Hi all,

 

So this would be my first large purchase and I wanted to get opinions on this. Now, seller claims all the booklets shown are complete in this lot including mini figures. Seller said they are very particular about these sets and keeping them together. Containers are included with this lot.

 

Obviously it's all jumbled but I love sorting, I swear it's therapeutic. I know images are slightly blurry and numbers are hard to read. Asking seller for better pics currently.

 

But let's say pieces are all there. No boxes, just booklets and complete sets. I got the seller down to $530

 

What's your opinions? Good buy??? Be as blunt as possible. Also any tips on what to do to check through the sets when I get there?

 

 

 

Looks like a lot of small- to medium-sized sets worth between $10-40. Looks like about half the value of the asking price is in the Pharaoh Quest Scorpion Pyramid, City Cargo Terminal, and Dino Triceratops Trapper.

To my eye, that looks like a fair price if you're buying them for yourself but maybe not much profit if you want to flip it.

Edited April 10, 20178 yr by mizeur

Wouldn't buy that myself. Of all those sets I'd maybe be able to sell the Monsters and Starwars sets here on our local sell site. Sellers always say nothing's missing but it almost always is.

It's probably a fair price but if you are buying to resell this will be a ton of work for a relatively small return. There will be pieces missing. Count on it. At least verify all the minifigs are included before buying. In most cases pieces are easier and less expensive to replace than minifigs.

Pass on it.

Chima.... easy to pass...

At that price I would pass since there are no home runs there.  Surely could make a little coin on it, but there is so much work here since you're dealing with dozens of little sets. 

IMO thats around a $300 bulk buy because you want to get your money back with as few sets as possible and at $530 you're getting into some of the smaller sets just to break even.

Awesome, thank you guys so much for the help! Was hopeful for this cause I'm dying to start sorting but I'll hold unless she goes lower.

Hey guys,

So seller message me clearer photos of the books. I looked them all up and dropped average 6month sale price (used) from Bricklink in quick spreadsheet. See PDF attached. Came out to $1400 total sum of worth. For $530.

Obviously, this is provided they have all pieces, which I know they won't, AND no boxes what so ever.

 

Is this about the total you guys predicted this lot to be? Or am I missing something? I mean thats gotta be at least double my money. Unless I am just missing something huge. I guess when you combine the work involved, plus missing pieces/boxes etc...

 

Anyways, just wanted to add this to the equation and get some thoughts. PDF attached. Thank you so much for any help. 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

Lego Bulk Sale.pdf

If you have a list of set numbers, plug them into the lot calculator on this site and mark as "used". See what you get and compare that with your $1.4k number.

Additionally, there isn't a lot of demand for most of those sets. It would be hard to move a good number of those.

25 minutes ago, Phil B said:

If you have a list of set numbers, plug them into the lot calculator on this site and mark as "used". See what you get and compare that with your $1.4k number.

First off, awesome suggestion. Just saw that tool!
 

Problem though, it made the decision tougher by coming out to $1544.10

If $530 is still too much, what would be a good asking price to try for?

 

 

Should also add, seller is letting me pay with card so I can get cash back off of this haha

Don't over think it.... you have heard opinions and got your inputs. You now have 3 options :

1. Don't buy

2. Buy, and:

2a. Make money by selling these

2b. Learn a good lesson if this does not sell as well, or proves to be more work than you expected, and adjust your strategy/expectations going forward. 

If time were not an issue, the experience of piecing all these back from bulk might be a fun activity, even if you don't make money from it. All up to you though.

Still no.

I'd personally do some more research to find out which sets are actually in demand, how much available inventory there is, and what their current asking price is.

Then it comes down to how much risk you can tolerate when comparing the purchase price to the money you'll make off the easiest to sell, highest profit sets. Compared to the rest of the lot that will take more work and creativity to move.

Edited April 10, 20178 yr by mizeur

While the numbers look good, I know having sold many of these types of sets from my own bulks to tell you that you will have to slash prices to move some of those sets or put them in bulk buys to move them.  Lines like Atlantis and Power Miners, while pretty cool, are tough sells.  I would say from that $1500, you're probably looking at more like $1000 best case scenario.  This is before fees, shipping costs if you do free shipping, etc.  Then there is the fact that there will be missing pieces. 

If this was my lot, I would try to get it to about $300, sell off the few decent sets, and then sell the rest as bulk to my local Bricklink store at $5/lb.  As I said before, there are really no "home run" sets here to be the backbone sure thing to bring money home and get you in the black quick.  End of the day, you have to ask yourself if the time is worth a few hundred dollars.  To me, it's a no, but if you love the thrill of the hunt, then go for it.  You won't lose money on this one, I just don't think there's a ton to make here either.  I love these bulks as much as anyone, but I do a lot of homework before buying as I've been burned on them before.

Take your total, and right away knock off 15% in fees (assuming you are selling on eBay). Are the ones that are actually selling for the average price on eBay including free shipping? Probably, so theres at least several more dollars gone per set - and on the smaller sets, that could be at least 20-30% of their value. As pointed out above, there is almost no way that they are complete. Maybe you can get away with a couple of cost efficient bulk orders from Bricklink to finish all of them, but maybe some of the parts are harder to find - or maybe its missing THE minifigure (worth as much as the rest of the set) that makes the set valuable. Or you can sell them "as is", but thats another 10-15% at a minimim knocked off the value (depending on whats missing, could be a lot more) . Point is, you probably won't lose money at $530, but you won't be getting what the lot calculator says either. And that Chima, may be sitting on it for awhile...

edit: aka, what @Huskers1236 said...

Edited April 10, 20178 yr by legorunner

I would never buy this at any price close to $530 (if at all). Why would you want to bother with this lot? There are always other lots with easy money to take out.

Unless a lot has standout items, or sets in a lot (that I can quickly see the value) that would enable me to get my investment back without question on day 1 (if I wanted to), I just move on (trust me, there are lots of lots out there).

By the way, the photos do not show an example of someone who is "very particular about these sets and keeping them together", so you are likely to be setting yourself up for headaches.

2 hours ago, scatttcat said:

Unless I am just missing something huge.

The "huge" piece your missing, is the amount of time sink you're going to put in to.... to double your money at absolute best. It's a huge lot, and to responsibly sell sets as 100% complete, you'll have to inventory every last one. Then order the (as mentioned, guaranteed) missing pieces, incurring more cost on your buy-in, then build and photo then dismantle and pack. That's a HUGE amount of work for only 100% return. If you're putting that kind of work in, you want to be aiming at 250% return on your buy-in. 

 

If you can work it down to $300-350, maybe you have something. As others have said though, lots of small to medium size sets in sub-themes that aren't all that interesting. Part of the value of used lots for me, is getting to build some cool sets I never owned as a kid. Don't see too many of those in that lot! 

Thanks everyone, seller actually messaged me randomly and pulled the listing / sale. Said they did research of their own and want to make more selling individually.

So wasn't meant to be.

That being said, where are best places to find solid lots of sets?

I'm currently exploring local CL and apps like LetGo and OfferUp. Guess I haven't really tried eBay yet.

Any others I am missing?

Thanks

2 minutes ago, scatttcat said:

Thanks everyone, seller actually messaged me randomly and pulled the listing / sale. Said they did research of their own and want to make more selling individually.

So wasn't meant to be.

That being said, where are best places to find solid lots of sets?

I'm currently exploring local CL and apps like LetGo and OfferUp. Guess I haven't really tried eBay yet.

Any others I am missing?

Thanks

Ebay used to be amazing for these types of lots about 5+ years ago.  The explosion of random folks trying to make a buck off lego has really put a dent in great lots on ebay or their prices have gone much higher than they were before.  Shipping rates kill potential value as well.  Craigslist has been my best bet, but only so many folks in this city and nearby that have big enough lots that fit my criteria.  Just keep watching, another lot will come up and you'll forget all about this one. 

1 minute ago, Huskers1236 said:

Ebay used to be amazing for these types of lots about 5+ years ago.  The explosion of random folks trying to make a buck off lego has really put a dent in great lots on ebay or their prices have gone much higher than they were before.  Shipping rates kill potential value as well.  Craigslist has been my best bet, but only so many folks in this city and nearby that have big enough lots that fit my criteria.  Just keep watching, another lot will come up and you'll forget all about this one. 

On my CL everyone seemingly over prices their Legos. I live in San Diego, so this probably makes sense. Everyone has a couple sets, checks eBay and lists their lots at double. Also a lot of garbage "1 duffle bag full of Legos" in which you have NO way of seeing anything.

There was a comment about the bulk seller's photos being disorganized, ironically they had their lot the most organized I have seen so far, easy. haha

Seems like its a tough city to get any good deals in general, but its the nature of the game I guess. 

 

Thanks for the advice!

A lot of folks will purposefully overprice what they have knowing they will get lowballs.  Offer what you feel you are comfortable with and see where it goes.  If you think it's overpriced, so do the other potential buyers.

Try local FB virtual yard sales. Some of my best scores came from those.