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Where is the best place to sell LEGO? Ebay, Amazon, Bricklink...

legowomen1980plegowomen1980p Member Posts: 12
edited May 2012 in Buying & Selling Topics
I can see medieval village going up in value, but..... it will be a pain to sell, not everyone has a couple hundred dollars to shell out for it.. Been there, done that.. takes too long.. you will have a better luck piecing it out on e-bay..lol

At one point I had 10 item # 7779 The Batman Dragster: Catwoman Pursuit (sold for $130 on amazon) sold all of them in under 1 month..
3 of item # 7780 The Batboat: Hunt for Killer Croc (sold for $220 on amazon)
2 of item # 7781 The Batmobile: Two-Face's Escape (sold for $270 on amazon)
2 of item # 7782 The Batwing: The Joker's Aerial Assault (sold for $310 on amazon)
3 of item # 7783 The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freeze's Invasion (sold for $550 on amazon)
5 of item # 7785 Arkham Asylum (sold for $250 on amazon)
2 of item # 7787 The Bat-Tank: The Riddler and Bane's Hideout
1 each of 7884, 7885, 7886, and 7888..

after selling most of all of these on amazon I learned best one to make the most profit was on??
you would think item # 7783 The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freeze's Invasion. But not.. this one was the hardest to sell. I sold each one for about $550.. which wasn't too much since I paid only $100 for them..
Where I really made money was on item # 7779 The Batman Dragster: Catwoman Pursuit, each one of them sold for an easy $130. these things sold like hot cakes.. thinking about it.. it is a lot easier to sell a toy that is for $100 than it is to sell one for $500.. using this method I have since bought the following..

13 of item # 6239 Cannon Battle
40 of item # 8396 Soldier's Arsenal bought them for $1.99 each
40 of item # 7566 Farmer bought them for $1.99 each
55 of item # 5613 Firefighter bought them for $0.49 each

I have only been buying them if they are a good deal.. money has been tight lately..
I know firefighter won't sell very well by themselves, but if I arm them with a helmet, sword, shield and some armor I can sell them about $30 for for 5 figures..

item # 6239 Cannon Battle, I estimate could sell for $20 to $30 if I keep it MISB (mint in sealed box).
item # 8396 Soldier's Arsenal, I estimate could sell for $10 to $20 if I keep it MISB (mint in sealed box).
item # 7566 Farmer, I estimate could sell for $10 to $15 if I keep it MISB (mint in sealed box).

pretty good market up I should say.. 500% or more..
If I was a dealer and not a collector and had investor I would be rich.. lol But I am not.

I know which sets will be worth mint when they are released by just looking at them..

thinking about it.. I would buy these sets..
4182 Isla De La Muerta
4191 The Captain's Cabin
4193 The London Escape
4865 The Forbidden Forest
6918 Blacksmith Attack
7189 Mill Village Raid
7327 Scorpion Pyramid
7914 Mandalorian Battle Pack
7869 Battle for Geonosis
7868 Mace Windu's Jedi Starfighter
7929 The Battle of Naboo
7956 Ewok Attack
8487 Flo's V8 Cafe
8638 Spy Jet Escape
9348 Community Minifigure Set
853111{Exclusive Weapon Training Set}
853176 Skeleton Mummy Battle Pack
all of the collectable figures..

My EBAY, AMAZON and BRICKLINK info

all of these will be worth a lot.. the lower cost ones will be easier to resell..
reselling has it's ups and downs.. you can make a lot of money, but you will need to pay fees for selling them on either e-bay or amazon.. they can take between 30 to 40% away in just fees alone.. Ebay will charge you a listing fee and then a percentage when it sells.. where as Amazon will charge you a fee..

You also have to think about paying taxes on the money you make.. it's a nightmare..
The best way to sell on Ebay is to list your item as descriptive as possible and put it in more than one category. Then take some good pictures, not too high quality. just enough to get the point across. be careful when buying on Ebay. some people show you a picture of some random pieces that look cool, but then in writing they tell you that it will vary and they will pick the pieces.
You also have to watch out for people who place specific parts into the picture and may provide the instructions, but do not have all the parts.. if it says complete set than it probably is.. but if you see a lot of mixed pieces and a couple unique figures, those figures are all you are going to get.. not the whole set you think that those figures come with.

always start off small, say $0.99.. it's cheaper in fees, plus the more bids you will shows people that it is valuable and will attract more people.. DON'T put a reserve on it.. it costs more and your item will be harder to sell. People want to think they are getting a good deal.. Not what you think it is worth.. if you want to put a reserve on it, put it on amazon instead.

if you want to make a lot of money make sure the auction lasts for about 1 week so people can plan on buying it when they get paid.. make sure it ends on either a Friday or a Saturday between 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm central time. this way more people can bid on it and they have money.. if you have it end at some old ball time.. someone in another country will probably snipe it right before it ends. I had a guy snipe mine from Denmark..

If you sell it on Ebay and sell it right, you can make a pretty penny on it.. If you want them to take 30% plus you have to pay for your own shipping and now worry about all those things you can sell on Amazon.. On Amazon you will need to pay for your shipping, insurance and tracking by yourself and then send it to the person. once your tracking number registers online and you send it to Amazon, they confirm you shipped it.. then in about 5 days you can get your money... I have shipped somethings for $30 and only got paid $7.99 from the customer for it.. It is not all it is cracked up to be, where on Ebay you can charge what ever you want for shipping.. bext advice.. ( get some free boxes or reuse food boxes for items)

Bricklink is a different story, if you sell on there the prices are a lot lower than on Ebay or amazon.. most people will buy on there and then sell on Ebay or Amazon. So if you want to make money, this is not the place to do that.. It would be however a great place to buy inventory to sell in your store..
ask me a question and I will try to help you..
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Comments

  • rocaorocao Administrator Posts: 4,290
    You're absolutely right about cheaper sets having a higher ROI (return on investment) for the exact reasons you mention: high prices start limiting potential buyers.

    However, there is a similar factor on the other end of the spectrum: low price sets don't offer enough value due to shipping costs adding to a high percentage of the overall cost. For this reason, I'm afraid you're going to have trouble selling some of your $1.99 sets unless you bundle multiple items.
  • Si_UKNZSi_UKNZ Member Posts: 4,179
    Good advice here, except for the bit about bricklink - I've seen it as consistently more expensive to buy from than ebay (if youre a cunning buyer of course).

    Also agree the cheaper sets make more, but dont forget the cost in hassle (your time) is also greater. Ive made most with the 'middle' sets where you can buy at 30 and sell at 60 easily, plus there's less competition since everyone buys the big sets to invest.
  • rocaorocao Administrator Posts: 4,290
    Good advice here, except for the bit about bricklink - I've seen it as consistently more expensive to buy from than ebay
    Bricklink -- just like eBay -- has both: fair prices from motivated sellers and astronomical prices from sellers hoping to "shoot the moon". Part of one's due diligence should be cross-referencing both before purchasing a set.

    One definite advantage to Bricklink is that it's a near certainty the seller knows the intricacies of LEGO as a hobby, so understands our meticulousness about condition. eBay's sellers range from people similarly familiar to those not at all. This means that you often need to ask additional questions and can't take some things for granted.

    As examples:

    When a Bricklink seller mentions complete, it usually is. When an eBay seller mentions complete, it often means "as best as they can tell".

    A Bricklink seller would never think of just wrapping a LEGO box with brown paper and mailing it. I've had more sellers on eBay do that than I care to remember, even though I always ask specifically to ship it in a box.
  • drdavewatforddrdavewatford Administrator Posts: 6,755
    edited April 2011
    Sets on Bricklink are in general significantly overpriced, IMHO of course, although I would concur that you're sometimes taking less of a risk by buying there. It reminds me a bit of estate agents trying to 'talk up' the market and set artificially high prices. As I stated in a previous thread, Bricklink is utterly brilliant for replacing missing parts or supplying abundant raw materials for MOCs, but complete sets are another matter......I take pride in having managed to complete my LEGO Star Wars collection despite only resorting to Bricklink for a couple of Brickmaster (spit) polybags
  • rocaorocao Administrator Posts: 4,290
    edited April 2011
    ^ "Generally" is probably a fair assessment. I just wanted to mention that it shouldn't be completely written off as a resource.

    Looking through a quick history, from Dec 2010 to now, I've found 10 occasions to buy on Bricklink vs 30 on eBay due to pricing.
  • drdavewatforddrdavewatford Administrator Posts: 6,755

    Looking through a quick history, from Dec 2010 to now, I've found 10 occasions to buy on Bricklink over eBay due to price.
    ....and 9990 occasions not to buy ! ;-)

    You're right though - it shouldn't be written off as a resource, particularly if you're very fussy about the condition of the item and/or must have it right now. Probably no better place to instantly satisfy that LEGO craving. I certainly don't seek to denigrate it - the ability to 'restore' incomplete sets via Bricklink was probably the one single thing most responsible for dragging me out of my Dark Ages, and for that I'll always be grateful

  • legowomen1980plegowomen1980p Member Posts: 12
    You're absolutely right about cheaper sets having a higher ROI (return on investment) for the exact reasons you mention: high prices start limiting potential buyers.

    However, there is a similar factor on the other end of the spectrum: low price sets don't offer enough value due to shipping costs adding to a high percentage of the overall cost. For this reason, I'm afraid you're going to have trouble selling some of your $1.99 sets unless you bundle multiple items.
    I think your wrong, a smaller $9.99 set can fit in a priority shipping box that includes tracking and can ship as long as it fits in the box. with delivery confirmation for a low $7.95 USD for us shipping compared to shipping a big box, I once paid $30 for the large size and weight of the box plus extra insurance, tracking and confirmation. it gets expensive to ship big boxes.. it is also easier and faster to sell smaller priced sets.. It took me 1 month to sell the Bat cave and $30 for shipping it. which I was only reimbursed $7.99 from amazon for it. compared to selling 13 of the cat women sets for $130.00 each.. I made more money selling the smaller sets compared to the big ones..
  • drdavewatforddrdavewatford Administrator Posts: 6,755
    edited April 2011

    I think your wrong, a smaller $9.99 set can fit in a priority shipping box that includes tracking and can ship as long as it fits in the box. with delivery confirmation for a low $7.95 USD for us shipping compared to shipping a big box, I once paid $30 for the large size and weight of the box plus extra insurance, tracking and confirmation. it gets expensive to ship big boxes.. it is also easier and faster to sell smaller priced sets.. It took me 1 month to sell the Bat cave and $30 for shipping it. which I was only reimbursed $7.99 from amazon for it. compared to selling 13 of the cat women sets for $130.00 each.. I made more money selling the smaller sets compared to the big ones..
    You MAY be right about smaller sets being the best way to make a decent profit, but you really can't base that view on just one set.... The Batman Catwoman set is a freak situation - a £7.99 set regularly selling for almost 10 times as much just a few years later. I really can't think of any other well-known sets which come even close to matching that level of profit multiple. I can however think of many larger sets which easily reach a multiple of their original MRSP, not least some of the Star Wars UCS sets, Eiffel Tower, Green Grocer, Cafe Corner, Market Street, Statue of Liberty etc. etc. etc. - there are loads of examples.

    Have you seen the price that the UCS Falcon is selling for right now, for instance ? There's a good chance that I could sell my £342 set for close on £1000 at present - that's £650 profit. You'd have to sell a massive number of small sets to reach that level of profit, each of which would have to be packaged up etc. and that 'labour' eats into your profit, as does the packaging for each item. Plus I agree with @rocao about the unattractive scenario of the postage costing as much as the set - that'll put buyers off. It certainly puts ME off anyway.

    So as I said, you MAY be right, but I'm not convinced.....

  • rocaorocao Administrator Posts: 4,290
    I think your wrong, a smaller $9.99 set can fit in a priority shipping box that includes tracking and can ship as long as it fits in the box. with delivery confirmation for a low $7.95 USD for us shipping compared to shipping a big box, I once paid $30 for the large size and weight of the box plus extra insurance, tracking and confirmation.
    Shipping rates get cheaper as weight increases.

    You mention a $10 set, so let's examine the math. I just grabbed a typical $10 LEGO set from my collection and it weighs under a pound, but, for ease, let's just say a pound. Via USPS parcel post, it costs $4.90 to mail. So the value:shipping ratio is ~2:1 ($10 worth of LEGO and $5 to ship).

    For $30 shipping (in your example) you can mail 25 pounds by the same USPS parcel post. So I could purchase 25 sets from you and have them shipped, or $250 value of LEGO and pay $30 shipping. The value:shipping ratio is ~8:1 ($250 worth of LEGO and $30 to ship).

    Now you mentioned 7566 Farmer for $1.99, originally. My point is that there will be buyers that would prefer to buy a ~$30-$50 value set and pay $10 in shipping, rather than buy a $2 set and pay $2-3 in shipping.

    Buyers hate excessive shipping fees; it is a sunk cost that doesn't translate into the value of their purchase. So, as I stated, it's possible that for some buyers "low price sets don't offer enough value due to shipping costs adding to a high percentage of the overall cost."
  • legowomen1980plegowomen1980p Member Posts: 12
    well, that $10 set now costs the buyer $15.00 to get it.. which is a great buy.. about 1 to 2 hours of labor here in the U.S.A. compared to someone saving $300 to buy a set that translates into about 20 to 40 hours of labor for one set..
    simply put, if you are trying to sell sets and not be the person buying them. It is easier to sell an inventory faster with lower prices.. BMW makes a great car, but you need a certain type of buyer to purchase that car. Compared to a KIA or a Hyundai where it is easier to sell these cars to just about anyone. it's easier trying to sell a 20K car compared to a 60K car.. you can make a lot of money selling that 60K car, but in the time it takes you to sell that 1 car I can sell 12 of the lower costing cars and make a higher ROI compared to you guys selling the more expensive models..

    The cat women set was not unique. you just need to know how to pick the sets.. there are certain sets that have that same rate of return. I can predict the ones for this year if you would like.. I know the market and I know what sells.. I am a born expert.. It runs in my blood..

    check out 4723 LEGO DIAGON ALLEY SHOPS on brickset you can buy it for about $40 and you can find it selling on ebay for $100
    http://cgi.ebay.com/HARRY-POTTER-LEGO-DIAGON-ALLEY-SHOPS-4723-RARE-/180499560901?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a069cb9c5

    I remember when I first bought this set I got them on sale they had a deal at the time. they were originally $10 sets and now they are selling for $100.. It isn't a fluke.

    there are a couple of sets that I predict that will be the same way.. all of the series 1 minifigures are also very valuable. along with the big yellow boxes..

    Sure you can make a lot of money selling one big set... but the real money is in the small stuff everyone can afford..

    why does the $0.25 gum ball sell so well when you can buy a box of 250 for $10..
  • rocaorocao Administrator Posts: 4,290
    edited April 2011
    ^ I think you may still be missing my point. If you look back, I agreed with you that lesser priced sets will appreciate more percentage-wise than higher priced sets. My point was as you get to very bottom of the spectrum, there are sets that simply won't sell well because they are not seen as a bargain due to the cost of shipping the item. To use your example above, which do you think would be easier:

    1) selling one 25 cent gumball to forty people ($10 worth) if each person buying it had to pay 40 cents to mail it?

    2) selling $10 of gumballs to one person mailed in one bigger box?
  • princedravenprincedraven Member Posts: 3,764
    I have come across 2 boxes of Series 3 sealed and want to maximize profit on them as I already own the whole set now and have WAY over spent on LEGO and need to reduce my overdraft :o.
    Do you think they will be more profitable if I keep them for a bit and sell later?
    Also do you think they will make more money if I sell them as complete 16 sets, rather than sell the entire box?
    Oh and where is best to sell do you think? Ebay?

    Appreciate your advice, not really ever sold LEGO before so any help would be appreciated.
  • Si_UKNZSi_UKNZ Member Posts: 4,179
    "Do you think they will be more profitable if I keep them for a bit and sell later?"
    - Yes. until last week the series 3 minifigs were only 1.50 each on amazon. A lot of places are clearing stock, just wait for that to end.

    As for the rest of it, its pretty easy to work out, just look at the prices for series 1 and 2 on various shops in various configurations. All the info you need is out there already ...
  • princedravenprincedraven Member Posts: 3,764
    Thanks Si, will chuck them in the back of a cupboard and try selling something else then :)
  • VaderXVaderX Member Posts: 220
    edited April 2011
    S1 minis are valuable because of the sort period of time they were available and the limited quantities produced. By the time most people got into them they were already very hard to find locally from retailers in major cities. They are selling for an average of 5$ a fig for a full set on eBay, been watching prices backed down from 85-100$ to 80$ so i would say they have peaked in value. S2 are not selling for much more than retail of 3-4$ a fig. Series 3 (and 4) had a much greater production run than 1 and 2 and you can still find them just about everywhere, TRU was just giving them away not to long ago with a 30$ purchase so i wouldn't invest to heavily in CM from this point on unless you can find the very popular HTF Elves (3) and Crazy Science (4), but even with series 3 they adjusted production mid way with the fisherman everyone was paying 10$ for you can now get them for 4$ shipped. Picking sets is hit and miss with trying to make money on. Not all Lego sets sell for absurd prices after they are no longer in production. I would be very surprised to see someone pay 10-15$ for an impulse set that is still in stores months after Lego Cleared them out @50% off. If you want to wait 2 years to make ten bucks on an investment thats just plain silly IMO. Not trying to be rude, just stating facts. Most sets that get High Dollar returns are highly expensive to begin with or had very limited production run times.
  • madforLEGOmadforLEGO Member Posts: 10,793
    I have found that you really do make more money on the expensive sets than cheaper sets..
    I guess it depends on how much patience, and money, you have.
    It is all about rarity.
    So buy 20 10 steam rollers, and maybe make 10 dollars on each for a profit of 200 dollars in the span of many months, if not a year. OR buy one Green Grocer at $150 and make $150 about 30 days after it is discontinued.. Plus if you can stomach holding onto a rarer set they go up quickly per year.... Last I checked $725 will get you a Cafe Corner in Box from 2 years ago (I believe is when it was retired) and I see them still selling for that much. and I believe the UCS Falcon is just absurd now.. especially around Christmas.

    I also do not buy the idea of people needing to 'save for a set', thereby making it harder to sell... the more in demand the higher the price.. Behold the rule of supply and demand, as it fuels ALL collectible markets. If you are the only one selling a Grand Carousel and 20 people are all selling steamrollers, I believe you are more likely to sell the Grand Carousel (as long as you are not asking 'the moon' for it) quicker than if you were selling a steam roller, OR you will make less due if you want to sell yours quicker and make about the same profit on it as if you sold the 20 steam rollers (nevermind if you have any fees associated with selling a single set, which means that cuts into any kind of profit as well..

    Of course all of this is a mute point if a ton people all decide the latest 'get rich quick' scheme are Lego's then they will deflate the market and make it the next 'beanie babies' market and ruin it for everyone else. (you are already seeing this for the 'collectable' minifigs)

    As for the Series 2,3,4, 5 etc minifigs being worth more than they are now? Maybe in 20 years... if Lego does not put them all into a build a fig bin and drop the demand of them.. Remember, companies can wreck a secondary market with collectibles.. I see it all the time. Not to mention everyone having the same thought process of trying to hoard them with the believe of them going up later in time..
    Ask anyone with baseball cards made in the early 90's how that is working out for them. That is one thing Lego got right if they truly want kids to be able to get these, which was increase the supply.
  • bahnstormerbahnstormer Member Posts: 180
    as an ex-diecast collector I agree with some of madforlegos comments. The baseball card and comic markets died in the US once the marketing depts started designing them to be collectible. Mattel killed HW a few years ago by bringing in planned variations.

    Batman went up in value after the dark knight came out. New film coming in 2012 and i expect Lego will take a licence for it - some of the old sets will hold their value but if a new Tumbler comes out, expect the interest in 7888 to tail off.

    the differences are also market specific. Lego's biggest markets are Germany, UK and USA. The items that sell in these countries on the secondary market are vastly different. 7898 and 7939 are popular in Germany whereas the emerald night isnt - different story stateside. If 3677 is designed to appeal to the US market, then 7939 will go up in value this side of the pond. It is now cheaper to buy 5 10194s on [email protected] UK than it is on the US site once you factor in shipping.

    Minifigs are selling like mad on ebay in UK (I just sold a set of S4 to Australia), distribution is hit n miss and people want to get the full set without any hassle. S2 is just starting to go up in value. I am waiting for xmas before selling the rest of my sets as it will stabilise at the current S1 price.

    Personally, my view is a hobby should pay for itself. I've bought some sets to sell at xmas and cover the cost of others that I am putting away to give to my kids when they are old enough. Lego will never make Toy Story again and some retailers are offering 70% discounts - bought a lot of the smaller ones and a few of the larger ones. From oct thru to early dec this year there are going to be a bunch of parents of kids who have just seen the DVDs who will want them. selling at standard 2010 retail price will then mean a 120 - 200% profit.

    Lastly, selling lots of lego on the secondary market usually attracts unwanted attention - particularly if you are not registered as a business seller. Some professional sellers in mainland Europe have been known to inform on private sellers to IRS/HMRC, especially if you are undercutting them. If you are buying to resell make sure you keep the original receipts in case you have to fill out a tax declaration, as this way you can offset your costs.

    Food for thought - Lego's best selling sets in 2010 were the Duplo Cars series which were all pretty cheap. Once they retire there will be a bunch of parents every xmas looking for something cool for their 2/3/4 year old. Cars came out in 2004 and Mattel's biggest premium diecast range is still the Cars series. These are the sets I will be buying big when they get discounted.
  • Cam_n_StuCam_n_Stu Member Posts: 368
    Interesting comment on Duplo. I've just sold a Duplo Front Loader, opened but unplayed with for £5 over RRP on eBay. I suspect Duplo purchasers are less savvy and less interested in the market rates and as you say just interested in something a <36 month child can play with.
  • aplbomr79aplbomr79 Member Posts: 159
    edited April 2011
    I am going to jump in as a collector/user of LEGO. I think that the points made thus far are all viable - in their own degree. I think that it is very hard to judge which sets are going to be hits in later years. However, it stands to reason that one will get more bang for the buck by investing in the larger sets and waiting on the market to drive the price up.

    LegoWomen - this is a great topic. I have been watching the trends of LEGO and other collectible items for some time.

    I have ALL the original StarWars Collectible Cards from the first 1977... and had offers up to $400 (in the late '90s). Their value on EBay? A paltry $9.99. My point? It is hard to gauge what the value of a collection/set may be in a few years.

    I think that if you are just getting started, it makes sense to spread your net over a wide margin... and purchasing small sets will enable most young-ins to begin. But I also believe that for the investors that have room to move, it would be wise to purchase the larger sets as they will bring more money in the long run as the application and shipping costs will be less (percentage) than the smaller sets.

    One factor (mentioned previously) is if there is about to be a new release or event that may impact a sudden surge in interest - such as movies, new additions to a theme, etc.

    I also believe that the time of year is a HUGE factor. After Christmas and in the Summer, selling LEGO for a premium is a lost cause. Yes some sets will always sell well, but in the early-mid months of the year, people are not looking en masse for LEGO. Once the parents have stopped spending money on school clothes and are now thinking cold-weather activity for their youngsters (and Christmas Season has kicked in), it is time to start listing LEGO.

    If you want to make the money (especially on the smaller sets), sell in September-Mid December... this is when people have money set aside for Christmas and their heartstrings are ripe for plucking.

    Of course, this is all in my own opinion - and my experience of buying outdated LEGO.
  • rocaorocao Administrator Posts: 4,290
    edited December 2011
    I just want to restate that, from my observation of aftermarket LEGO prices for the past decade, middle priced LEGO sets (MSRP $20-$50) will yield the highest percentage return on investment. As Legowomen1980p correctly points out: the pool of potential buyers decreases as the price increases, and thus big sets with their higher starting points have a ceiling that limits their price appreciation. There are those few larger sets that will break through this ceiling, but they are the exception and not the rule.
  • bahnstormerbahnstormer Member Posts: 180
    edited January 2012
    my wife has been a business seller on Ebay germany for a few months now and they have initiated a new Escrow system where all payments are held by them for 2-4 weeks after you ship the item - we are getting cheesed off with it and looking for alternatives.

    Amazon looks good but charges are higher unless you are registered for VAT in the EU, anyone had problems with the A-Z guarantee. Weirdly, Amazon Germany lets you sell used lego, only used stuff I could see on .com site was soiled ex-warehouse sets.

    I use bricklink a lot for parts but is it worth it to sell new sets - indiana jones, duplo, etc?



  • LegoFanTexasLegoFanTexas Member Posts: 8,404
    Prices on Bricklink seem to the be the lowest in general, but then so are the fees, so that rather works out...

    eBay has a vast audience, you can sell a lot of stuff very quickly there, but you probably have the most "scam" buyers there.

    Amazon is nice because it usually commands the highest prices, but it also has the highest fees and the AtoZ guarantee, which more or less means you have to take anything back for 30 days, and even if it arrives back to you in piss-poor condition, your options are limited.

    Amazon USA does not allow the sale of used lego, but it does allow "collectable" toys, which anything retired is, so if the set is out of production, no matter...
  • JP3804JP3804 Member Posts: 332
    I agree with LFT. I have been selling on all three for the past 2+ years. I sell the majority on Amazon and have never had any issues with the A to Z guarantee. I only sell retired sets and package them well. I also put insurance on everything.
  • LegoFanTexasLegoFanTexas Member Posts: 8,404
    @JP3804 - Indeed, Amazon can be a good place to sell, it does help if you're honest about what you're selling and if you use something that has a signature, or use UPS or FedEx.

    A lot of people are surprised to find out that Amazon doesn't accept DC as proof of delivery, you need real tracking, which DC isn't... Either Signature Confirmation (which gets you a signature), or FedEx or UPS...

    Now, if FedEx or UPS just show it dropped off at the door, the customer can claim it is missing, but FedEx or UPS will cover it if it was insured, but first they'll send a driver to the address to try and find the box, so when the driver shows up, "poof" the package is somehow "found".
  • JP3804JP3804 Member Posts: 332
    ^ I always ship UPS. I have a distribution hub next to the shop. :-) Very handy
  • LegotasticLegotastic Member Posts: 53
    edited April 2012
    Hi Everyone,

    I'm new on here and was wondering where's best to sell sets? is there a selling place on here or do you all use bricklink? i've got Loads of sets for sale, & i'd rather link up what i've got with someone who wants that set rather than delving into Ebay and paypal and the associated fees, i've got a page on Facebook as 'Legotastic - Lego for Sale' and a person on Facebook 'Legotastic Sale' if people want to see what i've got, Cheers in Advance for help.
  • RedbullgivesuwindRedbullgivesuwind Member Posts: 2,117
    Bricklink or craiglist are best but both have problems. You can also list on here in the market place and you will get offers.
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    "Best" totally depends on what you mean by it. Speed, price, ease of use, and then condition of sets, completeness of sets, condition of boxes, ...

    eBay and PayPal have fees, but in some cases, they are better than bricklink for getting rid of common sets.

    Just make sure you are honest about condition, especially if selling here or bricklink.
  • LegotasticLegotastic Member Posts: 53
    Cheers peeps, As far as honesty to the condition & completeness i'm quite good at that as when we're making the sets up we're using peeron / brickfactory to check of pieces - been going through near to 200Kg of Lego!! & making them up into their sets - i need my attic back!
  • The_Brick_BuilderThe_Brick_Builder Member Posts: 658
    edited April 2012
    A lot of high resolution pictures also help a ton. A picture is worth a thousand words. I don't even bother to look at stock-photo auctions. ;)
  • cheshirecatcheshirecat Member Posts: 5,331
    Everything's a trade off - good price, good value, risk, low risk. Bricklink, ebay and here all have their advantages and disadvantages.

    An advantage of selling here for example is that your likely to get a good buyer who'll pay and not claim that the package never arrived etc. you can also take a quick look around the forum to see if their previous trades/buys have gone well. Particularly with ebay you won't necessarily have that choice. Obviously the downside is a smaller market.
  • The_Brick_BuilderThe_Brick_Builder Member Posts: 658
    ^ That is when a tracking number comes in handy.
  • madforLEGOmadforLEGO Member Posts: 10,793
    Pretty sure there are numerous threads that address this question.
  • Mom2LegoBoysMom2LegoBoys Member Posts: 14
    edited July 2012
    Which is better for trying to sell off parts or completed sets? why?
    Moved to 'Buying & Selling Topics' - @Matthew - 24/07/12 21:24 BST
  • RennyRenny Member Posts: 1,145
    Depends on your patience. If you don't mind sitting on your product for a while than I suggest Brick Link. Decent amount of traffic, lots of people use it to shop for parts and the seller fee is minimal (I think like 3%). You also don't have to worry about re-listing it all the time. If you need to sell and clear inventory quickly than Ebay is your best best. Huge customer base, pops up on more people's radar but the fees are high. Both utilize rating/feedback systems so that is a wash.
  • RennyRenny Member Posts: 1,145
    I personally prefer Brick Link since I am in no rush to sell my inventory, it's easy to manage and the fees are a lot less.
  • brclark82brclark82 Member Posts: 217
    It also depends on what you're selling. I have better luck with some things on BL and other things sell better on eBay. For example I can sell complete sets of CMFs in no time on eBay but they sit forever on BL (and I'm always one of the lowest priced on BL), but the individual cmf's sell much better on BL...who knows. Also individual parts I only put on BL, it takes a very specific buyer for those items so it's easier to just list it on BL and let it sit until it sells. Plus the lower fees are nice on cheaper items.
  • dougtsdougts Member Posts: 4,110
    both.

    In the end, this is a question only you can answer for yourself, depending on your selling profile(s). do your research, sell on both, and decide for yourself.
  • insanityrocksinsanityrocks Member Posts: 77
    im a little new to the selling side of lego, usually only picking up sets for my own collection but its got to the point now that I'm looking to sell a few of my older sets that i don't display or dont care for that much and I'm looking for advice.

    Purely from an online retail point of view what is the best way to sell lego online, i did sign up for e-bay but the fees they seem to charge seem quite expensive if i wanted to put a reserve price or sell for a specific price instead of the normal auction style sale

    i don't have a lot to sell mainly duplicate collectable minifigs and the odd set or 2 so any advice you can give is greatly received

  • wilburwilbur Member Posts: 49
    This is my two cents.... Of course others may disagree....

    You have to find a model that works best for you! All places are different and have different rates of return and other pros and cons.

    Amazon seems to be able to sell for the highest prices, not only because of their size but because of their reputation. Personally, I buy lego from amazon more than anywhere else. But from what I gather, their seller fees are the steepest, and their return policies are the most seller-unfriendly.

    Ebay is good as long as you can build up a profile and a reputation of your own! To do this you have to bend over backward for a time and be willing to sell smaller sets for smaller profits so that people will trust you! Don't do fixed pricing! Start it at 99 cents and in the end if you lose money then you've still purchased an opportunity to get high praise, which is likely if you do all the right things! Once your profile is solid you can sell anything and get a decent price. I'd say ebay is definitely better than amazon from a seller standpoint.

    Bricklink has the smallest fees! it's 3%! Between that and the 2.9% paypal fee youre walking away with 94% of what you sold the set for! But.... Bricklink has the smallest market, so you may not make as much money selling on that site, and your items definitely wont sell as quickly!

    Of the three, I believe Ebay to be the best! There are some good bits of Ebay selling advice strewn throughout this forum....
  • emilewskiemilewski Member Posts: 482
    I sell on Ebay and Bricklink. Bricklink has smaller fees but things do not move quickly. If you want to unload quickly then Ebay is better. Also, some things sell for more on Ebay, some for more on Bricklink...it depends on what you are selling. You can look at current/past sales for what you have on both sites and get an idea of what they may go for and make a decision based on that. Good luck!
  • wilburwilbur Member Posts: 49
    @emilewski

    I have been looking for ages on Ebay for a way to look at past sales of an item! How do I find this? I know how to do it in Bricklink!...

    Thanks!
  • akunthitaakunthita Member Posts: 1,038
    I would do as @emilewski said. Since you said you only have a few items to sell it would not be hard to do a quick search at the Bricklink Price Guide and the eBay Completed Listings, then decide which venue you like better.

    In general you may get better money on eBay, but as you said; the fees are higher. On Bricklink there are no listing fees so your products can be listed as long as they are bought and only pay the 3% fee when you sell. And you can always adjust your prices to compete with other sellers. Since you have a few items it would be easy to manage.

    Personally, if I would have sets that may be missing a few pieces, or the box or instructions, I would sell them on eBay with good pictures. If I have MISB sets I would go with Bricklink.

    Also, go with an auction format rather then fixed price. Trust the system. The price will go to where the market is. eBay has millions of users. I have never had an auction where the price didn't go where it supposed to be and I have done hundreds of auctions. Just avoid obvious mistakes like finishing auctions during the holiday. Best time to finish auctions is during the week. Especially Wednesday evening (unless if it is a holiday)...(c;
  • emilewskiemilewski Member Posts: 482
    ^ As to when to finish an auction, there are different schools of thought (which have been discussed here at length already). There is no consensus. Some swear by finishing Sunday evening, some Saturday evening, some mid-week. I had great success this past Friday evening with a bunch of stuff finishing. I personally try and have them finish Friday or Sunday night. Just be aware that now is the time to sell, not in the the summer months.
  • wagnerml2wagnerml2 Member Posts: 1,376
    I sell on both Ebay and Bricklink. I usually run between 10 and 15 Ebay auctions per week. My best return is when I start the items on Sunday evenings and run for 5 days ending on Friday evenings. THis by far has worked the best for me.
  • JosephJoseph Member Posts: 629
    http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/265/where-is-the-best-place-to-sell-lego-ebay-amazon-bricklink It's an older thread, but still has some good information on the subject.
  • akunthitaakunthita Member Posts: 1,038
    Nice discussion! The idea behind finishing auctions mid-week is that people are not distracted by other stuff going on in their lives. Monday is usually very busy for people, Tuesday and Thursday evenings are often taken up by extra classes, kids' events, etc. Friday, you are competing with Friday night movies, Saturday and Sunday people are all over the place. So the quietest and shurest day to get the most people is Wednesday night, as they tend to be home not destraced by anything in particular.

    Of course this is generalization and there is always exeption. It probably also depends on what you sell. Also, a lot of people these days are using sniping software, so it doesn't really matter when the auction finishes, as long as there has been about a week for people to discover the listings and had a chance to set up their snipes.

    However there are still people who bid manually, so you want to make it as convenient for them as possible. As you guys said; there are plusses and minuses to all of these strategies, but the point is it is a good idea to work out a strategy before throwing up an auction that will finish at 4 AM on a holiday....(c;

  • MorkManMorkMan Member Posts: 916
    I use Brickpicker.com for historical prices. They do the legwork for you.
  • BumblepantsBumblepants Member Posts: 7,637
    You can also offer sets for trade or sale in the Marketplace thread here. Lots of nice people here to work with and you can often find what you are looking for in return
  • aaronkaaronk Member Posts: 12
    I was going to chime in on the Predictions on Discontinuing Sets thread, but I don't want to further derail things, so here's a new topic.

    I'd just like to get everyone's ideas of the best place to sell Lego sets. I've been selling all sorts of stuff on Amazon for years now (mostly used video games, but also a laptop, a Mac Mini, etc.) and, aside from their brief closure of my account (which was fortunately reversed), it's worked out pretty well. Sure, the fees are pretty high, but I actually haven't had a single return. I dunno, maybe I'm just lucky. And prices seem to be quite a bit higher than eBay for most items, which makes up for the high fees in a lot of cases.

    Before Amazon, I sold stuff on eBay from time to time. It's been years, but boy I really hated selling on eBay. The photos, the descriptions, the emails to thank buyers and notify them of shipping, the feedback. Every step of the process is (or at least was) work on the seller's part. On Amazon it's a couple of minutes to list an item, and then done. Once it sells, I just ship it and mark it as such. Rarely do I even talk to the buyer. It's a very frictionless process. The ease of selling on Amazon has allowed me to sell tons of things I wouldn't have even bothered with if eBay was the only option.

    So, all that being said... what do you think is the best place to sell Lego sets? Has eBay made things any easier?
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