So, this is partially inspired by DNIIM from another thread, basically targeting out biggest screwups and regrets in buying, not buying and selling.

 

Buying

Oh those early years. I was collecting the Toy Story Lego sets for my son, when it came down to needing the Garbage Truck set to complete it. I had already forked out significant dollars for the collection, though had been purchased the sets at some discount (only later for them to be heavily discounted). Well I saw the Garbage Truck set on a site called Fishpond for $99 (free shipping) and the set had proven to be elusive due to it's exclusive release. In the end I ordered it, then the wait began.... and continued. 9 weeks later, it hasn't been shipped and then I found one on ebay for $85 delivered so snapped it up. The day my ebay item shipped, Fishpond shipped theirs. So all these years on I still have a Garbage Truck sitting there which I paid full retail for. I leave the sealed copy in the middle of my stash to continue mocking me and remind me of that lesson. 

 

I have Cars 2 sets do the same, but since I picked them up for $25 a pop and can sell them at profit, they do not count as much.

 

Not Buying

It is easy to sit back and point to the Green Grocer, UCS Falcons, etc. But I am probably aiming more for those sets you saw heavily discounted and wanted that little bit cheaper (greed I know!)

 

As I was getting into reselling, I noticed the clearances going on locally. One set that got my attention was the 7888 Batman The Tumbler: Joker's Ice Cream Surprise set. It was down to $25, 4 on the shelf. I was more interested in Star Wars and besides, who would spend a fortune on Batman? I went home and forgot about it, before looking the set up on ebay a week later and realising the prices were solid. A quick check found the line had been discontinued. I raced back.... all gone. 

A couple of weeks before I had been researching the Batmobile UCS and was watching the sets sell for $20-30, and kept thinking that with the freight over here it would be too expensive to buy (wayyyyy before my budget blowouts these days!)

 

Selling

Ahhh yes some harsh lessons learnt here. I am not going to pick out UCS ISD, DS2 or Market Street as I sold them for significant profit. Sure they are worth a lot more now, but I have learnt as I went on.

Just before Christmas last year I sold off my damaged Black Pearl sets for $150. Very silly, but I thought they would still be around. Same with the 8109 Flatbed Truck sets.

The Christmas before was the Technic Mobile Crane, sold them off at retail for a small profit only for them to go EOL not long after and see a nice jump.

 

So yes, as buyers/collectors/resellers/investors we can't win on everything. Share your stories. 

 

BUYING

 

Going in head first and buying 10x 10214 from LEGO Shop at Home at RRP (

Lol yeah forgot about that 41999. I thought just like you I'd have time to buy them but they sold out in minutes...

 

I find I'd rather buy few items and risking less profit in terms of size rather than buying millions of a set and locking up too much money in it. Being aware of the market is important too, not all sets sell well everywhere.

 

And I find Amazon rarely have really interesting offers when compared to the online retailers in my country. Even using camelcamelcamel I rarely see good discounts for sets I like...

I have some PoP and Toy Story sets in the basement.  I wish I would have gotten them cheaper but I did get them all on sale, just not as deep of a discount as I would have liked.  I also bought a couple of Home Ones and Battle of Endors early on.  Oh well, no long term damage done.  If I would have waited longer I could have gotten them cheaper.  Thems the breaks.

Buying:

 

Nothing really yet. I've only been doing this for about 8 months so I don't know what losers I've got in my collection yet. Most of my "losses" showing in Brickpicker are sets I bought for myself and paid more than I should have before I learned how to get the best deals, and I don't really regret having bought any of the open sets I own - because I'm a Lego fan first, investor second.

 

Not Buying:

 

I remember passing by The Burrow 4840 multiple times at WalMart. I wanted to buy it for myself (cool set) but at the time my kids weren't "in" to Harry Potter yet and I couldn't justify it. I saw it on clearance for $30 or so and still passed it up (this was well before I thought about the investment potential of Lego). . .I finally bought a used one, 99% complete, on eBay last month for $75 (but hey, I used eBucks on it so it wasn't that bad, right?). Ugh.

 

I bought an Imperial Flagship 10210 for myself (at RRP, $180ish if I remember correctly and it was worth every penny - awesome awesome set!) back in 2006 or so. I remember thinking at the time I should buy a second one to hold and re-sell later, but I didn't.

 

When I started looking at Lego as an investment earlier this year, the 10210 set was the example I used to help convince my wife it was worth our time and money.

 

Selling:

The Ghost Train and Vampyre Castle. In September I flipped 2 GT's I bought on clearance in July and made a nice profit (on a percentage basis) but if I had held out until now I could have close to doubled my money. Didn't save one - should have. And should have tried harder to find more of them on clearance in July. Same with VC - got one on clearance, sold it for retail and made what seemed like a nice profit at the time but now seems foolish.

 

All part of the fun - live and learn! It's great to have this community to share successes and warnings.

I have some PoP and Toy Story sets in the basement.  I wish I would have gotten them cheaper but I did get them all on sale, just not as deep of a discount as I would have liked.  I also bought a couple of Home Ones and Battle of Endors early on.  Oh well, no long term damage done.  If I would have waited longer I could have gotten them cheaper.  Thems the breaks.

 

Slightly OT here, but will the Battle of Endors spike a little with the release of Ewok Village, or are there just too many available?

Slightly OT here, but will the Battle of Endors spike a little with the release of Ewok Village, or are there just too many available?

 

It's already risen some since July and I think it will continue rising over the next year.

Slightly OT here, but will the Battle of Endors spike a little with the release of Ewok Village, or are there just too many available?

 

I think they might. Its honestly a pretty sweet set to combine with it.

regret not buying imperial shuttle 10212 when it was on offer on amazon, 

Forgive me, Lego, for I have sinned. I have not built a set since....since....since when? It's been so long I can't remember. :dontknow:

Lol i thought this thread was gonna be something weird like i made my pink lego bricks into boobs

 

Pictures or it never happened.

Will I get excommunicated from the church of LEGO if I built with Mega Bloks? 

Will I get excommunicated from the church of LEGO if I built with Mega Bloks? 

I hope not. I built with Megablocks when I was five, and I still have some laying around with my Lego bricks.

Pictures or it never happened.

I'd have to do it with brown or black bricks because I don't buy friends. But "it never happened"

When i had one of my first ever sales i sent the Lego set off with no tracking, the guy obviously knew this and mysteriously it didn't arrive so i was out of pocket around

When i had one of my first ever sales i sent the Lego set off with no tracking, the guy obviously knew this and mysteriously it didn't arrive so i was out of pocket around

Block him as a buyer if you haven't already done so and then check his sales as he may relist the same set in a few months if he's an investor too.  Then you've got him!  Even though untracked, did you insure?

 

No I didn't it was on Amazon, so not 100% sure how to block them on there i did keep an eye out but didnt see it pop up, i kept his details handy in case he popped up again. Of course it might not have arrived but for me it seemed far too suspicious (from the way he wrote his replies & his attitude) and instincts told me he was a liar, No i just sent it off standard delivery which is more or less suicide for the valuable sets as getting compensation was like getting blood from a stone. 

A friggin lot of City - Construction sets. There were something like 11 sets that I bought as a lot and tried to part them. Still have like 5 to go.

I had 10 imperial flag ships in my shopping cart, online, on sale for $133 each, at the last second i decided to just get 2, one for myself and one for resale. Luckly i caugh my mistake a couple months later and was able to buy a uses imperial flagship for myself for just $100 and still have the two MISB sets. live and learn.

A friggin lot of City - Construction sets. There were something like 11 sets that I bought as a lot and tried to part them. Still have like 5 to go.

 

Which ones? My kids love the construction sets!

Which ones? My kids love the construction sets!

 

Among some of the ones that were in the lot... 7243, 7249, 7633, 7685, 7344, 7632, 7900 and 7998.

 

Also, any Ninjago set to sell in the EU market. I have almost all dragons, and I think that I'll open them and build them as Ninjago over here is lame investment-wise.

Which ones? My kids love the construction sets!

 

Don't get me wrong, I really like construction sets, I just don't like construction sets that deconstruct my investments 

I bought Bumblebee Kre-O when it was heavily discounted    

Buying: not any real big bad purchases. Just a few toy story sets. But I've slowly unloaded those as gifts for young family members so not a big deal.

Not buying: I have a nice collection but there are always tons of sets we all regret not buying. Or not buying more of. This is where the greed gets in the way.

Selling: my 2 biggest errors (and these aren't really that bad in the big picture) was selling Taj Mahal for $400. Doubled my money but still... Also buying the carousel used for my daughter to build for less than retail and quickly flipping it after EOL for nearly double what I bought for. But we all know the value of those sets now.

Almost all of my sets have sold for double, triple or more than I paid so I really can't complain.

And I've never regretted lost value based on building sets. After all building is what Lego is about.