Selling my collection...one lump sum

pantenkind

Ok, hate to do it but I am going to entertain offers on my collection. Please check out my profile, I have it all updated. I am an adult collector and a non smoker. I display my sets (most of them) and the others are in a big tub. I have all the original instructions and all minifigs. In fact I have a whole extra set of the death star figs as well. I dont have most of the boxes but I do have a few. I can provide a list of them if you need them. They are not mint condition but none are tore up either. If your looking for misb sets this is not for you. If you want a good jump on some great sets then this is.

I will take offers. You can post em here, or send me a message. I am not selling because I need money so please do us both a favor and dont try to undercut me like crazy. That being said I understand they are not sealed and do not expect top dollar on them either. I live in Peoria, Illinois so you can either pick up, or I will ship to you and you will pay actual cost of shipping and shipping material.

for the sake of honesty I can say all pieces are in the same condition they were in when I bought them. Except....one of the flags from the grand emporium fell off and my puppy took a nibble on it. Its still ok but it has tiny teeth marks on it. I also have the fuel tank service pack for my shuttle adventure. The one good thing about my sets being opened is if there was a few missing pieces then I have already called LEGO and had replacements sent. All my sets are 100% complete.

If you are a serious buyer I am a serious seller and we can do business. Let me know. I will take bids for a day or two and feel it out, I have a number in my head and if someone gets to it first I will sell. If not I will contemplate the offers I got and decide at that point if its worth selling, if not I will just keep them. Thanks for reading, I tried to be thorough and probably got a little chatty in the process. If you have any questions at all please dont hesitate to ask.

Brian

pantenkind

http://www.brickset.com/search/?owned=1 theres a link to my collection I guess you cant see it through my profile.

davee123

That's actually a link to the setlist of the person clicking on the link :) Assuming this is you (I don't think your username on the forum has to match the one on the main site?), I think this is the link you want:

http://www.brickset.com/search/?OwnedBy=pantenkind

DaveE

pantenkind

Thank you, I didnt realize that was the wrong link. Thanks for helping out on that. By the way how do I make it so people can just go right from my profile to see my collection?

davee123

I'm not sure you can-- at least not from your *forum* profile. I believe the two sets of usernames are different: one for your BrickSet profile and one for your BrickSet Forum profile. The one for your normal profile already has a link to your set list (but your forum profile doesn't):

http://www.brickset.com/profile/?pantenkind

DaveE

Matthew

You can add a link through the status style text box on your 'activity' tab.
(And I'd be interested in buying some of it, but only some, I'm not able to buy all of it at the moment)

pantenkind

I understand that selling the collection as a whole will be harder. The problem I have is I dont really want to sell, or need to sell. I am just doing it as a favor to my wife. So if I get what I want I will sell it all, if not I will keep it. If I part it out then I will sell some and just really hate the fact that I sold what I did and have what I have left.

rocao

Given that you have a number in mind, if you haven't had an offer at or near it yet, I personally would find it helpful if you announced it and I think others might, as well. Considering the size and value of the collection, I think the prospective pool of buyers would overlap a lot with people that already have large collections. And if they are anything like me, while not particularly needing anything in your collection and therefore not actively bidding, if they found your expected value to be a fair price, it might prompt an offer.

Matthew

I also think it would be a lot easier for people to get their head around if there was an amount, which they could make offers around. What's Brickset telling you the (original) value is?

cloud0

Might help if you state where you are located and whether you are willing to deal internationally

davee123

Assuming he had one of each set on the list, I want to say it was $5200 or so (I remember checking briefly when looking at it)-- but that's MSRP value. I could speculate what I think a "fair" price would be, but my guess is that it'd be below the asking price (people who sell their collections as a whole seem to typically be disappointed in the final sale price-- at least that I've seen).

DaveE

mackrel

You need to publish you asking price. Are you looking for MSRP? Eighty cents on the dollar? It will help you not have to deal with a bunch nonsense.

pantenkind

Might help if you state where you are located and whether you are willing to deal internationally

I did actually say Peoria Illinois in my original post:-) Also I didn't technically say I would ship overseas but that I would ship at buyers expense. So yes overseas as well. As far as what I am wanting its probably somewhere in the 4xxx range.

I also realize that collections tend to sell for less than the owners thought but I think I have the value here. A a lot of my sets are either still in production or just out of production so the value on some of them has yet to be realized.

I honestly appreciate everyones feedback. and worst case I don't sell and get to keep my LEGO :-)

Yellowcastle

Remember, wives can be exchanged, Lego is forever. :o)

atkinsar

^^ don't do it, I refuse to buy your collection from you on principle (well, that and I can't afford it!), I can't help but think you'll regret it .

drdavewatford

^ Seconded - this is a bad idea. Selling the LEGO, that is, not the wife - I can't comment on whether a wife exchange would be a good idea or not.

pantenkind

well, I have to at least make an "honest attempt" for her sake. I would trade wives but honestly I think they are all equally as bitchy in their own way. Talk about trading one problem for another! :-)

legomatt

^ *splurts drink across keyboard*

That was an unexpected statement.

princedraven

@pantenkind
I have good news and bad news.

Good news (for you and MY wife), I can't afford to make you an offer.
Bad news (for your wife and ME), I can't afford to make you an offer.
Hope you reach a suitable solution, how about offloading some of your smaller sets, which would be less devastating to lose, on eBay. That way you bring a little cash in, show her that she is more important than the Lego, but keep all your precious sets.

MinifigsMe

Humpf!!! *looks indignant about wives comments*
Husband's can be just as difficult when it comes to lego btw!
PS also can't afford it, but agree that selling smaller sets and keeping the big ones is the solution

bluemoose

... they are all equally as bitchy in their own way ...

[smug]My wife isn't[/smug] :-)

davee123

As far as what I am wanting its probably somewhere in the 4xxx range.

Yeah, that's pretty ambitious.

If you sold them all individually (and "used", since they're assembled), I'd guess you'd get somewhere around 75% of the value, which is about $3900. That's because most of the stuff you've got is relatively new-- sold in the last few years. A few things are selling at-or-above MSRP, but most are less. Doing a quick scan on BL, I get an average expected value of about 73% of MSRP, actually, for your sets.

But that's if you sold every set individually, which takes months or even years to do. You're selling it all in one batch, which means (I'd guess) you'd get about half that (if that), which is more like $1850. Honestly, my initial reaction was that you could get $1000-$1500 realistically.

Basically, the problem is that very few people have that kind of cash to throw around. And anyone that DOES have that kind of cash has better options. They could just pick-and-choose any of the sets they wanted, and buy them on BrickLink for cheaper. There's no incentive for them to buy YOUR collection.

If you had the same quantity of sets, and they were all from before 2000 (rather than the 2006-2011 timeframe), you might have some better luck, because they're rarer. If (say) these were from 1987-1992, you'd probably see a higher level of interest and value. Very few sets from that era exist for sale MISB, so most everyone buying them is expecting to buy them used for starters. Contrast that to 2006-2011, and everyone's selling them MISB, so why bother buying them used?

The POSSIBLE solution to your problem is if you have something like a LUG collaboratively buy your collection, rather than an individual. That way, members could just divvy up your collection as they wanted. But coordinating those is difficult, and you'll still probably just get people wanting to spend less than 50% retail.

Anyway, yeah, if you're waiting for an offer in the $4000+ range, I just don't see that happening.

DaveE

rocao

^ I have a fair amount of experience buying collections and I agree with most of what DaveE says.

My own quick estimate on a fair price is ~$2500 (DaveE is a little spoiled by tent sales :P). The size of the collection and the high price tag work against you in actually getting that much though, since the smaller interest pool means a potential buyer probably will be looking for a bit more of a discount.

RabbitWizzard

I offer 1000$! How much would shipping to germany cost?.....

Another idea: Open a new thread and we all put in some very low offers and sound like we really know what we talk about when we tell you how worthless your stuff is. The mods will surely help deleting all real offers ;) Show her the new thread then and tell her you just can't sell it for those prices. "Honest attempt" completed.

And I don't recommend showing her this thread here to change her mind ;)

pantenkind

@ Davee I completely agree with your assessment as well. Again, If I was really honestly trying to sell I would be more realistic. The only thing I have going for me is my wife knows (basically) what I spent and even she wont let me sell them for dirt cheap. I do like your idea Rabbitwizzard...thats clever! :-) I do like the idea of maybe offloading a couple smaller sets though. Those will be easy enough to get back when the time comes. Again, I really appreciate all input and your patience with my wife humor ::cough cough:: Savage_steele :-P.

1265

Even if your sets were MISB......it would still be a tough sale to get your 4xxx asking price in a lump sale deal.

Still confused why you need to sell. You state that you don't, or need to sell, however you state your wife wants it sold as a favor. But at the same time, your wife wouldn't want you to sell it cheap.

Usually it two things......need the money or space. Which one is it?

bkpr

Maybe the seller is making a 'reasonable attempt', is getting no serious offers, is then able to turn to the wife and say "see, I told you I couldn't get rid of it"

:)

pantenkind

Honestly its not a money thing, its kind of a space thing if anything, but mostly a wife thing. She asked me to try to sell it so I am. I knew going in I wouldnt get the offers I wanted, and if someone did offer...well I guess I would have to sell :-). So basically bkpr you hit it square on the head.

princedraven

Pantenkind, not sure is Rabbitwizzard was joking but I wouldn't suggest deceiving your wife, marriage is built on trust it's not worth risking losing that trust, and to be honest you don't need to, it is clear you are not going to get a reasonable offer (maybe in some years time when sone more sets have been discontinued), so I honestly think the idea of trimming down your collection is a good way to go. I know we joke around a bit here but your relationships/family are number one, show her that by selling some small stuff, giving her some more space, I am sure she would understand it doesn't make sense to sell the whole lot and lose value.