Do Sets without Minifigures Really Sell Well?

[Deathleech]

I come across a lot of these sets when I am looking on eBay or BrickLink for specific minifigures. So much in fact I wonder if it would be easier to just buy a new set myself, remove the minifigures I want, and then sell the bricks off seperate (and any figs in the set I don't want). Before I do this I want to know how well do these sets w/o minifigures actually sell though?

I ask because the price of the minifigures alone seem to be 70-80% of a sets value. For instance I can buy a brand new Hobbit Bo5A set for $60 OR I can buy JUST the minifigures for almost $50 (Dain and Thorin are $10 each, 2x Gundabad Orcs are $3 each, Azog is $8.50, Bard and Legolas are $4 each, and Gwaihir is $6 as the cheapest). That means I could sell the bricks, nearly 450 of them, for $10 and be coming out about the same as if I just bought all the minifigures alone on eBay or BL. Of course most sellers still ask about 50% of the sets value for just the bricks, making it much cheaper to buy a new set, keep the figs, and sell the bricks if they actually sell.

So my question is, how easy is it to just sell a complete set of bricks minus the minifigures? If they actually sell decently, this seems like it would be WAY cheaper for me than trying to buy up all the extra minifigures in sets I want.

[mostlytechnic]

I usually do the opposite (sell the figs since I want the bricks), so I don't know what to tell you. You could always give it a try, get one or two sets and sell them. If the figs are REALLY that much of the value (and it varies hugely from set to set) then you should easily come out ahead, since I'd think it'd be not much problem to sell a 450 piece set for $20 (more than 10 to cover shipping, fees, etc)

Basically, just make sure to watch the fig values and your hidden costs of selling to make sure you'll come out ahead. Also, search ebay for SOLD listings to see if they're actually selling.

[Vorkosigan]

Just look at sold items on eBay for the set in question. You may need to be logged in to use the "sold" filter.

[TheLegoDr]

I have attempted this with a few sets (but I don't think they were wanted sets: Gungan sub from SW), and it was barely enough to make it worthwhile since the Amidala figure is what sells that set. But other sets with useful pieces might work okay. I've seen Uruk Hai Army sell really well without the figures (usually more than what it MSRPd for with the figures!), but like I said, that set would have useful pieces for that purpose.

It all depends on the exact figures you want and how the rest have been on the market. As it turned out, Lone Ranger had some good sets, but a lot of duplicated figures, so they didn't sell so well it seemed. As far as Hobbit/LOTR, it's tough to say. Like you, I have noticed usually the figures I want, it ends up being cheaper just to buy the set itself to get ALL of the figures, plus the bricks. I usually try not to sell too many bricks unless I have multiples of the set. I always think, "you never know when you'll need that one piece."

[Wardancer]

I have bought 2 complete viking ships, kept the dragons, sold the figs and the ships seperately and this way I got the expensive dragons almost for free. Time is money though, if it took me 2 hours this is quite a cost. But time I regard as part of the hobby.

At the Moment I am trying to sell the Lonely Mountain in order to have a cheap Smaug, but no one at all wants the buildings and/or dwarves...

[Deathleech]

Thanks for the replies guys. I actually do look up the "sold" listings when trying to check the price on stuff (since you can list it for whatever you want, but what it actually SELLS for is another story...). I can see that in May and April it looks like 5 or 6 Bo5A Hobbit sets sold w/o the minifigures. That seems a little low, but then again there are only 4 available right now for sale. If there aren't a lot for sale then obviously not many will sell making it hard to judge.

At the Moment I am trying to sell the Lonely Mountain in order to have a cheap Smaug, but no one at all wants the buildings and/or dwarves...

This is what I am worried about. How long have you been trying to sell the bricks? What are you trying to get for them (if you don't mind me asking)? The Lonely Mountain is one of several sets I was thinking about doing this with since Smaug and the dwarves alone would cost nearly $100. I want some extra of a number of minifigs (and creatures), with little use for all the extra bricks.

Unless the set has some super rare or useful pieces, then it doesn't seem like it would sell very well just selling the bricks though. You can find similar bricks in a number of other sets but many minifigures are exclusive to only one set and that's the only way you can get them. Logically that would mean the demand and price for the minifigs will be much higher than the bricks. It seems that way too.. but if you were to buy everything pieced out it would cost you MUCH more than MSRP.

Using the Bo5A set above as an example, the figs from it alone would cost you nearly $50 and then the bricks seperately would set you back another $25-35 or so at the absolute cheapest. That's $75-85 for a set still fairly easy to get at the MSRP of $60 online. Seems like people try to sell the minifigures AND bricks for a lot with these sets.

[Wardancer]

I was trying 25 Euro for all the figs, 65 for the buildings. Both is below the cheapest bricklink price in Germany. I consider that a price as low as I can go.

I bought the set for 118, so that would be a Smaug for 28. Most Smaugs here cost 45 or more. For 2 months now no one answerered. Well, maybe I'll use the bricks for myself. The dwarves will only get moer expensive once the line runs out.

Edited May 19, 2015 by Wardancer

[Deathleech]

I see. Were you trying to sell them on the bigger sites like BrickLink or eBay? Or just on forums and such?

That's the same issue I am running into. It's hard to justify spending $20 on just a Dain and King Thorin minifigure when I can get 5 more minifigures, a molded eagle, and 470 pieces for a mere $40 more. With the Lonely Mountain set I haven't found Smaug for under $50 (though admittedly I did just start looking). I feel like I would be better off just buying the whole set rather than paying such a high premium for one or two of the most sought after figures in a set. That's why I was wondering if the bricks actually sell decent. Even if I could buy say the Bo5A set for $60, keep Dain, Thorin, the two orcs and maybe Gwaihir, and then sell all the bricks for $35 I would still be saving myself like $5-10 over trying to buy them on BL or eBay and paying shipping and all that. Of course it seems like the bricks are what go dirt cheap. Selling just the bricks looks like it gets you around 6-7 cents per bricks.

[Vorkosigan]

Unless the set has some super rare or useful pieces, then it doesn't seem like it would sell very well just selling the bricks though. You can find similar bricks in a number of other sets but many minifigures are exclusive to only one set and that's the only way you can get them. Logically that would mean the demand and price for the minifigs will be much higher than the bricks. It seems that way too.. but if you were to buy everything pieced out it would cost you MUCH more than MSRP.

Using the Bo5A set above as an example, the figs from it alone would cost you nearly $50 and then the bricks seperately would set you back another $25-35 or so at the absolute cheapest. That's $75-85 for a set still fairly easy to get at the MSRP of $60 online. Seems like people try to sell the minifigures AND bricks for a lot with these sets.

Most people selling the pieces are also selling the figs, there are several sellers on ebay doing this continuously. So they are trying to make a profit, and as you pointed out in the ebay thread after you pay the 15-20% of fees the seller needs to have a lot of markup to make it worthwhile. It looks like it works for them or they'd stop.

[Wardancer]

I see. Were you trying to sell them on the bigger sites like BrickLink or eBay? Or just on forums and such?

I also tried it on Ebay Kleinanzeigen, a local version of ebay that enables you to have small advertisments like in newspapers. All I got there was an Email asking me if was keeping Smaug to stick him into some parts of my body.

[rodiziorobs]

Speaking personally, I don't have much use for a lot of licensed figs--LOTR and the Hobbit, for example--and often buy this kind of set without them so I can get the parts (Unexpected Gathering--so many great earthy colors and food items!) at a discount. I am sure I am not the only one.

I have sometimes thought of buying sets and selling off figs, but haven't yet; it seems like a big up-front cost to me, both time and effort (listing, waiting, selling, shipping) and $ for the NIB set.

[Wardancer]

I have also bought the Mines of Moria without figs twice. I do not remember the price, but it was interesting due to the selection of many small dark gray parts.

[Deathleech]

Buying just the bricks seems much more reasonable in terms of their price in relation to a complete set. It seems like they will run you about half of a sets total cost. Compare that to the minifigures which, when sold individually, run about 75% of a set's total price.

I have sometimes thought of buying sets and selling off figs, but haven't yet; it seems like a big up-front cost to me, both time and effort (listing, waiting, selling, shipping) and $ for the NIB set.

If I were just after the bricks I would do this in a heart beat. The minifigures seem to sell pretty fast and easy, and can go for quite a bit. They are the main draw of most sets. The Bo5A set has all the minifigures selling for nearly $48.50 as the cheapest, that means if you bought the set for the MSRP of $60 you would get over 450 bricks for $11 bucks. That comes out to a almost 3 cents per brick... The Lonely Mountain set and a number of others are similar. You can sell Smaug for $60, the minifigures for $30 and that leaves you only paying $40 for nearly 850 pieces. That's just under 5 cents per piece. You can't buy pieces anywhere for much cheaper than that nowadays.

[Sir_Basil_Ashton]

In 2012, when 6857 - The Dynamic Duo Funhouse Escape was released, I bought multiple copies of this set for $39.99 and was able to sell the 5 minifigs that came with the set for about $45.00. I did it for about 3 months and amassed a lot of bricks.

[Kai NRG]

My siblings and I have bought several licensed sets sans figs - if you ask me it can be a really great way to get extra pieces at a relatively cheap ratio, plus generally we aren't interested in the figs. There are some sets, however, that don't make very good parts packs, so I'd imagine those wouldn't sell as well without figs.