Leaderboard

Hot UK Dudes

You need to get some polybags or mixels to get hits and raise your search results. If your auctions are getting ignored you are not getting good enough placement. Ebay's search placement relies heavily on amount of items sold, % of sell through, pricing, feedback & scores etc. Even if you have good feedback and scores but your items move slowly due to price or whatever the reason is you will not place higher in the search standings. While you're in this position you need to be cheaper by a decent amount to get any hits. If an item sells for $150 for everyone else it might be $135-140 for you. I know people will get that random sale that goes high and think it does not matter what you price at but for building up higher search placement it is very important to have a high sell through %. In future buy 10-20 of something that sells instantly like RR , Snowman Poly, Series 2 mixels , anything that will get more transactional sales for you and raise your search standings. Your purpose is not making money on those items so just put them at whatever the fastest selling rate is. Those are easy items that don't take any time to pack. If limits are an issue you need to be hitting them each month anyways so you can call each month and have them raised. So if your limits are 100 per month (just using that as an example) and you are only selling 30-40 items you need to sell 60 things to hit that number. Once you hit you call and they will usually go to 250 or so. Now you will have the extra listings to do these type of listings to keep raising your search status without taking away from your valuable listings. That will increase your sales each month. You'll eventually hit TRS just off the amount of transactions which will also increase your search tremendously. Free shipping also raises your search a lot. If you are doing fixed price anyways theres no point not to do free shipping. If you are selling an item at $90 and $10 free shipping you are way better off doing $100 with free shipping. You will sell more guaranteed in the long run. Ebay wants fast free shipping and ads that offer it will receive greater exposure. Now you may not have time or even want to do this but if you are planning on getting more hits and selling more product that is what needs to be done.

You'll definitely be wanting to offload your Lego by the time you hit college. After all you won't be getting your LEGOver with a room full of bricks.

great deals just today at walmart.ca on star-wars sets and few other

Yeah buying is the easiest process (not just LEGO but reselling in general). Selling and dealing with customers and keeping up scores is a whole other level. Then growing to the volume to make it a full time job (if that's your goal). Especially nowadays. There isn't much margin for error / human mistakes. You literally have to be close to perfect which is stressful in its own right. Even after 15 years I'm constantly adapting and changing every few months. Something is always changing on ebay and it will continue to. Preparation to handle volume sales is a topic a lot don't really put much thinking into. Box sizes, shipping supply quantities (if you have 100 of something you can possibly sell it in 1 day and not having enough supplies on hand for all the items in your store could crush your scores), the amount of time to pack to get the items out that day to keep your scores up and customers happy. There's so much more that goes into it in the big picture. Its a process and even to this day I am constantly changing and learning more. Just the set up of your packing station can save an hour or 2 a day. Having all your boxes lined up properly. Packing materials all in one place etc. When you start talking 200 packages a day 10-30 seconds per package of time saved ads up. The supplies you use can change your shipping rates. Just using one over the other can make an item go from from a different class or weight causing you $1-2 more in shipping costs. Add that up over 500 packages and you could be overspending $500-1000 a week. Maybe one day if I get the time I'll write something in depth. After the holidays LOL Anyways sorry for being off topic. Feel free to move to Ebay thread if need be.

Quinjets were avail AT LEGO.com through most of last holiday season, and avail in some retail stores in early 2014. There are a LOT of these out there (170 sellers on Amazon), this is a set people should be looking at selling holiday season 2016. I am not sure how folks have gotten so spoiled that they expect doubling their money on a set that hasn't been retired a year yet!

Way too early to be dumping Quinjets IMO. Happy with my sales overall. Only learning - don't book a vacation the first week of December. Vacation was great, but that was a whole week of not listing anything. :-) We just moved after being downsized in an apartment for 7 months, so next year I'm expecting a bigger year with a better plan.

If you are competing with dumpers, you are buying the wrong things or selling at the wrong time.

Cornering the market on concentrated orange juice?

Series 2 looks to be pushing $80 as a complete set on the last few sold listings. Even saw a flurr on there sold for +$17.

Well we can fix that too if we all get together and buys hundreds or even thousands of the same dolls and action figures and then list them all at the same time.

They don't want to go for the investor's jugular because LEGO enjoys having the LEGO secondary market strong and the values high. One affects the other, regardless of the bans. As I stated to another member recently, if LEGO destroys the secondary market, the perceived value of new sets will suffer greatly. The secondary market LEGO prices are the main reason LEGO can charge(and get it) $400.00 for a box of ABS plastic and Mega Bloks and Kreo-O cannot. The rise of LEGO to #1 stature in the world of toy making and profits walked hand in hand with eBay and the explosion of secondary market sales. As eBay became more popular, LEGO followed suit. Don't let anyone tell you different. Sure, there was a change to a more adult oriented style of set(UCS...Modular...Advanced Models), but did anyone ever really think why LEGO went that route? LEGO likes to ban certain VIP members because they want to make a point of not being excessive and to stop competing with them with currently available sets. As for a new Falcon, I guess the rumor is of a large Falcon playset that will replace the 10188. Even if it's a new 10179, could you blame LEGO for redoing the set? People have had plenty of time to make a profit from that set. Time for another generation of resellers to take advantage of a new version.

I am nearly sold out of my investments this year, and while I can't brag and boast about rificulous through the roof profits, I'd say my profits were decent. Havent tallied them up yet, but not bad for a working mom. Probably would have made a lot more if I could devote more time to it, but between work and the rest of my life, time is a premium right now.

I can't speak for non-US markets. I have no idea how they're performing. I do believe, though, that they are still readily available in southeast Asia and the Pacific (which makes sense for TheDarkness). I mentioned this in a different thread late last night. 9 sets of Series 1 Mixels @ RRP cost $404. 1 SSD cost $399.95. Both retired this past summer. Selling on eBay right now, $120 for Mixels. Sell all 9, get $1,080 for your $400 investment. Your SSD is going to get you between $600 and $700.

LEGO should make stickers available in high-res format so we can print them on sticker paper if they don't want to give us printed bricks. Actually that's what I will do if I open one of my sets with stickers, scan them and only apply the copies.

You guys should try Santa's Workshop on CL if you haven't already. and MC. I NEVER get any action on CL (or from my wife) involving lego but getting a lot of bites on SW and MC through craigs list as of late. Very nice not paying all those fees and shipping!

Ok I'll bite...can you share what this is?

I have 12 sets and was planning to list them when I thought I could restock after Christmas, but I won't take anything less than $250 now. Since eBay isn't close to this, I haven't bothered listing them. With these all retiring (almost for sure) and The End maybe only having a 6 month run (it's "sold out" in the UK), the sky is the limit. I figure retail is at $140 US, and they should easily hit double retail once they are gone for a year. I wouldn't be surprised if a set went over $300 by next Christmas. The minifigure sized sets will only help these, not hurt them. I will be watching both lines closely for signs of weakness, but have we seen any yet? The original 21102 has been out for 2 1/2 years, is still available at Amazon and Walmart for $33, and eBay listings are selling for $45. I wouldn't underestimate these.

Wouldn't call it a mess up. Hard to pass up a retired Train set at 20% off that has been performing well into early retirement.

I sold a set of 4 for $190 today. I've bumped up my listing to $275 and that might even be too low.

Sorry about that Frog!! Sometimes I get a little out of control with the exclamation points!! You must forgive me!!!

I think the set caught many off guard for some reason. I listened and bought as many using profits from about 20 HH. Many of the secondary retailers were done but it was "available now" at Lego. Then it poofed to "Sold Out" just like that. Now to stock up on MF, unexpected gathering (which I think is close to done) and Batcaves. UG is my sleeper of sorts. I know some have bought it but it's a must for me.

I agree and did follow up my statement with something similar: "....just money, space and a decent work ethic if you want to have some success." Again, my point is more that any Joe Shmoe can buy these products from the comfort of their home and join as competition. It's not a specialized growth industry like shale or something that takes training, specialized equipment plus lots of capital, time and work. Now that's not to say that those of us who study the hobby, PLUS have capital, time, space and are self motivated won't be more successful than the average Joe Investor, but just that unsuccessful (and successful) new competition will keep profits lower than they were in the past and to take solace in the fact that for every sale you make with lower profits, you are probably preventing future competition from deciding to join the ranks. Isn't that a nice consolation prize? Eh, maybe not.

10x 9464 vampire hearse for $385 shipped. Brick link sale. Same buyer. These were acquired during the big zoo / vampire hearse bonanza, so a nice little profit indeed. Sadly, I'm down to only nine left.

There will always be "new blood" in any endeavor involving money (or fame). In my former "hobby" life, I was a writer. I guess I "am" a writer because one never really quits and I have several stories forthcoming. I wrote for nearly a year before being paid for a story, and only $.01 a word at that--"semi-pro" rates. It took three years of 2-4 hours a day in the writing game, every day, to publish my first book with a small press... one which actually paid me for my work. After six years, I sold my third professional rate story and qualified as an active member of the Horror Writers Association, a long-time goal. What's my point? What does this have to do with LEGO? Everything takes time. The game often goes to the resilient--those willing to keep working even when everything looks bleak. I know this: I've made more in LEGO the last six months than the first six years of writing AND I'm having more fun doing it.

We generally sort our order sheets by part name, and then generally bag like parts together in the order they appear on the sheet. If you're looking at your order sheet in color order (I think that's the default BL will show you), try changing your settings to by name or by category and see if that makes more sense for what the seller has given you. So, if I have an order for 100 blue 1x1 bricks, those are all going to be in the one bag. An order for 3 each of blue, black, LBG, and green 1x1 bricks, all of those will be mixed in one bag. You shouldn't see the same part in more than one bag unless a) you bought a bunch of them and they won't all fit in the seller's largest sized bag or you bought over a certain number that the seller pre-packs in shipping bags of 50 or 100 or whatever or c) you had more than one batch to your order (i.e, you added to the order after you initially checked out, and repeated some additional parts that were already in there). It shouldn't be too difficult to compare the parts to your order sheet (if the seller didn't provide a detailed packing list you can view it under your orders tab). I can generally inventory what I order pretty quickly.

Today's haul Really good price for the Village Bakery, especially for being in one of the more expensive Lego counties (Sweden) at around $65, same price for the Ninjago 9450. Plus 2 hours of my time on buses and trains. Yes I should get a car. The Lego Serious play is not for investment, but I am really interested in the concept and using Lego in business. 10244 Mixer and 10235 Winter scene is from LEGO Shop at Home so bought during 5% Black friday weekend, plus 15% off all toy stores promo from my credit card, and the free 40107's of course.

I just contributed a blog entry to the site on Mixel investing, in case you haven't seen it yet. LEGO Mixels

You know what they aren't going to do? Come on here and tell everyone how to do it.

Agreed. I already got some over the summer at 50% and I will keep those for at least two years before I sell them.

If the santa set does come back in February then I am seriously stoked about this mornings sale. 10245 + Both Lego 1/2, 2/2 Holiday Promos and a Target snowman ($4) for 188.00 + $15 shipping.

Mechdragon 70725 for 54.93 Forest animals 31019 for 12.43 BARC speeder 75022 for 14.93 AT-RT 75002 for 12.44 A-wing 75003 for 14.93 Vulture droid 75041 for 14.93 One day only!

Ok thanks, sarcasm is sometimes hard to figure when it's not in your native language.

It can't be called reappearance , if it did not make it to daily deal thread...

Just some quick math, for your consideration: 9 complete sets of Series 1 Mixels @ RRP of $4.99 = $404.19 1 SSD @ RRP = $399.95 Series 9 Mixels have been recently selling at $120. 9 sets at $120 = $1,080 SSD has been selling between $600 and $700 over the last week. Short term, I'm declaring Mixels Series 1 to be the winner. I'll revisit this as blog entry sometime down the line. Maybe next summer? Who knows what the long term future will hold? But, interesting to consider that the SSD still has a way to before it has a similar return on your money. I wonder if that will hold true 6 months from now. 1 year from now.

There is likely one on the board already... but a "How to Sell" thread would be killer. Sooooo many enter the game without the knowledge-base needed to properly and efficiently sell what they have. It's easy to acquire an inventory, but it all means nothing until you can connect with someone who wants to buy. I am one who started buying with almost no knowledge of what's needed to sell: a very solid reputation, great feedback, strong enough volume to be deemed "credible"- and very importantly- an awareness of just how much $ is cut out of your sell-price once taxes and fees take their slice. And an awareness of just how much time, commitment, and effort building an established selling account requires. Raven and Trek, what you have both posted above is pure gold for anyone trying to "figure out" how to get a return on their sets.

Great post Raven- it needs to be pinned somewhere for folks new to Ebay selling and looking for a winning strategy.

This may belong in the complaint thread or the fruitcakes running eBay thread but seriously eBay WTF? I pretty much use the eBay ipad app for everything except printing labels, just to set the stage. So in the last hour it updated to an entirely new app, I know my fault for allowing auto updates, but who does this at the busiest time of the year. I now have to figure out where my stuff that I am selling is because now it looks like one giant pop up sales ad. I am sure I will like it in the long run but now is not the time to be figuring out an entire GUI especially for us old people

I use the iPhone app to leave feedback and it gets pre-filled with the last feedback I left for a different buyer.

Best postings of the day by far. Thanks all for the laugh. Update: The Prophet is now predicting a licensing deal with Maytag, so on top of the sweet features of blinking lights and a nifty horn, R2 will be pre-programed to clean your fridge and waffle iron. Kudos to TLG for their commitment to innovation.

And a horn

^^ FACT. For anyone looking to decipher Ed's philosophy, it's pretty basic. And it is right. 1. Buy the right sets. 2. The more of them you buy, the more money you will make. That is it. "Pithy", but accurate. ______ On topic for investors... AA is completely wiped out of the Lego stores in Southern California (5 total). It has been, and they are not currently getting them. But isn't this set in the winter catalog? (Going off of memory here...) If it is, interesting. ______ On topic for Batman fans... If you happen to love this set, and what's not to love about it, a great book to read is Batman "Knightfall". Came out in the nineties. It's the story of Bane releasing all the nut jobs out of Arkham and wrecking Batman completely. Great read.

Leon C. Megginson (1960s LSU professor summarized Darwin's Origin of Species) said it best...

My experience is that I get as many or more sales after Christmas (people using up the gift cards and cash they got) as before. Before Christmas it's mostly moms and dads buying for kids, after Christmas is when the collectors spend (just my experience). So, I wouldn't despair yet

I have already doubled my money on a few x wings.

Holy schnikes the last two days have been really good to me, tonight I got the burrow (4840) and it's 100% complete with the box, manuals etc for $50 shipped, hogwarts express (4841) that is 100% complete with the box, manuals etc for $60 shipped, a 100% complete Hagrids hut (4738) for $25 shipped and finally the forbidden forest (4865) for $5 shipped and they were all from the same seller!

Like Ed said, I am just cleaning up, moved it to it's production server. Getting rid of all the garbage test data and accounts. Trying to fill in the blanks and format all the BS pages like privacy policy, etc. Later today I may write up some details on how the classifieds will be different. I broke away from the conventional Theme/Category setup to allow it to grow on it's own and not constrain it to be any certain way. Anything LEGO related can be posted. If you have LEGO toilet paper, you can post it and tag it that way and it will be able to be found. LEGO displays, books, posters, etc. It is not just going to be broken down by theme, set number, etc. I look at it like a classifieds or a flea market or something. I will go into more details on this later. The one thing we did choose to go with is that we will be using Paypal Adaptive payment checkout. Buyers will be able to purchase from up to 9 different vendors at one time (Brick classifieds is actually the 10th vendor once a fee % is factored in). All will be paid at one time in one shot. There will be no billing. Ed and I will not be hunting down people for lack of payment, etc. Once your items sells, a fee will be collected and everyone is happy. Again, I will get into more details on this later, i need to leave for work now woohoo!!

I'm gonna waste so much gas hoping those sets sneak out in mid December.

This thread has unintentionally become comedy gold.

SSD, I wouldn't want to run the risk of going to the post office 81 times. :-)