Thirsty has spent the last three years raiding walmarts, cleaning out Targets, skulking around TRU and dutifully hitting the local Lego store as often as possible but not often enough to arouse all kinds of suspicions...

So here I sit with all kinds of Lego, Orc Forges, Deadpools NIB, Fire Brigades, Haunted Houses, 7964's, 7965's, 9515's, etc, etc....  All kinds of stuff, multiples in almost all cases.  Work slowed up (I'm in Alberta) so I am looking at holes in my schedule I can fill with getting my newly minted biz off the ground (GST # and everything).  Going to get a new address ( a suite at the nearest UPS store), credit card is on the way.  Pay Pal registration up next....

Where am I headed?  Amazon or Ebay?  Not interested in Kijiji.  Calgary isn't big enough for 18 Orc Forges, 8 Fire Brigades, 9 Wolverine Chopper's, etc, etc.  If I updated my Brickfolio I'd probably be north of $70 k.  Gotta a lot of Brickmania stuff too!

I like the prices on ebay (recent sold listings).  But it seems like the stuff on Amazon is listed higher and may even attract a larger audience???   Does stuff on there actually sell?  Like does Town Hall listed on Amazon for $880 and change actually get bought?  Why are there so few Canadian dealers on there?  All Japan, UK and US.  Or do the Canadians get cleaned out early?  Or maybe Canadians are too busy drilling for Maple Syrup and chopping down trees to bother with it?  The way I look at it I can easily be the lowest price in a lot of instances on Amazon and easily make 200-300 % profit.   I'd still do good on ebay, its a little more user friendly I think, but Amazon really intrigues me.  Heck Amazon US would be even better getting paid in Yankee dollars with the exchange rate where it is.

Wondering what you guys think???

 

Edited April 27, 201510 yr by thirsty
Cant speel worth schit

I have sold on eBay (when we started), Bricklink (which we are moving away from) and now Amazon.Ca.  Fees on amazon.Ca are mucho higher than anyone but all I listed from our store was the older/hard to find stuff to get top dollar.  Heck 1/2 the time it's double our wall price.  But your shipping has to be a fixed set of rates for either pieces or Kgs, I just did pieces and make sure the prices can cover any under paid shipping.  Bricklink is nice/fees are low, but not alot of moms & pops know about it.  I am moving away since they started selling peoples creations/MOCs but of licensed/protected IP items and that doesn't sit well with me.  eBay we did for a while, but moved away pretty quickly due to just too many problems.  Good luck and yes if it was years back I would look at buying up your whole collection - usuall we offered 1/2 price of the market price.  Given your pretty valuable sets you can in bulk still do well.  BUT given all the crap of late with people opening boxes/taking out the contents - it's too risky for me to even think bout buying stuff from a store anymore. Almost everything we sell is from LEGO cases only to ensure it actually contains LEGO.  Even the LEGO stores have taken back and resold boxes that no longer contained LEGO!  And just in case anyone pipes up - the tapes will all be fine - they actually slit the glued edges and hot glue it back together under pressure.  VERY hard to detect!!

Ebay's fees, imo, are out of control as you need to sell at such a high margin to account for their fees, any shipping costs you may have, and still come away with something.  I prefer Bricklink and while I don't sell as much on there, the percentage difference is so far different that I make more that route and tend to have better customers, too.  No ebay drama

​Even taking fees into account, eBay may still be the better option (if you're not top rated, expect 13% fees from USA buyer, as opposed to Bricklink where you should expect 6% fees from USA buyer). It all depends on the set. Evaluate both and choose the best for you and your sets...I use whichever to my best financial advantage, which usually means Bricklink for me. But not always.

with 18 posts, pics or it didnt happen.

A seller needs to know what he/she is doing. Ebay's fees are what they are. So are Amazon's. In general, you are getting "more" for those fees: more customers and more exposure. Items also sell higher on Amazon than Ebay, and higher on Ebay than Bricklink. Yes, more customers and exposure means more trouble sometimes, but it comes with the territory. If Ebay's fees are too high for you, then hold longer or refuse to sell at X price (a price which means too small a margin). 

​Very true!  I'm not an avid seller like many on here and really just sell stuff that I don't want, or my kids won't want to open.  But yes, ebay is far easier to use than bricklink, but hey, any profit is better than no profit at all.

with 18 posts, pics or it didnt happen.

​Who are you talking about? I don't see anyone with that few posts in this thread.

Please be careful about accusing people. If Thirsty would like to post a picture of his collection, there is a thread for that where people like to drool all over their keyboards.

I think the persons reputation of 18 got cross confused with the persons posts of 66.
Thirsty is probably completely on track but it is not every day someone posts I have accumulated $70k of Lego and need to figure out how to sell it.
Most people would have done some type of research before accumulating that amount into channels they are going to sell it and how to sell it, margins, etc.
But not everyone either (for instance Ed Mack LOL).  So to me it does make one wonder but I do take Thirsty at their word.

Something to note, is that THIS time of year, in my experience (March-June) is where prices and demand are LOWEST. Things start to pick up again in mid to late summer. So if you don't NEED to sell a lot, keep that in mind. If you need the money, it's a different ballgame. If you can, try to hold off til the holiday season for optimal prices. Obviously, this isn't super practical for people who need to maintain cash flow.

As I've said in the past, I primarily use Amazon because I like the convenience of being able to ship in many items at once and the more or less "set it and forget it" nature of selling with FBA. The fees are higher and of course suck, but I know what I am paying for. The recent change to 6-12 month aged inventory is also a hassle. But for me, it is still worth it due to my schedule. If I was doing this full time, or lower volume, I may consider other options more seriously. But for the volume I move, packing and shipping individual sets isn't an option for me at this time.

 

 

I think the persons reputation of 18 got cross confused with the persons posts of 66.
Thirsty is probably completely on track but it is not every day someone posts I have accumulated $70k of Lego and need to figure out how to sell it.
Most people would have done some type of research before accumulating that amount into channels they are going to sell it and how to sell it, margins, etc.
But not everyone either (for instance Ed Mack LOL).  So to me it does make one wonder but I do take Thirsty at their word.

​Ah, that makes sense. Well I stand by the "don't accuse people" statement. There are friendlier and more appropriate ways to call someone a liar.

As for buying $70k of Lego .. as a fellow Canadian, I've known that reputation of Albertans having more money than brains, so I believe him. Haha, just kidding. It seems common though... spend, spend, spend, oh crap, now what?

A seller needs to know what he/she is doing. Ebay's fees are what they are. So are Amazon's. In general, you are getting "more" for those fees: more customers and more exposure. Items also sell higher on Amazon than Ebay, and higher on Ebay than Bricklink. Yes, more customers and exposure means more trouble sometimes, but it comes with the territory. If Ebay's fees are too high for you, then hold longer or refuse to sell at X price (a price which means too small a margin). 

​Absolutely perfect!

This is a good chunk of it.  10211's behind the T1 Van and the 9492.  8 10228's behind the Grand Emporiums.  Viking Fortress (2) and Unimog behind the 10195.  More shots to follow.

To either side.  Six blue bins with Super Heroes, LOTR, Mutant Turtles and Monster Fighters.  Miscellaneous picked up on sale.  18 Orc Forges in there and other goodies.

Bottom of closet full.  Green Grocer, Café Corner, Town Halls and a couple other bigger sets.  Dresser full, underneath spare bed full.  Lego at Girlfriends, Lego in my container in yard.

Heli-Carrier, Death Star, R2, and Cafe Corner built not shown.  Half my Brickmania built not shown.  To get this stuff into Canada costs an arm and a leg.  I reckon back of envelope estimate I have about 5-6k CDN in Brickmania stuff.

Beautiful collection!

youll make money where ever you sell it how ever you sell it LOL

Congrats!

I have sold on eBay (when we started), Bricklink (which we are moving away from) and now Amazon.Ca.  Fees on amazon.Ca are mucho higher than anyone but all I listed from our store was the older/hard to find stuff to get top dollar.  Heck 1/2 the time it's double our wall price.  But your shipping has to be a fixed set of rates for either pieces or Kgs, I just did pieces and make sure the prices can cover any under paid shipping.  Bricklink is nice/fees are low, but not alot of moms & pops know about it.  I am moving away since they started selling peoples creations/MOCs but of licensed/protected IP items and that doesn't sit well with me.  eBay we did for a while, but moved away pretty quickly due to just too many problems.  Good luck and yes if it was years back I would look at buying up your whole collection - usuall we offered 1/2 price of the market price.  Given your pretty valuable sets you can in bulk still do well.  BUT given all the crap of late with people opening boxes/taking out the contents - it's too risky for me to even think bout buying stuff from a store anymore. Almost everything we sell is from LEGO cases only to ensure it actually contains LEGO.  Even the LEGO stores have taken back and resold boxes that no longer contained LEGO!  And just in case anyone pipes up - the tapes will all be fine - they actually slit the glued edges and hot glue it back together under pressure.  VERY hard to detect!!

​Most helpful post yet.  I'm thinking I could just FBA whatever I think has plateau'd/matured and/or little sets I got super cheap and just be done with it.  I'm definitely not interested in blowing this out.  Haunted House, Fire Brigades, Grand Emporiums, etc, maybe list on Amazon once they've hit a price point... say $1000 CDN.

I might just experiment listing on all platforms and see what fits me best.  My thinking is I should build up a good rep on both ebay and amazon in time for fall/xmas by selling some of the crap that never really appreciated.  Or even stuff I think might get taken down a peg like those Hoth Echo bases when the new bigger playset comes out.

 

Dunno... I look up to some of you and really value your opinion.  Some of you doing this in Canada have severe headwinds the Americans on here probably don't realize.  If I can avoid some of the more obvious mistakes it would be immensely valuable.

Wow! You sir I salute you!  

 

I know the feeling, I'm like that with vintage batman memorabilia, from 1943 batman serials posters, lobby cards, 1966 batman toys, 1970s batman toys such as AHI, chemtoys, ideal, Marx....its endless.

 

john

Selling a few items a month is easy and fun. Selling $70k in inventory is more work than most are ready to deal with. There is also the risk that a new seller (or an experienced one) may get in over there head and get a few negatives early and lose their selling privileges before they even get started (I've seen it happen) and then have to find another way to get rid of a large amount of product. Amazon is even less forgiving. Someone with that kind of inventory and no selling experience in in for a shock when they start moving product. The set you buy for $9 and sell for $18 is suddenly a loss once shipping and fees are accounted for. Packing and shipping 50 boxes a day is a substantial time commitment. I highly doubt the OP has 70 $1000 sets. 1400 $50 sets is far more likely. Those will not sell quickly, at least not without a fire sale that will turn $70k into $50k. 

​I lost about 20 grand shorting the S&P 500 Vix at the start of the year.  Probably about a 4 day position.  Just got steamrolled and I ate it large.  Selling a couple Warp Stinger's at a loss to build up rep is considered by me to be a loss leader.  I did eventually make that 20 grand back and learned an invaluable lesson along the way.

Edited April 28, 201510 yr by thirsty
Kant speel worth schit

Wow that's quite a collection. Damn you're lucky to be collecting in Alberta. Dat sales tax. Good luck on your sales!

I guess what we've learned here is the amount of posts or likes you have on X LEGO forum doesn't really matter and assuming he's lying or incorrect is irrelevant? 

Appreciating these replies guys, as they may come in handy for myself some day, biking_tiger, ltbuyer, Archilles, gregpj, Kenxxx!

Hello Thirsty, I've been seling on Ebay since the last 7 years, and honestly Ebay is not what Ebay used to be... and Canada Post is sometime a pain $$$, buyers agree to pay our asking price, but can't understand how come many many times shipping cost is so high and simply don't go for our items due to this fact.  Even more important have notice since last year, even $$$ at par or so, American buyers aren't jumping on our items like they used to...

Still HARD to find retired items are what they are, hardcore collectors will always put their hands in their pockets .. deep deep deep.. but dealing with ebay policies about shipping fees they take is real hard for us in Canada ..  just my 2 cents ! The best for you is try and find the way that will fit your expectations...  1 of my technic on ebay is to up my asking price by a few $$ to lower my shipping cost on my listing.. trying to go the lower an American would pay attention to my item , this way I can attract more customers..

Wish you the best luck, and BTW you have a wonderful stash!

Hello Thirsty, I've been seling on Ebay since the last 7 years, and honestly Ebay is not what Ebay used to be... and Canada Post is sometime a pain $$$, buyers agree to pay our asking price, but can't understand how come many many times shipping cost is so high and simply don't go for our items due to this fact.  Even more important have notice since last year, even $$$ at par or so, American buyers aren't jumping on our items like they used to...

Still HARD to find retired items are what they are, hardcore collectors will always put their hands in their pockets .. deep deep deep.. but dealing with ebay policies about shipping fees they take is real hard for us in Canada ..  just my 2 cents ! The best for you is try and find the way that will fit your expectations...  1 of my technic on ebay is to up my asking price by a few $$ to lower my shipping cost on my listing.. trying to go the lower an American would pay attention to my item , this way I can attract more customers..

Wish you the best luck, and BTW you have a wonderful stash!

Do any of you in Canada ship with UPS, FedEx or Purolator???  And what are your experiences??

 

My biz model is kind of along the lines of emazer's  (love that guy!).  Buy the big exclusives, sit on them until ripe and then sell for big $$$.  At that point I really don't care about a couple more dollars for shipping, and I suspect that will be the buyer's same thinking. 

 

Most of the smaller stuff in my collection came from Target 50% off, or Sears.Ca gift cards.  Neither is really an option at this point so my more recent purchases have been the bigger sets, Brickmania and retired sets I want for myself.

My biz model is kind of along the lines of emazer's  (love that guy!).  Buy the big exclusives, sit on them until ripe and then sell for big $$$.  At that point I really don't care about a couple more dollars for shipping, and I suspect that will be the buyer's same thinking. 

​Dude no doubt. Of all the members on this forum I found his to be the most worthy of reading back 2 years. He doesn't mince words, says what he means and means what he says. He also doesn't post so much so it's easy to find quality in his posts.

If you have access to a post office in the US, you can make things a lot easier but I did not look to see how far Calgary is from the border.

Unfortunately, I find that Canada Post is the best of the worst options, unless you have a corporate account.

​Who are you talking about? I don't see anyone with that few posts in this thread.

Please be careful about accusing people. If Thirsty would like to post a picture of his collection, there is a thread for that where people like to drool all over their keyboards.

​oh my bad i was looking at his likes, not posts. whoops.

 

nice collection man!

Edited April 28, 201510 yr by shortyz

Dunno... I look up to some of you and really value your opinion.  Some of you doing this in Canada have severe headwinds the Americans on here probably don't realize.  If I can avoid some of the more obvious mistakes it would be immensely valuable.

​This might be a no-brainer, but make sure (if you use ebay) to do the "calculate" shipping cost option. So pre-measure/weigh your package and then list said dimensions. Noob mistake i made way back when was list a large item and have it set to say $15 flat rate shipping to anywhere in Canada. Well shipping items out to BC from ON with Xpresspost (i don't use Xpresspost anymore because of this) costs way more than $15...

However my listing specifically stated Xpresspost, so i had to ship it with that method and lost some money. That is when i learned shipping across Canada can be more expensive than shipping to the US... fair eh?

Of course you can always offer free shipping, but i don't on large items.

Also that poor Tie Fighter box with what looks to be Sears shipping label   Nice collection! I want to organize that so bad haha.

Edited April 28, 201510 yr by Sandwraithx157

Lego in my container in yard.

 

​Is this outside?  If you have anything of value in the yard container, whatever that is, I would highly recommend moving it to a climate controlled area.