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I sell in bundles all the time, typically anything that is of the same theme. It helps a lot when there are hundreds of listings for a particular item b/c you get views for both items. If someone is looking for both then great if they are not, then they can buy one of the other hundreds of options. It creates a unique listing that separates you from the many others. i do not do bundles for more unique sets with fewer listings. If I have multiples of a certain item I will try and bundle it with another item from the same theme so I can make an additional listing...the more listings you have the better the chances of getting more sales. I have several extra listings b/c they are bundles and they sell just as well as my single set listings. I also bundle smaller sets. The reason being if I have a 30 dollar set and it cost ten to ship...that's too much...if I have two items that are both 30 bucks...it still costs ten to ship and makes it more bareable for the buyer. (Still expensive but better than 10 for one set.) Finally, it opens a new group of sets I normally wouldn't look at...the really cheap ones. Last year when the hero factory stuff was on clearance they were going for 6 and 7 bucks. If I sold one at a time, by the time I paid fees, shipping and took the time to list, I would be getting nothing. If i took 5 or 6 sets and bundled them together, I was able to create a listing that I sold for 100 bucks and only cost me 30ish. If I sold them one at time it would not only take longer but the cost to ship each one of them to separate places would have eaten all the profits. Bundling allows me to sell small sets I normally wouldn't touch b/c the margins are too small. You place a bunch of small margins together into a bundle and it adds up. I do not offer a discount on my bundled sets either except on shipping. (Which is typically free anyways.) I know people expect a discount when buying more than one set but when your bundle is unique or full of retired sets...they can't really get them anywhere else except us third party people who are probably charging around the same price. (They would just have to pay for shipping on the two items rather than once....deal with two sellers etc.) I bundles. EDIT I sell most of my bundles to parents buying gifts for their kids and dont have time to shop around and to those foreign companies that buy a ton of American stuff and then ship it off to whatever country they are from to resell. The similar theme here is neither has the time to really investigate who much these things cost individually. As long as you are near retail...they are fine with it. EDIT EDIT: A good bundle would be the Jabba palace...the rancor pit...sail barge...desert skiff (of course once they are retired.)

http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/bankrupt-by-beanie-babies-family-invested-100k-toys/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl22%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D349423 While I know everyone will jump on me that lego is different etc. it should function as a word of caution in diversifying and not getting too much of your money in one thing.Almost everything in life is cyclical and while lego is very up now it doesn't mean it will always stay that way. While many people here enjoy lego there will always be HUNDREDS of new lego sets on the market.Our whole business money depends on people wanting a specific set and paying a large premium for it. SO while boys building things will probably never go out of style having a HUGE collectors market where thousands of people pay large amounts of money for a specific item when they can get a substantially similar item for much cheaper can change at some point in time and don't throw all your eggs in one basket.

I got out of buying/selling baseball memorabilia cards when it was becoming obvious that the 1/1 cards weren't really that. I bought and sold cards for hundreds, and even thousands each. I got out and went to strictly vintage cards, but they really didn't gain much value either. I sold everything a few years ago and funded this venture with the money. This seems to be going well now, but my baseball card time is the main reason that I don't buy 50 of a single set. If it goes belly up, I don't want to sit on all of that stuff. I don't mind having 1 or 2 of a set, because I can always build, and should never really have a problem finding a buyer for a single copy, at at least MSRP, which would still be a gain.

The policy didn't change. BrickPicker members responded in force and basically told the OP it was wrong. I told him it was not acceptable. I think he got the point. If we delete every thread like this, how can people learn that it is not acceptable? Please...to all members. If you feel a thread promotes illegal or questionable material, notify Jeff or I or any Mod directly.

Just take an ethics and social responsibility class sometime. That's all I'm gonna say about this one.

Good grief! Did you have to implicate the entire country???? ? Most Americans that I know temper their opportunism with something called ethics. Just saying

Cutting in line isn't illegal but it does make you an Arschloch. See if you can draw the parallel.

You reap what you sow, and the truth hurts. Comparing this to buying something and selling it to someone at a higher price is ridiculous and shows just how much you don't get it.

Just bought my first set in.....the BRICKPOINT STORE! lol The Council of Elrond for 20,000 BPs

Congratulations to Fcbarcelona101 for being the first Brickpicker member to cash out 20,000 Brickpoints for the #79006 LOTR The Council of Elrond. Fcbarcelona101 built a large number of his points doing set reviews and has done some fantastic blog submissions. Something tells me this is the first of many set purchases coming for him!! Great work Fcbarcelona101!!!

I am so sorry for keeping this thread going but I just read thru it and saw that Alcarin directly accused me of cheating on my taxes

This exact method of "grinding out cash" was posted 4-6 months ago. The thread was deleted and a new post was made by a mod or admin saying anyone posting immoral tactics like that would be banned. Not sure why that policy has changed.

To the OP... People took offense to your post because that is the behavior that gives all of us investors and resellers out there a bad name. Returning LEGO sets for a profit is the sort of behavior we frown upon around here. To the tax question... I pay whatever taxes I owe and nothing more. I feel no obligation to pay extra taxes to support a wasteful and inefficient system.

Just completed this morning. Comments welcome, just be aware I cry easily. Mods, if I break any rules along the way on these please let me know, as I'm not trying to sneak in advertising, I'm just a proud MOC-momma.

I lost a boat load when I invested my whole wad in a new doll line:

Thats it could not say it better myself really.!

There was a little line in one of the articles I read that stuck with me. It basically said that a bubble exists when people who purchase an item do so with the idea that it will increase in value. Lego is different, as most of the purchases are made because the buyer wants to play with the bricks. If it was ONLY investors buying up the Lego (like in the Beanie Baby fad) then we would be in trouble.

If you ever ''forgot'' it you're just as bad as this guy. also 3 people speaking is a good proof that I am right, considering the amount of people here checking on regular basis. if there is 3 or even 15 of you here then ''Those Americans'' can easily be used... as it means majority aka 51% + you're mixing apples and oranges here... this is from COMPANY corruption not people, now you can say people represent company but we all know thats not the case...

We need one about how to score Brickpoints for Legos with limited Brickpoint capital.

What chance does any of these sets on the list have of retiring this year? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V3CfD8TPac

I have done really well with some exclusives and really poorly with others. Home One was a BAD TRU exclusive. Mace Windu's Jedi Starfighter was an AWESOME Walmart exclusive. TIE Crawler as an OK Target exclusive. Like stated before, I think it depends on the figures and design.

I'd love to see a "Donate" function as I would gladly donate money (PayPal, for example) from time to time. The service this site provides is well worth it. Thanks!

Not saying the whole thing can't go pop, but there is only so much you can do with a stuffed doll, or a piece of printed cardboard. Lego is unlimited, I've seen more MOC's in the last couple months that comprise more bricks in sum total than I have collected, and sometimes by multiples.. and I'm probably over a couple hundred thousand pieces mostly in large sets.. Flickr is just inundated with a whole nother world built out of Lego. These are hardcore adult enthusiasts who's appetite for the brick will more than put a floor under the market. When I was growing up there was no such thing as a lego camp, and most kids put the brick down around 12-14 to go chase girls. Times have changed. I would liken Lego more to gun, or coin collecting, or even car collecting, hobbies where the business cycle is less prominent if not altogether gone.

Marginal figs with this set really buried it, plus it didn't have much of a role in the television show. It's also just kind of a goofy mishmash of a construction vehicle and a snake - neat looking, but ultimately strange. I also agree with Coneil - dragons and ninjas make this line, and the one ninja this comes with (Cole) is a kendo version which, among Ninjago fans, is not as appealing as a dragon fig or kimono fig.

While I think it's definitely a good idea to be cautious about investing, I think there is a distinct difference between cards and Lego. At the end of the day, even if the market crashes, you're still left with something practical, useful, and enjoyable, instead of just a piece of printed cardboard. Of course, I'm also a small-time investor and if the market crashed, I would just open all of my NISB sets and build them.

So you think sets released a couple of weeks ago will retire in less than 6 months? optimism at its finest

Historic pricing of Lego 'exclusive' sets sold via online retailers. . Many if not all have seen nice discounts sometime between Oct and Dec / mid Jan for the last 5 yrs. Pick 5-10 sets still around and just check historic amazon prices. Modulars, Death Star, SDD, Camper Van. Tower Bridge, etc...

I think "beer belly man" would be an awesome CMF. He could have a cup in one hand (for his brew) and the remote in the other.

I am not all that experienced yet but it looks like a good deal to me. The Frigate should still have room to grow and the consensus is box damage doesn't effect value that much. As for the Imperial Hotel, looks very new (only three months of data on it) and I am not sure how Architecture sets do. But my gut tells me it is a pretty safe bet, but be ready to hold onto it for awhile. Bottom line of values as of right now is $230 so again I think you did pretty good.

You forget...an overweight figure would offend all the "plus size" people out there, gotta be PC guys lol. It would be very interesting to see a pregnant minifig though....

+1 pickleboy. You're doing it right. The extra exposure the listing receives is a safe bet against the 'bundler's discount.' Putting five CMF character names in your listing title will sell five figs for $13 a lot faster than selling each will get you $15. It's interesting about the Hero Factory bundle, which seemed to buck the trend and be worth more. Also, I like the bundles selling to parents, goes right along. So I think another point to make here is demographics. Collector's aren't going to pay you market value for bundles, but gift-givers will. I only have 10 or twelve listings at any time, and usually 2 or three are bundles of smalls. I don't bundle my sets because I need to get maximum profit from each big sale, and I'm willing to wait. I'm more of a hobbyist, and there's no use rushing a hobby.

This is an incredible post. Plus as many as I can give you. I really appreciate the views. Makes writing an article so much easier - I can only solidify my views and things when I read others. How else will I know when I am being short sighted?

I sold 3 retired police sets as a bundle today - 7741, 7743, and 7744. I thought they went all together nicely a as bundle especially bc 1 large set, 1 medium, and 1 small. Buyer seemed very happy to pay 1 shipping fee for all three. I would imagine many similar sets in the same theme would go together well.

Ok, pretty funny story Yoyo customer service is good indeed. It was OnTrac's mind game. They just didn't deliver in time but stated "delivered" and even posted the time of delivery (and a wrong city) on their tracking page. The package arrived at the end of the next day. By that time my husband made me nervous and I contacted yoyo customer service by e-mail. Guess what. I just wanted to let them know and expected something like "lets wait", but they sent me the replacement right away. The 2nd package arrived in 2 days with no stupid statements on Ontrac site. I wrote yoyo guys again to verify there is no confusion about no refund needed etc. and they sent me a prepaid UPS label (their returns are free any way). I'll ship it out tomorrow. The bottom line: yoyo.com is a good reliable place to shop online, but OnTrac is a bit weird. Next time I'll just try to be patient and give them some more time even if they promise 2 day shipping but actually take more then that.

Oh the pleasure of smashing it constantly! I would love one of those monster AT-AT sets cavegod has made, and would happily pay the money for a massive sized one. Also would love another Yoda statue, but a "life sized" one....

I've already left little comments here and there about new Friends sets popping up before the August 1 drop date, but I thought I'd consolidate here for those looking out for Friends stuff. I've now spotted the new Friends sets at 3 retailers -- their brick and mortar stores only, not online. Toys R Us: TRU had it first. I saw all 6 new sets (41005 Heartlake High, 41006 Downtown Bakery, 41009 Andrea's Bedroom, 41010 Olivia's Beach Buggy, 41013 Emma's Sports Car, and 41015 Dolphin Cruiser) at my 2 closest TRU's starting at least 2 weeks ago. They were also selling a couple of the sets on TRU.com earlier this month, and some of us were able to successfully place orders, but they were soon taken off the website and then reposted saying "Available 8/1/2013 In Store and Online". All items were/are at TSRP (T = TRU ) Target: Even though none of the existing Friends sets has been marked for clearance at my Targets (ok, maybe 1 set, but that's it), I spotted the Downtown Bakery, Andrea's Bedroom, and Emma's Sports Car stocked among the existing sets today. There were even 2 Dolphin Cruisers hastily stacked on top. All prices MSRP. Target.com has no mention of these new sets. Lego Store: The one I went to today had all the new Friends sets out, except for the Dolphin Cruiser. MSRP of course. Lego LEGO Shop at Home still says "Coming Soon on 1 Aug 2013". If you've spotted the new sets anywhere else, please post...especially if you've found it for sale online before the "official" availability date.

Do you mean the actual VW van (the driving version) or 10220?

A UCS A-Wing. They have not made one yet.

My goodness. Take your time. I can't beleive you even have to make an excuse over this. This site is obviously a project and passion away from normal work, as is LEGO investing for most of us. As far as I am concerned, if you're not directly contributing to the work involved in updating and maintaining this site, you need to hold your tongue about how long new features take. Sorry if that comes off harsh to anyone, but demands or impatience made from the peanut gallery really, really get under my skin.

No, I don't work at a Lego Shop, I have a full time job that allows me to buy the Lego sets that I want without having to resort to "grind it until it doesn't work any more" tactics. And believe me, I have been over here for a loooooong time and have seen a lot of people, mostly form the US, that don't use those kind to methods. I know it's not your fault, the store manager left the window open and you took advantage of it, and I also can imply from that that you would, given the chance, steal take money from anyone who leaves it unattended. And you would just say that that's the way America goes. I hope you do well with your free-wrongfully-earned Lego store credit.

Check out the #1 set on my top ten new old school set list: http://community.brickpicker.com/blog/7/entry-311-top-ten-new-old-school-lego-sets/ I love Town Square. Like most well performing City sets, it will appreciate well, just a little slower than licensed sets. I think you have awhile to get this one, though.

Man, I missed out on my local LEGO BTTF sale..ahhh well. I'm hoping to get three so I can display all the different models in my HT room.

Plus the word of one local Lego store is far from gospel........nonetheless still interested on what the "rumor" is.

Welcome!

Holy jeez that's cheap. Jeff's gonna have to referee the fights over available spots.

Welcome to BRickpicker. I would try to sell those sets on eBay, and use the money to invest in some newer sets.

Problem I see is the fact that US has alot more going on in aftermarket... Here in Europe seems quite quiet compared to US...

Yes our prices suck, but there are always ways around it. Yes there us but in 99% we end up paying more than US prices (mostly even more than their retail) For US LEGO investor all he has to do to make profit is to find 20%-30% discount... For me that means US retail... now compete with that :D

Unless you can get Orc forge below 33-35$ I would pass it.

Amazon ???