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Most importantly, and specifically in regards to this forum, we shouldn't condone nor passively support TLC turning labels like reseller, collector, or investor into perjoratives. A person who finds a way to make some money from their hobby shouldn't be regarded as unethical. They should be appauled for their ingenuity. All of this just goes to show how clueless TLG are (and have always been) about their customers. The most die-hard fans of any toy or collectable will naturally evolve in to a collector who buys multiple sets (not some ill-intended 're-seller' looking to 'hurt' the LEGO brand). Most of us are fans first. This reminds me of the statistics that came out of TLC a few years ago showing that over 30% of LEGO sets are purchased by adults, for themselves. Before they compiled that data, they had no clue what their customer base looked like. Clearly they still don't understand us.

Walked in a Barnes and Noble and there is a Trex Hunter 5886 sitting there!!! I used my membership, 20% coupon, and a mastercard for 40% off. I got it for $45!!! Don't you love instant appreciation? Now I get to stash it away for a couple of years already knowing its winner. If only it was always that easy.

Alice Finch, the AFOL who made the massive 400,000 piece Hogwarts MOC used Bricklink and Bricklink even hired her as a communications officer. if you seriously need that many pieces/sets, just talk to a LEGO store manager or LEGO customer service. They will handle legitimate special requests. It's the resellers who act as if they are "normal" buyers that LEGO is targeting.

I never knew they could do that. Only because I did not read the whole thing through. From what I have heard, customers have bought a lot of sets from LEGO Shop at Home and or Lego stores and accumulated a lot of points. If they were a reseller, they could justify taking all VIP points away, but if it was a collector who bought all those sets and got all their VIP points taken away, that would be a problem. Saying that, Lego has to find/get more reasons to ban someone or take away all their VIP points. Their current method of taking an educational guess would not work in the case of a collectors VIP points being taken away on a guess.

Damn you to Hades!!! LOL. We also get some change from eBay, Walmart, Target, Barnes and Noble and most of all...Amazon. So feel free to buy that big screen TV after you click on our Amazon links.

Jeff and I talk all the time about being the "Bad Boys" of LEGO websites. With over 20,000 members(and growing at a good clip), we will never get the same respect as other sites will. Even though we help sell millions of dollars of LEGO sets, I doubt LEGO really wants to give us any props. They appreciate the business, but they dislike what we promote to a degree. Whether you are a reseller, collector, investor or whatever...we are all in the same boat. Most of us are fans first, businessmen/women second. At times, it feels like we are in some kind of Bizzaro World, being somewhat "punished" for promoting a product and being creative making money from them. I'm really curious to see how this all plays out and if LEGO and its new policies will hurt their bottom line. Maybe in 6 months, LEGO will run "Investment Specials" if sales drop off too much.

I'm afraid that ship has sailed. While there may not be anyone here openly contemptuous of all levels of Lego selling, there are a nice steady flow of those who set the "unacceptable" mark right above what they themselves are doing. Re: affiliate links. Although I am by no means a heavy hitter (yet, she chortled evilly...) I will apologize for not using the click throughs more reliably in my own purchasing. My only defense for everything that is not Lego LEGO Shop at Home is I'm a ditz and I just forget. I promise to try to get better. Lego LEGO Shop at Home I just won't do - I understand that I'm paranoid, but that doesn't mean they're not out to get me. Fortunately, I do very little buying from LEGO Shop at Home so you're not missing much from me. AND, if this site charges money sometime, I am totally on board with that. Especially some kind of prime area. Maybe in that paid area we can realize something a bit closer to Legofreeman's ideal at the top of this post.

Exactly---define we. Seemed pretty obvious to me when I posted a month ago that tru and lego must have signed an exclusivity contract to extend the sale of these sets. That triggered walmart, target and lego itself to clearance these. Others on the site said no way---they are done. Obviously they don't go to tru much. It was easy to see that these things are being remade---this isn't nos we are buying. I still bought---because the castle is a good value at 80 bucks. Not because I thought the "experienced" people on this site were correct about retirement. I knew they were wrong. These things are stuffed full in every tru I go to...after having basically none the last 4 months.

Excellent points and theory. From a site standpoint, I think this helps prolong the life of LEGO investing. In a way, it has put a damper on the entire world of LEGO investing and some can argue that is a good thing. Your point about LEGO doing this to actually help the LEGO secondary market remain viable opens up a whole new way of viewing this banning situation. Maybe by cooling down the market, it removes some of the tire kickers and dilettante investors from the mix, preventing a speculative bubble from ever forming. Unfortunately, we never see "big hitters" buy that many sets. Either people are full of crap or avoid our affiliate links for something else. It's a shame, because eventually, those members who never want to click on our links to support the site will find that we will have to charge for this data. Throwing us a bone once in awhile keeps the site free. From a personal standpoint, I miss the discounts on big sets from an affiliate point of view and personal buying aspect. If people are buying less big sets, then we make less money. Also, I have to pay more for the ones I buy as well. Restrictive limits are a nuisance to me. I really spread my investments around, but I do feel for people wanting to buy large quantities of sets. If they buy within the given limits, then they should not be banned. This is just a silly topic in general...I mean...a company complaining about people buying their products. LOL

So as resellers should we be happy with the bans (less competition) or upset with the bans (scared we will get banned ourselves)? It is an interesting dilemma as if you are smart about your buys then TLG is doing you a huge favor.

Good. B/c while you were the one who posted about it here, you are certainly not the first despite what others think. Even if you were, my post certainly shouldn't be taken as a jab.

We'll have to agree to disagree (not about the silliness, but about the "all"). I don't think that was "all" that Pickleboy was doing, but targeting specific posters with "subtle" jabs is common on this as on every other site. Me, when I have a disagreement with someone, I have the ovaries to just say so without pretending I wasn't talking about them at all. (And now anyone who would like the last word can have it. )

It's always nice to hear that people who abuse the buying limits of Lego getting banned. It justifies the action.

And, all the biggest resellers have to do is have multiple VIP accounts and they can "go after" the known eBay address all they want, it's completely useless. Edited to add: Furthermore, should any big reseller decide to buy from Lego without using a VIP account it becomes even easier - a small hit to the bottom line when the $200 exclusive costs $200 and sells a few years later at $400 instead of costing $190 and selling for $400, but perfectly doable. Lego is silly to think that anyone with deep enough pockets and an interest in reselling is really going to be thwarted by their bans. Mildly inconvenienced at times? Sure. But, as my sig line used to say, "You can close your eyes to the swirl and sway, but you cannot stop the dance."

It's not a simple matter to determine a person's actual identity from an eBay store. It gets simpler should LEGO decide to purchase from everyone selling Lego on eBay and then match up the addresses when they receive the product (some folks will still have different business and personal addresses, but they'd catch a lot that way). But, haha, it wouldn't stop any of us who own a couple of working brain cells from buying from from Lego, except LEGO Shop at Home to that particular address, and it's a lot of time, effort and money for Lego to go through to catch us all, like Pokemon.

I know this discussion is just the tip of the iceberg. It will get worse. More people will get banned. The question I have is where does it say that you can't resell LEGO sets? On the sets? On their site? How do they know a person is a reseller? I have over 5000 sets and never SOLD one. Not one. I am a collector first and foremost. Maybe I'm addicted to LEGO and need help. Banning customers is risky business if you don't give customers clear rules to adhere to. All it takes is one person with time and money to fight and...well...you know the rest.

UCS Y-Wing. I am going to have a real hard time selling this one, it's just impressive. That's the problem with this game we play, I justify buying sets by telling myself that I will sell them for profit and once I have them I start considering keeping them.

I am gonna be like - "does the box have to close?". put it on the counter and there is an Ewok Village sticking out of it.

Aww, thanks! I'll pass that along to Mr. Frog, who is the design genius, I just help and nag him.

Just fill it full of minifigures

I'll be stocking up on Diaper Genie refills.

Shelves at tru needed dusting.. Poof .. Like it never happened ..

If you're planning on selling them on eBay, check my eBay parts category in my store, DoNot - all those configurations sell very well for me at those prices. Basic bricks, single color, 40 or 50 in a listing.

People gotta stop having deals on these. I don't understand selling a $120 set for half price. Good lord. I have bought like 12 in the past week!

Starting this after dinner:

willy....staying classy as always...

Um, it seems like you bought stuff to get points on the other three cards (+2000 points) and returned them on the one other card (getting you -1600) so technically you really shouldn't be keeping all those +2000 points except for the difference in purchases/returns....but you think you deserve to keep those 2000 points and you are upset that LEGO figured it out and combined all the purchases/returns/balances as they should in a normal, balanced world? And you are going to make a scene about it if you can't get your way? Me thinks the video might be more embarassing to you than the LEGO store employee you will be berating, assuming you actually mention how you've been using/manipulating multiple VIP cards against their rules.

Sold a 79111 today. Some kid is having a great gift for Christmas or 'Sinterklaas'!

Which is pretty much everything in life except food if you want to be specific. Nobody needs Tommy Pullmyfinger jeans or Calvin Clump deodorant to live.

Thanks emazers, love your posts, always like the info you share. On the topic of box sizes, do you use bubble wrap around your sets? I use 1/2" bubble wrap around the entire set and I order from a local box company similar to ULINE. ULINE has free S&**** for orders over $300 which is helpful if you can get over that amount to qualify. The company I use is happy to match that free S&**** offer. Same as you, I try to minimize the box sizes I use to ship various sets to keep things as simple as possible and to be able to take advantage of those 25+ required box bundles. I use a spreadsheet to track length, width and height and then try to fit as many sets into one size as reasonably possible. Looks like this basically: