So a walmart near me had An Unexpected Gathering's at $33.00 which is a very good price.  Needless to say I cleaned them out of mint ones.  However they have two left that are pretty beat up.  They are intact as far as I can tell, but the boxes are really bad.

 

So I am thinking about getting them and parting them out.  I have never parted out a set so I am a little nervous about trying it.  From looking at ebay sold listings it looks to be a profitable endeavor but I am not sure.  Was wondering what everyone thinks on this and if there is anything I should be wary of.

 

Thanks guys,

- Vince

I don't generally sell all my parts on eBay because I'm building up a Bricklink Store, but I usually sell the minifigs on eBay. I can't see making less than $33 on the minifigs (unless you sell at auction and start too low) so the rest should be able to be sold and that set has some of the cool parts - plants, food, containers - that should do well on eBay, too.

It's a pretty good set to part out. Definitely not at MSRP, but at most things lower, you can at least make back your money. Plus, I think parting out a set is a good experience. My first time I learned a bunch about selling and listings.

It's a pretty good set to part out. Definitely not at MSRP, but at most things lower, you can at least make back your money. Plus, I think parting out a set is a good experience. My first time I learned a bunch about selling and listings.

 

 

That's what I am thinking.  Would be nice to use it to get experience with selling on ebay and build a little feedback.  Thinking along that lines I would be fine with breaking even or even a slight loss.

I am very sure at half off you can part out the set and earn back a profit. Five exclusive minifigures and some parts in rare colors. (The windows in dark green for example.) Also the door is in fact printed! (No darn sticker.) Oh, and people love Lego food. Can't get enough of the stuff. ;)

Lego food - the new diet sensation!!!! 

 

More seriously I saw someone listed a parted out Uruk Hai Army, sure they got approx

Lego food - the new diet sensation!!!!

More seriously I saw someone listed a parted out Uruk Hai Army, sure they got approx

1. Don't sell at auction. Fixed price brings better returns in most cases.

2. If you do sell readily available items at auction, don't start the bidding too low to profit.

3. There's parting out in large set chunks (1 listing for all-the-minifigs and one listing for everything-else) and then there's parting out each minifig separately or a couple in a listing, and parting out the plants separately, various building materials in multiple listings, food in another, etc. The latter is more work but more money. Provided he doesn't use auctions, but sets his price and waits for it.

The person with the Uruk hai Army separated out the Orcs, listed the two Elves separately and then the building. All with 0.99 start. The figures sold for approx

A currently available set broken into parts is worth more than the entire set. If people want to give them away at auction that's fine, but I and many other people who part out sets and set the price and wait for it can and do get two to four times the cost of the set, at MSRP nevermind the discounts, with eBay and/or Bricklink.

Parting out sets you need to remember the following:

 

1. I tally up what I can get worst case scenario for each item including shipping and Ebay fees. This is what I have to buy the set at or under to ensure I make a profit.

 

2. Stuff will sit. Some stuff moves, but the "no minifigures" sets don't move quickly. I have some sitting for two months from when I started. They will sell eventually, but the actually pieces part of the set is the most expensive part. I have several sets where I sold all the figs and made back my money, but I am just waiting for the ship itself to sell to actually profit.

 

3. Shipping the non minifigure pieces - Don't offer a box. Adds up shipping too much. Without it, you can use a padded envelope and keep things a lot more resonable.

 

4. Don't sell any of the same sets as me. I don't need competition.

 

That is all.

Don't worry you will be fine.

A currently available set broken into parts is worth more than the entire set. If people want to give them away at auction that's fine, but I and many other people who part out sets and set the price and wait for it can and do get two to four times the cost of the set, at MSRP nevermind the discounts, with eBay and/or Bricklink.

 

I have just discovered, that someone on ebay UK is doing this on 79003, a much better one than my 9471 example. However they are doing it as auctions, which is not how Justafrog recommends to do things. Here are links to the auctions should you want to watch them All had a 99p start price:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lego-The-Hobbit-An-Unexpected-Journey-79003-Bag-end-100-Complete-No-Figures-/190925800016?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item2c74108250#ht_274wt_1328

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEGO-Mini-Figure-The-Hobbit-Dwalin-the-Dwarf-split-from-set-79003-/190925836769?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item2c741111e1#ht_228wt_1328

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEGO-Mini-Figure-The-Hobbit-Balin-the-Dwarf-split-from-set-79003-/190925839302?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item2c74111bc6#ht_191wt_1328

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEGO-Mini-Figure-The-Hobbit-Bombur-the-Dwarf-split-from-set-79003-/190925843489?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item2c74112c21#ht_191wt_1328

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEGO-Mini-Figure-The-Hobbit-Bofur-the-Dwarf-split-from-set-79003-/190925846435?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item2c741137a3#ht_228wt_1328

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEGO-Mini-Figure-The-Hobbit-Gandalf-The-Grey-Wizard-split-from-set-79003-/190925849694?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item2c7411445e#ht_228wt_1328

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEGO-Mini-Figure-The-Hobbit-Bilbo-Baggins-split-from-set-79003-/190925852364?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item2c74114ecc#ht_191wt_1328

And, from the UK site also, here are the most recent SALES of minifigs and parted out 79003 NON-auctions (fixed price) - these may be a mix of new and used, as I forgot to sort it by new:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lego-Lord-of-the-Rings-79003-Dwalin-the-Dwarf-New-/271271459123?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item3f2909f933

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lego-Lord-of-the-Rings-79003-Bombur-the-Dwarf-New-/271286795623?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item3f29f3fd67

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lego-The-Hobbit-Balin-The-Dwarf-Minifigure-Split-From-Set-79003-NEW-/350882588915?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item51b23b68f3

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lego-The-Hobbit-Bombur-The-Dwarf-Minifigure-Split-From-Set-79003-NEW-/321214722761?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item4ac9e3b2c9

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEGO-LORD-OF-THE-RINGS-79003-AN-UNEXPECTED-GATHERING-NO-MINIFIGURES-/290982930089?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item43bfef26a9

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEGO-THE-HOBBIT-DWALIN-THE-DWARF-MINI-FIGURE-NEW-WITH-HAMMER-RARE-FROM-79003-LOT-/111142660638?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item19e09e6a1e

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEGO-HOBBIT-HOUSE-79003-NO-MINI-FIGURES-/121170044661?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item1c364c26f5

Should the auctions end consistently higher than the non-auctions instead of the other way around, I'd love to hear about it.

 

Edited to add: For my own education, I went ahead and sorted SOLD listings by new, and then compared Auction vs Fixed Price.

 

There were more fixed price solds than auctions, but what I did was take the most recent of each in the following categories (because there were at least 1 each of auction/fixed price to compare to each other).

 

Remember: these are RECENT SALES. All prices include shipping:

 

Bombur Minifig

Auction - 5.89, 4.59

Fixed Price - 7.99, 10.79

 

Bilbo Minifig

Auction - 3.59

Fixed Price - 6.99

 

Complete Set EXCEPT Minifigs

Auction - 31.00

Fixed Price - 40.99

 

I did not "pick and choose" or ignore any higher priced auctions or lower priced fixed price sales - these are the most recent and can be found on the UK site under sold listings (my search was "Lego 79003"), new condition, and auction or fixed price.

 

As you can see, not one auction performed better than its fixed price alternate. Some auctions do, of course. Most do not.

Should the auctions end consistently higher than the non-auctions instead of the other way around, I'd love to hear about it.

 

Edited to add: For my own education, I went ahead and sorted SOLD listings by new, and then compared Auction vs Fixed Price.

 

There were more fixed price solds than auctions, but what I did was take the most recent of each in the following categories (because there were at least 1 each of auction/fixed price to compare to each other).

 

Remember: these are RECENT SALES. All prices include shipping:

 

Bombur Minifig

Auction - 5.89, 4.59

Fixed Price - 7.99, 10.79

 

Bilbo Minifig

Auction - 3.59

Fixed Price - 6.99

 

Complete Set EXCEPT Minifigs

Auction - 31.00

Fixed Price - 40.99

 

I did not "pick and choose" or ignore any higher priced auctions or lower priced fixed price sales - these are the most recent and can be found on the UK site under sold listings (my search was "Lego 79003"), new condition, and auction or fixed price.

 

As you can see, not one auction performed better than its fixed price alternate. Some auctions do, of course. Most do not.

Is that $$ or

Is that $$ or

If you bought this set at full price and parted it out at current UK asking prices per each figure and then the house, taking into account the ebay and paypal fees, postage and packaging, you are actually only breaking even or more than likely making a loss. This thread is a good opportunity for warning those looking in with views to investing in Lego that it is not as easy as it looks to make money from Lego.You really do need to know what you're doing with both Lego and ebay. Tread carefully. There are some "experts" on youtube who talk about projected percentage profits from Lego but no mention of the said fees you will encounter. Some investors ignore these hidden fees because it doesn't fit their perception of the value/worth of their collection.

If you bought this set at full price and parted it out at current UK asking prices per each figure and then the house, taking into account the ebay and paypal fees, postage and packaging, you are actually only breaking even or more than likely making a loss. This thread is a good opportunity for warning those looking in with views to investing in Lego that it is not as easy as it looks to make money from Lego.You really do need to know what you're doing with both Lego and ebay. Tread carefully. There are some "experts" on youtube who talk about projected percentage profits from Lego but no mention of the said fees you will encounter. Some investors ignore these hidden fees because it doesn't fit their perception of the value/worth of their collection.

 

The OP bought it at a significant discount, $33 (about 20.68 pounds) in the U.S.

 

CHN and I took the subject a bit off track in our ongoing debate about whether a seller is regularly leaving money on the table in choosing auctions over fixed price - because CHN is in the UK and was looking at those prices, I accommodated that as starting point for our discussion, but it's not an accurate starting point (necessarily) for the OP.

 

At retail prices*, I can make a profit parting out Lego, including fees - I do it across two venues, eBay for figs, Bricklink for most of the other parts.

At discounted prices, which is what this thread started with, it becomes easier to make a profit purely on eBay, too.

 

On eBay U.S. right now, the SOLD listings for the minifigs show you can get approximately $45 or so for the six of them without much trouble and $35 - $40 for the building, ditto. Those are fixed price, not auctions, I am sure the auctions are going for a lesser average like normal. It would take the OP (based on my experience) about 10 minutes to assemble the figs, and leave all the other parts in bags for assembly by the buyer - a significant time savings over my own method putting them up on Bricklink, where I have to sort all the parts.

 

No, it's not easy and there are all kinds of people managing to not make a profit and not even realizing it, but it's not rocket surgery, either. Just gotta own a calculator and do a little accounting from time to time. 

 

*(Not to indicate I am a fan of paying retail prices - I will on some things based on their having highly desirable parts or the harder to find discounts on exclusives , but being a cheapskate I tend to focus on what I can get as a bargain in most cases.)

Not to indicate I am a fan of paying retail prices - I will on some things based on their having highly desirable parts or the harder to find discounts on exclusives , but being a cheapskate I tend to focus on what I can get as a bargain in most cases.

I, too, am a cheapskate and not afraid to admit it. I have the same way of thinking when it comes to any of my purchases. I'll hold off on buying something due to either it being full retail (especially BIG sets) or another item on sale. My now complete collection of The Hobbit sets is a testament of waiting for a discount while at the same time other themes I have are incomplete from sales never happening around me (or maybe I missed them and didn't notice). Sometimes you do have to say the heck with it and pay full price but it does seem lately deals do happen even if they may be minor.

I certainly am glad you're around, justafrog. You are rather well versed in different marketplaces and continue to share such varied insight into such aspects many may dismiss outright. Plus we sorely needed a 'set parter' expert around here. :thumbsup:

Well, I don't know that I can claim expert status on set parting yet, but I have done a redonculous amount of research on it (as my friend Rikki Tikki Tavi would say, "Run and find out!") and I'm getting there.

 

And this site has been fantastic for me in my fledgling Lego merchant career. I get out of it a lot more than I put in, even if my jokes weren't so dumb. :-D

 

Edited for typos. My trademark!

The OP bought it at a significant discount, $33 (about 20.68 pounds) in the U.S.

 

CHN and I took the subject a bit off track in our ongoing debate about whether a seller is regularly leaving money on the table in choosing auctions over fixed price - because CHN is in the UK and was looking at those prices, I accommodated that as starting point for our discussion, but it's not an accurate starting point (necessarily) for the OP.

 

At retail prices*, I can make a profit parting out Lego, including fees - I do it across two venues, eBay for figs, Bricklink for most of the other parts.

At discounted prices, which is what this thread started with, it becomes easier to make a profit purely on eBay, too.

 

On eBay U.S. right now, the SOLD listings for the minifigs show you can get approximately $45 or so for the six of them without much trouble and $35 - $40 for the building, ditto. Those are fixed price, not auctions, I am sure the auctions are going for a lesser average like normal. It would take the OP (based on my experience) about 10 minutes to assemble the figs, and leave all the other parts in bags for assembly by the buyer - a significant time savings over my own method putting them up on Bricklink, where I have to sort all the parts.

 

No, it's not easy and there are all kinds of people managing to not make a profit and not even realizing it, but it's not rocket surgery, either. Just gotta own a calculator and do a little accounting from time to time. 

 

*(Not to indicate I am a fan of paying retail prices - I will on some things based on their having highly desirable parts or the harder to find discounts on exclusives , but being a cheapskate I tend to focus on what I can get as a bargain in most cases.)

 

We weren't that far off topic, least we were talking about the same set

 

The auctions have 10 hours to run at the moment and so far the total adds up to approx

OK Folks, the results are in:

Bilbo Baggins -

I would of bought it at $30 even if the box is crushed. thats a great deal. You don't have to part it now. When the set retires even parted sets can go up. This is what I do when I made a bad investment in a set that's not appreciating because sometimes you can't sell a set brand new for what you bought for due to eBay fees and shipping cost. So parting it out, getting your money back to reinvest in a better winner is something an option an investor has. Always keep in mind the fees, shipping, and packing supplies so you can be on the positive. Sometimes it will sit but be patient eventually it will sell.

Thank you all for your inputs.  I really appreciate the discussion and helped me learn alot.

 

Unfortunately, work got busy and by the time I got out there again they were gone .   But oh well, I am better prepared for future encounters now .

OK Folks, the results are in:

Bilbo Baggins -

It definitely proves that parting out by auction is not profitable on the LOTR sets.

if you are selling partial sets or whole sets how do you determine your pricing? I'm sure experience comes into it but on a set like your example what helped you pick your $49.75 price?