Was this a deal?

[svede]

Hi All,

I am pretty new here, this being my first post. :)

I posted this over at classic-castle, too, but wanted to get as much advice as possible, so I figured I would post it here too. Forgive me if you saw it there. Also, I hope this is the correct forum for a post like this - please move if it is not.

So, basically I wanted to share a deal I got and get your opinions on it since I am rather new to this.

In the past couple months I have watched the Atlantis Gateway of the Squid and got 2 of them on sale for $30 at Target (usually $40). However, this isn't the real deal - but just to give some additional info. And to give some more background, the main thing I like about these sets (for castle/moc-building purposes) is that they have 2 of the 6x12 dark tan plate that is only in handful of sets other than store grand opening exclusives. Additionally, it has 3 4x6 tan plates and a fair number of dark bley pieces including 8 of the 1x8 dark bley bricks. I also like the 8 dark green weeds/spines. :)

So, I decided to check a local kmart yesterday since I have heard about nice sales there but never seem to find them. Well, I found 7 of these sets there for $16 each ($112 total). Now you may call me crazy, but here is the way I was thinking about it. The squid warrior sells decent (seems to be usually $5-$7 on ebay and avg of $8.45 on bricklink) and the 2 diver minifigs are nice enough that I think I could probably make back at least $10-$12 per set. If that is the case I would be paying about $30-$40 for over 2300 lego pieces - seems decent to me. Am I being stupid or does this make sense to you guys?

Then today I checked another kmart and they had 6 more sets, but for $24. So I only got 3. Should I have gotten the other 3 as well or should I have even gotten these?

Any thoughts you can provide and advice for how to sell (i.e., bulk minifigs of the same type, should I do ebay vs bricklink, etc) would be much appreciated!

Thanks so much!!

Edited February 24, 2011 by svede

[Stiel]

Sure, it makes sense. For $16, it was a great deal, and for $24, still good, but no need to go over the top. I'd say buying 3 more was fine. Don't let the numbers mislead you; don't buy something only because it is cheap, buy it if you need the parts. While that 2300 might look good on paper, in reality, you are only likely to use about half of that amount, or even less. That said, it's still a good deal.

Also, make sure to sell the other special parts (apart from the minifigs), like the blue key or the gold treasure chest. Even $1 or just $0.50 counts when you are trying to make money back.

[ziljin]

I would say sell them on ebay.

The way I see it.

Bricklink = lower prices due to higher supply of goods. But higher demand for lego (since all you can buy is lego) means higher success of sale.

Ebay = higher prices due to lower supply of goods. But lower demand since Lego is only a small percentage of stuff you can buy on ebay means a lower chance of sale.

What you could do is try to sell it for a higher price on ebay, and if no one buys it, then sell them on bricklink at prices similar to other sellers.

Not sure how popular Atlantis minifigs are, but I imagine they will be more valuable in later years. So maybe no need to rush.

[Tyrant]

I would say sell them on ebay.

The way I see it.

Bricklink = lower prices due to higher supply of goods. But higher demand for lego (since all you can buy is lego) means higher success of sale.

Ebay = higher prices due to lower supply of goods. But lower demand since Lego is only a small percentage of stuff you can buy on ebay means a lower chance of sale.

What you could do is try to sell it for a higher price on ebay, and if no one buys it, then sell them on bricklink at prices similar to other sellers.

Not sure how popular Atlantis minifigs are, but I imagine they will be more valuable in later years. So maybe no need to rush.

My problem with selling on Ebay, generally speaking, is that the seller fees are creeping into outrageous territory. Bricklink may be a more specialized selling platform (which has it's up sides and down sides), but it is more or less a set it and forget it setup. I put things up for sale, and that's it. I am not charged until they sell, I can remove them or alter the price at a whim, etc. On Ebay, I have to hope that the week I put it up is the same week someone is looking to buy it. If it is not during their free listing deals, you have to pay something just to list it. If it were anything other than LEGO, I would give some thought to Ebay. But, since there is a well known (amongst the community) site set up with the primary purpose of buying and selling LEGO that has far friendlier rates I would stick with Bricklink when it comes to LEGO. The obvious exception is if for some reason a set, part, etc is selling for some extremely higher price on Ebay.

As for the decision to buy the sets or not, if I saw them for that price I would buy a few more of them.