do people actually buy huge collections?

[Bobskink]

Hello, I am really considering to downsize my Star Wars Lego army. The time seems right to spend that money on other more important things and I have noticed I wouldn't mind anymore if I didn't have every OT figure.

The problem is, I don't want to waste my time selling every figure individualy, even if I would get more money in the end.

Problem numebr 2 is, do people actualy give that mush money for huge lots. I have the impression that European collectors, like me, don't seem to buy huge / expensive lot's.

So my questions are, is it worth it, will people pay thatmush money, even if the price is resonable.

and were is the best place to sell, eBay Eurobricks, Ebay USA (expensive shipping)

I would sell these (only the most interesting):

soldiers:

30 stormtrropers

10 snowtroopers

10 scouttroopers

20 rebel soldiers

10 hoth soldiers (old style)

10 hoth soldiers (new style)

10 endor soldiers

10 Episode 2 clones

10 Episode 3 clones

10 Clone Wars clones

special figures:

Gold C3PO

Silver stormtrooper

Shiny Darth vader

White Boba Fett

Red Darth Vader (helmet)

Red Boba Fett (helmet)

Plain green Boba Fett (helmet)

Plain flat silver Boba Fett (helmet)

Boba Fett With printed legs from Cloud City (this is the one which makes this disision so hard)

1 Dewback

1 Wampa

and lots of other figures...

I'm not looking to sell them, so please don't ask me for something individual (unless it's insane)

I would just like to know what is a reasonable price to ask...

Thanks,

Edited January 11, 2014 by Bobskink

[Darth Dino]

Hi

the ONLY kind of person buying that in bulk are resellers or collectors that resell to get money for their hobby.

For example many SW fans like to have so much (or even more) stormtroopers. But what if they have like me already some of the the polybag figs? If i would get your stuff for 300€' i would resell most of it for 300 as well to have the stormtroopers for free ;)

You could sell your figs in lots but only figs that belongs together or are the same. Dont sell the polybag figs togehter.EberThing i have seen on ebay is a lost if collectors are selling most of the rare polybag figs togehter.

The more figs you sell togehter, the more the 5€per fig rule is valid. Thats the avarage price of OT figs at ebay germany. You will get your local prices by looking at ebay for ended!!! auctions.

Those advices will cost you five or your stormtroopers, i will let you know where to ship them :D

Dino

Edited January 11, 2014 by Darth Dino

[Sir Brickalot]

You'll probably get a lot more individually, for the rare figures, but for the normal figures, a bundle of them would sell well.

Hope it helps!

[Super Goblin]

No people hate large lots. To help you out I'll give you a dollar for the entire lot.

[Bobskink]

Thanks for the info Dino, I was wondering if 5 € a piece was resonable or not.

I would buy the same way as you propose, but I wonder if people would make that investement, since it's far worth more than 300. I know I would never dare to do that.

[Darth Dino]

Hi

dont stick on my 300€ there where just for explantations.

5€ for one fig like a Stormtrooper is ok, in large numbers often 3-4€. Everything Hoth related i would sell when the summer wave come out with Snowspeeder and AT AT.

I would sell the Dewback NOW because a new one will come out soon.

Dino

[alois]

Don't forget to put it on Marktplaats.nl, there are a lot of Dutch people wanting to buy Lego.

[Alcarin]

The best thing to sell collections is by selling same stuff together....

So pretty much bundling generic figs together and so on and on.

[Deathleech]

I recently sold a TON of my old childhood toys so I have some first hand experience with this. While most of the stuff I sold wasn't Lego, I think it still applies. I sold a lot of action figures as complete waves but I also sold the figures separate.

What I found was selling stuff individually does get you more money and you often sell it MUCH faster. Almost anyone can afford a $3 figure, but the number of people who can afford a huge $100+ lot goes way down. Also not everyone will want everything in the lot if you sell it all together. If they have no interest in the 10 Hoth Soldiers they aren't going to waste the money buying it just for everything else. Of course the benefit of selling a huge lot is it is MUCH easier on you to list one auction than list 50 auctions. People do buy huge lots, whether for their personal collection or to re-sell, it just takes time. You have to find the right buyer.

Like Alcarin points out, you might try to bundle only the same type of figures together. That way it's not such a big expensive auction, you have only one or two types of figures so people won't be buying stuff they don't want, and you still way fewer auctions to list than if you sold everything individually. I did this and it seemed to work fairly well.

[escortmad79]

You'll struggle to sell as one lot. I accumulated 100 series 2 CMF Spartans & tried to sell them in one bulk lot without success. In the end I had to split them into a number of smaller lots.

I have bought 3 collections, 1 from a kid & 2 collections from adults who were getting rid of their childhood collections. The collection from the kid was a mix of city stuff & Megablocks! One of the adult collection was a load of classic town & space sets, some of which I had when I was a kid. The other adults collection was a selection of Harry Potter sets.

[shinobisgreenshinpads]

I would be interested in the lot. As Darth Dino said, I'd take what I need (a fair bit of what you have) and sell off the rest to help pay for them. If you are interested I'd be happy to give you my ebay id (near 5000 feedback and 100%). It's a nice lot, I think you would find some suitors, but as Dino said the majority would be resellers.

[Zeya]

When I clicked on this topic, I thought I was going to read "I want to sell my whole collection and get every last cent for it". :) But if you're just talking about minifigures, they're the easiest thing to sell. I myself have bought eBay lots of about 100 minifigs. And just like others have noted, I would pick out the figs (or just torsos or accessories) I wanted and then flip the rest back onto eBay, usually making most/all of my money back.

But yeah, I say game on with selling the figs. You're going to have some figs that are the really desirable ones, and others that "nobody wants" at least not alone. So what I recommend doing is making a few lots and listing them all at once. Take your photo with the rare/valuable ones in the top row so that the buyers see it first, and the less desirable/average ones in a lower row. If you don't do something like this, you might find yourself left with a bunch of the less desirable figs and have difficulty selling them.

Other general eBay tips apply. Each listing should have no reserve, auction style. I dislike "buy it now" and think that drives away buyers. Clear out any buyers with 0 feedback or new accounts made within the last week (there's a setting to auto-block some of that). Good luck!

[Bobskink]

thanks dudes, got some valuable tips.

If and when I'll sell a part of my collection, I will let you know.

Edited January 15, 2014 by Bobskink

[Mayte]

Separated pieces are more valued.

[Godtshep]

I would sell figures like Cloud City Boba Fett and the Dewback individually, and sell Stormies in lots of 10.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I bought out a large portion of a huge lot back in 2010. He was originally asking $10,000 on ebay. After inquiring about my interest in many large and some small sets, I was expecting some high prices as much of his and his son's layout was discontinued (Cafe Corner, Market St. XXL Crane, etc). I think I spent around $1,300 on 4 orders around $300-350 each over 5 or 6 months. I don't know what changed his mind on price, but most of the sets he sold to me at or just over RRP. It's what got me into modulars when I bought his CC and MS

[Deathleech]

I think I spent around $1,300 on 4 orders around $300-350 each over 5 or 6 months. I don't know what changed his mind on price, but most of the sets he sold to me at or just over RRP. It's what got me into modulars when I bought his CC and MS

He probably wasn't getting any bites and had little/no interest in it from other people. $10,000 is a lot of money for one go on toys and very few people can afford it. Heck, very few can afford to just throw down $100 on a single auction for used toys.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

He probably wasn't getting any bites and had little/no interest in it from other people. $10,000 is a lot of money for one go on toys and very few people can afford it. Heck, very few can afford to just throw down $100 on a single auction for used toys.

Oh absolutely, but when he came back with retail prices for me to purchase the CC, MS and many others, when they where selling for twice that (or more; can't remember what they're value was winter '10), I was quite shocked. Had he asked for $250 or more for those modulars, I would have passed. Trying to sell a large lot for thousands would, most likely, never work. Still, I do like to see people try and sell a city layout. You'd probably never see that particular layout anywhere else

[Modulex Guy]

I've bought a few large mixed lots and collections before. My goodness, sometimes its a nightmare to sort. The biggest one I bought was a huge tote bin of mixed everything. It took forever to sort out the good bricks, some broken and useless parts, non-Lego brands, random junk, etc. Price was too good to pass up for the lot, but what an endeavor to sort.

I wouldn't have a problem buying another large collection, just need to prepare myself to sort out a large lot like that. Maybe get a few friends together and have them help.