differently? Also, they go by the "Complete" vs "Incomplete" classification as done by the sellers. This gives a couple of concerns: 1) Not all sellers use the same "Complete" vs "Incomplete" definitions. Is an item without box still Complete? 2) An item can be "Complete" but have notes saying "no box" or "very damaged" or what not. Makes a big difference on a collectible set. Besides all that, there is also the whole "Superlot" discussion. If a set gets sold as part of a superlot, it counts as an individual sale, even though the price might be significantly below market average due to it being part of a lot (e.g. someone is selling their entire store). You cannot filter these out of the Price Guide info at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donbee Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 How reliable are the set values on bricklink.com I feel like they are always pretty low on sets, compared to what Im seeing on Ebay/Amazon, and then I feel they go way high on individual pieces and mini figures compared to what I see on Ebay...what are those values based on, and how do you set values differently?You gotta look at it like this. That is the set value... on BL. As in, that's how much someone on BL will pay for it. That set can have, and likely will have, a very different value on eBay. Which will differ from Amazon. Fees. Each has a different fee, and shipping expectation. eBay and Amazon buyers love free shipping. BL buyers expect to pay their own shipping. Can be a very large difference in price. Sometimes I'll see some one try to sell something on Brick Classified for the same price they can get on eBay, as if everyone didn't know there isn't any fees on BC. Also, on BL, there are two options that you can toggle when looking at prices. "Group by currency" and "incomplete sets". Click those, and some times it can change the 6 month value drastically. Just because it was paid for in dollars, doesn't mean it was sold in the US, assuming that's your market. Just because something is labeled new, doesn't mean it wasn't actually parted out or even An open box, which would sell for less than NISB ("new sealed" in BL terms). I've seen people list a set "New Complete" but then in the description say "Ship only" Or "New Complete" and then say "built only once". Very annoying. Messes up the metric. At least with the incomplete toggle, you can weed out the ones that were honestly/accurately listed as "new incomplete". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark34932 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I also wanted to know if there was some way to find values of individual pieces and mini figures anywhere on this site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_rpg Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Bricklink is a pretty good indicator of market value, but unfortunately you have to look at the data in depth to really find out what a set is worth. There's several issues: They have two major categories: New and Used, however we all know a sealed set is worth more than an opened set. You can't list only sealed sets in the price guide. Within the New category, there's three subcategories: sealed, complete, incomplete You can exclude incomplete sets in the price guide, but there's no strict enforcement of the categories. Which basically means I can list a set as Sealed and put in the commentary field: set opened, bags are sealed. Other examples are: no minifigures, only certain parts included (e.g. Snowspeeder in Assault On Hoth), ... Minifigure value is very innacurate: The distinction between new and used minifigures is sometimes rather vague People sometimes list complete sets of 16 minifigures under the part number for a sealed box (60 figures) and even list it as sealed Another major problem is the use of super lots. This is also an issue with regular sets, but with minifigures it's a huge problem. Here's the problem: a super lot is basically a collection of items which are offered all at once, however on bricklink each item gets it's own listing through the catalog. Take for example a set of 16 minifigures for 90€ total. This means that each figure on average costs about 5.63€. However, there is no rule on bricklink that says you can't list one figure in the lot at 89.84€ and all the others at 0.01€. Now a buyer would see those minifigures listed for 0.01€ on the catalog page! Of course you can exclude super lots when selecting an item in the "items for sale" tab. However, for some reason this option is not available in the price guide. This means that all super lot sales are included in the price guide, even the ones that have this unrealistic price of 0.01€. I've complained about it a lot, but it really is a huge issue because it drives the prices down. Buyers look at the price guide and see an average price that is way too low. This price determines (in part) what they are willing to pay for a figure. I urge anyone on bricklink to report this to bricklink support. I've done so a couple of times already, but they keep telling me "they'll pass it on to the tech team". Since all of the sales are listed in a database, adding the option to exclude super lots is a really minor adjustment. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil B Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 9 hours ago, mark34932 said: I also wanted to know if there was some way to find values of individual pieces and mini figures anywhere on this site? Not on this site - this site only deals with the value of complete sets. Of course, if a minifigure is a set of its own, you should be able to find it here. BrickLink is really your best source for the value of those items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFBrick Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 How often do some of the more experienced folks invest in sets where you're paying far in excess of original retail price? Say 76039 Ant Man Final Battle. Do you entertain that kind of purchase for longer term gain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_rpg Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Just now, DFBrick said: How often do some of the more experienced folks invest in sets where you're paying far in excess of original retail price? Say 76039 Ant Man Final Battle. Do you entertain that kind of purchase for longer term gain? This was the topic of an article some time ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John82 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 3 minutes ago, DFBrick said: How often do some of the more experienced folks invest in sets where you're paying far in excess of original retail price? Say 76039 Ant Man Final Battle. Do you entertain that kind of purchase for longer term gain? I have twice, i got the Black Pearl new and sealed for £180 last year (ended 7 in the morning), sold it for £379. The other was the Imperial Flagship that i got for £350 cash (originally personal buy) but will probably keep it locked away and get a second hand one in good condition. Sometimes you can strike lucky with retired sets if you keep an eye out. But i would only buy retired sets if they were bargains (compared to current value) or for personal collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFBrick Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Thanks for the feedback! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arien101 Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 How often are prices updated? I've used the Brickfolio feature to track my sets, but the prices shown are still as of November. I think I read in the FAQ prices get updated towards the end of the first week of the following month. Do you know yet when the December price data will be displayed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alvaro Martinez Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Buenas. Soy nuevo en este mundillo y estoy bastante perdido por lo que me gustaria saber si podriaís guiarme un poco y darme unas nociones basicas de que sets comprarme, del mundillo en general y como invertir en Legos inteligentemente. Gracias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Mack Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 5 hours ago, Alvaro Martinez said: Buenas. Soy nuevo en este mundillo y estoy bastante perdido por lo que me gustaria saber si podriaís guiarme un poco y darme unas nociones basicas de que sets comprarme, del mundillo en general y como invertir en Legos inteligentemente. Gracias Welcome...Here is the translation... Good. I am new in this world and I am quite lost so I would like to know if you could guide me a little and give me some basic notions of what sets to buy me, the whole world and how to invest in Legos smartly. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alvaro Martinez Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Good. I am new in this world and I am quite lost so I would like to know if you could guide me a little and give me some basic notions of what sets to buy me, the whole world and how to invest in Legos smartly. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmazingBrix Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Is a moderator aloud to move something you said from one forum to another without your consent? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzy_bricks Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 1 minute ago, AmazingBrix said: Is a moderator aloud to move something you said from one forum to another without your consent? Do bears poop in the woods? 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bold-Arrow Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 3 minutes ago, AmazingBrix said: Is a moderator aloud to move something you said from one forum to another without your consent? Yes , especially if they left a note and the topic already exists . 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmazingBrix Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 What if you don't want it in the forum? I'm not allowed to get rid of it either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcdfan Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 5 minutes ago, AmazingBrix said: Is a moderator aloud to move something you said from one forum to another without your consent? Every day of the week and twice on Sundays. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmazingBrix Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 They should at least notify you that they are moving it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ISO8T0 Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 What if you don't want it in the forum? I'm not allowed to get rid of it either.You can edit your post and type "delete" if you don't want it to exist anymore. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmazingBrix Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 I looked at it, but it does't let me edit it. You want the link, so I can show it to you? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcdfan Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 2 minutes ago, AmazingBrix said: They should at least notify you that they are moving it. You understand that all of this is now also in the wrong forum, right...? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmazingBrix Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 (edited) I know, but this is the most popular forum so more people can help me out. Nobody ever really goes on those small forums for certain things like this. Edited January 25, 2017 by AmazingBrix 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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