Why are Pirate LEGO UK eBay Auctions so darn cheap?

[Mister Phes]

Why does Pirate LEGO fail to fetch high prices in UK eBay Auctions?

Quite often I scroll down to the UK eBay ads and see sets (some quite moderately sized on occasion) with very few bids. I ask why? Why don't people in the UK and nearby countries take advantage of these prices? Are UK sellers bad to deal with? Does ebay.co.uk have strange rules? Are there hidden fees or taxes? Postage too ridiculously high?

(All hyperlinks in this post link to eBay Auctions)

Quite good deals

6271 Imperial Flagship ~ £13.49

6261 Raft Raiders ~ £3.25

6285 Black Seas Barracuda ~ £32.00

SOLD FOR

6262 King Kahuka's Throne - £4.25

6259 Broadside's Brigg - £6.06

6244 Armada Sentry - £6.06

6256 Islander Catarmaran - £4.87

6266 Cannon Cove - £5.59

6257 Castaway's Raft - £4.20

6260 Shipwreck lsland - £7.50

6265 Saber Island - £15.49

6260 Shipwreck lsland - £5.50

6257 Castaway Raft - £5.50

DISCLAIMER: The Administration of Classic-Pirates.com and Eurobricks is in no way accountable for this eBay auction or any eBay auction advertised in our forum or website. The advertisements are presented for your convenience and therefore it is YOUR responsibility to contact the seller to negotiate postage rates or pose any queries you have regarding the auction. Classic-Pirates.com will not accept responsibility for any action taken by any eBay seller.

[Lt. Col. Thok]

Interesting question. Indeed, in Canada or the US, they'd be well over 20 or 30$, which is unfortunate.

[Mister Phes]

Don't know about that $20-$30 as that seems too much for a Castaway's Raft or Shipwreck Island, in fact there's 6257 Castaway's Raft in the US for $5 right now...

Heck! There's even a 6249 Pirate's Ambush, 6268 Renegade Runner, 6263 Imperial Outpost and 6264 Forbidden Cove all for $5 in the US!

Or an 6244 Armada Sentry for 99 cents!

[PSPguy]

Its because the sellers know you want them and they like rubbing it in your face Mr. Phes. Or at least thats what I figure,

[brickbitz]

Personally I think it's because there's a lot of snipers out there.

I've lost count of the seemingly cheap bargain LEGO auctions I've lost due to last second sniping.

In fact I rarely bother with Ebay these days.

[Joey Lock]

I think its because well, Dont like to brag but...Where the best!

Theres a Inflation going on so I dont know why there so cheap...

[Mister Phes]

Its because the sellers know you want them and they like rubbing it in your face Mr. Phes. Or at least thats what I figure,

Actually, most eBay sellers want the highest price possible for their auctions so we're assisting them to get a better price.

It costs money to list auctions and also eBay takes about 10% of the final bid, so unless every UK seller extremely wealthy they can't afford to rub it in my face

Personally I think it's because there's a lot of snipers out there. I've lost count of the seemingly cheap bargain LEGO auctions I've lost due to last second sniping.

You've raised an interesting point. There's also a lot of last second bidders who aren't necessarily snipers too. I think I'll have to pay closer attention to the final price to determine the accuracy of your theory.

I think its because well, Dont like to brag but...Where the best!

"Where the best"? Certainly not the best at grammar - it's "we're" by the way...

And if you were the best then could fetch higher prices for your eBay auctions

[Tenorikuma]

You've raised an interesting point. There's also a lot of last second bidders who aren't necessarily snipers too. I think I'll have to pay closer attention to the final price to determine the accuracy of your theory.

I normally only bid on auctions with a few hours or less remaining because I don't want to wait several days before knowing if I won or not so I can try bidding on another auction.

I don't see the issue with sniping, though. If someone else wants to pay more than the maximum you're willing to pay, what's the big deal?

[PSPguy]

Actually, most eBay sellers want the highest price possible for their auctions so we're assisting them to get a better price.

It costs money to list auctions and also eBay takes about 10% of the final bid, so unless every UK seller extremely wealthy they can't afford to rub it in my face

I did not know that. Maybe they are rich!

[Antsa Antero]

I don't think that UK ebay pirate stuff is a lot cheaper than somewhere else. It may seem that because the value of dollar compared to Pound is really low. Lets see for example 5 dollars is only 2.5 Pound. People just often don't remember how weak dollars value has gone from what it was some years ago.

I live in Finland so we have Euros here. I remember the time when dollars exchange rate to euro was about 1:1

Now it's only 0.64 so US Bay auctions seem to be really cheap for us living inside EU

So how low the price seems to be depends where you live. US bay prices certainly are freaking cheap for europeans but for people in US that's not the way

Edited July 24, 2008 by Antsa Antero

[brickzone]

I think it could be down to supply - I think Lego Pirates were quite popular in UK and Ireland and so perhaps are even now not so hard to get hold of (or at least not hard enough to drive prices up madly).

I have not ever seen Port Royale (Imperial Trading Post) go for little though - fortunately that one I owned myself and was able to restore gradually (although I still need a full-size Imperial flag - my own is missing a clip, and some pieces are quite worn - minifigs are all good condition ones now though).

I've also struggled to get hold of some medium soldier sets - because no matter how rare, I'm only ever prepared to pay a certain amount for particular size of set.

I have seen even the Black Seas Barracuda go for quite reasonable prices a number of times (despite all the times it goes for a lot), and got my own for €70 incl shipping (crazy considering in mid 1980s it must have been like IR£100+ given the UK price at the time - and we had massive inflation over the years, even post euro, changeover was IR£1=€1.27 as well, so €70 is very little). I don't think they could be that rare really in these waters (at least for a large set) - they do come up regularly enough in the listings. It's an awesome set. I believe I'm still missing about 4-8 small brown wheels mind you - although I'm not sure - I might have got them all for this set and now just be missing them on another pirate set.

Space Lego by contrast seems to be a lot more prevalent in US listings and correspondingly go for less. I'm quite happy to have mostly collected my sets of interest, though I'd still love Alpha Centauri Outpost.

It seems to me that there are *very* few sets you would make a profit on comparing original purchase price, price you would get now, and taking into account inflation. Even many MISBs don't fetch prices fully accounting for inflation - relatively speaking Lego was very expensive in the past.

[purple tornado]

In belgium they aren't to expensive either.

A few days ago I bought me 23 imperial soldiers (mostly bluecoats) and the imperial flagschip for only 40€.

So my army is rapidly expanding and I will post some pictures one of these days.

[Mister Phes]

I think it could be down to supply - I think Lego Pirates were quite popular in UK and Ireland and so perhaps are even now not so hard to get hold of

Looking at auctions at the bottom of the forum I currently see 224 in the USA and 111 in the UK. Now lets do some maths. USA has approximiately 304M people while UK has approximately 60M so I shall population divided by auctions

Theres enough pirate LEGO on eBay for everyone 1 in 1,357,142 people in the USA.

Theres enough pirate LEGO on eBay for everyone 1 in 540,540 people in the UK.

(That's if one auction was given to one person)

So as you can see there's almost 3 times more Pirate LEGO auctions in the UK, so it's definitely more abundant there.

It seems to me that there are *very* few sets you would make a profit on comparing original purchase price, price you would get now, and taking into account inflation. Even many MISBs don't fetch prices fully accounting for inflation - relatively speaking Lego was very expensive in the past.

I disagree, it depends on the sets and yes some haven't appreciated much but a MSIB Skulls Eye Schooner will often fetch over US$450 some even US$500. Those sets are like investments now.

In belgium they aren't to expensive either.

Belgium definitely is a cheaper region. Always has been for some reason... I must figure out the reason.

Now the auctions previously mentioned have been sold and they fetched decent prices, but was that because I brought them to everyone's attention or would they have done this anyway? Perhaps I should have conducted a baseline test by observing the final bid price before asking the question. Ah well...

SOLD FOR

6257 Castaway's Raft - £4.20

6260 Shipwreck lsland - £7.50

6265 Saber Island - £15.49

[brickzone]

I disagree, it depends on the sets and yes some haven't appreciated much but a MSIB Skulls Eye Schooner will often fetch over US$450 some even US$500. Those sets are like investments now.

BSB is one of the sets that probably does make a profit (although only MISB) even accounting for inflation (although I would say only just). The amount large sets cost in the past would buy a lot more than the same amount today. Many items here in Ireland would easily be four times as much today as in the early 1980s (price of a pint alone is 3x as much) - but for a given size of Lego set that does not hold true. Mostly Lego sets are the same numerical price in Euro for a particular set size as they were in Irish Pounds back in the day! Lego is cheaper than ever. Even each year they get cheaper, as prices are going up and up for everything else due to inflation, but not Lego.

[Bonaparte]

Belgium definitely is a cheaper region. Always has been for some reason... I must figure out the reason.

Maybe because it's a small country and people prefer to buy in their own countries.

Yesterday I was able to buy a 6280 Armada Flagship for 21 euro's in Belgium.

[Karto]

Honestly, I've never seen used Pirate sets sell at a high price. Two years ago, I've put 7 sets at once on eBay:

- 6285 Black Seas Barracuda,

- 6276 Eldorado Fortress,

- 6274 Carribean Clipper,

- 6270 Forbidden Island,

- 6257 Castaway Raft,

- 6251 Pirate Minifigures,

- 6245 Harbor Centry.

All in mint condition, only build once for display. Start price: 99 Euro... never sold them.

Two months ago, I've bought a MISB 6271 Imperial Flagship for 31 Euro (still on ebay.be). That says enough...

[Mister Phes]

LEGO sells cheap in Beligum or Europe in general... I think my problem is Pirate LEGO is more expensive in Australia than anywhere else. People just seem to pay more for it.

For example:

BSB is one of the sets that probably does make a profit (although only MISB) even accounting for inflation (although I would say only just).

In Australia, a used Black Seas Barracuda just sold for AU $202.50 or 123.636 Euro... See auction here

As for a MSIB BSB, the cheapest currently on BrickLink is US$299.95 (191.39 Euro) going all the way upto US$549.99 (350.00 Euro) - and that's for the 2002 reissue.

As I recall it only cost around US$120 when it was reissued so that's far more than the original value. I would very much like to see a MSIB Black Seas Barracuda sell for less than US$200 ANYWHERE online at this point in time!

As for a MSIB Eldorado Fortress - currently US$356.00. That must be over double its original value, getting close to triple in fact.

Honestly, I've never seen used Pirate sets sell at a high price. Two years ago, I've put 7 sets at once on eBay: All in mint condition, only build once for display. Start price: 99 Euro... never sold them.

Which countries were they available to?

[purple tornado]

Maybe because it's a small country and people prefer to buy in their own countries.

Yesterday I was able to buy a 6280 Armada Flagship for 21 euro's in Belgium.

Did you buy harbor sentry with it aswell?

I was interested to but unfortunaly missed the auction cause of a barbecue.

[Karto]

Which countries were they available to?

I don't remember exactly but it must have been limited to the EU as worldwide shipping from Belgium is too expensive for heavy parcels (156 Euro for 10kg worldwide without any insurance possible...). I usually put only smaller sets available worldwide. The last Pirate sets I've put for sale on eBay were sold at a good price but these were MISB (6270 and 6251 a few months ago). I've seen several BSB's going for less than 50 Euro (even being complete, with shooting canons). On the other hand, the castle theme seems to have way more success. I've sold several 6080 castles for higher prices than on Bricklink.

[Bonaparte]

Did you buy harbor sentry with it aswell?

I was interested to but unfortunaly missed the auction cause of a barbecue.

No, I only bought this. Was it offered by the same seller? Any idea for what price it was sold?

[Cardinal Brick]

Perhaps it’s the economy? Consumer confidence is very low at the moment in the UK and a lot of people I know are worried about losing their jobs so it’s not the time to be buying Lego. I’ve noticed the price has come down on a lot of sets recently. Just a thought.

[Mister Phes]

I thought global economy was a problem for most regions at the moment.

I'm wondering if it's because many UK sellers only specify they only post to the UK... By doing so many potential buyers may not take the initiative to ask if they post elsewhere...

Anyway, I'm noticing some OK prices, still cheap compared to Australia but they do manage to get above the £0.99 starting point.

Currently at £0.99

6266 Cannon Cove

6256 Islander Catarmaran

6244 Armada Sentry

6259 Broadside's Brigg

6262 King Kahuka's Throne

SOLD FOR

6257 Castaway's Raft - £4.20

6260 Shipwreck lsland - £7.50

6265 Saber Island - £15.49

6260 Shipwreck lsland - £5.50

6257 Castaway Raft - £5.50

[brickzone]

I thought global economy was a problem for most regions at the moment.

I'm wondering if it's because many UK sellers only specify they only post to the UK... By doing so many potential buyers may not take the initiative to ask if they post elsewhere...

If I was more fanatical about searching for sets, I would indeed include these in my search results, as often the seller will at least be prepared to send to Ireland if one enquires. It's a pity Royal Mail now just charges the same for postage to Ireland as the rest of Europe. There used to be a special rate for parcels to Ireland.

The last major Pirate set that I would like to own but haven't yet found at a cheap price is Scull Eye Schooner. I'd also like Imperial Outpost and Lagoon Lock-up.

[purple tornado]

No, I only bought this. Was it offered by the same seller? Any idea for what price it was sold?

I tought so but am not sure

It sold for 5.50€ which I would gladly pay for it.

I don't own a single armada minifig. so I'm searching.

In belgium you could get sets like lagoon lock-up for 30€ and eldorado fortress for only 50€.

Also pirate minifigs generaly cost less than 1€ a piece.

Castle however could be far more expensive, i've seen sets like dragon wagon (dragon masters) sell for 35€ which is more than double the cost back in the day.

[Cardinal Brick]

I thought global economy was a problem for most regions at the moment.

I think it’s more about confidence than the economic statistics, and as far as I know economic confidences is very low here at the moment.