Welcome to BrickPicker.com.  My name is Ed Mack and along with my brother Jeff, we are the creators of BrickPicker.  We would like to give new members...and some old ones, an opportunity to ask the "stupid" question.  On many forums, the new or inexperienced members will get berated for asking basic or repetitive questions that many veteran site members already know.  Well this forum is the place to ask that silly or dumb question about the site or LEGO collecting and investing.  So ask away, no question is a bad one...

 

Also, check out the BrickPicker FAQs before asking, it might answer your question.  

 

PS:  To veteran and experienced members, I expect civil and proper responses.  To new members, no spam please.

 

Thanks...Ed Mack

It would be good if we could have a field in the brickfolio where we could enter our own valuation of a set....please.

Not sure where to post this, so thought I would ask here. Where do we post questions about handling buying/selling situations? Like for advice or opinion? The general buying selling thread?

Ebay fruitcakes. Maybe. What's your question? I'll try to help.

One of the Quinjets I got from the Target sale might have been opened. My Target is out of Quinjets, so exchanging isn't really possible. In this situation is it better to open the set and verify the contents and sell as new but opened? How have others handled this sort of situation? Don't want to be selling this set a few years from now and have a buyer say all the Minifigs are missing or something.

Weigh it. If you have one that is sealed compare it with thst. A 2 Oz fluctuation is normal. I really doubt target sold you an opened item. I've never heard of this happening.

If you know the item as all the pieces but has been opened you need to be clear about this when selling. It'd up to your own judgement to decide if you feel the set will reach a level of probability that you can sell opened.

Thanks for the info. Weighing them sounds like the way to go.

Need some quick help. Is it ok to sell something on Ebay for like $100 + Fire Brigade. Or can you only sell for money

-I don't always going shopping, but when I do I buy Lego-

Does anyone know???

-I don't always going shopping, but when I do I buy Lego-

Is it allowed to sell something on Ebay for example. $100 + They send you a Fire Brigade. Couldn't find any information other then you can't contact someone to buy your item outside of Ebay if they found it on there.

-I don't always going shopping, but when I do I buy Lego-

Is it allowed to sell something on Ebay for example. $100 + They send you a Fire Brigade. Couldn't find any information other then you can't contact someone to buy your item outside of Ebay if they found it on there.

-I don't always going shopping, but when I do I buy Lego-

I see you have posted is three times. I don't think people are answering you because they think you are joking. I'll be nice and answer you.

No. No you cannot that. The same reason you can't go into target and say I want to trade some money plus some lint and a clothes hanger for another item. EBay is a business. One that operates in currency. It's not a pawn shop or trade center.

I am new to this and I am wondering: If a set is not retired yet, is it ok to buy it even if it has a negative CAGR? Say it has a thirty or more percent discount, and is  over a year old. Is it a bad investment if the CAGR is negative?

I am new to this and I am wondering: If a set is not retired yet, is it ok to buy it even if it has a negative CAGR? Say it has a thirty or more percent discount, and is over a year old. Is it a bad investment if the CAGR is negative?

don't buy that prince of Persia set at Barnes and Noble.

I wouldn't dream of buying a Prince of Persia set after reading on this website! In fact I never wanted one anyway  

Most of the sets you will find on the market and are not retired so far tend to have a negative CAGR (due to being on sale during holidays, near christmas, ...), especially when it is their first year on the market (have a look at the 2014 released sets when it comes near christmas).

 

So it depends on the theme and then on the set you are going to purchase.

Thanks, Ensche. The sets I plan on purchasing are Star Wars and Marvel Super Heroes.

I am new to this and I am wondering: If a set is not retired yet, is it ok to buy it even if it has a negative CAGR? Say it has a thirty or more percent discount, and is  over a year old. Is it a bad investment if the CAGR is negative?

Most of the sets you will find on the market and are not retired so far tend to have a negative CAGR (due to being on sale during holidays, near christmas, ...), especially when it is their first year on the market (have a look at the 2014 released sets when it comes near christmas).

 

So it depends on the theme and then on the set you are going to purchase.

Levimahan44, what Ensche said was fabulous advice. Normal fluxuation in price is normal. It goes up and down as sales and clearances come and go. I believe that CAGR is based on end value (current eBay price) and beginning value (MSRP price) as seen in the picture below: 

In fact, I'd say most unretired sets have negative CAGR merely because it is not rare at all for someone to be able to find and sell as set for lower than market price. Of course, 30% below is a little higher than most sets (pardon the oxymoron), but it definitely isn't rare, and shouldn't impede you from buying the set if you think it is a good investment.

 

EDIT: LOL, I was typing my response when you replied. In my opinion, Super Heroes sets are excellent investments, in particular some of the larger ones. Star Wars ones aren't as great as they were before, but they are still great investments. Ones I'd look to buy in the future are the new battle packs that LEGO has released. BrickPicker Co-Founder Ed Mack did a great article on them if you are interested: http://blog.brickpicker.com/do-lego-battle-packs-offer-any-bang-for-your-investment-buck/

For the US market it looks at the moment as if the Super Heroes (as well as the DC ones) are the better joice in terms of selling them earlier than the Star Wars sets (these you have to hold back for a much longer time). But, of course, you cannot generalize that. So if there is a Star Wars UCS set you can buy for more than 30% off, that could be a better joice than Super Heroes, but also here, only time will tell. (Or you will just quick flip them, but I have not that much experience with that)

 

I think best would be to choose certain sets you like and ask for them seperately here in the forums.

Thank you very much comicblast and Ensche! I am very excited to begin investing in Lego sets and I appreciate the help. 

you're welcome.

I think all the questions can be answered here in the forums or by searching and reading the blog entries here.

 

But before beginning with investing there are some decisions to be made:

 

like... do you want to spend more or less money in your new hobby?

     ... do you want to start with small sets, large ones or a diversity of sets?

     ... do you want to quick flip sets, part them out and sell seperately, hold them back for ages?

     ... will you stay with only a few themes or broaden your variety (when successful)?

     ... where do you want to sell (craigslist, ebay, amazon, ...)?

 

to name only a few of them!

 

The decisions and answers are up to yourself, but the people here can give you good advice!

Good luck

Thanks! I will consider all these decisions. Happy brickpicking!

HI, I'm Nick.  New here. Got my butt reamed for wanted to resell quinjets yseterday in the daily deals thread. lol.  New question. Is parting out lego sets worth the time?  Is here really that much more money to be made?

 

Honestly, I think this is up to you to try and find out on your own.  I personally already know that for me to spend the time, opening a set, splitting up the pieces, listing the sets online, etc.  I would go bonkers.  That is not for me, so I really won't even try it.  Others love it and have done very well.  No matter what, it's what works best for you, what sets you are going to do it with, how much inventory are you willing to store and how efficient can you be.  It does not work for everyone.

HI, I'm Nick.  New here. Got my butt reamed for wanted to resell quinjets yseterday in the daily deals thread. lol.  New question. Is parting out lego sets worth the time?  Is here really that much more money to be made?

 

Welcome Nick!  I wasn't very happy about how your questions were received.  The community here is actually really receptive, so just take away a couple things from it.  Try to use the search function and ask questions in the appropriate forums.

Welcome Nick!  I wasn't very happy about how your questions were received.  The community here is actually really receptive, so just take away a couple things from it.  Try to use the search function and ask questions in the appropriate forums.

Yes...I agree with this.  Welcome to the site.  Sometimes people forget they were noobs at one time.  Just ignore the members who think it is still high school.

Still trying to figure out a couple things. What is considered as a Transaction on Paypal. Is it every time you buy or sell or pay something? Only when you sell? Thanks.

-I don't always go shopping, but when I do I buy Lego-