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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/06/2016 in all areas
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With so many total sets available and #chaos in full effect as predicted by J-Mack, I thought it would be useful for new(er) members to the site and to Lego investing on the whole to take a look at how a short or shorter than expected run can greatly impact the value of a set. Without further adieu... The Mine 4204 June 1st, 2012 – Nov. 29th 2014 CAGR: 0.05% I loved 4204 The Mine. It had a lot going for it (at least in my eyes) – cool subtheme, unlikely to be remade, and lots of potential buyers seem to like construction vehicles and sets in non-technic sets. I'm sure they like them in Technic, too, but based on sets released, traditional sets seem more popular and sell more. I got a great deal on a whole bunch of them about one and a half years in, and hoped to see it retire around the two year mark. Sadly, either more sets were produced or not enough folks were buying at MSRP because it lingered for about two and a half years. Unfortunately, the brickset.com dates also only indicate the date at which it became unavailable from Shop at Home, but I can assure you that Toys R Us in Canada still had stock into early 2015. I like a varied portfolio, I'm a big believer in the right CITY sets, but the shelf life hurt 4204 in my opinion. Currently Brickpicker lists its US value at essentially MSRP. Granted, it was a CITY set, so if you didn't get it at a good discount you can only blame yourself, but profit potential seems to have been crimped by availability from 2012 into 2015. City Cargo Terminal 60022 Aug. 1st, 2013 – Dec. 12th, 2014 CAGR: 15.97% In comparison, another large CITY set, 60022 Cargo Terminal, was available from Shop at Home for under eighteen months, total. Massive difference for another subtheme I liked and thought was cool. With a current BP value of around $155 USD, plenty of extra room to visit profit land and frolic in piles of solid returns. With CITY sets, I'm not really looking for a set to hit the stratosphere, but I find they can be steady workhorses that reliably net returns – great for mixing it up. That being said, a couple of other sets I want to focus on had even shorter runs than 60022 and have exceeded likely every investors' expectations. (I call BS if investors claim they knew The Zombies was going to break through $200 USD on launch day or even as it started to become a little hard to find) Logging Truck 60059 Dec 2013 (Jan 1st 2014 wide release) to Dec 15th 2014 CAGR: 67.27% Cool vehicle from a sometimes overlooked theme. Add approximately one year of availability, stir, and watch the money come in. Enormous ROI%, even at MSRP, but pure gravy for those with the foresight to get some of these at 20% off or more. The size of the set really helps the CAGR percentage, which is great for new investors who are looking for solid short to medium term sets that can really help a small time investor scale up. Arctic Supply Plane 60064 Aug. 1st, 2014 to Dec 28th 2014 CAGR: 43.63% Crazy short run from a theme most probably though had at least another twelve if not eighteen months. Just now the last Arctic sets have moved to Sold Out at Shop at Home, so quite a big difference. Even though the plane looks a lot like other planes (at least to me) in other City subthemes – like the plane in the Deep Sea subtheme (another Toys R Us exclusive, at least in Canada), it certainly hasn't caused collectors to NOT want to buy this set, even while its brothers and sisters were widely available. With great scarcity seems to come nice gains, even if the set doesn't seem all that amazing. Ant-Man Final Battle Jun 1st, 2015 – Oct 15th, 2015 CAGR: 25.66% Seems to be in a nice initial growth phase. Even with some chatter about this set and investors jumping on the bandwagon, the lack of new supply will likely only keep prices in relative check for a short time. Great minifigs and a very short run, plus upcoming screen time in new movies means a lot of potential. Despite knock off Superhero minifigs being an issue – and many superhero set builds being underwhelming – there is still money to be made on the right sets. Also spoiler alert the 2016 summer Superhero sets look a lot more desirable overall, so perhaps this is a good time to try out this theme (or revisit it, if you've been avoiding it in the post 6866 world). Plus, this is a crazy short shelf life for a set, even if it had issues at launch. Snowplough & Excavator and Others... The whole Demolition line seemed available on sale over the holidays, at least around me, but the Excavator seems to be the exception. Brickset lists it being available from Dec. 2nd, 2014, but general release (I believe) was Jan. 1st, 2015. A retail life under a year and from a cool subtheme, I think this might surprise in the next six to twelve months. Toys R Us Canada has them on sale right now, 33% off (Jan 29, 2016) and I tend to think this could be an easy double at this reduction with pending official retirement. The Snowplough is even cooler (at least in my opinion) and I think will be a huge draw next winter in places that get snow. Just around a year of availability and well-reviewed on other Lego sites all point to a nice potential profit in the next twelve months and beyond until it hits a plateau There are plenty of other sets from other lines, but I have to leave some work for readers to do themselves. I tried to highlight a few I find interesting, but rest assured this isn't a complete list and there are other short-run gems out there to be found. Right now, Hydra Fortresses, Pirates sets and Raptor Escapes are being sought out at retailers. The beauty of the short run sets (or themes...think Castle before and Pirates now...Scooby Doo is my prediction for 2016) is that often online stock dries up quickly and getting more than one or two requires some leg work, stock checking and dragging the kids (or self) to physical stores to mop up the remnants. For me, it is one of the most enjoyable parts of this hobby/business, although I am a self diagnosed masochist who likes the awfulness that retail environments sometimes foster. Final Thoughts Older investors are probably familiar with a lot of these sets, and earlier ones; the lore of the Zombies and Wolverine's Chopper Showdown are the stuff of investing legend, whispered about whenever two or more investors gather. Keeping a watchful eye on the forums here on Brickpicker as well as Shop at Home should give you enough lead time to go on a buying spree when you see a short run hit sold out. Currently, there are so many lines/themes and waves out there that short run sets seem to be happening with more regularity – or I'm just noticing it more – but they present opportunities that a savvy investor can jump on. If you live in a regional area with a lot of competition (from “normals” buying sets from their kids or, worse, rival Pickers) the chances of short run sets surviving long after moving to 'sold out' are slim, so stay sharp out there! Veegs8 points
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8 points
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So it's sunday offer time at Galeria again.. This time there's 13% on all Lego Creator. A few sets are already discounted. Perhaps you can stack the PaybackCoupons with this (I have a 10% and 10xPoints Coupon in my Payback Acc. ). Most likely the 10% will not work, but 10x Points worked well for me in the past. The Ideas sets should also be discounted, so look out for some Ectos or Wall-Es6 points
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I agree with the SC confusion (Sopwith , Sea Cow, Sandcrawler) but let's avoid nicknames since that's a very polarizing topic around here. I have a brilliant idea, let's just type Sandcrawler! My phone even autocompletes it for me ;-)5 points
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I hate to stir the pot, but I wanted to share... I have recently decided to make my own Green Grocer 10185. I had a spare PS, so I started by picking out the shared pieces between the two sets. The two have 573 common parts, plus I'm going the Sand Blue Grocer route for now because Sand Green is too rich for my blood. That adds another 207 usable substitute pieces to the mix. (I am also going to use the lamp post, and 1x2x3 windows to sub for the train style). My next project will be 10182 Cafe Corner. The scraps of the PS include 370 pieces that can be used towards 10182. With all that, I am getting 1150 pieces out of one PS to rebrick the modulars of days past. Average cost 13c per piece. Any thoughts?5 points
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5 points
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The other day my cpa informed me there was a 20k discrepency in my books. So I set out to find out where it was. Come to find in may 2015 I deposited a check for 24931. They actually only deposited 4,931. So today they finally credited my account. So called cpa and he gave me even better news in that I overpaid for 2015 and that my first quarter 2016 taxes will almost be covered (was able to fully expense some large purchase)! Although it's money I worked hard for, it felt like I won the lotto.5 points
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With so many total sets available and #chaos in full effect as predicted by J-Mack, I thought it would be useful for new(er) members to the site and to Lego investing on the whole to take a look at how a short or shorter than expected run can greatly impact the value of a set. Without further adieu... The Mine 4204 June 1st, 2012 – Nov. 29th 2014 CAGR: 0.05% I loved 4204 The Mine. It had a lot going for it (at least in my eyes) – cool subtheme, unlikely to be remade, and lots of potential buyers seem to like construction vehicles and sets in non-technic sets. I'm sure they like them in Technic, too, but based on sets released, traditional sets seem more popular and sell more. I got a great deal on a whole bunch of them about one and a half years in, and hoped to see it retire around the two year mark. Sadly, either more sets were produced or not enough folks were buying at MSRP because it lingered for about two and a half years. Unfortunately, the brickset.com dates also only indicate the date at which it became unavailable from Shop at Home, but I can assure you that Toys R Us in Canada still had stock into early 2015. I like a varied portfolio, I'm a big believer in the right CITY sets, but the shelf life hurt 4204 in my opinion. Currently Brickpicker lists its US value at essentially MSRP. Granted, it was a CITY set, so if you didn't get it at a good discount you can only blame yourself, but profit potential seems to have been crimped by availability from 2012 into 2015. City Cargo Terminal 60022 Aug. 1st, 2013 – Dec. 12th, 2014 CAGR: 15.97% In comparison, another large CITY set, 60022 Cargo Terminal, was available from Shop at Home for under eighteen months, total. Massive difference for another subtheme I liked and thought was cool. With a current BP value of around $155 USD, plenty of extra room to visit profit land and frolic in piles of solid returns. With CITY sets, I'm not really looking for a set to hit the stratosphere, but I find they can be steady workhorses that reliably net returns – great for mixing it up. That being said, a couple of other sets I want to focus on had even shorter runs than 60022 and have exceeded likely every investors' expectations. (I call BS if investors claim they knew The Zombies was going to break through $200 USD on launch day or even as it started to become a little hard to find) Logging Truck 60059 Dec 2013 (Jan 1st 2014 wide release) to Dec 15th 2014 CAGR: 67.27% Cool vehicle from a sometimes overlooked theme. Add approximately one year of availability, stir, and watch the money come in. Enormous ROI%, even at MSRP, but pure gravy for those with the foresight to get some of these at 20% off or more. The size of the set really helps the CAGR percentage, which is great for new investors who are looking for solid short to medium term sets that can really help a small time investor scale up. Arctic Supply Plane 60064 Aug. 1st, 2014 to Dec 28th 2014 CAGR: 43.63% Crazy short run from a theme most probably though had at least another twelve if not eighteen months. Just now the last Arctic sets have moved to Sold Out at Shop at Home, so quite a big difference. Even though the plane looks a lot like other planes (at least to me) in other City subthemes – like the plane in the Deep Sea subtheme (another Toys R Us exclusive, at least in Canada), it certainly hasn't caused collectors to NOT want to buy this set, even while its brothers and sisters were widely available. With great scarcity seems to come nice gains, even if the set doesn't seem all that amazing. Ant-Man Final Battle Jun 1st, 2015 – Oct 15th, 2015 CAGR: 25.66% Seems to be in a nice initial growth phase. Even with some chatter about this set and investors jumping on the bandwagon, the lack of new supply will likely only keep prices in relative check for a short time. Great minifigs and a very short run, plus upcoming screen time in new movies means a lot of potential. Despite knock off Superhero minifigs being an issue – and many superhero set builds being underwhelming – there is still money to be made on the right sets. Also spoiler alert the 2016 summer Superhero sets look a lot more desirable overall, so perhaps this is a good time to try out this theme (or revisit it, if you've been avoiding it in the post 6866 world). Plus, this is a crazy short shelf life for a set, even if it had issues at launch. Snowplough & Excavator and Others... The whole Demolition line seemed available on sale over the holidays, at least around me, but the Excavator seems to be the exception. Brickset lists it being available from Dec. 2nd, 2014, but general release (I believe) was Jan. 1st, 2015. A retail life under a year and from a cool subtheme, I think this might surprise in the next six to twelve months. Toys R Us Canada has them on sale right now, 33% off (Jan 29, 2016) and I tend to think this could be an easy double at this reduction with pending official retirement. The Snowplough is even cooler (at least in my opinion) and I think will be a huge draw next winter in places that get snow. Just around a year of availability and well-reviewed on other Lego sites all point to a nice potential profit in the next twelve months and beyond until it hits a plateau There are plenty of other sets from other lines, but I have to leave some work for readers to do themselves. I tried to highlight a few I find interesting, but rest assured this isn't a complete list and there are other short-run gems out there to be found. Right now, Hydra Fortresses, Pirates sets and Raptor Escapes are being sought out at retailers. The beauty of the short run sets (or themes...think Castle before and Pirates now...Scooby Doo is my prediction for 2016) is that often online stock dries up quickly and getting more than one or two requires some leg work, stock checking and dragging the kids (or self) to physical stores to mop up the remnants. For me, it is one of the most enjoyable parts of this hobby/business, although I am a self diagnosed masochist who likes the awfulness that retail environments sometimes foster. Final Thoughts Older investors are probably familiar with a lot of these sets, and earlier ones; the lore of the Zombies and Wolverine's Chopper Showdown are the stuff of investing legend, whispered about whenever two or more investors gather. Keeping a watchful eye on the forums here on Brickpicker as well as Shop at Home should give you enough lead time to go on a buying spree when you see a short run hit sold out. Currently, there are so many lines/themes and waves out there that short run sets seem to be happening with more regularity – or I'm just noticing it more – but they present opportunities that a savvy investor can jump on. If you live in a regional area with a lot of competition (from “normals” buying sets from their kids or, worse, rival Pickers) the chances of short run sets surviving long after moving to 'sold out' are slim, so stay sharp out there! Veegs View full blog article4 points
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If someone says SC will be retiring and someone else thinks we are talking Sopwith , then ..... Yeah that bad .4 points
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Bike Shop and Cafe is back online at TRU right now for $50. more than 50% off MSRP. Also decided to bite on a Hydra Fortress at 35% off.4 points
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3 points
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Found a 75040 General Grievous Bike for $19 at a smallish WM today ... seeing they sell $45 on Amazon I figure I got a deal, but still debating if I'm not keeping it for my son (we don't have an Obi-wan nor a General Grievous in our collection yet).3 points
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I don't believe you have ever been yelled at. Plenty of threads have off topic stuff, it's going to happen. However, in this thread, you posted three separate questions asking "what do you guys think of the potential of set xxxxx" (all sets that already have threads with dozens of pages dedicated to what people think of their potential). I politely asked you to post questions like this in the appropriate thread, which most definitely is not this thread. You posted the same type of question in this thread after I specifically asked you not to. When people don't respond to requests, their posts will often be moved or just hidden. There are plenty of off-topic comments that are hidden from threads, you just can't see them so unless you were involved in the conversation, you wouldn't notice.3 points
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Still have horrendous reading comprehension issues, I see. I stated in my prediction that the Sandcrawler will more than likely start to become scarce by it's two year mark (may 4th, 2016). We are still under that date, but it is starting to fall out of stock at major retailers. There were similar patterns with other sets once a set begins it's dance. It's now out of stock at amazon, and target. Went out of stock at walmart, which left only S&H yesterday, but I believe it came back in at walmart. So the dance is definitely in full swing now. When I first made my comment I said it was just stepping onto the floor. Amazingly, now you even say you think it's going. I will say this, since I believe in this thing called evolution, I think business practices are evolving too, and as we saw with Red 5 last year, where it was mostly out of stock from spring into summer last year, then lego threw out some ongoing production runs, the same could very much happen to this one. If lego would have never had those ongoing production runs on the red 5 after spring of last year, it probably would be over 400.00 right now. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Sandcrawler hard to find after 2xvip for some time. Then maybe see it come back in for some minor production runs (like red 5) until it's retired, or they just let it go off into the sunset, since of course they have 3 more exclusives coming down the pipe. It wouldn't shock me to see the hoard go bonkers on this over the next few weeks, and then lego fires up a few more production runs, and keeps it even longer. Regardless, my whole point was for those that care, is when a set first starts it's dance. ... that's when it's smart to start being that tortoise investor, if you want to accumulate enough especially when it's at more locations than just LEGO Shop at Home (right now, after LEGO Shop at Home you just have wallyworld). What can never be predicted is if it will just one day be gone, and not have another production run. Red 5, TOO, and a few others did not go that way, while the Sea Cow did. We all see which set flew up in price at EOL. So, if the Sancrawler gets more production runs, it's potential starts to get limited with each run. Regardless, if those production runs are only available at LEGO Shop at Home then it will be hard for many to obtain more than 5 if they are just beginning to stock them, unless they want to test the ban hammer. That's why it's kinda important to pay attention to that first dance step, so that you can also acquire them at other retailers before they go out of stock. Spreading out the purchases along multiple retailers is important, otherwise you could face banishment at either Target, TRU, Lego LEGO Shop at Home. And if it's only left at amazon well that comes with limits too. Compehende' yet, markie mark?3 points
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On FaceBook virtual yardsale 9516 Jabba's Palace, 9496 Desert Skiff and a 75005 Rancor Pit for $2752 points
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Yes. I clicked your link & read the list, took a screenshot of the list ('cause that's what I do) & then read further that this individual had supposedly posted other bogus lists in the past. Then I deleted the screenshot. I didn't mean anything negative towards you at all. The "strange people" comment was about the poster on the other site... and now...2 points
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It was more towards dcdfan, I first understood his message as "why are people are calling everything fake?" but upon reading his message again, I wonder if what he meant was actually "why are people creating fake lists?".2 points
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Make that 2 ... and cherry on the cake, both to the same buyer (someone is thinking this is the next Mr Gold?) so I can combine shipment (received $9.50 from uncle Amazon, spent $2.70 on shipping).2 points
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I hope it's a sleeper. Just a few days ago, I went to the Lego store out here in SLC and bought a ridiculously large purchase, and the guy hooked me up with a bunch of free poly's. He gave me 3 mini fortrex, and 2 parrots. And I just recently placed an order to get the last couple of items so I can motorize and light up my Helicarrier, and I'll be getting a 4th mini fortrex. Hopefully they are a diamond in the rough. I wouldn't mind that little nice return.2 points
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Sounds like a good project. Maybe document it, your experience might make a good blog post.2 points
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I'm a similar small time AFOL investor. I now have three 21108 stashed. But I intend to build one of them for my own collection, leaving two as small investment.2 points
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Thanks again @Alpinemaps and @MathBuilder - with help from both your posts I got it all sorted. Had to change the email address on file with BrickLink to match my paypal account, but once that was all set it was a breeze.2 points
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Hi Veegs, great story to start the conversation. As an Economist, I do feel compelled to correct your tittle a little. Scarcity (as in Supply) doesn't create demand. It does create higher prices, which is what I think you were after Having said that, the relative scarcity of a set can raise demand if the news of that scarcity becomes wide spread and the "desire" to hold that set, maybe as a trophy, increases at every level of price. Your idea, just like the recent Sea Cow and the Tumbler, where low levels of production can create low levels of supply combined with either consistent or increasing levels of demand (due to a new movie for example) creates a fantastic investment opportunity. Hence why most of are here and why this site is so much fun. Thanks for your post and the analysis on these sets was great to read.2 points
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I know there are differing opinions on the use of these gift card reselling sites, as the sources of the cards invite themselves to speculation of shady or downright illegal behavior, but cardcash is running a 4% off sale and have some physical Lego cards in stock. They come to about 8.8% off with the promotion. Use the code ohbaby at checkout for the additional discount2 points
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Silver Centurion i asked for at Gamestop and he just handed me. $44 Amazon Merchant. Was only one selling it.2 points
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Reorganized my storage area to make room for 2 new 48 x 24 x 72 Edsal racks coming next week. What to do while I wait? Thinking about BrickLinking a Cafe Corner...2 points
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How is it Legos fault the director of the film chose to create a very similar car? Lego creates a display model of the movie vehicle, they weren't the ones who chose to rehash the design.2 points
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Putting 2 of these together will be fabulous.2 points
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I love new investors. Without new investors the lego investment is over. And the more new investors earn, the more they will spread the gospel of lego investing that will further support the prices of retired sets. Hating new investors is like hating children. It is completely irrational and against the long term interest of the entire community.2 points
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So it's getting towards valentines and I decided to put up last years valentines set a few days ago ( LEGO 40120: Seasonal Valentine's Day Dinner. ) Tabby nailed it, sold 7 in the last 2 days on Amazon for £29.99 each. Glad I bought about 20 of them.2 points
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Man, the sensitivity meter sure did escalate quickly. What I don't get, is why Trek feels the need to want to be all hush hush about stuff. And he mentioned it is the internet, so what exactly are you so worried about and so quick to take it personally? Look if the Sandcrawler is indeed on the way out, those that have an opportunity, or who have already gathered their required number, are going to fare very well. I have it built, and it's a beautiful set. One last thing, isn't this site about helping each other out and passing information along? I mean this is an investing site. And I understand the selfishness of some of you guys who don't like all the new investors, but that's just a reality of life. News is going to get out, and the hoard will do it's thing like it has the last couple of years.2 points
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I sure hope this doesn't become a thing. These are probably the lamest few pages I've ever read on these forums.2 points
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Let me ask this question - why do you keep buying more? Why not set a goal at the outset, and once you've hit that goal, start investing in something else? Or, why is PS so appetizing to you that you've decided to keep buying more instead of investing those funds elsewhere?2 points
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Thread updated with official pics from Lego's facebook page. ------------------ side note: Makes me wonder if this film is set on the 1990s or so. I'll look for more details to identity time period. The Ecto rebootcar appears to be a 1984 Cadillac Superior Hearse model. I found some film still pics of the car on the web and Paul's tweet and replies about his lego comment.1 point
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I'll see what I can do to help. It's been awhile since I set it up, so bare with me. First thing, check your "My Store Settings" and connect your Onsite Paypal account. You should be able to connect to the correct email address for your Paypal account. This should be how you get the automated button on your invoice. Second, go to the Offsite Payment section and make sure you have Paypal Domestic checked. (International as well, if you are selling Internationally). Next to go Orders > My Settings Go to "Customize E-Mail & Web Text" and click on Order Invoice. This is the letter I use (order number & email changed to protect the innocent): Here's the code I used to generate that: Hopefully that will give you a hand getting started.1 point
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I would be very disappointed if u do this. Some of us part-time lurkers enjoy your posts.1 point
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Show it to your other LEGO pieces and tell them, "This is what happens if you don't make me money."1 point
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Resellers buying from resellers is the best outcome once the supply is fixed. Supply remains unchanged, demand remains unchanged, and the minimum price to break even has increased.1 point