Australian General LEGO Update

[Alucard1982]

Hi guys,

Right now I'm in Europe so missing out on all the great deals but I have managed to pick up a few retired polybag from some lego stores. Do you think there is a good market in Australia for polybags given that you can hardly buy them there?

 

 

Depends on what you have, all the polybags that I have sold are either Monster Fighters, Friends or Super Heroes, if its one of those themes you should be ok.

[fanohockey]

Depends on what you have, all the polybags that I have sold are either Monster Fighters, Friends or Super Heroes, if its one of those themes you should be ok.

Thanks, I'll try and focus on those ones. But I did pick up some of the lego store ones like thanksgiving feast, fall scene, decorating the christmas tree and santas sleigh.

[JeffProbst]

Reading over the last few pages, I've realised that we've got a few new folk running around, welcome all

 

To help out the new guys with divulging the errors that I have made over the last 2 years I've been investing in LEGO is that the Australian market is quite different to the American and European markets that our fellow BPers are from. I normally rationalise my purchases with the mindset that our total population is possibly contained within 1 or 2 cities in their country and their market is possibly 10 - 15x ours (I've recently done economics at Uni and used LEGO secondary market as my case study) and purchase sets and quantities to reflect this.

 

What have bitten me over and over again is trying to aligning my thought pattern with the US market, one such example are Series 1 mixels, I bought a ton of these and have only managed to offload a couple of sets, all to O/S buyers - no interest in the Australian market.

 

The best strategy that I have found to work is to have an ample supply of a set that is considered "popular", I'll use the "Haunted House"as my personal example, I purchased one of these sets at my local Kmart for $180 initially to test the market, I managed to flip this within 24 hours and since my local Kmart had about 30 of these sets sitting on the shelf (on clearance) I would buy 2 at a time and restock as they went, limiting the possible risk to me. In the end I was getting them for $110 and flipping them for $230ish.

 

QF and long term investing is hard work and from my experience far from an easy buck, unfortunately we have to deal with a platform that favours the buyers opposed to the sellers that pay the fees.

 

I'd be greatly appreciative for others to throw around their experiences and advice.

 

- J

 

Thank you for the sensible post. 

 

I only came out of the dark ages earlier this year and I am guilty of getting a little over-excited about a few sets that I have read about on here.

 

Gutted that I missed out on those Haunted Houses! I had to pay through the nose just to get one for my personal collection 

[Alucard1982]

Thanks, I'll try and focus on those ones. But I did pick up some of the lego store ones like thanksgiving feast, fall scene, decorating the christmas tree and santas sleigh.

 

Seasonal sets will go good, unsure of the Thanksgiving feast (very limited market) but the others should have no problems.

[Alucard1982]

Thank you for the sensible post. 

 

I only came out of the dark ages earlier this year and I am guilty of getting a little over-excited about a few sets that I have read about on here.

 

Gutted that I missed out on those Haunted Houses! I had to pay through the nose just to get one for my personal collection 

 

 

No worries, Its a nice change for people to be appreciative of my insane ramblings.

 

On a side note, I loved the build of the Haunted House, it is also the origins of my Lord Business nickname bestowed by my wife. 

[AFFOL]

A note on the polybags, I would like one in the monster theme range with the witch and grave set to go with our haunted house for halloween. Just going back to the discussion of the Sopwith camel, thanks for response. Infact I sold one today for a small profit. Today I also  decided to purchase some architecture, such as the villa savoye and the empire building. The Villa Savoye for the reason that I know there is a secondary market for corbusier furniture. I am a mad antique hunter and figure in the right place at the right time that this will do just well, I also picked up the empire state building for it's simplicity and price point. The opera house could not be any uglier so I left it at Myer. Today there was no sale in Myer so I guess this is the end of bargins for the time being. 

[Alucard1982]

A note on the polybags, I would like one in the monster theme range with the witch and grave set to go with our haunted house for halloween. Just going back to the discussion of the Sopwith camel, thanks for response. Infact I sold one today for a small profit. Today I also  decided to purchase some architecture, such as the villa savoye and the empire building. The Villa Savoye for the reason that I know there is a secondary market for corbusier furniture. I am a mad antique hunter and figure in the right place at the right time that this will do just well, I also picked up the empire state building for it's simplicity and price point. The opera house could not be any uglier so I left it at Myer. Today there was no sale in Myer so I guess this is the end of bargins for the time being. 

 

 

Wait a week or so, and they'll be back...

[Alucard1982]

A note on the polybags, I would like one in the monster theme range with the witch and grave set to go with our haunted house for halloween. Just going back to the discussion of the Sopwith camel, thanks for response. Infact I sold one today for a small profit. Today I also  decided to purchase some architecture, such as the villa savoye and the empire building. The Villa Savoye for the reason that I know there is a secondary market for corbusier furniture. I am a mad antique hunter and figure in the right place at the right time that this will do just well, I also picked up the empire state building for it's simplicity and price point. The opera house could not be any uglier so I left it at Myer. Today there was no sale in Myer so I guess this is the end of bargins for the time being. 

 

Is that the one with the spiderweb and spare ghost? If so, I have one in my polybag collection pile with the Zombie coffin car.

[AFFOL]

Is that set 850487 with 30200? 

[Alucard1982]

Yep on both.

[Alucard1982]

I made a mistake, I thought that 850487 cam with a spider-web, but its a vine. Nice looking Zombie Business man as well. When I was digging around also found 30201, feels like I've got Halloween sets coming out my ears!

[AFFOL]

Are you able to email me the prices? I have just realised that the architecture empire state building and opera house must be on it's way out for Australia. On the Lego website alongside the retired Farnsworth, the ESB and OH are classified out of stock with no expected shipping date such as noted with the other out of stock architecture sets. I have made the decision that I will buy in this area for the long term, though I don't think I will buy multiple sets. They do look attractive all together. David jones has a great special on these sets, but it is difficult to locate stock. Is anyone else buying these for the long haul? 

[Alucard1982]

I don't mind the Imperial Hotel and falling water but the others don't interest me in the slightest as they look very touristy.

[Alucard1982]

On a side note, does anyone know how to block a buyer from purchasing your items? 

[AFFOL]

1. Found this:

    

   To add a member to your blocked list:

   1. Go to the Block bidders or buyers from your listings page.
   2. Enter the user IDs of the members you wish to block.
   3. Click the Submit button.
2. Managing bidders and buyers - eBay

   pages.ebay.com.au/help/sell/manage_bidders_ov.html

[AFFOL]

1. Found this:

    

   To add a member to your blocked list:

   1. Go to the Block bidders or buyers from your listings page.
   2. Enter the user IDs of the members you wish to block.
   3. Click the Submit button.
2. Managing bidders and buyers - eBay

   pages.ebay.com.au/help/sell/manage_bidders_ov.html

[Alucard1982]

Fantastic, thanks heaps. I couldn't find it, maybe I was searching wrong :/

[TheDarkness]

Lego screw Aussies over again.... $50 increase on the Tumbler UCS at LEGO Shop at Home

[Alucard1982]

Yep, seen that about 10 mins ago as I was going to place an order on the 05 Jan. I was silently hoping it was just a glitch.

[AFFOL]

Happy new year all. Has anyone found the detective agency in Melbourne? 

[TheDarkness]

You won't find it anywhere other than the Lego store online right now

[Alucard1982]

Happy new year all. Has anyone found the detective agency in Melbourne? 

 

Order one from LEGO and you'll grab a cool little polybag

[AFFOL]

The flower wagon is neat for a street of modulars.

[Jules_K]

Anyone have any luck getting through to Lego Shop at Home on the phone? I suspect they're not open today even though it says they are on the website.

[Alucard1982]

No luck here, I keep trying every 10 mins or so. I'd be curious to see if the rest of Europe have access to the hotline or they are closed until Monday. I'm secretly hoping that they open this afternoon to be inline with the European opening hours.