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On the same sort of topics, the best offer messages have gotten even better during december. - One where the person said they were buying Minecraft for their terminally ill child and this was "all they wanted in the world". Offered me half my price - less than what they cost retail together (all 3). I looked at their purchases and all the stuff they bought was adult type stuff. I offered back 5$ off my price. lol. - got a ton of "This is my sons allowance and this is all he has - then its half of my price. - I get a bunch with "free shipping" in it - even though all my listings are free shipping. - One of my favorites - "I only have 10$ in my debit account, will you take 10$?" - Um, if you only have 10$ I am not sure you need a Batman minifigure. - I think my favorite of all time is "I have seen these go for <blank>". Yeah find one now.

So in order to get purchases to $50 to use Wendy's GCs at TRU, I grabbed a few Series 11 minifigures... And in the spirit of the holiday, 3 out of the 4 contained: Yeti Gingerbread Man Santa's Elf Boom.

Here is a few photos of my ever expanding Saint Nazaire Drydock with a mini fig scale type VIIc U-Boat (cutaway with detailed interior).

In general I agree with this. There are mitigating circumstances - if I think the buyer is being honest and it's more cost than it's worth to have them send something back, I'll occasionally offer a partial refund. You start to get a pretty good "nose" after awhile - some buyers' stories stink, some don't. I've handed out maybe two or three partial refunds in the past year, more than 3,000 orders. As for the toughness part, absolutely. Success as a merchant doesn't happen for sissies, or the dim-witted, or the disorganized. There's an aspect of toughness, however, that goes like this, 'Is this the hill I want to die on?" We've got to pick our battles, especially knowing that both eBay and Amazon frown on us battling with buyers at all -- both have metrics in place where if you have too many cases, too many complaints, too many refunds (and here's where not giving too many partial refunds falls in, too - hand out too many of those through PayPal and eBay takes notice and holds it against you) too many "bad buyer experiences" in general and they start to get twitchy and think you might just be a bad seller driving good buyers from the site. Amazon and eBay don't care, at all, not even the teensiest, tiniest bit, about individual sellers unless you're at the "diamond" level (ToysRUs, Target...) They care about the "herd", not the individual cow. If they have to kill off a few cows here and there (ban a few sellers here and there that wing a little too close to what their bots say today is a "bad" seller), they're fine with that - they call that maintaining herd health through necessary culling. Or they'd call it that if they were ranchers, anyway. End of the day, it behooves all of us to keep our eye on the main chance, and that's maintaining a healthy eBay or Amazon account. Sometimes that's going to mean giving a partial refund, sometimes it's going to mean refusing one. Sometimes we're going to get hosed, just like a brick and mortar merchant sometimes gets stuff stolen off his shelves. The smart, attentive, and motivated will survive. The rest... cannon fodder, I'm afraid, and good luck with selling your Lego on Craigslist instead.

Christmastime customers will separate the Men from the Boys (or the Ladies from the Girls) when it comes to selling. Sure, profits look good but then you have to deal with uninformed customers, returns, damaged goods (by the shipper) and such it really makes you wonder if that little profit (after fees, shipping, more fees, and more fees) is worth the time and effort. Time to look in the mirror and ask: "Is it really worth it?"

Has anyone read anything on plans for more X-Men Lego? I seem to recall someone mentioning a licensing issue, but I really want to see some sets. Cyclops, Nightcrawler...maxi-figure Colossus....man. Put a Gambit figure in a single set only, that's a $20-25 figure right? Going to keep wishing for this, with a 1000+ piece Professor X's school set at the top of the list.

Just one perspective: whenever anyone ever uses a 'this is how I provide for my family' or similar phrase that is or verges on emotional blackmail it instantly gets my back up. But I'm dead inside.

I halted selling early last week as I want to spend a calm Christmas without worrying for customer issues

There's always a bigger fish. Qui Gon Jinn

But if you offer a return period on eBay to take advantage of the Top Rated discount then you have a responsibility to accept any return within that time period, regardless of the reason. There's always the option of not accepting returns, even though you will get a lot of dishonest buyers who will open cases against you...

Selling at Christmas time on ebay is a lot like driving around on New Years Eve. There are a lot of non-professional drinkers out there - so you've gotta be careful.

Well reading this thread has put me off ever using Amazon to sell. So far using Ebay I have only ever had one person asking to return something. He paid

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. Here is the type VIIc and the IXc together. The IXc does not have an interior but has mindstorm motors that run the periscope, props, dive planes, and forward torpedo tube doors.

My day got a lot better (or evening I guess). Had two customers purchase expedited shipping at my flat rate of 22.50. One for a lamborghini hot wheel car, and another for a minifigure blind bag series 11. Wtf?

Yeah, it's still frustrating and/or scary for sellers who have nearly 10 years under their belt (like me). It's almost an uphill battle. I figure as long as I am nice sounding and thick skinned, and I'm still making money over all, I'll probably make it through.

I've got 8 returns coming--7 people changed their minds...for various reasons...found cheaper---wife bought one---bought by mistake---no power functions on helicopter --no power functions on race car---(neither was supposed to either). one had it sent to herself by mistake--forgot to change the PayPal ship to address. None my fault...all on my dime.

I cant stand these - Its like making money is dirty, right? Oh you paid less than I actually paid? You basterd!!! Thats freaking retarded. I always take stickers off things if I can, but it shouldn't matter. I had a few people complain about my captain america sets because I left a clearance sticker for $6.50 on it - thats when I learned. Speaking towards that, I freaking hate some people. Have 5 returns so far this month - 3 people who didn't read and didn't know it was no minifigures, one who was mad because it didn't have a box (again in the title) and they said "they couldn't wrap it without a box", and then a third because "it didn't get there fast enough". Well you knew when you bought it how long it would take to get there? It really makes me mad, but I think Ebay should pay original shipping back to you if someone returns an item. They push returns so hard, so they should help. I am up to about 60$ in loss during december off things that weren't my fault. Definitely agree its the price of doing business, but at the same time I am not a retailer or some giant chain. These profit margins just get slimmer and slimmer.

I sent her the following email, because I don't really want to wait for a call back and I want a paper trail too: Hello, Amazon recently contacted me via email addressing some concerns you had with your Sydney Opera House. I attempted a phone call, but only got the answering machine. I have to apologize for the seemingly cryptic message, part way into the message I realized that the intended recipient of the item might actually get the message and did not want to ruin any kind of surprise. Anyway, I digress. Yes, you are correct, I did pay exactly $39.95 for the item in question plus a 6% sales tax in the great state of Pennsylvania. It also cost me about $4.50 to ship the item to Massachusetts. An item you received in two days despite paying for standard shipping. Yes, I did sell it at quite a mark up, for $71.04 (after shipping). However, I did not get to keep all of that money, as you may think. Firstly, Amazon takes a whopping 15% of the combined total of item price and shipping. That is $10.66 right there. Secondly, there is the cost of ink and paper, which may seem minimal, but they add up over the course of hundreds of items in a week period. Thirdly, the envelope costs about 15 to 20 cents each. Thirdly, I had to drive these packages to the post office and drop them off. The post office is approximately 10 miles away, so 20 miles round trip. And finally, and the largest expense of all, is the time I spend doing this. This is a basically a part time job for me. I have to do research on what items are most likely going to sell out everywhere else. Then I drive from store to store, finding those items. I purchase them for retail price, sometimes on sale, but Lego Architecture is almost never on sale. It's a risk I take, and for the most part it pays off. But I clearly can't sell it for the same amount I paid for it. In all honesty, I made a profit of $14.34 on this transaction. I understand that you want a refund for the sale of the item. I can understand that, not knowing all that was at hand. But in all honesty, if the label had been peeled off, wouldn't you have paid the same price? Also, if I weren't selling it, wouldn't you have paid more for it? Because I was the cheapest person on the marketplace at the time you purchased it from Amazon.com. If you still want a refund, all you really had to do was ask. I'm not a horrible human being. You could have messaged me straight through Amazon.com. I will gladly refund you the $66.55 you paid for the item. However, I can't refund you for the shipping, and I would have to insist that you pay the return shipping to me, since the item was exactly what you ordered but the only argument is buyer's remorse in the price that was paid for the item. In the spirit of Christmas, however, I would like to make a counter offer. I will offer to split my profit in half and refund you $7.17 and you keep the item and give it as a gift for Christmas. I'm usually very thorough with removing price tags before shipping, but the Christmas season is a shipping mad house. I am up until 3 AM most nights after work getting shipments processed. Please excuse my oversight.

I noticed all my packages going to Illinois takes 10 days vs 2-4 days everywhere else going first class from the east coast. Not sure what's going on over there. I'm a little weary when they refused to scan your packages. No acceptances mean they can just say you never dropped it off. I'm never met anyone that would leave their wad of cash at the bank without their receipt making a deposit. It's absolutely unacceptable they won't scan in your package.

Bricklink is a slow churn, that's for sure, but on the plus side I'm very confident that I can make it work. We have been building our inventory slowly, which has allowed us to make all our newbie mistakes on a small scale, and has allowed us to refine and change our procedures in-house (how we buy, how we upload, how we sort, how we file, how we pick and pack, etc.) as often as necessary until we have now, I like to think, a pretty good system in place to maximize our (eventual) profits. In nuts and bolts, we're up to 45,000 parts on BL and every month we get more orders than the month before. In terms of actual dollars, it's a pittance that doesn't even begin to register on our radar financially, but the groundwork is there, we continue to increase our number of parts offered on a weekly basis, and I'm projecting that BL will at least pay its own way in maintaining and increasing its inventory (rather than being reliant on the "free" parts I feed it now from the minifig sales I make on eBay) in 2014. In 2015, I expect to start being able to pull some actual money from it on a monthly basis as profit. I can see why so many people give up on BL in a hurry, though, or sell there purely for fun because they enjoy Lego. It's a bit of a learning curve to use it, much more so to learn what to do as daily pick, pack, sort, file, buy as a seller, and there's no way to make any significant money in loose parts until you reach a certain tipping point in inventory. Right now I'm thinking it'll be around 250K parts for us, but that is merely a slightly-educated guess at this point in time and subject to change.

The real question is where are the larger sets for Super heroes period? All we have is the Batcave (Medium), Quinjet (Medium) and the Asylum. I want to see more large play sets. Imagine a Gotham city or Shield HQ?

Amazon is a good venue for smart, careful sellers. eBay has it's occasional traps for the unwary, but in comparison Amazon's a bit of a minefield. They don't mess around, either - it's one strike and you're out there, permanent selling ban. We've sold on Amazon on and off for many years - right now it's "off" because eBay's taking a great deal of time and attention, and has always been the better venue for us with the types/configurations of books we sell, and it's turning out no different with the types/configurations of Lego we sell). On eBay, I'm careful. On Amazon, I'm paranoid.

I want Iceman and Cable.

Yes it was sealed, In my mind it was a sign of complete disrespect. They even cut out the pictures on the small sides of the box. The box was just torn to crap and smashed. Never seen anything like it. I also estimate only half the pieces were probably returned (and they may not even be the right ones...hard to tell) I talked to customer support and they said I could ask the customer what happened, however that's a very thin line to walk. Pissing off someone and having them complain to Amazon about be contacting them really isn't worth the risk. Losing my FBA account would cripple me so I have become Amazons and Amazons customers door mat.... I know I am not the only one. :-(

I appreciate this thread because so many of the other threads seem to be looking at Lego investing in rose-colored glasses and profit score! It's easy to be caught up in the lore of profits by paying attention to all the hype and hyperbole. It's nice to balance out expectations every now and then with a dose of reality. It's like my brother who likes to go to the casinos, I only hear about all his winnings

Just finished building 5770 Lighthouse Island and it was a blast. This set is quickly becoming one of the favorite in my collection. The lighthouse has a great design and the lightbrick is a cool feature. A must have for lighthouse fans!

Quick update for you: All the packages that went MIA -all priority USPS- show either delivered or are being delivered today as of this morning, show ours and good luck. (I'm no hoping the packages are still in good shape)

I just ignore those offers .. the worst ones are the annoying ones who will message you every 5 mins to ask if they saw your offer ... "" YES I SAW YOUR DAMN LOWBALL OFFER AND CHOOSING TO IGNORE YOU "" .. lol

#3 is this http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?M=mm010 Missing arms.

From Left to Right: 1 Bionicle, looks to be this one or something of the like. 2 Exo-Force Devastator, it`s one of them on this page, there are a few. 3 Hard to tell from the pic, not certain on this one. 4 This guy from Mars Mission 5-7 are Jack Stone Hope this helps!

I'd be all like, "Since you figured out those percentages, you are obviously great with numbers. So revise your budget so that I don't have to decrease my bottom line for you. What's that you say? You've never made a budget? Of course, you haven't."

I get the "I have kids. Can you lower the price?" message too often. Maybe don't have so many kids then, Mr. Buyer.

I am not cutout for that idocy. I have mad emistakes buying before - once I receive the item, I eat it. I honestly have times where I would have been justified and I went against it. I loved one I had a while back - listing said no minfigiures in title, only part CAPS, and the price was like a third of the sets retail price. Some idiot bought it and then sent me a message saying where is the rest of the set. I pointed out the listing and he never responded to me again. So he opened up a case - Well I am thinking just a "I want to return the item". No - opened as "Item not as described, incomplete and missing pieces". We need a "I opened a case because I am an idiot and could throw a rock out of a boat and miss water" description.

To add upon this, I already posted said images from the eurobricks review here & here for easy access to everyone.

But the profits will likely not be very quick. Hundred to thousands of these sets will suddenly hit ebay after they are purchased at a discount. Whatever the going price was before the discount will no longer hold. Depending on the set, it could take a while before a worthwhile profit can be made.

Bring up a picture of the set from the eurobricks review. They have a breakdown of all the pieces for each figure. I just go by that and start smooshing. I did however forget to look for gail the construction worker and the president guy. I got everyone else. It probably would have been better if I started a check list and marked down the crap I found so I knew what I still needed.

These sorts of claims are maddening, by the way, forgot to commiserate in my first post. A reminder to all of us to triple check for price markings and get rid of them, by blowtorch or sulfuric acid if necessary. There are a fair few buyers who either don't comprehend reselling or like to pretend they don't comprehend it to try to extort money. Only you can decide if your AZ account is in good enough order at this point in time (as far as claims, complaints, returns, etc.) to absorb a hit. If it is, my instinct is to (very, very politely) tell buyers like this to pound sand.

I agree. But to jump in.... I don't see why what Supraboy is doing is considered bad. Its simple tax avoidance. If what he was doing was illegal, he would be a bit thick to trumpet it all over this open forum. He's just lucky to live where he lives. At worst you could call him a bit too boastful However I have a problem with people who say other peoples own strategies are crap. That word has been used (and I apologise Supraboy if it was not you). Everyone has their own strategy for Lego investment, some make money quicker than others. But if people are happy to sit back and watch their sets rise slowly (or quickly if you have right set) over 2, 3, 5 or even 10 years that is up to them. WHO IS ANYONE TO SAY THAT IS WRONG?! Before this turns into a complete rant, I shall stop. Basically - play nice children or I shall tell Ed/Jeff to take all your Lego away. Back on topic.... I have 4 FBs and I am happy to wait a few years for them to appreciate. If they don't, they don't. I make my Lego money by breaking down bulk lots into sets to sell on. It's a hobby

So bad at smooshing....of the 8 I bought, got Abe Lincoln x3, Panda Guy--yay!, Sombrero Guy, Mermaid, The lady w/ the cat, and the Barista.

Personally, I would go with the faster method. Just bag them as you take them apart, no need to get too worried about it as buyers usually just don't care.

Sounds like someone has watched Wall Street way too many times. No greed isn't good. Greed creates nothing. And no working hard to get ahead is not greed. Greedy people want everyone else to believe that but it isn't true. Sorry to tell you selling Legos isn't going to make you like Romney. People like Romney lie, cheat and steal. They use their connections to get rich and then use that wealth to further their greed. Buying and selling Legos is not the same as buying corporations, running up massive debt on the company books and walking away with , profits while leaving the the employees cleaning up there And if you think Romney has nothing to do with Bain,now that is stupid. That is not to say ally private equity is bad, some actually care about helping people. Others not so much. And remember that 95% of all wealth created since 2008 is in the hands of the 1% so I guess you really are out of luck. And they also know something you don't, the current financial system is not sustainable. Oh please ignore me too! I know hearing anything you might disagree with is very painful for your delicate sensibilities.

People love to find the companies that fail and blame private equity while forgetting the ones that would not have succeeded without it. Also, is it overly greedy to loan someone money knowing they can't pay it back? Maybe, but borrowing money you have no way of paying is just as greedy as that. There are 2 sides to everything, it's just easier to blame the rich or the anonymous company. Personally, I have good memories from TRU from when I was a kid, so I would not want them to go under, but if they do, it just proves they just were not quick enough in adapting to the changing times.

Woah. Woah. Woah. Is greed good? Absolutely. (see the original Wall Street) Maybe you misinterpreted my statement. Without going in to a lot of detail, it is OVERLY greedy to loan someone money knowing dang full well they will never be able to pay it back. Kind of like PayDay loans. Kind of like the mortgage crisis. But I guess that is all okay, because they do it all under the name of Capitalism. Jealous? Of what? Of purposely ripping off a company so that they go under? Nah. Not me. I love capitalism. I must have missed all these previous posts where people complain about it and the rich people. Do I want to be rich? Sure. Would I sell out an entire company to do so? Hell no. I am more than aware of the less fortunate. I live right next to the meth capital of California. See it all the time. Your comment makes no sense. So because there will always be people who are better off, that entitles them to screw the next guy? WOW. Glad to know there are still people out there willing to bury their ethics in the name of profit. I am not going to drag this on, but I stand by my statement: greedy bastards, with more emphasis on the second word.

I wasn't going to say it.....lol