Qaz

Spotted these 'in the wild' today.

"It's unknown" What, do Target scanners now use Magic 8 Ball technology? I found full boxes of the Series 4 Mixels at three Targets yesterday. I picked up a set of the glowy ones - I should have grabbed a second set to make the combo Mixel, too. I considered getting more for resale (QFLL and proud), however I think then I'd be dealing with the "I bought these, and my kids have already opened them and lost some pieces, however I just found them cheaper at the store, can I return them for a full refund?" nonsense. I was surprised that they didn't seem to even be available on Amazon, yet, when I was price-checking.

I tried those noodles a long time ago - I wasn't impressed. I use whatever's on hand - peanuts, paper, plastic bags, Styrofoam packing, air pillows or even peanuts in plastic bags (works somewhat like an air pillow, but sturdier).

I agree. This is the type of set that has multi-appeal for me - small, relatively inexpensive, and a theme I'm into (tractors). The attachment seals the deal.

Found a 4193, POTC London Escape, in OK shape at a B&******, with my 10% member discount, 25% off coupon, and $5 of a $10 gift card that B&****** sent me, I got it for $28.71. Apparently the system didn't read the fine print about 'no toys and games LEGO'. Works for me.

Ebay is offering free auction or BIN listings, up to 500 listings, 10 days or less, from yesterday until Nov 26. More in line with the topic - I recently had someone offer me $24 for an lot of non-LEGO items I have listed for $200, which is already a discounted price. I like to use those types of offers as a reminder to set my auto-decline settings.

Today: a 7498 Police Station at BN for 75.56 (20% off coupon, 10% member discount), and this week at WM three 79003 UXGs for 49.00 (I finally gave up waiting for these to go to lower, and the stock had gone from 12 or so a few months ago, to six a few weeks ago, to these last three), a 6873 Doc Ock for 29.97, a 3184 Friends Camper for 34.97, and two 3063 Flying Clubs for 19.97. Those last four are at MSRP, however if you can't find the deals you love, love the deals you find. After jinxing the after-Christmas clearance sales with my other brickified song, that's as far as I'm taking that one.

So many great ideas. I'll add The Fifth Element, Pern, and Hunger Games. I'm also looking forward to the next underwater theme, a la Aqua Raiders or Atlantis. I know I'm in the minority there.

Great idea. I hope I do better with this than I did in fantasy football this year. 2x 9473 Mines of Moria @ 79.94 159.98 12x 6873 Doc Ock Ambush @ 38.39 460.68 9x 79002 Attack of the Wargs @ 41.88 376.92 I think that puts me at 997.58

I thought this thread was going to be about brick worship, and expected to find the Church of LEGO already splitting between investors and flippers!

I don't know art, but I know what I like, and for some reason, the first thing that came to mind for me when I saw this thread was this painting: And anything by Walter Inglis Anderson

Picked up an 8071 Technic Bucket Truck at BN for $31 before taxes (20% off coupon, 10% off member discount, $5 Kids Club reward coupon)

Clearly state or define your terms in your listing, such as how many days you will allow non-payment before opening a case, what your return policy is (and 'no returns' doesn't actually work, so don't bother with that), what countries you are willing to ship to, and then prepare to accept that a lot of buyers won't read said terms. The advice to sell a lot of smaller items to build your seller feedback is good advice, and I'd add that you could make a few purchases with your 'seller' account to get some feedback on there, too. Just make sure you leave feedback for the seller first, so they'll leave feedback for you.

The pain of selling too low fades. Eventually.

I built a 4490 SW Republic Gunship Mini Set last night. And then flew it around for a few minutes, going "pew, pew, pew"

I agree with the previous posts, and chip in that buyers like to think they're getting a deal with free shipping, and sellers like to get an automatic five stars on the 's&**** charges' Detailed Seller Rating with free shipping.

You should be fine. This is why it's important to conduct all correspondence through eBay. If you tried to contact them through eBay, and they never responded, eBay knows. If they had tried to contact you via eBay, eBay would know. And if you filed an non-paying bidder (NPB) case, won, and got your final fee back (or will get it back eventually), then clearly eBay felt you fulfilled your end of the bargain, and they did not. You have no penalties against you as a seller for filing the case, or for giving the NPB a strike if you chose to do that. As for them now getting nasty, yes you should block them from every buying from you again, and maybe let eBay know if you think their messages are rising to the level of harassment. Or ignore them. I LOLed at the idea of them getting eBay to leave negative feedback against you. Not laughing at you, at them. As buyer-friendly/seller-unfriendly as eBay is now, I'm not aware that eBay is getting that involved in transactions. Taking the side of a buyer most always, yes, leaving negative feedback for a seller on behalf of a buyer, no. This is another good reason to use fixed-price listings with Buy It Now and immediate payment, versus auctions or accepting best offers, as mentioned earlier. Buyer buys, buyer has to pay right away, easy-peasy.

Found a 9473 for $54 at WM (unmarked, leftover summer clearance, I guess, because no other sets were on clearance - Jabba's Palace, Batcave, LR sets - nothing), and five Ice Cream Carts at Target for $1.20

I built a 1271 Jungle Surprise that I found in a thrift shop a while ago. The only thing missing was one little snake. Here are some pics of the box, the build, and the build after a more recent CMF stopped by for a visit. Funny how that happens.

If I can't send something via USPS First Class Mail, I look at three factors in deciding how to ship: size: will the set fit in a USPS Priority Mail box, or reasonable combination of boxes? Not flat rate boxes - 99% of the time, that's a scam. I imagine that some will say that it's better to spend time or money to get plain cardboard boxes for all shipments, however the PM boxes work for me for most sets, they get delivered right to my door, and they get picked up right from my door. weight: anything more than 4-5 pounds, and I think FedEx is a better option than USPS Priority (for cost) or Parcel Post (for getting the item to a buyer in a reasonable amount of time, especially during the holidays) value: I don't trust FedEx much more than USPS, however I think they are a little better at not destroying packages. Plus they have better tracking, and better signature options. So, for higher-value items, especially where that I want signature confirmation of delivery, I'll use FedEx. Usually, any set that exceeds any one of those three factors probably exceeds at least one of the others, if not both. One excellent, recent example is the Architecture Studio set. I admit that I haven't used FedEx Smartpost yet, as I haven't sold anything on eBay since that option became available, and if that is a viable option to USPS PM, I'm all for it.

I'm at a few thousand dollars in LEGO sales, October to December, on Amazon and CL. After costs - fees, shipping, purchase price, etc. - I probably made enough to pay for a CMF. Woohoo!

I found a 79002 for $18.74 at a Kmart today. Not a good day of LEGO hunting.

I visited the Downtown Disney LEGO store today, as part of a long, futile search for decent deals. Busy, busy, busy, and no sales that I thought were worth my time standing in line. Or worth hauling back to where I had to park, over by Casting. No Winter Village sets at all, and I did ask about them.

Keep in mind that if the buyer gives you negative feedback despite your best efforts to resolve the problem (refund after return, refund w/o return, whatever), and eBay refuses to remove that feedback, you can leave a reply to that neg - something like "Tried to resolve problem by giving refund without requiring return", for future buyers that bother to look at your feedback. Small consolation, which is better than none. As has been mentioned in other threads, make sure you make your return policy very clear in your listings (and know that 'no returns' is not something eBay will actually let you enforce), and as has been mentioned in this one, make sure your policy is something you want to do long-term. Last point - negative feedback currently only counts against your score for 12 months - take the long-term view on this, too.

I've liked this one from its start as a SW fan film: And this is a favorite as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oOzszFIBcE