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(Not sure if this is the right place for this. Apologies if it's not.) The Investor Phase: If you have savings, a decent job and a credit card that you don't need to pay off for a year, it's VERY VERY EASY to do this part. You just check various places every day for deals and buy buy buy!!! The lack of space in my house caused by stored Lego and my large credit card bill (0% interest until this October) are testament to this! Like most BrickPickers I'm aware of, my approach was generally to buy on 30% discount or more and get at least one of each set for my personal collection and then multiples of sets I thought would do well at EOL. Despite not really being a very organised person, I spent a fair amount of time logging all my sets and where they are stored, in anticipation for the day I start to sell them. I have about 1000 sets, ranging from the small ones up to SSD (one of). which isn't including minifigures and polybags. The Turning Point: I left my well-paid day job a couple of weeks ago (not by choice) and am going to try to be self-employed instead. With no steady income and possibly needing to downsize our house, and the credit card to pay off in October, I NEED to start selling the Lego for cash and space. If only I'd just left all the money in a savings account! Ah well! The Seller Phase: About 3 weeks ago, I sold my first set (on eBay). Since then, I've sold another 11 on eBay (10 posted and 1 sold this morning). Total money back in my pocket is about

You speak of the stock market as though it can't drop. I really hope you are careful. Speculative stocks are not safe. Sure, the past year has been great and hindsight tells us all that shares in Apple would have been much smarter than investing in Lego since last July (it went from $400 to $650ish before the stock split) but you never know where the next crash is lurking. This whole market has been talked up way beyond where it should be and it will come crashing down, but only when the big boys are already out. I got into Lego because, to me, it felt safer than stocks. I could not take the anxiety of being in the stock market, with the investment value so far out of my control. I would watch the news every day, read MarketWatch.com, and my emotions would be aligned with whatever the market was doing that day. It was hell. Sure, it was great when I was winning, but surprises can come at any time. And, like Lego, you only realise the gains when you are out. You have to get out to confirm the win. I got out with

Ha, just a couple days ago I realized that the description for the 6210 Sail Barge actually had information about a women's spray perfume. Fun times.

Like Nickelback? :)

I don't know what's your history in this thread, though this reply sounds reasonable. There are differences between just saying that I don't like this set and desperately trying to prove or/and convince others that the set is bad. However investing based on personal preferences is not always good. I see musicians who make crap music and still would invest in them because I know it has a demand.

At some point a LEGO set has to retire or the basic principle that has made is so successful over the years will be over ridden. One more run. One more run. Where does it stop? LEGO knows that by retiring sets, they keep them valuable. If they produced sets forever, their inventory would go stale and the value people place on sets would drop. I'm sure there are many sets that have been selling well, yet still get retired, but that is what they do and it has worked well for them, especially over the past 10 years. Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

How about people trash talking a set to throw others off? It doesn't take much to convince some people one way or the other. They make a set sound like and investment terd and go out the next day and buy 20 of them at the local Target or TRU. Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

OK...you heard it. The set sucks. Move on people. Go buy some Sopwiths or T1 Campers.

So basically it's a mini of a mini. ....Did I just blow your mind?! via The Brick Fan

I guess "Vote early and only once" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

You need to have a template set up. Take a look through some sold listings, find one you like, and copy the format. Then all you need is a few pictures and a weight. That shouldn't take more than a few minutes. Packing and labels shouldn't take all that long either. Hoard your boxes and shipping supplies when they come in. I try to pick up a lot of a few sets, instead of a few of a lot of sets. Then you just do one listing and let it ride until they all sell. I'm also constantly amazed by the number of sellers who waste time waiting in line at the post office. USPS offers free pickup. Schedule online, never leave the house. Done.

Even if they aren't in decent shape, buy-in was great. When it goes EOL or starts showing signs people will take whatever condition they can get, at least that is how it appears from the SSD thread.

One of the best pieces of advice I read on here when I first started buying was to sell a few sets, just to understand the process and work involved. This is pretty key, unless you have sold stuff before, as it will show you the other components to selling that you mentioned, packing, listing, fees, etc.

Price point is pretty much on target when comparing to other large sets, at about $26 a pound of LEGO bricks. Prices of LEGO sets are based on the amount of ABS plastic used, not the amount of pieces. Here are some quick figures... SSD: $26 per pound Tower Bridge: $25 per pound SOH: $26 per pound 10188: $23 per pound(great bang for your buck for pieces and minifigures) Sandcrawler: $30 per pound(not a great deal)

One trick to help streamline the selling is to buy a good label printer. Saves me a ton of time...also buying bulk lots of boxes is good too. Should be able to save you time in the shipping department! Good luck to you!

I find that comment controversial, given that we are in the Investing Forum here. If done properly, it is undeniably an investment. We've had the heated debate on whether quick flipping is investment or not, but buy-and-hold of a Lego set is pretty much the same as buy-and-hold of a no-dividend stock. It's investing. Just look at the BrickPicker logo! Your first point is great though. Anyone can buy. Not everyone can sell. Thinking more about this though, I reckon I put a fair amount of time into tracking down the deals and picking them up from shops (Amazon being the exception). I am saving that time now, so maybe I can reallocate it to the selling.

Good advice all around, sorry about the reason for your quick learning curve as a seller.

yes they do

100 percent yes. And nirvana. And anything with justin beiber. More importantly, I think the problem is when people state things so definitively. I mean, we all do it, and this is text so it's hard- but when someone comes in and says "this set is crap, it will do nothing" and really offers no real reason, that is going to spark the debate. So will a similar statement about early eol. The fact is, as I think Stephen was pointing out, what 250+ 3000 piece set has ever not done well? I mean when you look back there are almost no exclusive big sets that didn't do well after retirement. There are legitimate concerns for this set - it's maybe a bit overpriced. Its got a wider footprint than most sets. And it's tough to judge the Sidney opera houses popularity to that of the Taj Mahal and Eiffel Tower. But at the end of the day, "not selling well" is not a reason since no one knows those numbers. It's a big exclusive. The days those stop doing well is the day lego investing is over. We are certainly no where near that point today.

My 5 tower bridges were marked shipped. 3 in one shipment and 2 in the other

Why are people so offended if other people do not like a certain set? I am not impressed by the SOH. I like the TB much better. As for investing, I have no clue how it will go with this set. If I see one highly discounted I will buy one maybe to see where it will go. Those who will invest in it deeply, I hope you will get high profits. If we would all like the same sets the investing game would end very fast. Invest wisely and follow your gut.

I will not dignify that question with an answer. Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

Thanks; somehow I had a feeling you would be the one to answer. I've had a feeling lately that I should drop the Product Catalog in my listings, but that's what I've used since I started, so I needed some validation before I started making any changes.

Not much. By opening them, you can be sure that all the parts and bags are there. Your buyers will also know that you know what you are going to send them, so scammers might be put off by your opened and checked boxes. With such a big set, I think it would be nice to know that everything is in there, especially if you are going to sit on it for a bit.

sorry to call you out but can we stop this nonsense? not saying it definitely will stay but at least give some evidence or proof of your claim? or do you even know what you are talking about?

Damn man that's lucky lol i personally love that troop pack and a rdr is a really cool idea so I would for sure or another good idea is blend them in with some of the old western sets if you have those especially fort legorido

People who don't want to buy a set(s) for investment will always trash talk it to make themselves feel better about not buying.

So you boycott them and lose potential future earnings yourself? Doesn't make sense. Swallow your pride, learn from your mistakes, read the forums and learn from other veterans on this site and buy LEGO sets at cheaper prices than LEGO S@H. I have thousands of LEGO sets and over 95% are bought from sources other than LEGO S@H. Good luck...

Apparently. One thing we have all noticed with LEGO Shop at Home is that there is no rhyme or reason to how they enforce their unwritten rules. Don't let it get you down. As others have mentioned, it's not as big of a deal as you might think. Other retailers have much better sales anyway. A couple of years ago I made a $2k order from them with no issues. About a week later I placed a $700 order and it was cancelled. I made the same call and had the same conversation as you did. They accused me of reselling. My VIP account was frozen. I took it in stride and said oh well. A couple of months later my account was unfrozen and I have been using it ever since with no issues. I am just smarter with my ordering like others have mentioned. Consider it a badge of honor.

I think that's a fair offer. CC's seem to sell in the $600s and GG around $500 with FB around $200. Take away fees and shipping and $1k is probably what someone would about come out with. A lot less hassle for the seller this way as well.

The only way to improve on that would be to put the Union Jack on the roof.

Try to bundle it with the Green Grocer in the background for a further discount. EDIT: In the second picture, there appears to be a Fire Brigade - triple bundle...

Thanks again for organizing this contest TOK

The SSD is probably one of the most impressive display LEGO sets ever created. It is elegant and nasty looking at the same time. The 10188 is really not a display set...it is a play set. It's my opinion that AFOLs with the discretionary income to buy either set will choose the SSD more often than not. As a serious LEGO and STAR WARS fan, I like serious sets. SSD is as serious as they come. Sent from my iPad using Brickpicker

You could probably fix that with a few technic pins.