Lately I have been finding myself doing less and less driving around and hunting for deals. Partly because I don't have as much free time in the evening and the other component is that it is a gamble on whether or not I will come up with a score. With this all in mind how does everyone evaluate time spent hunting down deals and whether or not they score big? Now some stores have sales going on but even then there are times when they also sell out of an item and a person walks away empty handed. With this in mind does a slightly smaller discount online have a better return of the convenience of saving time and effort to go to a brick and mortar store? I used to enjoy the hunt but I find that while the deals may not be as sweet online sometimes I save a lot of time and gas money by having everything just shipped to me. When it comes to saving 5-10 percent on sets I'm starting to favor the convenience. I am also fortunate since I have never had a bad experience of damaged boxes received online.

I personally think it comes down to your investment motivation. For example I started investing to pay for my minifigure collection, as a way of justification for my wife (who is unbelievably supportive of my hobbies). So no, I do not add gas time into my numbers. If someone was truly trying to build a serious investment porfolio with LEGOs, they just might take that into account. For now, I enjoy the hunt too much to add it in. As long as I'm well into the black, I'm not terribly worried about it. Regards, Cody

I personally think it comes down to your investment motivation.

For example I started investing to pay for my minifigure collection, as a way of justification for my wife (who is unbelievably supportive of my hobbies). So no, I do not add gas time into my numbers.

If someone was truly trying to build a serious investment porfolio with LEGOs, they just might take that into account.

For now, I enjoy the hunt too much to add it in. As long as I'm well into the black, I'm not terribly worried about it.

Regards,

Cody

Agreed, as long as it is a more local store I do not tend to worry about it. I tend to hunt while I'm out and about anyways. Plus I just like going out to look at Lego :)

No, not really. I do most of my purchases on eBay and Amazon. Any purchases in store are by chance.

Any of my in-store purchases are either because I'm there or on a hunt. When I'm on the hunt it's like a round of golf or day at the beach. I just consider it my entertainment fee.

Not exactly, but I do consider it when thinking about buying a set. For example, if I am in need of a set that is about to go EOL and I figure I am already going to have to pay close to retail and I hear somebody like Toys R Us is having a Buy 1 Get 1 50% off sale, I do consider whether or not it is worth my time to save 5-10 dollars paying their inflated prices in store or buying them from Amazon and spending the extra 5-10 dollars just to save time and gas. Since I tend to be pretty anal about how my boxes look, I will typically make a short trip out of the way to save the money and buy the set in store. So, as a means of calculating how much I have invested in a set, no... But it does play a role in determining whether or not I buy the set in store or online.

I don't keep track of gas or time. When I'm out hunting down Lego I view it as fun and not work. While it does eat up time and gas money it's very enjoyable to me and not something I view as a huge expense.

No, not really. I do most of my purchases on eBay and Amazon. Any purchases in store are by chance.

Lets do this a different way. Do you (not just Ed) include eBay shipping costs as the initial value for your investment ? Say you buy brand new the Black Pearl on eBay for $55+$15 shipping. Do you still see this set as a $55 investment or does this become a $70 investment ?

Just curious since to me a cost is a cost.

Personally I calculate shipping in it as its a total cost that I've put out. Better way to track my total investment.

Shipping and tax paid are always part of the cost of investment, if it didn't, I wouldn't buy from amazon very much but pay much more in the end for my legos. I always include tax+shipping for the cost in my brickfolio.

I always include shipping and tax into the cost of the item(s) that I'm purchasing.

I include online shipping to the cost of goods too. I also treat driving / gas costs like shipping costs. Which is why, like OP, I hardly drive to a store unless I know there are some worthwile deals to have on multiple items. Even with that in mind, going to store is like a gamble. Sometimes you end up with nothing.

Lets do this a different way. Do you (not just Ed) include eBay shipping costs as the initial value for your investment ? Say you buy brand new the Black Pearl on eBay for $55+$15 shipping. Do you still see this set as a $55 investment or does this become a $70 investment ?

Just curious since to me a cost is a cost.

For me, absolutely the cost for shipping is part of the price I paid for the set. However, I don't include the cost in going to get it if I buy and ship to the US (I'm in Canada) because I usually do a bunch at once, or we go somewhere south of the border for the weekend just to to make it worthwhile.

Tax, shipping, gas, time. These are all costs of doing business. Time is up to you if you want to count it but "time is money". I calculate all aspects in what I do. If you drove to the store SOLELY to pick up LEGO's for investment then you probably should count gas as an expense. If not you don't have a true "cost" on the items you are investing in. Tax is a cost and so are shipping charges. I just like to know my "actual" profit after all is accounted for.

I do all my LEGO purchases on the days that I need to do grocery shopping. (Can't do it on worktrips lest I want to be late.) I don't go out of my way on a 'maybe'. Before heading out, I research by looking at discounts across the board (Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target) and make a note of who has what for how much. All my retailers are walking distance from each other, so I just start at one and then go to the next seeing what each one offers. If the others selection is the usual, I just end up buying whatever was next on my list at Target since I can pricematch with them. My choice of sets is based on how much stock is left and/or if there is great discount offered (by that store or another to pricematch with).

I always include the cost of shipping since some slick buyers put Buy It Now's $20 below the regular price, and trick buyers. Always look at the Shipping Costs people!

In my spreadsheet I allocate tax and shipping with the cost of purchase because I want to know what I really paid for a set. If I was running a business selling sets I would add mileage in where you do that on the income tax form for business expenses but I would not add it to the cost of an individual set. One of your goals as a business is to legally reduce your taxes as much as possible and it is a legitimate business expense. In the U.S. you would need to keep a mileage or an expense log.

If you want a true value of investment returns then you should factor in all your costs. That includes shipping, taxes, exchange rate conversion fees, etc. That means if you specifically go for a trip to purchase Lego you should factor that in. But if you are going to the store anyway or are already driving past and stop in then you probably don't need to.