Popular Post brickvoyeur Posted December 7, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 7, 2022 (edited) Quote I'll read the Nightmare Before Christmas story this year, kids. Twas the night before Clearance And all through the aisle Steamrollers were packed Into my cart like a pile Exo Suits were hung In the storage with care Knowing that in a decade They still will be there Sergeant Jyn Erso was nestled Deep under my bed With terrible proportions And a face that looks dead Wonder woman in her armor And cheetah in her cap The lasso of truth will tell you That this set is pure crap When out on my doorstep A noise shook me awake ShopJustice still delivering Olaf Flat as a pancake Faster shipping than FedEx The turds as they came I cried and I pouted As I called them by name "Now, Dots! now, Mario! Now Lego Movie 1 and 2! On, Raiders! on, Mighty Dinos! On, Takodana and constractables too! To the depths of the dumpster! Stacked 50 feet tall Now throw away! throw away! throw away all!" Each year I make efforts To donate a bit more But Toys for tots sends a bill For returning them to my door Since I can't give them away I'll dig a big pit It's the final solution To get rid of this sh!t I shook as I laughed At the thought of relieving this pain It was nearly 3am So I looked quite insane As I poured the kerosene I cheered with delight "I'll light you on fire, So you're out of my sight" Edited December 7, 2022 by brickvoyeur 15 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I am making almost nothing. Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy? Raise those prices, people. Buying and selling is too much work and too time-consuming to make "almost nothing." Raise prices or find items with better margins or do something else entirely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willy431 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 There is very little margin for error selling current sets....I made errors. Example--bought 6 dolphin cruisers for $55 each...58 with tax---call it 60. Sold them all for 90 shipped. So... $30 profit....less 9 for eBay, less 3 for PayPal is $18 profit. Now guess how much shipping one is from mass to Oregon....and guess where Most of my buyers were from! I screwed up with giving free shipping...assuming an even location curve on all my sales. Sold 8850 worth this month...after cogs, fees and shipping, I am up 840. Certainly not worth all the time and effort put in, but it is a 10% return. And that is if everyone is happy with their stuff. That has cost me...weirdos who buy by mistake. Yeah sure...jerks. I learned my lesson on shipping, and not going to play the volume game again. Too much extra work..for little extra gain. And truth be told....I knew I could have taken my time and sold less for more....but the house looks better, and my wife is happier with 138 less (mostly big) boxes in the way. Already bought shelving and dehumidifier for basement. Plenty of storage will be online for next year. I am excited---can't wait for next Christmas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anakinisvader Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Raise those prices and make some . Be patient young padawan. The force is with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bold-Arrow Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Sold 15 DC between 115-125....Even sold a badly damaged box one for 110... Now my wife is becoming a believer...welcome tp the Dark Side .....muhahahahahah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exciter1 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Sold 15 DC between 115-125....Even sold a badly damaged box one for 110... Now my wife is becoming a believer...welcome tp the Dark Side .....muhahahahahah EBay or Amazon FBA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bold-Arrow Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 EBay or Amazon FBA? EBay...free shipping I saw an auction that was 135+ w/o shipping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolanfan34 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Bought a used 7905 Crane on CL Friday night for $45, listed last night, sold today for $160. My kind of transaction. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth_Raichu Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Sold 15 DC between 115-125....Even sold a badly damaged box one for 110... Now my wife is becoming a believer...welcome tp the Dark Side .....muhahahahahah No wonder I sold 10 for $99 each in less than 2 hours on Saturday. The beauty of living in the middle of the country is shipping does not vary too much from zone to zone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolanfan34 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 My last one is at $109 plus shipping. Ends in a couple of hours, surprised it hasn't been picked up yet. Do you all get specific in your listings right now on whether you can guarantee Christmas delivery or not? I am nervous to post anything new in the next week frankly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolanfan34 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 My last one is at $109 plus shipping. Ends in a couple of hours, surprised it hasn't been picked up yet. Do you all get specific in your listings right now on whether you can guarantee Christmas delivery or not? I am nervous to post anything new in the next week frankly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bold-Arrow Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 No wonder I sold 10 for $99 each in less than 2 hours on Saturday. The beauty of living in the middle of the country is shipping does not vary too much from zone to zone. Hit your local Costco, they have loads.. Mine do anyways (Metro-Detroit) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bold-Arrow Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 My last one is at $109 plus shipping. Ends in a couple of hours, surprised it hasn't been picked up yet. Do you all get specific in your listings right now on whether you can guarantee Christmas delivery or not? I am nervous to post anything new in the next week frankly. Add the 41000 as a bundle and poof... (use the 3 0ff 10 cpn @ Kmart).. you probably can get 125-130 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willy431 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Sold 15 DC between 115-125....Even sold a badly damaged box one for 110... Now my wife is becoming a believer...welcome tp the Dark Side .....muhahahahahah I think this is where people see huge gains--and jump in. It's simply not true that you sold them for ~120. They were bought at that price. Break it down truthfully please, and let us know what you made. Sure it's only natural to throw the easy numbers around and feel good about ourselves..but people that post things like this..all day...every day.....Just draws out more competitors into the market looking for an easy $60 profit. If we were more honest with what we actually make...we wouldn't have to slash prices to compete with so many others. And nothing personal meant and no malice was meant at all. I've done it myself! Many times. Just thinking we should be more honest with what the profits are....so not everyone reads these posts, borrows their dad's credit card and ruins the market Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth_Raichu Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Add the 41000 as a bundle and poof... (use the 3 0ff 10 cpn @ Kmart).. you probably can get 125-130 Personally, I thought scooter in 41000 looked ugly compared to the one from DC. This was probably why 41000 still lingered at Target even after $3.99+bogo50 promo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huskers1236 Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 Haven't been doing a ton of selling lately as I don't have a ton of what the holiday shoppers are looking for (i.e. Dolphin Cruisers). I did sell a City Pig Farm for $80 as well as a pair of '13 Advent Calendars for $100. Paid $40 for the calendars, was a nice flip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth_Raichu Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I think this is where people see huge gains--and jump in. It's simply not true that you sold them for ~120. They were bought at that price. Break it down truthfully please, and let us know what you made. Sure it's only natural to throw the easy numbers around and feel good about ourselves..but people that post things like this..all day...every day.....Just draws out more competitors into the market looking for an easy $60 profit. If we were more honest with what we actually make...we wouldn't have to slash prices to compete with so many others. Willy, your comments become wiser as time goes by. I remembered your introduction to the forums Seriously, you are shaping to be a rather fearsome competitor. Good job... err or not... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bold-Arrow Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I think this is where people see huge gains--and jump in. It's simply not true that you sold them for ~120. They were bought at that price. Break it down truthfully please, and let us know what you made. Sure it's only natural to throw the easy numbers around and feel good about ourselves..but people that post things like this..all day...every day.....Just draws out more competitors into the market looking for an easy $60 profit. If we were more honest with what we actually make...we wouldn't have to slash prices to compete with so many others. I never said i doubled my money.. I probably made around 20$ per set I was the first to post the kmart deal @ 46$ (people chose to go for the unexpected gethering @ 42$ back then); i got lucky with that one Got few at 52$, and like I have been posting since last week , costco @ 64.99 (make it 68$ after tax and 2% cash back from costco) I rolled the dice that this week they will sell like crazy and I was right (based on everything I read and factored) I'm averaging around 12$ in shipping.. So these are your number... This is the selling thread, one would figure people already know how it is done, I am not the type of person to mislead anyone , and ive never posted anything to that effect 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcatpunk Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I never said i doubled my money.. I probably made around 20$ per set I was the first to post the kmart deal @ 46$ (people chose to go for the unexpected gethering @ 42$ back then); i got lucky with that one Got few at 52$, and like I have been posting since last week , costco @ 64.99 (make it 68$ after tax and 2% cash back from costco) I rolled the dice that this week they will sell like crazy and I was right (based on everything I read and factored) I'm averaging around 12$ in shipping.. So these are your number... This is the selling thread, one would figure people already know how it is done, I am not the type of person to mislead anyone , and ive never posted anything to that effect I checked my Brickfolio...average price paid for my DCs was 43-44....sold 4 for 109.99. Ebay's cut will be $11, paypal will get another 3.50 or so, and shipping is right around 16 for me...so about 36-37 profit on each here. Could be better if I had the right boxes and didn't add insurance to each package, but oh well. Will take it for a set that will still be on shelves come January. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willy431 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Thank you! That is exactly what we should talk about....making $20 each is still great. But we all tend to say bought at 60, sold for 120---that type of thing. I am just disappointed with how much the shipping and fees ate up. Even doing the numbers ahead of time...and knowing what was what....still doesn't lessen the tears as I submitted my $879 monthly bill to eBay, or looking over the $1200 I spent on usps through ebay shipping. Making 800 bucks...about 10% roi isn't horrible...but that assumes I work for nothing, my time is worthless, my car uses no gas and requires no maintenance...that is why I said I broke even. There is money to be made here...but it's not as easy as some portray, and it's a lot of work. Just a few rogue buyers can ruin your day and sink you profit. Still have 3 returns coming back, 1 missing $40 set that the lost office can't find and don't care about..had to refund...oh...and 4 non paying bidder cases opened. Oh and someone from Puerto Rico jumped in on the free shipping of a technic rescue helicopter...ouch. Like I said...I learned a LOT! Having the correct boxes on hand, and better shipping policies on eBay...would have netted me another 10% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt1147 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Will take it for a set that will still be on shelves come January. Exactly. I am a small time seller, but still sold 5 of the DC this past week and made around $20-$25 net on each. Big $$? No, but an easy return in a short time that I can now reinvest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bold-Arrow Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Thank you! That is exactly what we should talk about....making $20 each is still great. But we all tend to say bought at 60, sold for 120---that type of thing. I am just disappointed with how much the shipping and fees ate up. Even doing the numbers ahead of time...and knowing what was what....still doesn't lessen the tears as I submitted my $879 monthly bill to eBay, or looking over the $1200 I spent on usps through ebay shipping. Granted the DC is the only thing moving atm at that pace... For me anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolanfan34 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Just sold a Falcon for $160+ shipping. Buyer pays with.......eCheck. Awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowillsw Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Anyone have a business account with UPS or FedEx? That might be something to consider for most of us. That's the 2nd biggest fiscal expense outside the cost of the sets. I mean by all means sell those Dolphin Cruisers low now. The home stretch for xmas is here, less competition for most of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willy431 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 E check! Yes....I had 3 of those too. What a pain in the jazz. Had to wait 3 days for it to clear..all the while buyers asking when is it shipping, what is track number, why no ship yet? I am changing all my listings next year to pay right away...these non payers and echeckers are a pain. Wonder if there is a way to eliminate echeckers and Puerto Rico buyers, and people who change their mind/wife already bought one/found it cheaper at Wal-Mart after already mailing it out! You do take returns---right? I have what 30 days? Oh 15? You pay to ship it back to yourself right? I have to pay? I just told you to cancel...I found it cheaper at Wal-Mart. Ok...I'll refuse the package and you can get it back that way. Where do I post about these type of azzholes? There is no chance of negative buyer feedback any more...and who do I see about getting my ebay, ,PayPal and shipping fees refunded. Hours wasted on bufoonery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exciter1 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I have to say, this Christmas season I've excluded all international buyers, US Protectorates, and I sometimes exclude Hawaii and Alaska. Although, I unknowingly didn't opt out of the EBay International Shipping Program and I've now found that I love it when buyers use it. I have a depot in Kentucky and it's in the same shipping region as me, so it's very cheap for me to ship items there. I've sold pretty much all of the Lego items I've listed without compromising price much. I prefer to not have to deal with international shipping prices, special forms and customs hassles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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