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Yes, but you have to have the cash at the start (this point has been made many times but bears repeating). It's great if you are sitting on a pile of cash that allows you to spring for 20 FB's and get no cash return for 6 months or 5 years or however long. Or if you have 20 41999's because you were already investing when those were available - that's great! But for those of us who don't, it's not an option to spend $10,000+ and then sit on it for 2-3 years. So yeah I've spent a lot of time chasing small profits over the past 6 months, but in the meantime my long-term inventory has grown to $5000+ (starting at zero) and all my financial obligations are taken care of. It works for me. There are dozens of ways to do this, everyone has their own strategy, and I think that most of us would like to reach the point where we're getting maximum ROI for minimum effort. I really appreciate all the investment advice here. The "resellers and quick flippers ruin the market" nonsense is highly irritating. If you believe in market theories, don't worry about those who are making poor business decisions - the market will take care of them for you.

Remember that we have two different types of "retailers" chiming in on this conversation- investors and parters/flippers- and the two have totally different strategies. It's not worth letting a set appreciate for years if it's only going to net a 20% ROI; however, that return might be acceptable when you're only financially invested in an item for 3 weeks, not 3 years. For some of us (especially those like me, who don't have a lot of extra expendable income ), the reason parting out/flipping can be worth it is my good friend Mr. Exponential Growth. I buy a set for a hundred, flip it for 20% profit, then reinvest the whole thing. The next month, $120 at 120% yields 144, month three yields $173, etc. I know that this is super simplified, and it's not taking into account the work, time, or other costs involved, but purely looking at the math, if I continually flip/part out for a monthly 20%, at the start of year three, my $100 investment will have grown to $72,000. Don't judge my example there; it's not a real world situation, I just straight plugged numbers into the exponential growth formula from 8th grade algebra- A x B^C (A is your investment, B is your ROI, C is generally time- how many times you are going to repeat this investment cycle, in this case monthly). For my example, the equation would be $100 x 1.20^36. Great theoretical returns, but a ton of work involved. Your investment strategy will probably depend on what you have more of- time or money.

Average return on investment (ROI) is the arithmetic average of the total cash returns divided by the initial investment. It is useful for quick calculations and specific securities, but does not account for compounding returns. Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is derived from the future value formula with compounding interest. It accounts for compounding returns. Internal rate of return (IRR) is the discount rate at which the NPV equals 0. It is used because it allows for easy comparison between investment options and is easy to understand. For all three methods, the higher the average rate of return, the more attractive the investment is. If your Net Income Earned per unit of time is greater than or equal than the value of your next best opportunity available to you, then the decision to invest in such a venture was certainly worth it. Since each of us have different opportunity costs, enforcing your opinions as to which ROI% may or may not be worth others' time is simply a fallacy of composition.

I see this thread has morphed into something else..lol In all cases , you are good man for posting this . I'm pretty sure many of us get so involved in our businesses that we get consumed by it. I used to jump with every daily deal notification, I turned those off a while back ( though I will probably turn them back on when we hit certain occasions). It made a lot of sense, for me at least, to get a step back every now and then and take a breather and enjoy something else - I play soccer- or just do nothing and have a lazy day with the family . Cheers

No Lego today, and for once, I was really looking ...I did buy the Frozen DVD and watched it with the family. Took DNIIM's advise

You only like big butts. You must LOVE big butts to post on the thread.

I like it. But you should wear it as a hat.

If we can predict EOL closer to that time, this is a set IMO to buy at retail. Easily $40-$50, if not more down the road. That said, like any small set, you`d need to buy a few to make significant dough. May be better to just buy a couple larger sets. All depends on what you want, but this set is popular and will undoubtedly continue to be an easy sell.

clearly you have never searched ebay for used panties or used socks.

Depends, there's some weird fetishes with the international buyers -- particularly over in Tokyo...

I re-ran the search on this set and added listings to it. It looks good now.

Finally built the Mini Modulars that I've been Bricklinking over the last two months. I *love* the build. It was fantastic. The imagination and engineering that went into it, to replicate the full-sized modulars at micro scale is amazing. Bricklinking, though...ugh! It's not for the faint of heart. I should have just bought it (even with eBay prices now), and built it from there.

I ignored the 20% off items and seeked out the 50% off stuff. You might have to price check it as it may show regular price on the shelf. Before tax prices: 3930 Stephanie's Outdoor Bakery- $3.94 9489 Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack- $7.94 9488 Elite Clone Trooper & Commando Droid Battle Pack- $7.94 70001 Crawley

So I here people mention this a lot and I totally understand - 1. Frustrated with Idiot buyers 2. TIred of going to the post office everyday. 3. Want to smash your tape dispenser 4. Done with printing labels and paying stupid USPS inflated prices. 5. Done with USPS losing packages And more and more. So I thought I would share what is helping me through this on the off chance it might help someone else. I am a candid guy - probably too open sometimes - but in January I was really really struggling with this. December burned me out some and made me realize that I was frustrating myself to much. This was complicated by the fact that I was diagnosed with Depression several years ago. I have, through medicine and being lucky to have a fairly good life, conquered it for the most part. However, when I get tremendously stressed out, frustrated, or angry it causes a relapse which is tough to deal with. So I did a couple of things to figure this out because I knew I didn't want to quit. And I hope some of these things help you guys dealing with the same stuff. Just because you love something doesn't mean that its not capable of causing you serious grief. 1. I took a break. This was imperative. Not to just give myself a little time away, but to rethink what I was doing and accomplish the rest of the points. I was always afraid to put the store on vacation because I am losing money. Its an easy thing to consider though - How much money do you lose if you have to quit because you can't handle the stress? 2. Limit the stress factors. This one is tough, but probably the second most important to breaks. I sat down and actually wrote down everything that pisses me off about selling. That in itself was stressful, but I said to myself "what do I have control over here?". One thing I did was got Ebay notifications on my phone - every sale, message, etc. The thing is, I have another job. Everytime I get a message, I would immediately look at it and answer it. I got to the point where every time I got a message, my phone would buzz and I would think "Dammit some idiot buyer is mad about something." or "USPS lost something again". Several times a day I was stressing myself through diverted attention from whatever I was actually doing. So I eliminated the notifications. Instead I set times for myself when I would check messages, sales, etc. I made a routine. I check in the morning before work and after when I get home and answer everything then. Otherwise I don't even pay attention to it. Mad buyers is another issue. I say to myself - "People will be mad - let it go". So now i just apologize and do what i can to help them. I NEVER look at my feedback rating anymore. I trust that if I do things right no one is leaving me a negative. I used to check it everyday. Not worth it. Obviously there is more here, but to be brief (lol, right?) PM me and I would be happy to tell you more stuff I changed for this. 3. Improve Efficiency Things are a lot less stressful and a things don't go wrong as much when you are efficient. I now use small bags for all my minifigures so they can't lose their weapons, etc. I bought storage units to store and separate them with labels so they are easy to fine. I bought a label printer which has been amazing. I streamlined my process of packing. I changed my opening and parting out sets routine - I only do it on the weekends so I don't do it while I am tired from my normal job. 4. Take Better Records Tax time is pretty stressful no matter what. But doing it once showed me how I need to take down documentation for the rest of the time I do this. Next years taxes will be much easier and that makes me feel a lot better about the whole ordeal. 5. Find ways to make the stressful parts more fun I hate the packing - especially if I have like 30 packages to ship. So I had to find a good way to make it so after doing it I didn't feel like I wanted to punch through a wall. I am not ashamed to say, mine is music. I am a musician and obviously love music. I found that if I am blasting Led Zeppelin during packing, I don't hate it near as much. I do not pack without music playing anymore at all. I only part out sets while watching some of my favorite shows: Seinfeld, Workaholics, Law and Order, etc. 6. Be Cleaner I absolutely believe - a cluttered work space is a cluttered mind. At work people make fun of me because my work area looks like ground zero from a zombie movie. So I have changed the way I work and the space I do it in. It is MUCH less stressful to have plenty of space and have a clean area. My solution was to put built lego sets in it. I do not clutter my lego sets. There you go people. Long-winded, but I felt like I should share it. PM me if you have anymore questions or if you are feeling done with things. I know how it goes and believe me - as much as you feel like you can handle it, that feeling is a sickness no different than working with the flu. Its just mental instead of physical.

Back on topic (sort of), the DYMO labelwriters are awesome. DNIIM had a post on this a while back and I had been considering for a while - last month I went in for the 4 XL, mainly because I do a lot of overseas business on BrickLink and with the 4" max label width it allows me to print off the customs label. No question it is worth every penny (I bought an open box one from Amazon WH). Cutting and taping sucks - peel and stick (and no ink refills!) rocks! It works with Amazon's shipping system and Stamps.com flawlessly. Lately though my PayPal labels have been getting stuck in between purchase and printing - the "Print Label" popup window opens but never finishes loading. I have the latest version of Chrome which is what I've always used for PayPal as I've had trouble with PayPal in IE. Anyone have any suggestions? I had to void a couple of labels this past week because I simply couldn't get the PP Print Label popup to load. Definitely a stressor...

For reference, a LOT of sets don't appear in various catologs, it is one of the worst ways to determine EOL dates IMO.

    Are you Sheldon Cooper?

This is exactly right. People may be happy making $1 (and even that's generous - there are a good number of folks so bad at math they're happy for years actually losing money - but as soon as their own financial rubber meets the road in the form of spouse aggro, real life finances hitting a bump, or just getting tired of the hobby of buying high and selling low, they'll fade out. A certain number of them will always be around, they're an unavoidable by-product of the free market, like smog in industrial areas. Look at them like gamblers - they remember their wins, they forget their losses, and although they may prevent me from selling a minifig at the price and speed I want sometimes, or someone else from selling a set at the price they want that month, they are not legion enough to make LEGO selling untenable for those of us at the top of the heap in selling smarts. My life in books is the same way - folks who sell them for a penny on Amazon hoping to make 10 cents per book on the leftover shipping allowance when all is said and done. Lots of poor-me booksellers say they've "killed" the market. They haven't. It just takes selling a little smarter to keep winning.

    For me that is ok... my wife does all the packing.

Well I would hope that when looking in your area an STD is even rarer than a PS or GE. Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

But there are not many pure seller types. What do you think a flipper (who is usually happy to make $1 on a sale) will do when they can make $10 on a sealed set? The mindset of accepting less (which has become much more prevalent) is simply unhealthy for the market, and certainly has a negative impact on the investor type.

Then if the prices of the old one drop significantly, I will buy as much old ones as I can. The old one will still remain scarse. The new one will not be. Cause everyone will jump on those as flies on .... and expecting the same growth as the first one. I believe a new one will not be better than the old one. Lego will not produce sets in that fashion anymore.

I love how you got two 'likes' for my post. :mda:

Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing the dollar bill go away. Although the dollar coins cost more to mint (18 cents vs 5), they hold together in circulation a hell of a lot longer (something like 30+ years versus less than 5) so it's actually a lot more cost effective. Vending machines and other systems can process the coins much more efficiently. The visually impaired can tell them apart from other denominations by feel -- I used to know a 100% blind guy, he had to memorize the order that his bills were in his wallet and trust that merchants weren't short changing him. As for the penny, nickel and dime -- why not just replace them with LEGO bricks -- then at least they'd be useful

Good Point .. its like comparing apples to oranges to watermelons here .. so many different type of investors/sellers .. thats prob. why nobody can agree on anything .. everyone has a different point of view ( not necessarily wrong). I sell on bricklink and it takes more time and labor but I net the most ROI opposed to selling on ebay parting out figs/set which gives a decent ROI .. and than there is selling sealed sets which little or no return if its a current set (even hotcake items after fees, shipping, competition, you make what $5-$10 bucks and shipping those is a pain in the ass, gotta find the right box ect) unless its a retired set that you have been holding onto for months/years.

Yeah I'm sorry I haven't got the idea of the investing stuff yet but plan to read up on it. But I do have a discover card..how do I shop through them for Legos. Or do I just use discover in the lego shop and it will know

That is exactly what I am saying - and don't forget the City Police Station :)

Be careful. You don't know how many people have not lived long after making that statement.

FOr the first day in two weeks... NOTHING! Yay!

If someone posts something about that crappy "i Love It" song that comes on and makes a little piece of me die everytime I hear it, I am gonna blow up the complaint thread.

Now I feel older

I'll top you. Tru told me around the holidays thst we will price amazon but not their website. The want onto say yeah, amazon. Com retail stores but not their online front. I this same instance they told me they would not pm kmart cause they are not a local competitor. So of course I asked where the closest amazon store was. The young clerk did not get it.

Summer Riding Camp, Heartlake Stables and Heartlake Vet complete in boxes all for $60 on CL. Pretty happy with that.

da fuq?

Most of all I LOVE my wife and my kids!!! Without them, I probably wouldn't be doing this. I also love the opportunity that Lego has presented us!! Otherwise none of us would crossed paths!! Lego on!

I love it when my 6 year-old wants to build LEGO and pass baseball or practice hitting in the yard. Although I might have to put in the complaint thread I'm not real fond of being woken up in the morning to a broken set at the foot of the bed and the words "Daddy, can you help me put this back together!"

My point is people that ROI doesn't really matter, net income per unit of time is what really matters. From the two theoretical examples I presented, it should be clear that there are thousands of different paths you can take to capture your profits. The path that you choose to reach those profits is your choice, and to each their own, right? The theory of markets states that sellers will line up to capture highest ROI first, and quickly accept a lower ROI on a larger investment, provided it yields higher net income. Thus, you see retailers competing at very low margins bc sellers, over time, have been willing to accept lower ROI, provided they still end up with higher net income. It happens in every market, always.

We have a really, really good inventory system in place now - I created and scratched like four or five of them, between me and my oldest daughter and my husband that is, and now we're very happy with the speed and accuracy of filing and pulling orders (we're at about 56,000 parts now, so enough to be able to see that it works and is pretty much infinitely expandable). And yes, we figure our retained inventory for taxes on average - we know what it costs us (on average) to buy each piece, we know how many pieces we have left in stock each Jan. 1, so it's actually a really simple calculation. And 1 million parts is so last year's goal. Keep up! Now I want at least 3 million (biggest in the U.S.) and I'm eyeing 10 million (biggest in the world), but don't tell Mr. Frog about that second goal, he might follow through on his threat to have me locked up somewhere padded and put under medication and close observation.

Yes, raising prices works well (If it sells too quick - you priced it too low). I know when you first start selling, you want to make a lot of sales - so lower prices works great. But once you get more established and grow the business, there's no reason why you have to have the lowest price on everything. Making as much money, as quick as possible - isn't always for the best. Remember, we are dealing with an item that will generally increase in value - so if you plan on continuing to do this, there really is no rush.

The real question is who will retire first - TRU or the Death Star?

Deals at TRU have been amazing for several months now. People complaining about TRU prices are you forgetting: - $25 hobbit barrel escape (and then tack on $20 off 100, or $10 gift card when you spend 50?) - Baxter's revenge (and then tack on $20 off 100, or $10 gift card when you spend 50?) - Y-Wing on clearance - Palatine's arrest down to 60 - Technic sets for 20% off - FREE $60 Highway pickup when you buy a hard to find exclusive set (some as cheap as 119.99) over the holidays, And many more including the wendy's gift card 10 after 40 spend, several bogo 50's, etc. If TRU goes away, other stores wont just get all those exclusives. We LOSE a company that pays to get those exclusives. They just wont be made. How many times have you seen a set online, not quite sure how you feel about it, but when you find it in store on the shelf, you get a real feel for what the set is. perhaps they even have an awesome display that gives you the sense of scale and what you're actually getting in the box. Can you always find what you're looking for at Walmart, Target, etc? Do they often have barren shelves, messy shelves, items all over the place? You can almost always find what you're looking for at TRU. yes because their prices are higher if you're an impatient buyer, but its there. If TRU wants to try to get 500 for a death star or 530 for a Super Star Destroyer for a few months (or maybe even just weeks),,,,,,,,,,THAT"S GREAT. Take a break and don't buy from them this month, Enjoy the potential expansion of price on Death Stars so that folks won't be so freaked out when they eventually hit 600 and 700 on amazon (if they ever retire). The patient and educated buyer should WELCOME others in the same market getting higher prices for their goods ESPECIALLY if you ever want the value of your goods to increase. TRU hate is misguided, and you'll be sorry when they're gone.