Home› Buying & Selling Topics
Shopping at LEGO or Amazon?
Please use our links: LEGO.com • Amazon
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Bricksetters' Bricklink stores

1…2829303133

Comments

  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    This weekend I got my first order of the year, double-digit quantity of one lot
    New USPS rate increase took effect Sunday, which de facto applies to a order taken late Saturday afternoon
    https://pe.usps.com/resources/PriceChange/January 2022 - Notice123.pdf

    I got a deal on 6 #71031 and didn't find any i wanted personally so I listed all 6

  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    Ran into another BrickLinker in the LEGO aisle at Walmart a few days ago (he's local, he recognized me from coming to do a pickup). We commiserated about the locked cases being a pain (hard to see the product, can't examine CMFs, trouble and time waiting for someone to unlock them

    I also pointed out it's easy to invoice from my phone having a copy of the zone chart and USPS price list Notice123 (waited til after my regular job to not cross the streams)

    "hopefully they pay them right away" he said (and they usually do, barring understandable minor delays). he also seemed to understand getting paid promptly after an NPB when it comes to that
    Bumblepants
  • BumblepantsBumblepants Member Posts: 7,634
    KingAlanI said:
    Ran into another BrickLinker in the LEGO aisle at Walmart a few days ago (he's local, he recognized me from coming to do a pickup). We commiserated about the locked cases being a pain (hard to see the product, can't examine CMFs, trouble and time waiting for someone to unlock them

    I also pointed out it's easy to invoice from my phone having a copy of the zone chart and USPS price list Notice123 (waited til after my regular job to not cross the streams)

    "hopefully they pay them right away" he said (and they usually do, barring understandable minor delays). he also seemed to understand getting paid promptly after an NPB when it comes to that
    Back in my day we would fight to the death over clearance while Little Timmy looked on in horror. LegoFanTexas once hit me with a Friends shelf display but as I got up off the floor I saw a fire extinguisher on the roof support pole and blasted him in the face. Those were the days.
    messyMr_Crossbandit778MarshallmarioKingAlanI560HeliportprevereeMJeeNL
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    Got #43111 for my own collection but didn't want the Vidiyo gimmick decorated 2x2 tiles. I just got around to listing those. Average sale price was around 35c, but I went with 19.9c for all - I wanted these to move quickly and often specialized decorated pieces don't actually sell for me near the BL average anyway. also listed some spare parts from that and the similarly themed #41393. adjusted a lot of prices and even added a few other things from my to be listed pile while I was at it. the most productive I've been with my store in awhile besides filling orders as they come in
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    Bumblepants said:
    KingAlanI said:
    Ran into another BrickLinker in the LEGO aisle at Walmart ...
    Back in my day we would fight to the death over clearance while Little Timmy looked on in horror. LegoFanTexas once hit me with a Friends shelf display but as I got up off the floor I saw a fire extinguisher on the roof support pole and blasted him in the face. Those were the days.
    That would require clearance to fight over, we also commiserated about how LEGO deals ain't what they used to be (probably because of you know what, supply chain issues decrease availability and more people at home increase demand, so LEGO doesn't need deep discounts to move product)
    560Heliport
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    listed some Marvel CMF extra parts - including a satin trans blue 1x1 plate from Captain Carter - my first of that color

    inspired me updated my copy of the color list ( https://www.bricklink.com/catalogColors.asp?utm_content=subnav ) - I cut out the stats, and make it sortable by both ID, color name, and color type (for example, the latter shows both light bley and dark bley under gray) - https://www.mediafire.com/file/345gdrxxkcahud8/Color_List_%5Bv2%5D.xlsx/file

    besides the new colors
    #91 once Dark Nougat is now medium brown and Dark Nougat is now #225

    the IDs are useful to fill in filenames, for example for black 1x2 brick listings you can put in part ID 3004 and color ID 11 to go right to the relevant catalog entry




  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    Neighbor died relatively recently, relative cleaning out their house gave me a shoebox full of old LEGO, late 1960's or so. Listed some of the goodies already - waffle bottom plates, oldstyle wheels. some old logo and newer logo pat pend bricks to go through as well

    Another person in the neighborhood gave me a big plastic bag with a lot of stuff from recent sets

    giving some of it to my friend for his kids, one problem with listing used is sorting out small quantities of cheap parts
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    Sell it as mixed by the pound.
    KingAlanI
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    edited February 2022
    CCC said:
    Sell it as mixed by the pound.

    I might at least do that next time I get a bulk lot or if I don't want to give away all of this.

    I see BL has an Unsorted Lots section, asking a few bucks a pound totally unsorted, a few bucks a half pound sorted by color
    ebay bulk prices are higher, but eBay fees are also higher and many ebay prices are including shipping

    I'm almost done listing the old stuff individually.
    Lobot
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    Finished listing the old parts
    Most were red, I needed a separate tub for used red again (6 qt, already had 6qt bins for used white and black and 1qt tubs for used light bley and dark bley, with the rest in a repurposed #6166 container)
    some light gray, also a bit of black,blue,yellow,clear

    Listed some highlights from the bag of newer parts - 2 dark brown boat hull 2560, cty1136 female crook minifig, 65209c01 and 65217c01 magnets, a police motorcycle body, 12609pb01 (turtle shell minifig accessory), the white and yellow microfigures from #3838 (maybe the blue or red ones are in the pile, but I haven't found them)

    also, I found a box of parts at the curb ages ago, and this reminded me to sort through that, highlight there was most of a couple Chima figs which I listed as fig parts rather than incomplete figs
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    listed a few more things from that large used lot - the Han Solo in carbonite block and a bunch of large dark bley or black plates (small plates/bricks of common colors are going in the pile for my friend's kids)
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    edited March 2022
    added 12 Marvel CMFs, the last batch I got all sold quickly, and prices are still fairly high

    the last few days, I haven't added much by way of used pieces
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    Marvel CMFs still selling pretty well
    listed a few bucks' worth of the used pile today, mainly common color 4x6 plates, but also some other parts in orange, and some printed/stickered
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    Listed some extra parts
    With the used pile I was giving small quantities of cheap parts to my friend's kids. I extended this to new parts. I'm also delisting such items I already had in inventory.
    Besides something for the gift pile, hopefully this makes my inventory management a bit simpler and cuts down on high lot count low value orders that are a pain in the butt to pack.
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    Last Saturday, I wasn't planning to make a late afternoon trip to a mailbox, but then I got a order for nearly $60 that was only a few lots

    A bus most of the way from the post office to my house comes soon after the mail pickup, which makes the trip back easier (the schedule doesn't work to take it *to* the post office last minute)

    Only one small order since then
    ericb
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    Last weekend, I filled out my income tax forms (due this weekend but didn't want a late rush). I already had my store revenue and expenses in a spreadsheet so it was easy to copy those numbers over, just made sure they added the same to check that I entered them right.

    I wasn't feeling well the last few days, so I had less energy and didn't want to get germs on my inventory. So I had an excuse this time rather than procrastination etc. :)
    I still filled a few small orders that came in.

    got a random #71032 CMF s22 for $2.99, was Space Creature, listed it
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    got 4 more 71032's, all Wheelchair Racer
    so I suspect someone sorted that stack already and didn't want that figure so they left them. It is one of the lower-value ones, though still above the breakeven point at that purchase price

    Business has been slow, only 9 orders in April after 20 in March, 12 in February and only 9 for January as well
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    Last couple nights I've finally been going through a small tub of new pieces that's been sitting on my desk.
    Much is small quantities of parts selling for well under a nickel, for a few months I've avoided bothering with that and it's more I can give to my friend's kids, even delisting some such lots, I feel it's addition by subtraction
    Like I've done for ages, I've lowered prices on some things I am keeping
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    The market for used hard to find vintage parts seems to have gone crazy recently.

    I just sold a used one of these on BL for £25, within 24 hours of listing it.
    Two other people contacted me , one saying they got a notification but couldn't find it and the other saying they had it in their basket but it was gone when they tried to check out. Maybe I under valued it at £25!

    Shropshire560HeliportBumblepantsFizyxKingAlanI
  • BumblepantsBumblepants Member Posts: 7,634
    Dang I think I have one of those from childhood. Need to go digging and sell it!
    560Heliport
  • pxchrispxchris Member Posts: 2,388
    Yep... that little black feather is only used in a couple of Forestmen sets and with the upcoming GWP, 90th anniversary Castle, and the recent Bricklink ADP set Forestmen collecting is at an all-time high frenzy. It's absolutely ridiculous to me that that tiny piece of plastic is so valuable (I'm very thankful that my #6066 has all it's feathers) but at least in the US, $25 would be a bargain.
    560HeliportKingAlanIrd1899
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    pxchris said:
    Yep... that little black feather is only used in a couple of Forestmen sets and with the upcoming GWP, 90th anniversary Castle, and the recent Bricklink ADP set Forestmen collecting is at an all-time high frenzy. It's absolutely ridiculous to me that that tiny piece of plastic is so valuable (I'm very thankful that my #6066 has all it's feathers) but at least in the US, $25 would be a bargain.
    Yeah, there is another at £40 on BL in the UK, and I wanted this to sell fast but I was surprised it went quite so fast. Still, it came in a bumper lot that had loads of vintage stuff inc an almost complete Black Seas Barracuda that cost me £10 for the lot. Selling just one piece of string from the BSB covered my costs! But then so did just the white window lattices, same with the masts, the hulls, etc. There are a lot of people after decent condition vintage parts. 
    pxchris
  • rbozarthrbozarth Member Posts: 94
    Last part out was 3 of the Child (Grogu) sets.  All parts are 25% Off right now in my store.

    store.bricklink.com/bozbricks
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    Bricklink has sent an email warning users of large quantities of fake minifigures being sold on bricklink (saying they are custom prints on genuine LEGO).
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    https://mailchi.mp/eac856c8810e/counterfeit-minifigures-immediate-action-required

    The email is here for buyers / non-subscribers that didn't receive it.
    Fizyx
  • MaffyDMaffyD Member Posts: 3,532
    Thanks @CCC - haven't been on Bricklink recently but was thinking of going on to buy some minis (punisher, daredevil).
  • TheFewTheFew Member Posts: 1,781
    So I recently picked up a job lot which I am sorting through..

    It seems I have, Helms Deep, the Unexpected Gathering and the Goblin King Battle. Each is probably around 90% complete as a build. There are no minifigures. 

    What do you think is the best way to get a return on these? List them on Ebay as partially complete or part out into my store? 
    WesterBricks
  • DB361DB361 Member Posts: 299
    ^ I'd part out every single time. Those sets especially have useful parts in good colours that will sell well, so even though it's more work I think you'll get 3-4 times more £ parting out over selling on eBay.
    TheFew
  • TheFewTheFew Member Posts: 1,781
    DB361 said:
    ^ I'd part out every single time. Those sets especially have useful parts in good colours that will sell well, so even though it's more work I think you'll get 3-4 times more £ parting out over selling on eBay.
    Yeah it does make sense. Guess I will need to find more space in my used parts storage!
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    My store has been very slow lately, only an order every few days
    Just added a few pieces (extras from something I built personally), updated and sorted a bit of inventory while I was at it

    as for surprisingly valuable pieces, I remember some common polybag (I think it was Chima) with a part that went for a few bucks because it was also used in a UCS batmobile or something like that
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    I've been finding castle related stuff is flying out - probably no surprise there. I parted out some Kingdoms chess sets and none of the minifigs or minifigure parts lasted very long. Each set parted out at about £230. Not bad for sets that were clearanced at £28 each.
    FizyxBumblepantsTheFew
  • MaffyDMaffyD Member Posts: 3,532
    ^ I'm buying a fair amount of Castle stuff - starting off with the shields that aren't crazy stupid prices. And some weapons. And minifigs. The chess set figs I found to be rather overpriced in most stores, but some were decent. And thankfully most were not played with as much as regular minifigs are!
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    MaffyD said:
    The chess set figs I found to be rather overpriced in most stores, ...
    They were probably mine! They were overpriced in the sense of being more than I would pay, but there are some rich people out there buying new figures in large volumes happy to buy them. Out of two sets, I think I only have 4 or 5 figures left. Although I also plundered them for a few Dragon Knights.
    MaffyD
  • DB361DB361 Member Posts: 299
    Same with me for castle related stuff at the minute, sadly I don't have anything left in the backlog to part out that would boost those sales further. I've also seen a huge upturn in US/Canadian orders with the weak £, though as that situation starts to settle, those orders have died off as quickly as they flooded in. At least the UK market doesn't seem to be quite as doom and gloom as the media may make it seem, yes people are spending a bit more carefully (which has resulted in lots of people asking for impossible items to be sent as large letters just to try and save a couple of quid on postage), but for me at least, they are still spending.
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    USPS temporary package rate increase in effect October 2nd through January 22nd

    That's why the order I just packed cost more than expected

    Also, Shipstation the Paypal label provider charges 1c over Commercial Base rates

  • MaffyDMaffyD Member Posts: 3,532
    CCC said:
    MaffyD said:
    The chess set figs I found to be rather overpriced in most stores, ...
    They were probably mine! They were overpriced in the sense of being more than I would pay, but there are some rich people out there buying new figures in large volumes happy to buy them. Out of two sets, I think I only have 4 or 5 figures left. Although I also plundered them for a few Dragon Knights.
    Well, please don't think I regard your Bricklink store as overpriced! I don't even know which store is yours - I would probably buy from you rather than a store I have no knowledge of.

    And of course the term 'overpriced' means different things to different people - and very much depends on what the person values!
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    MaffyD said:
    Well, please don't think I regard your Bricklink store as overpriced! I don't even know which store is yours - I would probably buy from you rather than a store I have no knowledge of.

    And of course the term 'overpriced' means different things to different people - and very much depends on what the person values!

    No worries. Pricing is always difficult. I tend to think my prices are overpriced, in that they are more than I'd pay for the items. But if I went to prices that I would pay, then I'd just keep the items myself. I tend to aim to be at the lower end of UK prices to sell, but that can still seem pricey compared to the rest of Europe and the US markets. It is especially difficult if you are the only one with something in the UK (which often happens with even just 10-12 year old Castle items). In that case, I tend to price relatively high and see if it sells. I can always reduce the price if I price too high, but I can never increase the price if I priced too low and someone bought the lot.

    It is also one of those things that if you have loads, you can price on the lower end to make loads of sales. Whereas if you only have a few of a particular minifigure or expensive part, I don't really care if 95% of BL users think it is overpriced, since you only need enough buyers that are willing to pay your price to sell all you have. I guess LEGO thinks the same about LEGO buyers. It doesn't matter if some people feel priced out, so long as enough people keep buying.



    560HeliportMaffyDrd1899
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    Doing some partout for the first time in ages- 5 of #75981 Harry Potter Advent
    Calendar 2020
    Topical with advent 2022 coming up, sometimes as a businessman I could have better timing
    Had been taking up a lot of storage space

    I did all the figs, and all the accessories in those mini sets
    that's enough for now, hoping to get to non-fig mini sets tomorrow night

    WesterBricks
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    Working some more on the 75981 partout
    Listing a bag at a time, or a few small bags, is more manageable than trying to do it all at once, maybe I should try that with larger sets

    yet sometimes the same part appears in multiple bags which reverts to the same 'list piecemeal or list too much at once' quandary
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    Part outs have been broken all day (adding anything to a store is currently broken). They introduced their new "My Collection " feature but broke one of the core seller tools - adding inventory. Why do they test new features on the live site ...? Especially in the busiest few weeks before Christmas. 
    Fizyx
  • LobotLobot Member Posts: 1,029
    It's all running incredibly slowly at the moment - I was hoping the admins would fix the problem when they took down the site earlier but it's still totally unusable.
  • LobotLobot Member Posts: 1,029
    It isn't looking that good.....!


  • pxchrispxchris Member Posts: 2,388
    I tried using the My Collection feature this morning before everything broke... it was a mess! The import from Brickset failed, then added triplicates of the sets I own when I tried again. Then everything went bust.
  • Lo1sJessLo1sJess Member Posts: 670
    @pxchris what is your store name?
  • pxchrispxchris Member Posts: 2,388
    Lo1sJess said:
    @pxchris what is your store name?
    I don't have a store on BL. The new My Collection feature is available for all BL users.
  • Switchfoot55Switchfoot55 Member Posts: 3,357
    This is likely a conversation for another thread, but curious what those who currently run BL stores would say to an individual considering opening their own store right now? Is it worth it? Too much hassle? Does it "pay off" in the end?

     ...asking for a friend...

    560HeliportpxchrisMarshallmario
  • rbozarthrbozarth Member Posts: 94
    Switchfoot55 said:
    This is likely a conversation for another thread, but curious what those who currently run BL stores would say to an individual considering opening their own store right now? Is it worth it? Too much hassle? Does it "pay off" in the end?

     ...asking for a friend...

    Competition is stiff right now and sales have slowed considerably.  I wouldn't recommend opening a store unless you have a huge inventory from the start.

    -Bozbricks
    Switchfoot55KingAlanI
  • Switchfoot55Switchfoot55 Member Posts: 3,357
    Thanks for the comment. I think I'd open it more to just build my store slowly over time as opposed to being in it for any sort of income stream every month. I estimate I have around 25k used parts at the moment, likely more. Not sure if that would be considered a very large inventory to start or not?
  • TheFewTheFew Member Posts: 1,781
    CCC said:
    I've been finding castle related stuff is flying out - probably no surprise there. I parted out some Kingdoms chess sets and none of the minifigs or minifigure parts lasted very long. Each set parted out at about £230. Not bad for sets that were clearanced at £28 each.
    Thanks for the info. Will dig out the ones I have for my store. 
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    Had done enough of the 75981 partout to put the empty paper trays in this week's recycling - often trash day motivates me to sort things

    that left some unopened parts bags on my desk - I often leave unsorted stuff in the middle of my work space to get me to actually work on it rather than just push it out of the way. Didn't quite finish but almost done
Sign In or Register to comment.

Shopping at LEGO.com or Amazon?

Please use our links: LEGO.com • Amazon

Recent discussions • Categories • Privacy Policy • Brickset.com

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

Sign In Register

Categories

Brickset.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, the Amazon.com.ca, Inc. Associates Program and the Amazon EU Associates Programme, which are affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.