Sellers of mulitple figures: fake or mad?

[legolandia]

I have been looking to buy a Vader (bacta tank) from set 75251 because I don't want to buy the full set. I have noticed on ebay a couple fo people that sell multiples of this minifigure (one guy has 14 and another has in excess of 30). This has left me a bit puzzled and suspicious; are these guys selling fakes or are they actually mad enough to buy 15 or 30 sets and split them??

[jxu]

Well some people on Bricklink are doing the same: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?M=sw0981#T=S&O={"iconly":0} One guy has 73 minifigs

If you can buy sets in bulk, you could probably make a profit parting out and selling rare minifigs and pieces by themselves.

[legolandia]

6 hours ago, jxu said:

Well some people on Bricklink are doing the same: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?M=sw0981#T=S&O={"iconly":0} One guy has 73 minifigs

If you can buy sets in bulk, you could probably make a profit parting out and selling rare minifigs and pieces by themselves.

73 means 73 sets which at £120 each works out at £8k. On top of that he does not have 73 sets for sale either. There has to be some counterfeit problem here, surely?

[MAB]

I've bought £4000 worth of a single set in the past, just to part out on bricklink. You can often get a discount buying that many at once and can recoup the cost quickly by selling the minifigures fast, and then make profit by selling the parts (usually slower).

[Peppermint_M]

All the above mentioned are good possibilities. Also: Damaged Box lots sell cheaply. So, say a retailer has a shipping pallet of LEGO sets that has been squashed on one side. I know they simply ship the sets in boxes, wrapped in clear plastic.

I have seen them at the factory and when I was unloading a delivery from the truck (Forklift drivers, can I get a heck yeah!) the driver knows I am an AFOL (he is getting into it too) and laughingly pointed out that the pallet next to our delivery was full of LEGO. 

Let us just say, guys from the one shipping company have delivered to us with a trailer leaking wine from a crushed delivery! 

Anyway, I digress: So, Retailer gets a pallet of LEGO Sets, say an eighth of the pallet has damaged sets. The sets that look fine get put out on the shop floor to sell, the bashed ones get sold cheap in bulk through auction. 

Someone savvy would know that the damaged box sets have some value, but they can sell the minfigures on their own for faster money and cheaper shipping, without having to sell a set on without a box or with damaged boxes.

[jxu]

23 hours ago, legolandia said:

73 means 73 sets which at £120 each works out at £8k. On top of that he does not have 73 sets for sale either. There has to be some counterfeit problem here, surely?

£8k is not an unusual amount for large sellers. You have to remember, some people do this as a full-time business, buying Lego sets in bulk from higher up in the supply chain than regular consumers like you and me who buy from retailers or in small quantities. 

And if he chose to part out for minifigs, which according to my very brief mental estimation can make a profit, then of course he would not have 73 sets for sale, because they have been parted out. I wouldn't assume they are counterfeit, especially since the seller has such a high positive feedback rating and overall reputation.

Edited September 2, 2020 by jxu

[AmperZand]

All the suggestions above are possible, indeed probable. Another possibility, albeit somewhat remote, is that the minifigures were stolen from the factory where they were manufactured then sold in bulk to resellers in other countries. The theft could have been an inside job but not necessarily by a LEGO employee; a contractor is entirely possible.

I once ordered one of the LEGO big cats from a seller in Taiwan. When it arrived, it was the wrong big cat. It was genuine LEGO but a part that had not been released yet anywhere in the world. There is no legitimate way the seller could have obtained that with LEGO’s approval that it be re-sold. No way.

[jxu]

5 hours ago, AmperZand said:

I once ordered one of the LEGO big cats from a seller in Taiwan. When it arrived, it was the wrong big cat. It was genuine LEGO but a part that had not been released yet anywhere in the world. There is no legitimate way the seller could have obtained that with LEGO’s approval that it be re-sold. No way.

Another possibility, depending on how much earlier compared to the official release was, is that some retailers accidentally sold them early. I believe there were instances with the Osprey where some stores accidentally sold them early (though only by a few hours).

[legolandia]

Well, this puts my mind at rest a little. I've bought the bacta Vader from a French seller on ebay. Very decent price.