Craigs List Lego buying - Good or bad experiences in general

[patchb]

Hi guys,

 

First post, joined a few months ago and lurk most days - Hello to all !

 

Ive read enough on here to not buy at retail, natch, and ive started to use places like Craigs List to pick up sets. I would be interested in peoples experiences with the site. There is probably a topic on this already, but hey..

 

From my own personal experience so far :

 

-A MISB 7965-1 Millenium Falcon for $125. This is overpriced for a good deal, but the guy wouldnt budge on price and I couldnt see any in the local stores, I wanted it, so I got it. Of course, Target restocked a few weeks later at $135. I suppose 10 bucks off is a deal still (brightside).

 

-6 or 7 (I forget) MISB LOTR sets including Orc Forge, MOM, Weathertop, Shelob for $150. Probably worked out at about 35% or more off retail all said and done.

 

So those 2 deals I experienced were as the seller stated, all items MISB, Falcon was near retail. I have seen today someone selling a similar amount of LOTR sets, except opened and assembed for $300 ! Granted this set includes Helms Deep, but I added up the used price and it came to $200...so Im trying to get them down to $150.

 

Also today, I am seeing someone selling 75020 Jabba Sail barge and 79008 Pirate ship, MISB, $110 for both or best offer. Or trade lol. This one seems shady as thats near 50% off retail on those.

 

So, to answer my own question, it seems a mostly positive experience, but it seems you have to rely on someone not knowing what they are selling to get a bargain. Anyone had a really good deal from CL ?

[MartinP]

First of all welcome to the site. I have had good experiences buying sets on craiglist. The prices for me were very good and I got a lot of older sets at great prices.

[Etan]

Welcome to the site!

[El Guapo]

Unlike Ebay or Amazon, there isn't a third party that will act as a mediator. So Craigslist is kind of the Wild West of online shopping (stole that from someone on this site). You can find some good deals and deal with good people, but can also get the worst of the worst. So if you approach transactions cautiously and ask "what could go wrong here?" you will probably do well.

[patchb]

Thanks for the replies. My question was kind of asinine I guess, different people are bound to have different experiences as in all aspects of life, that much is obvious I guess my biggest worry is ending up with stolen goods, like the listing today for the 2 sets at 50% off seems too good to be true.

[Quacs]

I think it's critical to know exactly what your buying when dealing on CL.  If you're buying new, unopened sets, check box condition and seals and know what they're worth (S@H retail and big box store retail).  Your MF purchase is a perfect example - you can find this set for a discount (online or B&M), and can likely get a better deal from a TRU BOGO 50% or WM/Target clearance.  These sellers allow you to return the set within a certain time period, making the purchase MUCH less risky than a CL sale.  How much that risk is worth is really your call.

 

If you're buying lots to piece together and sell on eBay/Bricklink/Brick Classifieds, you have to know EXACTLY what components in the set comprise the most value.  Typically, these are minifigs, but many times there are unique or rare pieces that will cost you an arm and a leg to purchase that will really sink your investment if they're missing.  Also, stickers and instruction manuals are key components that can be expensive to replace if they're not there.

 

Like anything else, those that do their research, know exactly what they're buying, and can accurately forecast selling prices will make money.  Good luck on your investing!

[patchb]

I have found this site to be really useful...currently Im a "twofer", that is im buying 2 of all sets, 1 to build, 1 to keep..at first I bought everything retail. It seems this is the most common "mistake" newbies make. My reasoning for using Craigs List now is to get that 2nd box, where if I find a MISB at a good price thats one thing, but I can also get used/opened sets for building without having to pay retail.

[batmanwcm]

I actually like craigslist. You can check out what you are buying and the discount can be fairly extensive.

I bought a MISB Super Star Destroyer for $320 2 weeks ago. The nice gentleman I bought it from had 2, sold 1 already and was looking to unload the 2nd one for cheap.

Last week, I answered an ad for a MISB haunted house and based on our email exchanges, I assumed the seller was a mother. When we met up for the exchange, the seller ended up being a 11 year old boy. I asked him why he was selling the HH and he told me that he received it as a gift from his aunt but he was to old for lego now and would rather have the $120 to buy other stuff.

I should have just lowballed him from the beginning, but since his asking price was already so low, I felt that I already got a good deal out of it.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

I basically use Craigslist for great deals. I expect to get a discount because I am taking a little bit of a risk unless it is straight up sealed. I love Craigslist though and have really never had a negative experience with it.

[patchb]

I have an inherent feeling that I should be paying less for something on Craigs List. I dont know why that is. It seems like its a place where people are just trying to get rid of stuff quickly, so you feel you can lowball. Which is why my near full price MF purchase isnt so great in hindsight.

[nolanfan34]

Quacs pretty much nailed it. The only thing I would add is to factor into your prices the fact that a lot of sellers will claim something is "100% complete" and either be lying, or just have no idea what they are saying. So you have to buy something low enough to be OK with the fact that it might be missing something (especially if you are flipping it).

 

This is particularly important since when you meet the seller, you likely won't have time to though through a large box to check for pieces. I had one last week where the seller claimed the item was 100%, all accounted for, etc. When I picked it up, it was from a mom who was clearly cleaning out some stuff from their kid. When I got down to inventorying, it was missing some obvious (but not expensive) stuff. In this case I had bought it to build with my son so I wasn't too concerned, but when buying stuff to flip I try to be more sure.

[Quacs]

Quacs pretty much nailed it. The only thing I would add is to factor into your prices the fact that a lot of sellers will claim something is "100% complete" and either be lying, or just have no idea what they are saying. So you have to buy something low enough to be OK with the fact that it might be missing something (especially if you are flipping it).

 

This is particularly important since when you meet the seller, you likely won't have time to though through a large box to check for pieces. I had one last week where the seller claimed the item was 100%, all accounted for, etc. When I picked it up, it was from a mom who was clearly cleaning out some stuff from their kid. When I got down to inventorying, it was missing some obvious (but not expensive) stuff. In this case I had bought it to build with my son so I wasn't too concerned, but when buying stuff to flip I try to be more sure.

 

I couldn't agree more.  CL sets are rarely 100% complete, even if they say they are.  On all CL sets, make sure:

 

sales price - estimated cost to complete > your target return 

 

You will have almost always have pieces/stickers/instructions/figs to buy from CL listings.

[nolanfan34]

Sometimes you have to just go with your gut based on a picture or two as well. I had one recently that was a general lot/bin for $30. No picture. I emailed asking for a pic, in the pic sent I saw a bag simply labeled Indiana Jones. And it was a big bin with a lot of bulk. For that price, I took a shot at it, and it ended up having a few sets close to 100% complete where I will easily hit my ROI even selling them as 99% complete. Taking a chance on something low price like that is sort of fun and low risk. I would not do the same on a $500 lot.

[Bsusanka]

I only made one purchase on craigslist and it was uneventful. It seems like most people selling things on craigslist really just want a quick sale and so expect to get low balled.

[Ciglione]

I like buying from Craig's List. Although you have to pay alot of attention. So far, after 8 months of investing I made the most profit with used older sets which I bought from Craig's List (The new sets I bought for investing still need to ripe I guess). It can be alot of work sorting and checking if everything is complete. But I do not mind too much. It is actually kinda fun. And how sweet when you sell with some nice profits!

[Bold-Arrow]

Be careful out there:

http://www.cnet.com/news/teen-shot-gamer-dead-over-ps4-say-police/#ftag=YHF65cbda0

[exciter1]

Be careful out there:

http://www.cnet.com/news/teen-shot-gamer-dead-over-ps4-say-police/#ftag=YHF65cbda0

 

...and one of the reasons I haven't listed or bought anything on Craigslist.

 

This happened just up the road from us.

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/craigslist-killer-death-penalty-article-1.1307856

[naf]

Always meet in a well lit public place during the day when selling on craigslist.  Plus, I always tell my wife where the sale is taking place so that someone knows where I am.  I've never had a safety issue but it's always in the back of my mind.  I can usually tell by the emails back and forth before the sale if the person is really interested in buying the item.

 

I've found that it's not really worth the hassle.  I have sold a lot there, both Lego and non-Lego, but you always get lowballed on price.  I guess I don't blame them, I do the same thing when buying on CL, but if the buyer is serious you can usually negotiate them up closer to your asking price.  Due to the haggling nature of CL, there doesn't seem to be much savings there in terms of the standard 15% ebay/paypal fees.

[buidee]

I have bought and sold on Craiglist and your right, the buyer will usually low ball you.  You will also get a lot of "do you still have it available" when you clearly state that the ad will be deleted once sold.  I only deal in phone calls and texts as too many scammers send emails wanting to meet at a certain place and then do not show.  I will also have the person text me 10 minutes before the meeting place and text me when they get there.  I always meet at a public place like inside Starbucks or coffee shop or inside the restaurant but always during the day when sunlight out.  I met one person inside my local bank waiting area.  I guess for high value stuff, you can always meet inside the lobby of your local police department.  When I buy stuff, I also ask to meet at a public place also.  I have gotten a lot of great deals on CL.  I just picked up two open box Haunted Houses for $150 each.  I also picked up a MSIB VW bug for $100 two weeks ago.