What do you all think about this Craigslist listing?

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

http://huntsville.craigslist.org/tag/3939108245.html

 

This one has been up for weeks now. I can't see anything great except just random pieces. Any colors or any minis there worth talking to the poster about?

 

Some of them are interesting.

[vincevaughn]

Well they are somewhat sorted and look to be taken care of.  There does seem to be a pile of manuals too.  Could be worth it.  I know I would be talking to him but then again I like bulk lots.  I don't see anything much that screams big money but if you low ball him it could definitely be worth it.

 

375.00 for 50 pounds works out to 7.50 a lbs so that is descent.  He already said he is willing to negotiate and you said its been up for weeks.  If it were me I would shoot him an offer for 300 and see what he says, the worst he can say is no lol.

 

edit: Something about that airport set does not look Lego....hopefully there are not a lot of knock-off bricks in the lot.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

Well they are somewhat sorted and look to be taken care of.  There does seem to be a pile of manuals too.  Could be worth it.  I know I would be talking to him but then again I like bulk lots.  I don't see anything much that screams big money but if you low ball him it could definitely be worth it.

 

375.00 for 50 pounds works out to 7.50 a lbs so that is descent.  He already said he is willing to negotiate and you said its been up for weeks.  If it were me I would shoot him an offer for 300 and see what he says, the worst he can say is no lol.

 

edit: Something about that airport set does not look Lego....hopefully there are not a lot of knock-off bricks in the lot.

 

That was the biggest thing I was worried about was getting some mega blocks or something in there.

[vincevaughn]

That was the biggest thing I was worried about was getting some mega blocks or something in there.

 

Most lots will have at least a piece or two even if they say all LEGO.  I have found GI Joe accessories, KNEX, micro machines, mega blocks, duplo blocks, and even 37 cents change in bulk lots.  I chalk it up to the nature of the game and always figure that about a pound or so will be lost to this in bigger lots.  You may be able to use it as a bargaining chip to get the price even lower though.

[peculiar23]

There isn't anything in that lot that stands out as something really desirable to me, but if you can talk him down to $300 it's not a bad price for bulk Lego.

[ctoddlight]

The airport set is Jack Stone (the runway is actually pretty rare but not worth all that much), so it is Lego, but just barely. I have trouble finding any bulk stuff locally, so it would be tempting to me at anything less than $300. Sounds like a motivated seller, so I would take a closer look and make a lowball offer.

[shudameister]

Is it just me or do most of the bricks look like they came out of the basic brick sets?

[tonysbricks]

You can find much better deals, patience is the key factor in buying on CL. Look at it this way ... it hasn't moved in weeks, let's say you talk him down to 300. You know your ceiling is 375 where no one will buy, so maybe you try at 350. Is $50 and more weeks worth the risk of not moving it, having nothing as described, spending any amount of time on this, or getting robbed (just sayin)? The risk vs reward don't match. Personally I would skip it all together.

[Guest betsy805]

Most lots will have at least a piece or two even if they say all LEGO.  I have found GI Joe accessories, KNEX, micro machines, mega blocks, duplo blocks, and even 37 cents change in bulk lots.  I chalk it up to the nature of the game and always figure that about a pound or so will be lost to this in bigger lots.  You may be able to use it as a bargaining chip to get the price even lower though.

Very true.  My latest batch had more like 8 pounds of knockoff, but the price was right so it didn't matter.  I have yet to find a lot of lego that is actually all LEGO branded.  The batch before that I actually found a new 16g ipod nano mixed in!

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

You can find much better deals, patience is the key factor in buying on CL. Look at it this way ... it hasn't moved in weeks, let's say you talk him down to 300. You know your ceiling is 375 where no one will buy, so maybe you try at 350. Is $50 and more weeks worth the risk of not moving it, having nothing as described, spending any amount of time on this, or getting robbed (just sayin)? The risk vs reward don't match. Personally I would skip it all together.

 

Yeah and this was really where I was leaning. I wanted to make sure i wasn't missing something pretty nice in the middle. I am not gonna tie up capital unless I can double my money.

[Huskers1236]

I think $375 is way too much for this lot.  Even at $300, you aren't going to make a bunch of money, if any.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

I think $375 is way too much for this lot.  Even at $300, you aren't going to make a bunch of money, if any.

 

Thats what I was thinking. I was hoping maybe someone would see a minifigure that was worth some money. I wasn't familiar with most of them. I am not a big bulk guy either - but I have seen others score so it was worth it.

 

I love this site.

[Guest eightbrick]

Once I get back from some stuff I can do one of my big evals....

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

Once I get back from some stuff I can do one of my big evals....

 

Those are pretty epic. You need to start a Lego consulting with BrianI3 blog or something. Lol

[JoshTX]

In Austin this would have sold for the asking price and would've been immediately flipped at 5.00 per ziploc sandwich baggie or some crap. But it's not something I would have personally bought, either.

[comicblast]

Ctoddlight is right about those Jack Stone runways. I have 3-4 of them, but I'm not a huge fan, as they can rip relatively easily and are flimsy. The seller does look like they are truly trying to sell the lot off, but for $375, it could end up sucking more out of you than it is worth...

[Guest eightbrick]

First of all, very sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner, I was quite busy yesterday and then to top it off I dropped something I was working on (Exobro will know what I'm talking about), splattering pieces everywhere lol

 

This lot was very difficult for me to decipher, due to poor picture quality and the limited number of pictures. From the pictures, I can see the sets have at least spanned about 15 years, as there is evidence of pirate sets from the mid 90s and then sets from the later 2000s.

 

So here is what I have inferred from the pictures (brickpicker used data first number, bricklink used data second number)

 

4619 AIR Patrol Jet (No price guide info on either databases) - this set is almost completely unknown. A couple lots are up for sale for 20+ dollars, but I wouldn't expect to make nearly that much, even by parting out (I checked and despite being rare the airplane pieces only go for around 80 cents each). I'll put the price on this one for 12 dollars. You could make more, but there is just no market for this set.

Estimated value: 12.00

 

4748 Ogel's Mountain Fortress $25.20/$63.46 - A very surprising range between the Brickpicker and Bricklink data, but it is perhaps not surprising that the bricklink crowd (often in it for the pieces) pays a premium for the set which is absolutely full of rare white pieces. I'll put the value of this guy at 45, about halfway between the two prices.

Estimated value: 45.00

 

4854 Doc Ock's Bank Robbery $31.80/$41.26 - A nice set, and should be a good seller as the new Spiderman series brings attention to the webslinger. Since the box is included, I'll go with the higher number and say this is worth about 40 bucks.

Estimated value: 40.00

 

6278 Enchanted Island $67.53/$63.01 - There is no direct evidence that this set is part of the mix, but I think it is very likely for a couple of reasons: first, there is a raised canyon/river baseplate next to the white one (only appears in this set, it's second release, and Pirate's Perilous Pitfall - and I see no evidence that set is there), second, there are a couple Islander minifigures seen throughout the lot and a black and white striped sail.

Estimated value: $65.00

 

7670 Hailfire Droid and Spider Droid $27.27/$29.08 - The inclusion of the box might help up the price so I'll rate the value of this guy at a bit higher than the price guide data.

Estimated value: 30.00

 

7467 International Space Station $44.27/$29.36 - The Discovery Kids series was pretty short lived,but has seen some decent returns. I have this set myself, and it isn't exactly detailed but will impress any space buff nonetheless. Includes some nice pieces, too.

Estimated value: 40.00

 

8654 Scuderia Ferrari Truck $57.20/$56.60 - I was sort of surprised this was included in the lot. Not a bad price for a used racers set at all, and the box will help push up value.

Estimated value: 60.00

 

Subtotals:

Brickpicker Value: $253.27 (not including 4619)

Bricklink Value: $282.77 (not including 4619)

My Estimated Value: $292.00

 

 

Now obviously, judging from the pile of instructions and pieces, those sets are just a fraction of what the collection includes (I'd say a quarter to a third maybe). There is evidence that the rest of the pile includes some Bionicle, including the green and possibly brown Bohroks (http://www.brickpicker.com/bpms/sets.cfm?theme=16&subtheme=140) which are worth a tenner each, a bit of Island Extreme Stunts including the skatepark whick goes for about twenty (I can see the halfpipe ramp), Fantasy Era Castle (likely the troll assault wagon which goes for 30 bucks used), Mission Mars from the early 2000s and at least one western set. The true value of the rest of these guys is going to be highly dependent on how complete they are and how many sets are there. I'm going to just guesstimate that you should be able to make 150 on the rest of the lot. This is a much smaller number than for the other sets which make up only a small part of the lot, but it is here that I am taking into account the value of lost and missing pieces.

 

Estimated value of rest of lot: $150.00

 

Total value estimations: $403.27-$442.00

 

These are very conservative estimates, and I wouldn't be surprised if you can stretch out the value to seven or eight hundred dollars, but I have no idea how complete the lot is so I thought a low gauge would be best. Bricklinking this lot would be a massive amount of work, but it would give you enough stock to instantly become an intermediate level store. I wouldn't pay this guy more than 225 bucks, a good starting offer would perhaps be 180 given the fact that he is up to negotiating and the ad has been around so long. Good luck if you bite on this one, but remember, it is going to take a really long time to sort those pieces into their respective sets.

[comicblast]

First of all, very sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner, I was quite busy yesterday and then to top it off I dropped something I was working on (Exobro will know what I'm talking about), splattering pieces everywhere lol

I'll just quote your first paragraph since I don't want to trash up the thread, but outstanding analysis, Brianl3! I think you have a decent estimate of value, but I don't think the $700-$800 estimate of value is a little high. I'd say that you can stretch it to be $500-$600. +100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

[Guest eightbrick]

Thanks comicblast. Hahaha, if I took any longer to reply the lot might have been sold, stolen, or have disappeared mysteriously!

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

Definitely - the time is a concerning factor. I think I am going to try to get a better indication of things that are there before hand. If I can get it cheap enough, I may actually just try to flip it instead. Might be an easier $100 than a tough earned $300-$400

 

Once again, you are the man Brian.

[Guest eightbrick]

Definitely - the time is a concerning factor. I think I am going to try to get a better indication of things that are there before hand. If I can get it cheap enough, I may actually just try to flip it instead. Might be an easier $100 than a tough earned $300-$400

 

Once again, you are the man Brian.

Yep. You could easily flip this on eBay for (way) north of 400 bucks.

[Gkorneev]

Yep. You could easily flip this on eBay for (way) north of 400 bucks.

From my limited experience (started end of last year)...DNIIM can get that if he is willing to part out a few sets and then sell the rest or need to wait before selling... it seems to me that prices for bulk on ebay have slipped recently, with more lots selling around $5/ lb and very few lots selling for $10/ lb. I believe at the beginning of the year it was the other way around with more selling closer to $10/ lb.

I don't know if there is a yearly cycle for bulk prices but I feel there might be, with prices dipping in the summer?

[MartinP]

From my limited experience (started end of last year)...DNIIM can get that if he is willing to part out a few sets and then sell the rest or need to wait before selling... it seems to me that prices for bulk on ebay have slipped recently, with more lots selling around $5/ lb and very few lots selling for $10/ lb. I believe at the beginning of the year it was the other way around with more selling closer to $10/ lb.

I don't know if there is a yearly cycle for bulk prices but I feel there might be, with prices dipping in the summer?

I would try to complete the sets that are in the bulk lot, and try to sell them around Christmas time, when the demand will be the highest, and then try to sell the rest of the lot.