Where can I check for the lowest price in the global market?

[ks6349]

I mean, where can I check for the lowest price ever of a retired set in the global market BEFORE it's retired. Not necessarily the absolute lowest, but around the lowest point is fine. I mean, the lowest price of a set in the market after it's born, not necessarily the current price.

Because I'd like to buy a retired set but I don't know it's lowest price before it's retired. If it is a lot more expensive now then I will just forget it and look for something otherwise. I do not want to let the investors to earn too much. Yes I cannot control their price, but I can control myself

Edited October 9, 2022 by ks6349

[Ravelino]

We have Brickwatch for NL/BE/FR/UK and https://www.toybricksfinder.eu/ for Italian and Spanish prices (usually zavvi and/or amazon) and I know of https://www.brickeconomy.com/ which does have ebay prices in US.

I can't find any specifically for the rest of the world but you can deduce the price range in your region from those if you know what a similar set costs and compare them.

https://www.bricklink.com or https://www.brickowl.com could be a good option as well. Although the rarer a set gets the higher the prices will be as well, but sometimes I can find a HK or Singapore seller which have the set I'm looking for even below EU MSRP before retirement when searching for a set.

Usually amazon or a similar local site would be your best choice to check also, but be careful it comes from the store platform and not reseller platform of those sites.

[ks6349]

On 10/9/2022 at 6:09 PM, Ravelino said:

We have Brickwatch for NL/BE/FR/UK and https://www.toybricksfinder.eu/ for Italian and Spanish prices (usually zavvi and/or amazon) and I know of https://www.brickeconomy.com/ which does have ebay prices in US.

I can't find any specifically for the rest of the world but you can deduce the price range in your region from those if you know what a similar set costs and compare them.

https://www.bricklink.com or https://www.brickowl.com could be a good option as well. Although the rarer a set gets the higher the prices will be as well, but sometimes I can find a HK or Singapore seller which have the set I'm looking for even below EU MSRP before retirement when searching for a set.

Usually amazon or a similar local site would be your best choice to check also, but be careful it comes from the store platform and not reseller platform of those sites.

By the way, can I know why people would buy from HK or Singapore, yes I know that their prices are low but shipping cost is never zero, and usually accounts for a big fraction of the total cost even with the most economic one.

[Ravelino]

I have to admit I'm a bit in a weird/privileged position, I've got people living in the area so I just let the seller ship it to them and pick it up whenever I'm there.

However during peak COVID when personal travel was a no go (2 weeks in a quarantine hotel for 2k a week when I've got a place to crash there? No thank you) I thought about buying a few big sets at one particular store in Malaysia and have the parcel shipped. I would've easily saved a 100 bucks per set and would only have to pay for shipping once, so I'd still end up paying less than the cheapest EU Bricklink prices+shipping from a couple stores. Sadly two of the five sets were sold out before I pulled the trigger and I couldn't find anything nice enough to replace the price difference.

Personally I hate to pay more than 20% shipping on an order, even though sometimes it can't be avoided when buying loose elements. I'd rather just stack up my wishlist for a bit and reduce shipping by a lot. 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Ravelino
grammar

[ks6349]

On 10/19/2022 at 8:08 PM, Ravelino said:

I have to admit I'm a bit in a weird/privileged position, I've got people living in the area so I just let the seller ship it to them and pick it up whenever I'm there.

However during peak COVID when personal travel was a no go (2 weeks in a quarantine hotel for 2k a week when I've got a place to crash there? No thank you) I thought about buying a few big sets at one particular store in Malaysia and have the parcel shipped. I would've easily saved a 100 bucks per set and would only have to pay for shipping once, so I'd still end up paying less than the cheapest EU Bricklink prices+shipping from a couple stores. Sadly two of the five sets were sold out before I pulled the trigger and I couldn't find anything nice enough to replace the price difference.

Personally I hate to pay more than 20% shipping on an order, even though sometimes it can't be avoided when buying loose elements. I'd rather just stack up my wishlist for a bit and reduce shipping by a lot. 

buy from Malaysia? Is it an online shop or are you located in Malaysia?

[LegendaryArticuno]

You need a custom solution, the lowest price doesn't mean the lowest shipping cost. Then you also need to factor in economies of scale, i.e. buying multiple quantities from the same vendor (even at premium) to cut down on shipping costs.