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Looks like the box art was leaked too. 2464 pieces confirmed

I heard that TLC is now banning LEGO Shop at Home accounts based on how frequently users check the in stock status of PS and PC. More than once a week raises a red flag. Twice a day = ban, or so a little bird told me this morning...

Thirsty, I'm not trying to call you out but, this post is a perfect example of why anyone thinking about getting into this needs to sell a few items BEFORE they wind up with a portfolio worth $70k. Buying is easy, finding deals is a thrill. Selling, no matter what platform you're on is hard. Anyone doing this needs to know that. Good luck, I've sold on eBay for over a decade and am, for the most part, happy with it.

One other thought... to get that big, you will need employees. We've got about the equivalent of 3 full time employees right now (excluding me because I have a day job). We're heavy on parts sales and light on set sales, although I'm trying to shift that balance. To get to the point where you are clearing 60k, you might be working 100 hours a week. Believe me, parting a set or pulling a crappy 50-lot $20 parts order when you're 12 hours into the day is as much a grind as it is to work for someone else. Not saying this to discourage you -- just for you to consider it in your business plan that you might have expense for part time help when you get to a certain size.

OP - the goal of being in business for yourself isn't silly. Nor is the idea of using LEGO to do this. It's just going to be extremely difficult... no, make that impossible ... for anyone here, well-meaning or not so much, to give you the numbers that are going to work for you. Too many factors to consider, too many different ways and mixes of ways to make money selling LEGO. Under DR's plan (yes, I'm a fan too, we're 7 years debt free now) you can run the business in a small way now, but even at this stage the business needs to be making some kind of profit that is more than you could get taking a second job - otherwise you should be liquidating all the inventory, LEGO and otherwise, to get you through steps 2 and 3, and then returning to the goal of starting a small business at that point. DR's base 20% is a perfectly reasonable place to start - If you are aiming at $60K/year small business income and have a family's worth of deductions and tax credits, that 20% is likely going to be enough to cover your tax burden, and you will of course sit down with an accountant at some point and determine if your quarterly estimates need to go higher than that. Most folks here aren't trying to do LEGO as a real business. A few are, and some number more are using it as a long term investment vehicle, which doesn't put them in a useful place for offering info to a small business owner. Sitting down with a DR-approved accountant at this stage might be very beneficial -- they can give you some good starting advice, and you can determine whether you should be trying to do this at all in steps 2 or 3, or if it's best to wait until after. My humble opinion. I'm not among the nay-sayers who think selling toys for a living is ludicrous. I'm doing it now, and did it with books before that and training dogs before that, so being an entrepreneur doesn't seem to me to be a silly or dangerous goal.

​You need to be familiar with GDad's posts to understand his particular take at sarcasm.

​that number of capital is way over estimated for what is needed to hit 60k a year in profit. Our LEGO sales for last 90 days 2234 items $85,779 sales we run right about 20% clear after fees / shipping. LEGO is only a small portion of our overall business but we never run anywhere near 500k in inventory. Not even a 1/3 of that. just for that quarter the estimated profit would be $17,155. For ease of numbers if those numbers stayed the same for all 4 quarters you'd be at $68,620 in profit before taxes. Obviously 4th quarter will be much higher, usually double to triple the slower quarters. Biggest issue you will have is sourcing that many deals / sales to keep the inventory up for a solid year. This month we actually tried a more wholesale volume based experiment and hit 890 items with $51,643 in sales for the last 30 days. Personally being one person I could not keep that level of purchasing volume up with worthy deals being harder and harder to acquire to keep that pace going year round. The inventory is always flipping so your overall capital is not readily rising much. You're constantly buying as you are selling. You would need at least 100-150k though to have any legitimate shot of doing these numbers. You will need help of others to achieve that much volume of sets to reach those sets. Most people will not be able to come close to doing it out of one area. I have a few good friends on BPer and without them I would not achieve the volume of sales needed to make it worthwhile on a larger scale

​Apologies if my NOPE was offensive. This SW thread seems to just be very circular. Page after page of someone saying the set is retired, followed by someone saying that these holiday sets have a 2 year cycle, followed by noting that the other holiday sets came out of retirement in the UK, followed by the suggestion that it's a popular set why wouldn't lego bring it back for another year? It's like listening to my Grandfather tell a story. Anywho, sorry to be negative. It will be back for next Christmas, I'll unsubscribe from this thread. Good day to you sirs and ladies.

Paid $500 for it all... the GC was opened, inventorying it now to check how complete it is. But looks like it is mostly there

The Bat-pod is a bit crude looking, but it's better than this:

Dude, you need to stop drinking so much early in the morning. ;)

By the way, it is in the site rules that if you win a Bat-Pod, they are automatically awarded to Ed and myself. It's just the way it is. I will say Thank you in advance!!

While I wait to apply elements to smooth out the dome (been sitting in a bag for 6 months), here's a "quick fix".

​Yes, finally I can finish my Chernobyl moc

Went out to a family who was selling some SpongeBob, and Ferrari sets. Once there they mentioned that they had a few more things they had found. Her mother was a collector, and just shoved stuff in random spots when she was done. Needless to say once I got it all home and went through it I was pleasantly surprised.

​You don't setup your buy-it-now auctions with instant payment required? For me, that's the biggest advantage of buy-it-now, weeds out all the Lookey-Loo's. Frankly, instant payment buy-it-now is the only reason I've stayed on eBay. Non-payment for auctions was reaching 50% for me, totally out of control.

Wait the full three days, c'mon, it'll be fun.

and 249.99 like I posted 3-4 months ago

Thank you sir for converting that to the one true measurement system. Just like we only speak one language we only measure one way ROFL

The one thing this theme has going for it is that it might be overlooked because anything STAR WARS will overshadow every other theme and set over the next couple of years, especially the next 6 months. I have a feeling LEGO is going to clean house of many of the older STAR WARS sets before the new movie and release the largest selection of new STAR WARS sets in their history. Sets like these will slip under the radar starting this Fall when people are freaking out buying new Falcons.

This is a good chunk of it. 10211's behind the T1 Van and the 9492. 8 10228's behind the Grand Emporiums. Viking Fortress (2) and Unimog behind the 10195. More shots to follow.

A freaking Grand Carousel? Give up the price already, we need to know how much to hate you

Thought I'd start a thread for Irish BP'ers to discuss deals, and general investment chat. Welcome! (I've just called it the Ireland thread as the letter ****** seems to be coming up as ***** for some reason. Northern Irish members are welcome too of course.)

Hi all, been registered and lurking for a while now and find some of the sites tools extremely helpful, especially the Brickfolio function which has been a godsend the last few weeks for various reasons. I've been involved in this now since about the time the last wave of Harry Potter sets came out ( seems a lifetime ago ) and look forward to giving a bit back to the community if and when I can. Bye for now

Jeff said they are waiting on the app developers to roll out the new version. It should only be a couple more weeks. I'm just as anxious as you are. ​

PS now In stock again at LEGO Shop at Home http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Pet-Shop-10218

​This might be a no-brainer, but make sure (if you use ebay) to do the "calculate" shipping cost option. So pre-measure/weigh your package and then list said dimensions. Noob mistake i made way back when was list a large item and have it set to say $15 flat rate shipping to anywhere in Canada. Well shipping items out to BC from ON with Xpresspost (i don't use Xpresspost anymore because of this) costs way more than $15... However my listing specifically stated Xpresspost, so i had to ship it with that method and lost some money. That is when i learned shipping across Canada can be more expensive than shipping to the US... fair eh? Of course you can always offer free shipping, but i don't on large items. Also that poor Tie Fighter box with what looks to be Sears shipping label Nice collection! I want to organize that so bad haha.

​I'll pay to watch that

​Famous last words, you allow all of us on the one thread and you have no idea what you'll unleash

Sorry to hear that. Here's a bit of advice. I rarely use my debit card. The only time I use it is if I need money from my bank's ATM. If there's fraud on your debit card, it takes directly from your checking account and getting reimbursed is a little hard. I use my credit cards for everything. The cc's fraud department is very good about reversing fraudulent charges right away, and since the cc isn't linked to your checking account, you're not out any money while you wait for the charges to be reversed. Back to the complaint thread: Why are Magna-tiles so damn expensive!! I found a super deal on craigslist a while back and both my kids (7 and 2) love them and play with them the most out of all the toys they have (even Lego). I want to get more but have yet to see another deal on them.

20%-30% profit? I assume that must be the flippers talking. Those margins would require selling a very high volume - That is a awful lot of work to make a living.

Anyone else come here expecting to find a link to a dark and seedy underworld supplying easy access to a varied selection of narcotics?

​ ​I'm going to own up to my mess up, and go sulk in the corner over there...

Making a full time living doing Retail arbitrage is not for everybody. I know we have a few on BP that do but its not the norm. I do not know any personally that do it full time. Being in the casino/gaming industry I do know many full time poker/blackjack players. A few make a good or decent living at it while most go broke. Selling Lego exclusively to hit your goal will be extremely challenging. My advice is be open to sell many different product lines in order to hit your goal. 20% profit after fees/shipping/cost of goods is very close to what should be expected. 300k in yearly sales is closer to what you would need pre-taxes. Sourcing that much Lego is a grind in itself and its very hard to do. I have a condo in S.C. and a house in Central Fla. With multiple markets to buy from I still find it challenging to source Lego. I have sold 250 Lego sets this year so far. I consider myself a small time Lego seller so for myself I am more than happy with my sales volume. That is nowhere close to the volume needed though to do this full time with Exclusively Lego. Most of my sales are 2015 clearance or coupon or gift card buys with a few long term holds sprinkled in. You will figure out very quickly that competition to source product from walmart, target, or toys r us is extremely competitive and every Tom, ****, and Harry is looking for the same product. Same goes for the hot toys during Christmas. I have gone on many hunting expeditions only to come back with a empty vehicle. Those suck and can and do wear on you mentally. The flip side is that you will have the good days as well where you fill the Car. Those are what keep you in the game.

I'll top it. I list most everything I have and set things I don't want to sell yet at a high price. Someone with a reputable record just bought a 10188 DS from me for $999.99. Hasn't paid yet probably won't, $100 in fees I'll have to pay before this gets resolved and credited back... Good times

​I always thought we were seeing dwarfs at the amusement parks as a kid, but they were just hippies.

Oh wow! I like the tower ride in the background of the box art. Next set in this series?

Hello Thirsty, I've been seling on Ebay since the last 7 years, and honestly Ebay is not what Ebay used to be... and Canada Post is sometime a pain $$$, buyers agree to pay our asking price, but can't understand how come many many times shipping cost is so high and simply don't go for our items due to this fact. Even more important have notice since last year, even $$$ at par or so, American buyers aren't jumping on our items like they used to... Still HARD to find retired items are what they are, hardcore collectors will always put their hands in their pockets .. deep deep deep.. but dealing with ebay policies about shipping fees they take is real hard for us in Canada .. just my 2 cents ! The best for you is try and find the way that will fit your expectations... 1 of my technic on ebay is to up my asking price by a few $$ to lower my shipping cost on my listing.. trying to go the lower an American would pay attention to my item , this way I can attract more customers.. Wish you the best luck, and BTW you have a wonderful stash!

I finally hit my baseline goal of Death Stars today. The rest will be purchased during F5 panic mode when supply is really scarce. [insert 2018 EOL joke here]

​ Keep in mind, $60K after tax is about $100k pre-tax if self employed (at least in my state, 8% state tax). Your numbers show $343k in sales to generate $68k profit; this is wholly consistent with my estimate of $100k in profit needing about $500k in sales/capitol. $1M is conservative, and gives you the pricing flexibility to move product if the market turns south. I still think my $500k - $1M in capital to generate consistent $60k/year after-tax income is about right. What I didn't account for is what you did: rollover. If you can reinvest 3-4x times/year on your inventory, then you can reduce the capital outlay by that amount. So yes, in that sense, my estimates are too high. That's an error on my part, but it also counts on the fact that you can find QFLL opportunities that often that generate your consistent 20% after-fee return. OTOH, if you have to hold sets longer term to generate profit, my $500k estimate is too low. A 2-year hold to match EOL cycles will require you doubling your outlay to get that profit. None of this is easy, not by and stretch. This isn't a business for the faint hearted.

Dave Ramsey getting some love on this forum. If the mods would allow it, a Dave Ramsey Fan Club thread would be fun.

​I am more or less a collector and build with my kids ...and Legodog's information was very informative and also "scared me straight" into "not" doing this full time.

​ ​NOPE.

​Ah, that makes sense. Well I stand by the "don't accuse people" statement. There are friendlier and more appropriate ways to call someone a liar. As for buying $70k of Lego .. as a fellow Canadian, I've known that reputation of Albertans having more money than brains, so I believe him. Haha, just kidding. It seems common though... spend, spend, spend, oh crap, now what?

Something to note, is that THIS time of year, in my experience (March-June) is where prices and demand are LOWEST. Things start to pick up again in mid to late summer. So if you don't NEED to sell a lot, keep that in mind. If you need the money, it's a different ballgame. If you can, try to hold off til the holiday season for optimal prices. Obviously, this isn't super practical for people who need to maintain cash flow. As I've said in the past, I primarily use Amazon because I like the convenience of being able to ship in many items at once and the more or less "set it and forget it" nature of selling with FBA. The fees are higher and of course suck, but I know what I am paying for. The recent change to 6-12 month aged inventory is also a hassle. But for me, it is still worth it due to my schedule. If I was doing this full time, or lower volume, I may consider other options more seriously. But for the volume I move, packing and shipping individual sets isn't an option for me at this time.

​Even taking fees into account, eBay may still be the better option (if you're not top rated, expect 13% fees from USA buyer, as opposed to Bricklink where you should expect 6% fees from USA buyer). It all depends on the set. Evaluate both and choose the best for you and your sets...I use whichever to my best financial advantage, which usually means Bricklink for me. But not always.

I have sold on eBay (when we started), Bricklink (which we are moving away from) and now Amazon.Ca. Fees on amazon.Ca are mucho higher than anyone but all I listed from our store was the older/hard to find stuff to get top dollar. Heck 1/2 the time it's double our wall price. But your shipping has to be a fixed set of rates for either pieces or Kgs, I just did pieces and make sure the prices can cover any under paid shipping. Bricklink is nice/fees are low, but not alot of moms & pops know about it. I am moving away since they started selling peoples creations/MOCs but of licensed/protected IP items and that doesn't sit well with me. eBay we did for a while, but moved away pretty quickly due to just too many problems. Good luck and yes if it was years back I would look at buying up your whole collection - usuall we offered 1/2 price of the market price. Given your pretty valuable sets you can in bulk still do well. BUT given all the crap of late with people opening boxes/taking out the contents - it's too risky for me to even think bout buying stuff from a store anymore. Almost everything we sell is from LEGO cases only to ensure it actually contains LEGO. Even the LEGO stores have taken back and resold boxes that no longer contained LEGO! And just in case anyone pipes up - the tapes will all be fine - they actually slit the glued edges and hot glue it back together under pressure. VERY hard to detect!!

A seller needs to know what he/she is doing. Ebay's fees are what they are. So are Amazon's. In general, you are getting "more" for those fees: more customers and more exposure. Items also sell higher on Amazon than Ebay, and higher on Ebay than Bricklink. Yes, more customers and exposure means more trouble sometimes, but it comes with the territory. If Ebay's fees are too high for you, then hold longer or refuse to sell at X price (a price which means too small a margin).

​I moved your request to the site improvements thread... I do believe I've seen that request a few times. I know Jeff has been working on a brickfolio update (he's always working on something BP related) so we'll just stick this here and see what he says.

The argument against the 10188 is that it is a childish set and was never designated as a UCS set. It is not accurate in appearance or proportion. Same goes for the Ewok Village and Sandcrawler. Sorry, the Sandcrawler is a nice set, but it certainly isn't UCS quality in my eyes. LEGO did the entire line a disservice by adding the little hokey gold emblem on the box stating it's a UCS set. LEGO really cheesed out on the Sandcrawler UCS set IMO. It's better than the first version, but a proper UCS Sandcrawler should have been 5000 pieces or more. They threw on the corny UCS emblem to increase sales. There is also something to be said about a classy looking box and set. All you have to do is look at the classic box from the 7191 UCS X-Wing and compare it to the boring looking UCS Red 5 X-Wing box. No comparison. The sets are similar, but the 7191 looks more valuable. To me, LEGO really missed a golden opportunity to make a truly iconic theme of LEGO sets. They should have made all the UCS boxes in a similar fashion to the Architecture boxes, black and classy with the STAR WARS emblem standing out in a glossy gold color. The could include a quality instruction booklet with each set, that has a professional look and feel(like the AS book). Each set should always include a plaque. The UCS series could have expanded to other types of adult oriented models as well.