Shopping at LEGO or Amazon?
Please use our links:
LEGO.com •
Amazon
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
How do you know when to jump into selling?
Cheers all. And to any of you sleeping off your Father's Day celebrations.
On Saturday we went to Toys R Us for the LEGO event, and I stumbled upon some items that were over 50% unopened. The main item of this question is The Lone Ranger Constitution, 79111. I originally just got it, because it was marked down $80 (US) and I like trains, so I thought it would be a fun build. However, my wife and I were talking, and now that this discontinued, I could sit on it and eventually sell it.
I can't decide. I do think it would look good built. I also am not sure that I want to get into the hassle of selling and working about the buyers satisfaction. However, if I could make some money on it, I could spend that money on more brick for specific projects I am working on.
I never, ever, ever, intend to maintain a Bricklink store. I just want to build stuff with my kids. I am really on the fence. For those who decided to start selling, what made you jump in and go for it?
-Nate
0
Shopping at LEGO.com or Amazon?
Please use our links: LEGO.com • Amazon
Recent discussions •
Categories •
Privacy Policy •
Brickset.com
Comments
Selling on ebay is a hassel but there are free options. You need to look around on the web.
Prices are lower but it just means you have to hang on to things for longer.
Good luck
My stuff stays on ebay forever. But i have time to spare.
Try other options. There are many ways to rome.... (ebay will get this soon and offer better service for sellers.)
I use carboot sales for sets under £10. I do use ebay for largere sets only.
Gumtree is free and good to use if you live in a large city.
The best way to make money is to buy a very cheap job lot and build up the sets. A good job lot costs £50 and i sell it on for 200. It does take time to build but that is fun.
Seriously though, there will always be room for hobby resellers that are looking to self-fund the hobby. Rare is the case where you cannot get at least RRP for a set after retirement.
I am still am on the fence on this. I do not ever plan to make a lot of money, with this, but it seems that if I see a really good deal, it might be worth it. In the meantime, I am watching listings on Ebay to see how they are sellling and will make my decision in a few weeks.
And I think this is the most important part; you have to have a clear goal on why you want to get into selling. It could be as simple as making a rule that you are only allowed to spend on LEGO whatever you make by selling, or it could be saving up for a family vacation or something else. You can also involve your kids if they are old enough. They can learn all aspects of running a business.
Without clear goals selling just becomes a bothersome chore and it is not worth it. So make it fun, interesting and rewarding. Also make sure you keep excellent records on the financial aspect of it. This way it is very clear on how much you spent, how much you made, and if it is worth continuing the venture in the future. It is also going to save you a lot of time and headache at tax-time. A simple Excel spreadsheet will work just fine, the important thing is to update it regularly.
I collect almost all themes, and that's only economically feasible by spending a lot of time tracking prices. Since I'm already doing all that work for my personal collection, it's sensible to buy multiples when the deals are good.
I would agree that it's harder these days to resell, and its due to a myriad of reasons - increased competition, less excess inventory and deep discounting from retailers, rising transaction fees, higher shipping costs impacting value to name a few. Nevertheless I still view it as a safe and worthwhile investment.
But that is clearly a simplistic viewpoint, and purely subjective!
I think if you want to buy sets to enjoy them, and then offload them one by one to fund your enjoyment of the hobby, that will be fine. Will you make a load of money? Likely not, but you will make a handsome profit on some sets, break even on others, and take a small loss on some. And that can be a very reasonable way to justify the expense of the hobby overall.
Whatever you decide - it sounds like you are excited about LEGO for all the right reasons, and that's awesome!
If you like the Constitution Train and fancy building it, go ahead. Otherwise, you're going to be waiting an awfully long time to turn a modest profit, and it will be awfully anti-climatic since the set personally appeals to you.
$80 isn't really ~50% off MSRP for the set. MSRP was $100. I recall four instances off the top of my head last year where the set was available for $50-$65:
1. 50% off at Walmart end of year clearance
2. 40% off at Disney Store summer 2013
3. ~40% off at TRU November 2013 ($65 + 10% rewards)
4. ~35% off at Target.com w/ Target REDcard
What this means is that other resellers, particularly those that deal in high volume, are working from an entry point $20-$40 lower than you are, and their willingness to take a modest profit in favor of high turnover will keep the aftermarket price from climbing for some time.
I personally think it's a great set, and compares favorably against sets that have done well in the aftermarket. I like its chances for eventually settling around a $180-$200 valuation. It wouldn't be a bad overall return if it does, but the time it would need means there are better opportunities.
@rocao
@rocao - It was originally marked as $145 and I paid $67, so it seemed like a good deal. I don't follow prices, but I would not have paid $145 for the set. I seriously doubt if I can wait til the prices reach $180+, because I will be anxious to build it. Which leads me to...
@Norlego I hadn't thought of that! I could build it and then carefully box it up and sell it used. I might make less than NIB, but I got to build it in the meantime!
Finally, @brickupdate I think I am in this for the right reasons, which first and foremost to play with my kids. LEGO is the first thing that all three of us have been equally excited about, and we are lucky that we live 1 hour from LegoLand Florida.
Cheers all!
The reality is I probably screwed up when I firmly believed HP would be big after market, but I didn't pick up the multiple sets I found at 1/2 off. I do kick myself, though, for not getting a second Hogwarts. I just have no interest in selling. As it is, I have unopened Monster Fighters Zombies, and have two to three smaller unopened HP sets, and still have no interest in reselling. Looking things up, it looks like I have several others that have gone up in price. I had no idea the Ninjago ship Destiny Bounty was going over $200 these days.
I think the question is figuring out what you want, and where do you want to put your time. I do put my time into finding good deals, but I have better things to do than the time/effort to put into reselling small amounts.
Secretly, I think I really wanted this train and just wanted an excuse so my wife would let me buy it! :)
It's one thing if you have some 1984 LEGOLAND MISB stuff that you can unload for for $600/ea. But if you're buying modern sets and hoping to make 1.5x retail cost, it's a losing battle man. To me, at least.
And yes, this set will be in demand down the road...once Target/Amazon lose their inventories. I mean, how many do they have for cripe's sake?
As for the set, I bought the set full price right when it came out. So all of these deals, even at 30% off is great compared to me.
I agree, I doubt it will skyrocket in value like a lot of other train sets, or other licensed sets. I'd think the stagecoach would be more likely to increase in price than the train set.
Sets like #41999 4x4 Crawler, #10210 Imperial Flagship, #4195 Queen Anne's Revenge and #10194 Emerald Night come to mind as the caliber of sets I might consider in the future for resale (in addition to some modulars, a couple Star Wars sets and a small number of other higher-end sets). The Lone Ranger Constitution is not of that caliber, at least in my opinion.
Well, it was the weekend, and I couldn't resist. So I have shelved any plans for selling this and the kids and I had a blast building it and playing with the set.
Thanks for all your input.
Or contains rare part, unknown in sealed set. Eg. Smooth hair Leia.
10184 town hall. Complete with one manual. £140.
7998 haulage truck. complete with box and manual. £35.
6776 strange set. Near complete. £35.
Indina jones temple xx27. No mini figs, box or manuals. £17.50. (minifigs sold for £15, i think.)
I am also selling pig farm complete and have had three offers of around £35-40.
All these prices are better than rrp.all the lego was in good condition.
I paid around £35 for all 5 sets and prices mention are after fees.my profit is good.
Of course OPs set might not sell for more than rrp, but you dont know it yet. That is the risk of selling. But even get near rrp is good but only possible if you keep boxes and manuals in good condition.