How would you determine value of a very large LEGO collection?

[kibosh]

Sadly, I learned a fellow AFOL in my area passed away a while ago. Very disappointed I never got to know this man as he only lived 15 miles from me. Anyway, I learned that his family has no idea what to do with his massive collection which rivals my own. I am in talks with them to purchase everything, but neither of us knows how to come up with a price.

How would you determine the overall value of a large collection? It is pretty well organized by brick type, color, etc. No clue how to go about this...

[Zerobricks]

If he saved his building instructions or boxes that might give you an idea of the sets he owns.

[Slegengr]

I could be way off on this, but I have watched and bought lots from eBay. An average sale price for LEGO seems to be about $10 per pound for mixed parts and incomplete sets, especially if there are few minifigures. Minifigure lots sell for much more if you calculate the per-pound price. If he has the collection sorted, this ups the value. Storage containers cost money as well, so, if they are included, they would also up the value.

This might be over simplified, but I would say from my experience, the simplest way to calculate a reasonably fair price would be to weigh the collection and price it at about $15-$20 per pound for sorted LEGO in storage containers (drawers, tubs, etc.). If minifigures are also included, a bulk price of $2-$3 per minifigure would seem reasonable to me as well.

This is just my two cents from my personal purchasing experience. Hopefully other AFOLs will provide input as well that might make the values more reasonable.

[deraven]

I generally agree with Slegengr, but one additional observation of my own: That price range only seems to hold for 10-30ish lbs., after which the average price seems to go down. I think it's probably related to the fact that most folks who are making a "bulk" purchase are OK with the idea of spending a couple hundred dollars, but beyond that it's out of their overall budget or they have a psychological block about spending thousands of dollars on Lego at once (even if in aggregate they've already spent much more on their collection).

For example, I often see mixed, unsorted lots with minifigures for for $10-15/lb - maybe 20lbs for 250ish + shipping, but then if you see a lot that's 150lbs of Lego priced at $1500 (the low end of that range) it doesn't sell. To be honest, I guess I do that myself as well. When I'm buying bulk lots I usually aim for the 20-30lb range, and the ones I end up winning are often in the $7-9/lb range. I won't go higher than $10 unless I know the lot contains something very specific that I value more highly, and generally I want to be in the $7ish range to both feel like I've picked up a "good deal" as well as to offset any off-brand pieces that are included when I'm not sure about the purity of the lot.

I understand that at least part of your motivation is to help these folks out, so I think I'd just present them with all the info: They could get up to $15/lb selling it in a bunch of small lots which will take a lot of time and energy but might yield more total dollars, or they can sell it in one or a few bigger lots for less per pound but with far less overall effort. If it is reasonably sorted with storage containers (and if you want them), I'd say $10/pound is a very fair price. That, of course, assumes there aren't a bunch of high-dollar individual sets in there. If he has, like, a MISB Yellow Castle or Galaxy Explorer hidden away in a closet, per-pound pricing obviously doesn't apply!

You might want to consider hitting a middle ground- maybe see what higher-dollar stuff is in there, make a fair offer (based on Bricklink & eBay pricing) for that stuff if you want it, and otherwise maybe offer to sell some of that stuff for the on consignment and take your fee in other bulk Lego from the overall collection?

Just a few thoughts… Definitely can be hard to find what seems fair to all parties involved, but I think so long as you're honest with them (maybe even share this thread with them depending on where it goes!) so they know you're doing your best to fine a win-win for everyone it'll probably work out as it should.

[Slegengr]

I agree with deraven. The price does decrease as a "bulk discount" when the lot is 50+ pounds. I also do not bid higher than $10 per pound unless I can see parts that indicate desired sets, nearly complete sets I am interested in, or rare minifigure parts that can be resold to recuperate part of the cost.

I also think $10 is a fair price for the LEGO pieces themselves. Storage containers can add up to significant cost in addition to the parts, so I would keep this in mind with the total sum. If there are a lot of storage containers and you want them, approximate a reasonable cost for them. Otherwise, let them keep the storage. The storage bins are the biggest reason I inflated my original approximation past the $10 per pound mark. Thinking back on it, $20 is probably still way too high.

Some cost is also left out of what you should pay, though, as part of the cost in selling on eBay or other similar sites is to pay for the time and effort it takes to post and sell the items. Of course, if you buy directly from them, you are skipping the cut eBay would take (probably around 5% of total price for a really large lot). This saves the seller and buyer some money as a whole.

To summarize, I would also say that $10 per pound for the LEGO pieces is a very fair price to offer.

[kibosh]

Thanks, guys! Much appreciated. My guess is there be will over 100 lbs. of LEGO. I'm supposed to go look at everything next week.

From what I gather, the guy was retired and regularly hit the area thrift shops and accumulated most of his LEGO that way.

I'll let you know how it plays out.

[Mikuri]

Take pictures of the the loot ;)

[kibosh]

Oh, I will for sure!

[kibosh]

Hopefully, I get to take a look at everything tonight. It's almost 300 lbs of LEGO!!!

I have mixed feelings though. I understand the owner passed away 6 years ago. This means very little of the licensed stuff, no newer colors, less detailed minifigs, etc....

[kibosh]

Well, I missed out on the lot. Everything sold for $2000. After seeing the pictures, it was 300 lbs of pretty basic brick.

[Mikuri]

Oh... That's kinda boring for ya.

[kibosh]

Yup. That's what I thought. If I'm going to spend that kind of money, I'd rather buy a bunch of modular buildings.