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So I here people mention this a lot and I totally understand - 1. Frustrated with Idiot buyers 2. TIred of going to the post office everyday. 3. Want to smash your tape dispenser 4. Done with printing labels and paying stupid USPS inflated prices. 5. Done with USPS losing packages And more and more. So I thought I would share what is helping me through this on the off chance it might help someone else. I am a candid guy - probably too open sometimes - but in January I was really really struggling with this. December burned me out some and made me realize that I was frustrating myself to much. This was complicated by the fact that I was diagnosed with Depression several years ago. I have, through medicine and being lucky to have a fairly good life, conquered it for the most part. However, when I get tremendously stressed out, frustrated, or angry it causes a relapse which is tough to deal with. So I did a couple of things to figure this out because I knew I didn't want to quit. And I hope some of these things help you guys dealing with the same stuff. Just because you love something doesn't mean that its not capable of causing you serious grief. 1. I took a break. This was imperative. Not to just give myself a little time away, but to rethink what I was doing and accomplish the rest of the points. I was always afraid to put the store on vacation because I am losing money. Its an easy thing to consider though - How much money do you lose if you have to quit because you can't handle the stress? 2. Limit the stress factors. This one is tough, but probably the second most important to breaks. I sat down and actually wrote down everything that pisses me off about selling. That in itself was stressful, but I said to myself "what do I have control over here?". One thing I did was got Ebay notifications on my phone - every sale, message, etc. The thing is, I have another job. Everytime I get a message, I would immediately look at it and answer it. I got to the point where every time I got a message, my phone would buzz and I would think "Dammit some idiot buyer is mad about something." or "USPS lost something again". Several times a day I was stressing myself through diverted attention from whatever I was actually doing. So I eliminated the notifications. Instead I set times for myself when I would check messages, sales, etc. I made a routine. I check in the morning before work and after when I get home and answer everything then. Otherwise I don't even pay attention to it. Mad buyers is another issue. I say to myself - "People will be mad - let it go". So now i just apologize and do what i can to help them. I NEVER look at my feedback rating anymore. I trust that if I do things right no one is leaving me a negative. I used to check it everyday. Not worth it. Obviously there is more here, but to be brief (lol, right?) PM me and I would be happy to tell you more stuff I changed for this. 3. Improve Efficiency Things are a lot less stressful and a things don't go wrong as much when you are efficient. I now use small bags for all my minifigures so they can't lose their weapons, etc. I bought storage units to store and separate them with labels so they are easy to fine. I bought a label printer which has been amazing. I streamlined my process of packing. I changed my opening and parting out sets routine - I only do it on the weekends so I don't do it while I am tired from my normal job. 4. Take Better Records Tax time is pretty stressful no matter what. But doing it once showed me how I need to take down documentation for the rest of the time I do this. Next years taxes will be much easier and that makes me feel a lot better about the whole ordeal. 5. Find ways to make the stressful parts more fun I hate the packing - especially if I have like 30 packages to ship. So I had to find a good way to make it so after doing it I didn't feel like I wanted to punch through a wall. I am not ashamed to say, mine is music. I am a musician and obviously love music. I found that if I am blasting Led Zeppelin during packing, I don't hate it near as much. I do not pack without music playing anymore at all. I only part out sets while watching some of my favorite shows: Seinfeld, Workaholics, Law and Order, etc. 6. Be Cleaner I absolutely believe - a cluttered work space is a cluttered mind. At work people make fun of me because my work area looks like ground zero from a zombie movie. So I have changed the way I work and the space I do it in. It is MUCH less stressful to have plenty of space and have a clean area. My solution was to put built lego sets in it. I do not clutter my lego sets. There you go people. Long-winded, but I felt like I should share it. PM me if you have anymore questions or if you are feeling done with things. I know how it goes and believe me - as much as you feel like you can handle it, that feeling is a sickness no different than working with the flu. Its just mental instead of physical.

Picked up a 5 lb mixed lot at a yard sale while killing time before my sons baseball practice, $1.50! Found almost $3 in change in it while I was washing it!

We have a really, really good inventory system in place now - I created and scratched like four or five of them, between me and my oldest daughter and my husband that is, and now we're very happy with the speed and accuracy of filing and pulling orders (we're at about 56,000 parts now, so enough to be able to see that it works and is pretty much infinitely expandable). And yes, we figure our retained inventory for taxes on average - we know what it costs us (on average) to buy each piece, we know how many pieces we have left in stock each Jan. 1, so it's actually a really simple calculation. And 1 million parts is so last year's goal. Keep up! Now I want at least 3 million (biggest in the U.S.) and I'm eyeing 10 million (biggest in the world), but don't tell Mr. Frog about that second goal, he might follow through on his threat to have me locked up somewhere padded and put under medication and close observation.

Hello! My name is Matthew! This is my Lego Star Wars collection. I have 47 Lego sets in my room and 1 in my living room. (47 Star Wars sets). One set isn't in the picture which is the Luke Landspeeder set.

Remember that we have two different types of "retailers" chiming in on this conversation- investors and parters/flippers- and the two have totally different strategies. It's not worth letting a set appreciate for years if it's only going to net a 20% ROI; however, that return might be acceptable when you're only financially invested in an item for 3 weeks, not 3 years. For some of us (especially those like me, who don't have a lot of extra expendable income ), the reason parting out/flipping can be worth it is my good friend Mr. Exponential Growth. I buy a set for a hundred, flip it for 20% profit, then reinvest the whole thing. The next month, $120 at 120% yields 144, month three yields $173, etc. I know that this is super simplified, and it's not taking into account the work, time, or other costs involved, but purely looking at the math, if I continually flip/part out for a monthly 20%, at the start of year three, my $100 investment will have grown to $72,000. Don't judge my example there; it's not a real world situation, I just straight plugged numbers into the exponential growth formula from 8th grade algebra- A x B^C (A is your investment, B is your ROI, C is generally time- how many times you are going to repeat this investment cycle, in this case monthly). For my example, the equation would be $100 x 1.20^36. Great theoretical returns, but a ton of work involved. Your investment strategy will probably depend on what you have more of- time or money.

remember pokemon cards and how they had different symbols for how "rare they were?! yet you got the same holographic ultra rare card in very starter pack thus making it the most common card. lol/ please someone know what im talking about.

My point is people that ROI doesn't really matter, net income per unit of time is what really matters. From the two theoretical examples I presented, it should be clear that there are thousands of different paths you can take to capture your profits. The path that you choose to reach those profits is your choice, and to each their own, right? The theory of markets states that sellers will line up to capture highest ROI first, and quickly accept a lower ROI on a larger investment, provided it yields higher net income. Thus, you see retailers competing at very low margins bc sellers, over time, have been willing to accept lower ROI, provided they still end up with higher net income. It happens in every market, always.

Tower Bridge, Pet Shop, & Grand Emporium sealed, NEW, and in boxes which appear to be in fantastic condition for $489 shipped.

Since we have a pretty popular "Complaint Thread", I thought it might be a good idea to start an "I Love It! Thread". I'd like to begin with: I love it when I make a big $500 or more purchase because of a sale or great deal and shortly afterward make enough back in sales to cover the costs and then some. It helps with the buyer's guilt.

1ST PLACE The Flying Piranha and the Imperial Fort - Cara & Legonardo 2ND PLACE The Shark Reef - Yatkuu & 6Kyubi6 3RD PLACE Imperial Fort - Simon_S & Soccerkid6 4TH PLACE Privateer Port & Pillar Hideout - Captain Nemo & MstrOfPppts 5TH PLACE Hunt for the Maya Treasure - Sebeus & Kabel

I love what I bought today from a thrift store. A bag of random building pieces that turned out to be 3 LEGO sets from Pirates of the Caribbean, all 99% complete with all minifigs and accessories. 4195 Queen Anne's Revenge, 4181 Isla de la Muerta and 4191 Captain's Cabin. All for $15.

As someone else pointed out in a different thread... Conditioned like Pavlov's dogs. That cha-ching sound the eBay app makes each sale. Rush of excitement every time.

This has been discussed in the past and shelved because some were concerned that the buyers' side of the story wouldn't be told, and good buyers could be lost in the wash or unfairly blackballed. EDIT: Ninjaed by frog...

The "cha-ching" of the EBAY app is like music to my ears. I like hearing it all day everyday. I think one of the biggest stress factors is ROI (return on investment). If you aren't getting at least 50% return you are working and stressing for nothing. We aren't Walmart. Margins must be higher to survive. This is why so many people come and go out of the collectible/retail markets. They work themselves to the bone for what? 10%-30% ROI. Is it really worth it? I've said it multiple times: "If your money isn't working hard for you --- you will be working hard for your money"!!!!! Sing it like Donna Summer.

The real issue here is that you still have a blackberry ;)

Deals at TRU have been amazing for several months now. People complaining about TRU prices are you forgetting: - $25 hobbit barrel escape (and then tack on $20 off 100, or $10 gift card when you spend 50?) - Baxter's revenge (and then tack on $20 off 100, or $10 gift card when you spend 50?) - Y-Wing on clearance - Palatine's arrest down to 60 - Technic sets for 20% off - FREE $60 Highway pickup when you buy a hard to find exclusive set (some as cheap as 119.99) over the holidays, And many more including the wendy's gift card 10 after 40 spend, several bogo 50's, etc. If TRU goes away, other stores wont just get all those exclusives. We LOSE a company that pays to get those exclusives. They just wont be made. How many times have you seen a set online, not quite sure how you feel about it, but when you find it in store on the shelf, you get a real feel for what the set is. perhaps they even have an awesome display that gives you the sense of scale and what you're actually getting in the box. Can you always find what you're looking for at Walmart, Target, etc? Do they often have barren shelves, messy shelves, items all over the place? You can almost always find what you're looking for at TRU. yes because their prices are higher if you're an impatient buyer, but its there. If TRU wants to try to get 500 for a death star or 530 for a Super Star Destroyer for a few months (or maybe even just weeks),,,,,,,,,,THAT"S GREAT. Take a break and don't buy from them this month, Enjoy the potential expansion of price on Death Stars so that folks won't be so freaked out when they eventually hit 600 and 700 on amazon (if they ever retire). The patient and educated buyer should WELCOME others in the same market getting higher prices for their goods ESPECIALLY if you ever want the value of your goods to increase. TRU hate is misguided, and you'll be sorry when they're gone.

Hello guys! My name is Matthew. I collect Lego Star Wars. You can see my collection here. I am 14 years old and a HUGE Star Wars nerd. I like Legos, Star Wars (obviously ), video games, books, web designing, and some other stuff. See ya!

You know it is a slow day when the last 20 notifications are from the "what did you buy" thread. Carry on

Welcome to the fray. I gotta say, you already have more Lego's than myself !

Released in june

Most of all I LOVE my wife and my kids!!! Without them, I probably wouldn't be doing this. I also love the opportunity that Lego has presented us!! Otherwise none of us would crossed paths!! Lego on!

You guys are very focused on ROI, but no one seems to be commenting on price resistance. When a set increases to a certain degree, it is much harder to sell and you would probably be better off flipping it and reinvesting your money at a faster/smaller price point whenever possible. You can release some blanket statement that Legos generally increase in value over time, it is not necessarily true. The average LEGO set is going to reach a point where it stagnates at a certain price point and it isn't going to increase any further and also you are going to have a much harder time selling it. Look at the last 10 years of Star Wars, City and other sets that have been re-released, updated, etc. countless times. These sets went up in value and then came back down as a result of LEGO doing what they do best. Anyways, these are all factors that need to be considered. If you just want to buy a bunch of sets and hold them indefinitely you are probably wasting many business opportunities to use that money to make other profits. I know this is all simple economics, but many people don't consider TVM, Price Resistance and things of that ilk when they are strategizing.

Unless you are a flipper (selling items that are currently available at retail), ROI does matter. We are dealing with an item that will generally increase in value, and once they go EOL, has a limited availability. Any unsold items are unrealized gains - which are continuing to increase in value. Disregarding ROI, and undercutting prices (just for a quick gain), also has a negative long term effect on valuations (by constantly weighing down on those prices). If you are an investor who cares about the long term health of the market - then Yes, ROI does matter.

I love getting that craigslist sale! So hard to be the first one to answer haha.

I love it when my 6 year-old wants to build LEGO and pass baseball or practice hitting in the yard. Although I might have to put in the complaint thread I'm not real fond of being woken up in the morning to a broken set at the foot of the bed and the words "Daddy, can you help me put this back together!"

When my wife and I first moved out, oh so many years ago, our first shopping trip, I bought cheap bread and cheap toilet paper. I was back at the store a couple days later. It was then that I decided to always impart the advice that no matter how poor you are, you *must* buy the good bread and the good TP. It just makes your quality of life that much better.

There are start up costs for any business, large or small. One of the smarter investments you can make is to go sit down with a tax accountant (after April 15, they won't have time for you for a few more weeks) and get your tax questions answered and get advice on setting up your books. Yes, you can take expenses against income. But if you are going to try to show it as a business loss (versus offsetting hobby income) you need to be making a real start to the business, not using a pseudo business of selling a few poly bags as a way to start enjoying the tax benefits of a business loss.

brickset.com should have that info.

the gas mileage that my just purchased tdi gets. what you about a car that gets 50 mpg and still allows you to keep your man card. ain't no Prius or fart car here.

Thanks for all the great tips on this guys, I am pretty sure I will sleep better opening the box and verifying the contents. Then I will go ahead and deal with the ebay seller. How do I find out how many bags are supposed to be in this set. Sounds like it contains bags with no numbers, and I cant find a total count anywhere. Anyone know?

I'm in love with The Orc King... :wub:

It's been discussed regularly, and remains a bad idea. Some buyers who are "bad" for some sellers are fine for others. There are two sides to every story, and we only get one. There's no real way to know who is at fault with sellers of varying temperaments and abilities and levels of sanity.

If you think that is impressive then this will blow your mind like that clip from Scanners I always use. Haha. Here's a slight addition to the same build. (I only just realized that after posting the other pic.)

I used to love giving my bulldog those Listerine breath strips. Hours of fun!

I love this topic! I love the expression on my Chihuahuas' faces when I'm eating cough drops (I'm on Day 5 of the Zombie Apocalypse Death Flu right now - you know, the one where you think you're going to die and are afraid you might not) - these are dogs who will, if left unattended, eat cat poop and horse poop, but they make horrified faces and rub their heads all over the bed to get rid of the scent if they smell cough drop on my breath.

I love finding enough change in a bulk lot to double my investment without selling a thing.

I love not running out of toilet paper or using the kind that easily breaks.

Welcome, impressive collection. I'm jealous...

And remember to show your work. It counts for half your grade.

An M:Tron Mine MOC you say....

Good tips. Luckily I haven't started selling in large volumes yet so hasn't happened to me.

My purchase from ebay of a winter toy shop, bakery and post office arrived and it looks like everything is there - I have a group of us preparing to build them tomorrow and this may be my best use of $170 in a long time.

Yes, raising prices works well (If it sells too quick - you priced it too low). I know when you first start selling, you want to make a lot of sales - so lower prices works great. But once you get more established and grow the business, there's no reason why you have to have the lowest price on everything. Making as much money, as quick as possible - isn't always for the best. Remember, we are dealing with an item that will generally increase in value - so if you plan on continuing to do this, there really is no rush.

Haven't used that feature much, but seems to be a good option since you already have an engaged bidder... -------------------- Visit my eBay store: http://stores.ebay.com/mo-state-bricks

Blasphemy of the highest offense!!! For me it`s a toss up between the Sea Cow and Benny`s ship. Both sport incredible designs, and are stunning Lego sets all around. That said, the theme as a whole really is quite impressive and creative.

Welcome to the site benmanion!

Definitely report this character to eBay, asap. He needs gone in a hurry and eBay will help him on his journey. I would open the set because of this guys sparkly shenanigans - any problems and you can file with either eBay or PayPal. It shouldn't affect value to the majority of your buyers - a few will be sticklers for a new and unopened set, but new and "contents verified" (and you can even show photos of all the bags, state that for your buyer's protection you opened the kit to verify it was complete, etc.) can actually be a good selling point that some buyers will appreciate.

There isn't much too argue over. We all do what is our best interest and what we think will make us money. It's that simple. -I don't always going shopping, but when I do I buy Lego-

Part of the dislike of TRU is their shenanigans claiming inflated prices are MSRP. I'm also not impressed when eBay sellers list things as "RARE!" or "RETIRED" when they're not. Same sleazy sales tactics. Good old honest price gouging, now that I have no problem with.

There should be 24 bags, 4 instruction books, & 1 sticker sheet in the 10212 set - Have fun with the build!