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38 years old and thinking of collecting/selling Legos. Advice appreciated.


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Hey all. So I would have started collecting Legos years ago, I believe, if I had a boy. Instead, God blessed me with 2 girls. For Christmas this year my youngest daughter asked for the Lego Friends Jungle Rescue Base. I had a BLAST building it with her. She got some money from grandma to buy whatever she wanted, so we headed to the local walmart to buy some more Lego Friends. I notice a Millennium Falcon (retail $139.99) on clearance for $99. I figured it might be worth something in resale so I looked on ebay. Looks like this set has sold anywhere from $160 to $220. Called a friend of mine who knows Legos to verify this is legit. He confirmed it is factory sealed.

 

Anyway, I think I want to buy/sell Legos but buy a few sets here and there to build.

 

No idea where to begin. This website is so overwhelming.

 

One item I see on Lego.com that looks like it will be valuable one day based on how awesome it is is the Batman Tumbler for $199.99. Is that a good investment?

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Hi. Welcome. Read the Daily Deals thread. Look at the LEGO Stock Tracker for hot sets. That is a good start.

Exactly what Ed suggested. I would also look at the top selling current & retired sets and themes. There is also a "general should I buy /sell or not" thread.

In general & if investing for long-term, try to buy sets that weren't just released unless you have plenty of storage space.

Additionally, the investing blogs are a good read.

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Welcome to the site!

 

I apologize for the shameless plug, but I wrote an open letter to anyone who is just getting started.  This is based on my first year of following the site and building up an inventory.  I've learned even more since then, but this is a good place to start.

 

http://community.brickpicker.com/topic/10670-an-open-letter-to-legodelorean-and-anyone-willing-to-listen/

 

Good luck!

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Guest brickcrazyhouse

hello and welcome. just know there is no rush into the "buying" phase.  Read as much as you can hear and know your goals, plans/strategy and budget first. there will always be sets/deals you miss, but this way you'll not have as many learning curve mistakes. good luck ABA meeting are at 6pm every other tuesday

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Welcome to the site!

 

I apologize for the shameless plug, but I wrote an open letter to anyone who is just getting started.  This is based on my first year of following the site and building up an inventory.  I've learned even more since then, but this is a good place to start.

 

http://community.brickpicker.com/topic/10670-an-open-letter-to-legodelorean-and-anyone-willing-to-listen/

 

Good luck!

I remember when you posted that, just spent the last 30 minutes or so re-reading the whole thread. Some good stuff in there.
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I think you might also find useful information in the forum started by Legodog.  He lays out his past year in selling LEGO.  I have added to it as well, although as I note, I do not really dabble in the exclusive sets (other than the lower priced >$50 ones)

 

http://community.brickpicker.com/topic/12927-lego-sales-of-104756-my-2014-year-in-review/

Edited by Lawpepperdine
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Hey all. So I would have started collecting Legos years ago, I believe, if I had a boy. Instead, God blessed me with 2 girls. For Christmas this year my youngest daughter asked for the Lego Friends Jungle Rescue Base. I had a BLAST building it with her. She got some money from grandma to buy whatever she wanted, so we headed to the local walmart to buy some more Lego Friends. I notice a Millennium Falcon (retail $139.99) on clearance for $99. I figured it might be worth something in resale so I looked on ebay. Looks like this set has sold anywhere from $160 to $220. Called a friend of mine who knows Legos to verify this is legit. He confirmed it is factory sealed.

 

Anyway, I think I want to buy/sell Legos but buy a few sets here and there to build.

 

No idea where to begin. This website is so overwhelming.

 

One item I see on Lego.com that looks like it will be valuable one day based on how awesome it is is the Batman Tumbler for $199.99. Is that a good investment?

 

 

Hi.  Welcome.  Read the Daily Deals thread.  Look at the LEGO Stock Tracker for hot sets.  That is a good start.

 

Definately follow the daily deals thread, HOWEVER...............

 

Do not jump in right away. 

 

Read that for at least two weeks before you start purchasing. There is a new deal every day, and you cannot buy all of them. take your time and figure out which opportunities speak to you the most.

 

Some like to methodically purchase big exclusives and store them for 1-3-5 years KNOWING they'll turn a predictable GREAT ROI some day, others like to jump on clearance sets for quicker smaller dollar profits at better frequency and turnover rate.

Some like to buy sets and part them out for profits. 

 

You'll find your niche, but dont buy EVERYTHING or you'll burn out and suddenly realize the selling aspect is VERY time intensive work.

 

Good luck to you!

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Good start with the MF. Seems like you have a good strategy with buys just like that!

 

FWIW - My greatest success in the last year has been buying sets on discount that are not overly talked about here on this forum, that on ebay seem to sell.

 

You mentioned the Tumbler, sure its good, but after fees etc selling most people are not making a ton of money...when it retires in a few years you may have a different story. That set has also been purchased in the thousands by members of this forum once it was released, Lego SAH said it would not be available until after Christmas, so people bought even more of it, low and behold it shows up at lego stores and online right before Christmas (The Lego group had fun with that set :) ).

With the tumbler, those who are hoarding huge quantities are reliant on people like you and other members buying up the rest of the inventory which will increase the demand by limiting supply, then those with large quantities of stock can sell huge volume at less profit per set and make money while you are left holding your sets wondering what to do. 

 

Remember that while this site is very useful (I found that the friends vet and butterfly shop were great resellers and managed to find a ton of them at the local rural walmart), a lot of the people giving the advise are also 'stockholders' in the sets. They are also your competitors when selling online and sometimes regionally. Think about if we were talking about gold or other forms of stock.

 

You have two girls so you know very well the absurdness of the world of Frozen, it is a mega brand and its success is transient of many market factors, if you are like me you have paid over the top for Elsa dresses and dolls. Look what happened when the Frozen lego set was released early, two weeks before Christmas, first day sales of the set were lower to mid $100's then the market got completely flooded and after fees and shipping they were really only selling for a little more than retail (some will argue they bought at bulk and low cost etc). This was an example of where people looking for a quick flip, the majority here, got it completely wrong,  they kept discounting sets so they could get the sale however there were such a relatively low supply, not many people understood that the success of Frozen and the value of that set was transient of any 'Lego selling' norms. 

 

Have fun and enjoy, the friends sets are actually really cool and are very fun to build, In my opinion, which is probably worth no more than many others, that is the place for growth.

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Welcome to the site!

 

I apologize for the shameless plug, but I wrote an open letter to anyone who is just getting started.  This is based on my first year of following the site and building up an inventory.  I've learned even more since then, but this is a good place to start.

 

http://community.brickpicker.com/topic/10670-an-open-letter-to-legodelorean-and-anyone-willing-to-listen/

 

Good luck!

 

This. Welcome to the site.

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I'm just starting my 3rd year of this, and I'm at the point where I'm selling more and trying to cash in my investments. Here's some lessons learned:

- Don't buy on credit unless you will pay off the balance right away. The interest of a credit card will negate whatever you earned by holding onto a set.

- Be mindful of selling fees if you use Ebay and/or Amazon. You may think you will make a great profit, but after fees, you may wind up with alot less than expected. I was getting. Consider that when you are buying a set for a quick or future flip. I use a fee calculator app on my phone, and it's helped me with some decision making.

- Avoid buying in panic. Only time I might do a panic buy is a set that I want for myself that's about to go EOL that I don't want to pay inflated prices for. Instead be patient and wait for a good deal. There's always a great deal around the corner. 

- Be mindful of your time. When I started, I was doing bulk lots. The profits were great in terms of percentage, but it took alot of time. I'm still sitting on a bunch of bulk lots of sets that need to be built and verified for completion. I'd love nothing more than to just kick back and build them, but don't have the time. And until I get the time, I won't realize the profits from them.

- Be mindful of space. Even though Lego are more fun to play with than stock certificates, they certainly take up more space. As you build your portfolio, you may be challenged with how to store everything.

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I'm just starting my 3rd year of this, and I'm at the point where I'm selling more and trying to cash in my investments. Here's some lessons learned:

- Don't buy on credit unless you will pay off the balance right away. The interest of a credit card will negate whatever you earned by holding onto a set.

- Be mindful of selling fees if you use Ebay and/or Amazon. You may think you will make a great profit, but after fees, you may wind up with alot less than expected. I was getting. Consider that when you are buying a set for a quick or future flip. I use a fee calculator app on my phone, and it's helped me with some decision making.

- Avoid buying in panic. Only time I might do a panic buy is a set that I want for myself that's about to go EOL that I don't want to pay inflated prices for. Instead be patient and wait for a good deal. There's always a great deal around the corner.

- Be mindful of your time. When I started, I was doing bulk lots. The profits were great in terms of percentage, but it took alot of time. I'm still sitting on a bunch of bulk lots of sets that need to be built and verified for completion. I'd love nothing more than to just kick back and build them, but don't have the time. And until I get the time, I won't realize the profits from them.

- Be mindful of space. Even though Lego are more fun to play with than stock certificates, they certainly take up more space. As you build your portfolio, you may be challenged with how to store everything.

Holy rules

And don't think every lego you buy will reach 3x the retail price

Start to think about the way of ship the sold item

Start to study the shipping prices of the different courier

Sent from my XT1052 using Brickpicker mobile app

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