Hi

I'm doing an inventory of a set that has about eight pieces missing. It's going to cost around ten dollars to buy and hand the parts posted. This is for a set that is probably worth $25 once completed. It seems crazy to have to spend so much to complete a set that really isn't so valuable. At this stage I'll probably do it because I want the set complete for our use, but I'm interested to hear views.

Thanks

zeee

If it's your personal set I say do it. If it's for resale not worth it. 

If it's your personal set I say do it. If it's for resale not worth it. 

For resale: if you don't own it yet it's not worth it. If you already own it (likely), then you have to ask yourself: would you rather loose the money you paid for it ($X), or make about $15-$X on it ($25-$10)? An alternative could also be: can you somehow sell it for $15 or more?

Which set is it?

It's one of the Harry Potter games. It was a present a few years ago and now my daughter is keen to build and use it. The main things missing are the tiny little animals and one brown shiny tile.

Thanks for the input

zeee

honestly it is a pain in the butt cause you need to source those pieces and may times you need to search more than one seller. If you have the patience then go for it but for me Im done buying used stuff unless its complete

Exactly. The different sellers are a huge pain and then minimum shipping... arghhhh.

I have recently gotten into buying incomplete sets on ebay and completing them and selling them. I have had good luck so far. The key is waiting until you have several sets to complete and then trying only to place 1 or 2 orders on Bricklink to complete them. This can be difficult if you are missing rare pieces. It's time consuming also but I enjoy doing it so I don't mind. You can make good money if you are dealing with sets that are worth good money on the secondary market. A $25 set probably isn't worth it now but just make a list of what you need and the next time you are making an order check to see if you can pick these up as well.

"Is it worth it?"

 

It's only worth it if

 

1. There is a loss of functionality

2. You want a completed piece

3. If you are selling it, the price you can gain is more than the price you will spend

I usually just add random missing pieces to my wanted list and pick them up when I'm getting pieces that I really NEED to finish something.

I have recently gotten into buying incomplete sets on ebay and completing them and selling them. I have had good luck so far. The key is waiting until you have several sets to complete and then trying only to place 1 or 2 orders on Bricklink to complete them. This can be difficult if you are missing rare pieces. It's time consuming also but I enjoy doing it so I don't mind. You can make good money if you are dealing with sets that are worth good money on the secondary market. A $25 set probably isn't worth it now but just make a list of what you need and the next time you are making an order check to see if you can pick these up as well.

This is what I do.  I try to wait until I have a couple of sets that need parts and order then.  Sometimes I get impatient in order right away though.

I found some random pieces in a train box and knew it was going to be a pain to sort. Found out that the pieces were mixed from two different train sets.

Still a mission to find all the pieces, but overall, I have invested $150, for two sets that are easily $200+ each.

It can be tricky if the set is very old, if you try to flip for investing or don't have much time...

Thanks so much for the great discussion.