Hi,

 

New member here, so here's my intro:

 

I'm 30, married & have two little girls, the oldest being 3-1/2 years old and getting into Duplo.

 

I grew up playing with a LOT of LEGO in the mid-late 90's and still have my entire collection. (was really into Pirates, Castle, Technic & Town).

 

What started my recent Lego revival was My 5yo. Nephew wanted some bulk bricks for his birthday, so I bought some organizer trays from Harbor Freight, and decided to grab a batch of Craigslist to clean up for him.   I also filled it in with some bricks from BrickLink.   At that point, I've been getting more and more interested in keeping an eye on Craigslist for smaller lots (under $50) and have purchased a couple of times.  Then just today I went and bought a big lot of CL, but that's another story.

 

*Here's my challenge:

 

I find that I really like to take the big bulk bins of unsorted pieces and break them down into a mix of general types (like slopes, bricks, plates, etc.  And I also take the smaller parts and sort down the exact type (but haven't gone not as sorting only by color yet).  Beyond this, I don't really have the additional workspace or time to start rebuilding all the sets that are potentially there. 

 

Are there any known methods for making money doing this general & fine sorting?    I tried selling a couple of very low quantity parts on Ebay, but that was extremely wasteful of my time and effort (making a dollar at a time, with profit margins in the pennies by the time Ebay & Paypal ravaged me with fees).

 

I'm looking forward to being a contributor to the forum.   I don't know much about the newer sets, but like a lot of others on here, I have a passion for these things.

 

 

Welcome to the site. I live in NJ as well.

Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

Welcome to Brickpicker!!

 

It's very interesting to hear that you really like sorting through big bulk lots of Lego. I dislike doing it myself, but once I finished sorting, I can find all the pieces I need to build and sell the set that are in the lot. My suggestion would be to find all the pieces to the sets that are in the lot. I do this a lot, and I think it's more profitable than selling small lots of pieces.

 

I recently bought 55lbs of Lego from CL for around $300. I finished sorting though it, and have found the pieces to about 12 sets so far. The value of those sets in their condition is around $600. I haven't gotten halfway through the lot, and I could potentially double my money. If I sorted everything and sold the pieces in small lots, I would estimate that I would get around $700.

 

It wouldn't hurt to try finding the pieces to some of the sets that you have. Since you fine sorted the pieces, I imagine it would be too hard to get all the pieces for any specific set.

Welcome to brick hell!!

Welcome!  I too find a sadistic joy in sorting.

 

I haven't found any ways to market your sorting.

 

In my experience large number of single items can do well on eBay.  Say 30 6x12 plates.  Most the time bulk is sold by the pound.

 

As Martin said, they best way to maximize profit is to look for elements that are unique or they seem to belong to something.  Find the element on Bricklink and you will eventually find the set it belongs to.  Printed parts are easy to locate as well as minifigures.  You can also start a topic in "Name That Brick" and members will help you identify parts.

welcome to the site. When your wife said "you need help" I don't think this is what she meant but we will try. 

Welcome to the site.

 

You like sorting? I new people from New Jersey were crazy!

Thanks for all the positive replies!

 

Yes, I find an odd enjoyment from taking a big mess of parts and systematically breaking them down into piles.

 

So, it sounds like at the very least, I should be trying to find all the pieces to sets and selling them that way...   That's fine.

 

I actually did have a successful sale of a "Semi-Sorted" batch of Lego on CL recently.   I did the grouping and bagging of larger parts, and then used two of the Harbor Freight clear organizer trays.  One I filled with sorted smaller parts, and the other was a handful of Minifig's in various states of assembly, with some accessories.  It covered my cost of initial purchase, and I still kept about half of the parts for myself, so I considered it a win.

 

* Is there a thread on here about the different methods of sorting and storing?   I'd love to see how people manage their parts.

Welcome to BP 'sort' of

 

 

*Here's my challenge:

 

I find that I really like to take the big bulk bins of unsorted pieces and break them down into a mix of general types (like slopes, bricks, plates, etc.  And I also take the smaller parts and sort down the exact type (but haven't gone not as sorting only by color yet).  Beyond this, I don't really have the additional workspace or time to start rebuilding all the sets that are potentially there. 

 

Are there any known methods for making money doing this general & fine sorting?    I tried selling a couple of very low quantity parts on Ebay, but that was extremely wasteful of my time and effort (making a dollar at a time, with profit margins in the pennies by the time Ebay & Paypal ravaged me with fees).

 

I'm looking forward to being a contributor to the forum.   I don't know much about the newer sets, but like a lot of others on here, I have a passion for these things.

 

Unless I'm missing something, it sounds like you enjoy the majority of what it takes to make a good store on Bricklink. Sorting is the most time consuming part of the job, and if you like that, you probably wouldn't mind the filing and pulling orders (those being the second and third most time consuming).

 

Bricklink stores are slow to grow, but can make real money if you are interested in that; if not, they can at least help fund your LEGO habit, and if worse comes to worst, you'll still have a nice, organized batch of bricks to build with or pass on to the youngsters in the family.

 

Oh, and also: welcome!

Welcome to Brickpicker!

Welcome, Victorymike18.

Welcome!

Welcome. I also live in NJ near Philly. I am personal not a huge fan of sorting, but I do love to have a well organized collection because it makes it so much easier to build. Right now my two boys, with my help, buy and sort Legos to sell.

Welcome!

Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

Unless I'm missing something, it sounds like you enjoy the majority of what it takes to make a good store on Bricklink. Sorting is the most time consuming part of the job, and if you like that, you probably wouldn't mind the filing and pulling orders (those being the second and third most time consuming).

 

Bricklink stores are slow to grow, but can make real money if you are interested in that; if not, they can at least help fund your LEGO habit, and if worse comes to worst, you'll still have a nice, organized batch of bricks to build with or pass on to the youngsters in the family.

 

Oh, and also: welcome!

That may be the way to go for me. Unless I find a set is largely accounted for, I just don't see myself buying up additional parts to try and complete them (unless it's for my own collection). I was just checking out the parting out feature on BrickLink, and I will probably be using that a lot. I don't mind pulling, packing and shipping parts.

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome!

It takes time, but in the end, when you see a completed set that you created from a pile of unsorted and often dirty lego, the feeling of satisfaction is much higher than just sorting.

For me personally, it made me discover again the building techniques and variety of colors and shapes. Both have changed alot since the 90's.

Take for example Harry Potters Hogwarts Castle 4842. I sorted the set and thought "so that's how 1290 bricks look like that cost 175.92

If you enjoy sorting and open a BrickLink store like others have mentioned, check out the Prick A Brick wall at the Lego store.  I tried this for the first time this week.  It led to a few hours of sorting, counting, and uploading the parts to my BL store.

 

Happy sorting and selling! 

welcome victorymike18,

 

I wouldn't choose to do sorting for fun but I will admit it keeps me and my kids busy and peaceful.  That makes it worth it.    It's kinda like meditation for us all. =)

Welcome Victorymike18!

 

So you like sorting huh? Maybe you can come over to my house for a week or two? Ha!

 

I hope we can be some kind of assistance in this crazy hobby.

Welcome! My first (and only) purchase of a large (50+lbs) unsorted mass of lego on Craigslist was not pleasant. I didn't realize that they smelled like vomit until I got home and started to clean them. As a breast-feeding mom with a newborn (at the time), I was tempted to toss them. Fortunately, I found a way to clean them (extensively) and now my kids happily play with them (without me being grossed out). I've spent time sorting the legos with my son. However, I just don't find that they keep them sorted very well. So I am very impressed with your sorting efforts and abilities!

Welcome! My first (and only) purchase of a large (50+lbs) unsorted mass of lego on Craigslist was not pleasant. I didn't realize that they smelled like vomit until I got home and started to clean them. As a breast-feeding mom with a newborn (at the time), I was tempted to toss them. Fortunately, I found a way to clean them (extensively) and now my kids happily play with them (without me being grossed out). I've spent time sorting the legos with my son. However, I just don't find that they keep them sorted very well. So I am very impressed with your sorting efforts and abilities!

I don't know what is worse. Lego smelling like vomit or lego smelling like a mix of fungi and pee. The fact that you cleaned it and not just sold them the way they were is admirable.

Edited September 14, 201411 yr by Neosphinx

welcome!!

if you like to sort then the thrill and possibilities are endless.

 

i hope that your significant other will not be disenchanted with your hobby creeping into the life...

Welcome to BP and congrats on defeating the vomit smell!  

Welcome. I loath sorting.

welcome!!

if you like to sort then the thrill and possibilities are endless.

i hope that your significant other will not be disenchanted with your hobby creeping into the life...

Thanks! I actually am near finished sorting my recent big CL purchase. I have to weigh a bit more, but it is about 50-60 Lbs total, and quite an accomplishment when I realize that I have touched every piece at least once!

I tried a couple of different methods, and narrowed down my preference. I found that taking a pile and sorting down all the way to the very fine level in one pass was too hard to focus and slow moving with wasted handling and frustration. Instead, I take a pile and do continuous sweeps for primary groups, such as Slopes, 1x plates, 2x plates, same for bricks, wheels, all Technic, etc. Then from there I hone in on a single group (and take out their destination bins) and sort down finer. It works out much better for me that way.

Welcome. I loath sorting.

I was doing this on the down-low for a couple weeks, only at night when everyone was in bed. We are a little tight on money, so I recently involved my Wife, and she is helping by piecing together the more valuable sets that we want to sell... She really is not into the sorting, which is understandable.

Edited September 16, 201411 yr by Victorymike18