Ebay Bulk Lego Seller?

[mjenk430]

There is a seller (ebuyazonline) on ebay I have bought several bulk lego lots from over the last few months. He has consistently listed 20+ listings of between 3lb and 6lb lots per day, at least since January. (Probably much longer, but that is when I first discovered him.) That's around 100 lbs a day for at least 8 months, or almost 2000lbs!!!! What is his angle? Where is he getting all these bricks? Any ideas?

I have bought multiple lots a week or more apart and have noticed that they will both have an unusual amount of a few parts that you wouldn't expect to come from parted sets, like engine blades or girder supports.

Whatever this guy is doing I wish I had his connection.

[escortmad79]

Why not ask him?

[simonjedi]

He's probably buying them from charity shops/craig'slist/ car boot sales ect for cheap and selling them for a profit.

3lb is not that heavy so you're not getting that much lego.

[Scorpio]

I have also purchased a few pounds from ebuyazonline and I was wondering the same thing. For me it was a good source of darker plates and tile but within all of the good was a bunch of what I considered crap. You take the good with the bad but if anyone knows how he does it I would love to hear it. I just hope that it isn't LEGO branded clone bricks because that would be upsetting.

He's probably buying them from charity shops/craig'slist/ car boot sales ect for cheap and selling them for a profit.

3lb is not that heavy so you're not getting that much lego.

If he is buying used from other places then he must clean the bricks really well because most don't look used at all. I have ordered twice and my orders were for 10 lbs each which was a decent amount of brick.

[dhaas06]

I brought this up here before (I don't remember which topic offhand), as I've had some experiences with this seller. I actually did ask where [his?] parts come from, and I received no answer. What strikes me as weird is that I've found on more than one occasion that these new parts include ones that are not even available yet. For example, I got new colors of droid arms from January 2009's Star Wars sets in lots from the fall of 2008, among many other discoveries of new parts in different colors from future waves of sets. It's clear that his supply is from the source somehow and not post-retail. Also strange is that I've found a few parts that were severely damaged, to the point where it was clear that they were mangled in some machinery. Parts that are this obviously damaged are typically pulled in the factory and not included in sets, so this adds to the mystery.

Edited August 20, 2010 by dhaas06

[mjenk430]

I have also purchased a few pounds from ebuyazonline and I was wondering the same thing. For me it was a good source of darker plates and tile but within all of the good was a bunch of what I considered crap. You take the good with the bad but if anyone knows how he does it I would love to hear it. I just hope that it isn't LEGO branded clone bricks because that would be upsetting.

Yeah, there are definitely pieces included that I will probably never use. But I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. :) I had the same fear regarding clone bricks. But I think the variety of parts included is too great to duplicate, and they all seem to be authentic lego.

If he is buying used from other places then he must clean the bricks really well because most don't look used at all. I have ordered twice and my orders were for 10 lbs each which was a decent amount of brick.

Yeah, I think they are too new looking to be thrift store buys. And there were no bricks of the older colors included. If they were from thrift stores, I would assume there would at least be a few older bricks included. And yes 3 lbs is not much lego, but 2000 lbs in 8 months is a hell of a lot of lego. I doubt there is that much lego sitting in thrift stores across the country at any one time, lord knows I've looked for it and without much success.

[dhaas06]

Here is the beginning of my previous discussion on this issue. Some other members ended up suggesting some interesting ideas, but we never did figure anything out for sure.

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=38689&view=findpost&p=609138

[mjenk430]

Here is the beginning of my previous discussion on this issue. Some other members ended up suggesting some interesting ideas, but we never did figure anything out for sure.

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=38689&view=findpost&p=609138

Definitely some interesting ideas. Once again I fail to bring up a "new" topic. But it is crazy to think that he is still going strong almost a full year later. Surely, if he was doing something that wasn't on the up and up someone would have caught on by now. I haven't noticed that the pieces had any damage. Maybe I should start examining closer. I would hate to think that I have damaged or unauthentic lego parts sorted into my collection. Identifying and removing them all will be nearly impossible. For that matter, with the volume he has sold over the last year, I would hate to think that "bad" bricks were being mixed into collections all over the world, imagine the ramifications on bricklink.

I think the scenario that fits best is the returned/damaged lego from big stores like TRU. But wait, that wouldn't explain how you received parts that hadn't been released yet. Unless the boxes were damaged in the warehouse before the official release. But that would have been a quick turn around (new sets shipped to TRU, box damaged, ebayer buys damaged lot from TRU, you buy on ebay, he ships to you, you receive and notice unreleased parts) all months before the official release date.

I guess the mystery continues.

[dhaas06]

Definitely some interesting ideas. Once again I fail to bring up a "new" topic. But it is crazy to think that he is still going strong almost a full year later. Surely, if he was doing something that wasn't on the up and up someone would have caught on by now. I haven't noticed that the pieces had any damage. Maybe I should start examining closer. I would hate to think that I have damaged or unauthentic lego parts sorted into my collection. Identifying and removing them all will be nearly impossible. For that matter, with the volume he has sold over the last year, I would hate to think that "bad" bricks were being mixed into collections all over the world, imagine the ramifications on bricklink.

I think the scenario that fits best is the returned/damaged lego from big stores like TRU. But wait, that wouldn't explain how you received parts that hadn't been released yet. Unless the boxes were damaged in the warehouse before the official release. But that would have been a quick turn around (new sets shipped to TRU, box damaged, ebayer buys damaged lot from TRU, you buy on ebay, he ships to you, you receive and notice unreleased parts) all months before the official release date.

I guess the mystery continues.

Maybe you didn't bring up a new topic, but I'm glad you did. I'm really curious what others may think or know almost a year later.

I assume by now that it doesn't involve any kind of fakes, since there's printed torsos and other specific pieces that would be too tedious to replicate. For that matter, I agree by now that it must be legitimate (legal), because it has been going on so consistently with so much volume for a couple years now that theft or some other scheme would have to be noticed. All I have left to guess is that he must somehow have a deal with a Lego factory (or factories) to purchase cheap bulk parts that are scrapped for whatever reason. My biggest clue towards this theory, as I mentioned in the previous thread, is that he posted a massive amount of Batman parts right after the Batman theme was abruptly discontinued by TLG in fall 2008. A couple sets were listed (with quantities in the 1000s), but each one had no box, instructions, or stickers — just sealed bags including figures. The only logical theory that I can come up with is that these were the remaining inventory in the factory for Batman sets that were not completed and ready to sell; and the boxes, instructions, and stickers would not be made. When the line was ended, it looks like the extra components for sets were salvaged to this seller.

[happymark]

From my experience, they should be real lego, not clone brand.

some (only small percent) are defective.

they are not dirty at all. they are new.

they are not from sets..

for me, they are from bulk parts, (they mixed them and add some extra maybe)

I have to sort them later thoug.

and I can see, they do not have many varities (I always got some repeat useless pieces. which I hate).

but some tiles are good :)

anyway, I do not think I will buy very often (since it is hard to know what you get). last order I got has few interesting pieces.

well. at $5 for a pound maybe I should not expect much?

Edited August 21, 2010 by happymark

[Thrund]

My biggest clue towards this theory, as I mentioned in the previous thread, is that he posted a massive amount of Batman parts right after the Batman theme was abruptly discontinued by TLG in fall 2008. A couple sets were listed (with quantities in the 1000s), but each one had no box, instructions, or stickers — just sealed bags including figures.

This is entirely possible; when Games Workshop discontinued Epic 40K, a seller popped up selling the troop sprues in brand new condition, and the quantities he had made it obvious that these were the leftover stock (also he was based in Nottingham near the GW factory). I never knew whether he had permission to resell them, but since GW are as well-known for legal action as TLG, he was either doing so with their blessing, or had bought the stock legitimately and was therefore within his rights to resell them regardless of GW's opinion.

[Sirius Black]

I have picked up close to a hundred pounds from him, and have contacted him asking him the very same question. He stated that they were all Lego, and it appears that some are factory overprodcues due to the fact that some of the elements in his lots (eg trans-orange windshields from Mars Mission) are in incredibly high quantities, and the selection of parts is not like you would find by merely dealing with damaged boxes.

This seller is probably the cheapest way to get Lego, though.

Sirius