How to Inventory My Collection

[john cleese]

Hello Eurobricks. When I was 16, I was an avid fan of lego and took MOCing quite seriously as a hobby. I amassed a collection of 10s of thousands of pieces and I purchased and otherwise came into posession of many rare and unique parts that have doubtless appreciated in value since a decade has passed. I have resolved to organize and sell my collection via Bricklink because, well, I really need the money. But I really have only a vague idea of what parts might be rare and valuable. Furthermore I am not sure how to determine what the parts are called in the first place, so that I may gauge their market value. Another aspect I cannot figure out is new vs. used condition. I can see that most of the canopies are lightly scuffed and chrome is wearing off other elements but apart from that I cannot say any of the pieces are really not in mint condition from my own point of view. What should I be looking for? I would really appreciate any pertinent advice to operating a bricklink store in efficient and ethical terms. Thank you.

[Vorkosigan]

I do not run a bricklink store, but I can comment on new vs used. It has nothing to do with observable "mintness." A part is only new if it was removed directly from a sealed bag or purchased from PAB. It should not have ever been clicked together (there is some debate on this when it comes to packing PAB cups, but as a general rule). All parts coming from a mixed collection are definitely USED. Major scratches should be mentioned, or possibly you could sort parts into categories of condition and mark them, this sort of thing gets rather complicated. Chrome should always have condition described since it is very fragile.

As to getting started I think you must sort your collection in a very detailed way to begin inventorying it. This is a lot of work and definitely requires purchasing either drawers or at a minimum many ziplock bags and some way of organizing them. Depending how much time you want to spend on this you may be better off sorting out some obvious high value items (minifigs, animals, train and monorail parts, pneumatics, motors etc) and selling those and then selling the rest as various bulk groups.

[john cleese]

I do not run a bricklink store, but I can comment on new vs used. It has nothing to do with observable "mintness." A part is only new if it was removed directly from a sealed bag or purchased from PAB. It should not have ever been clicked together (there is some debate on this when it comes to packing PAB cups, but as a general rule). All parts coming from a mixed collection are definitely USED. Major scratches should be mentioned, or possibly you could sort parts into categories of condition and mark them, this sort of thing gets rather complicated. Chrome should always have condition described since it is very fragile.

As to getting started I think you must sort your collection in a very detailed way to begin inventorying it. This is a lot of work and definitely requires purchasing either drawers or at a minimum many ziplock bags and some way of organizing them. Depending how much time you want to spend on this you may be better off sorting out some obvious high value items (minifigs, animals, train and monorail parts, pneumatics, motors etc) and selling those and then selling the rest as various bulk groups.

Yes, I was thinking of sorting out the rare or relatively valuable items and selling the remaining common components in bulk on ebay. I suppose the main issue is that I am not sure how to determine what the parts are. Of course both Peeron and Bricklink have every part recorded but that is like going through the library of Babel if I'm going in blind. So I am wondering if there is a more efficient method than going through every single lego piece in existence which seems somewhat absurd to me (though not impossible of course)

As for the new/used thing I am even more confused. I would be incredulous as to why ANYONE would have "new" rare components by your definition as they could surely make more money selling a mint in sealed box set than the separate parts. Could you try explaining the economics of this? I remember I scarcely bought anything "used" from Bricklink when I was a kid just because "used" could mean anything from "a bit dirty" to "the dog got a hold of it". At any rate it seems like if a set had for instance, those rare red knight visors in it and it was still packaged then the individual knight visor cost would be more than accounted for in the overall price of the boxed set. So if "new" means exactly as you say then I am highly dubious anyone selling those components individualy has the right to declare them as "new".

[Vorkosigan]

I will leave the question of sorting out the most valuable pieces to someone with more experience, but regarding condition here is the definition of New directly from bricklink: "Parts are brand new, taken directly from new sets or were purchased "as new" in another form such as accessory packs or Pick A Brick and have been handled only for sorting. These parts have never been used in any manner. If a minifig is originally sold assembled by LEGO, its component parts after disassembly can also be listed as new."

I can't speak to where some of the older "new" items come from, but do believe it may be possible to make money parting out a MISB set.

[john cleese]

I can't speak to where some of the older "new" items come from, but do believe it may be possible to make money parting out a MISB set.

I am really going to need to see a viable economic argument for that because I am unable to entertain one on my own. I suspect that since brinklink has apparently funelled everything into "new" and "used" categories (whereas I seem to recall there being designations such as "like new") that sellers are only trying to accurately represent the quality of the products they are selling regardless of Bricklink's prescribed protocols, which seem too stringent in all honesty. If that is indeed the case then I cannot exactly blame them. From an advertising perspective "used" seems synonymous with "bad". It would seem to indicate an item that is fundamentally worn in some way.

[zux]

New pieces on BL are NEW as they are described by Bricklink itself. I have bought a lot of used parts and unspoken rule is that used pieces should be good as well or it should be mentioned otherwise (teeth marks, yellowed, deep scratches, A-B-C class, 7/10, etc.). So basically used pieces have been used to build or MOC and have some signs of usage but cannot be stated as NEW. These might need a wash (I always do it myself) thou.

To find out most expensive pieces I would suggest using application called Brickstock. You would need to create a list of all pieces you have, including number and condition (new/used). And then there is an option to set a price manually or pick up average price from Bricklink. Then after some time when prices are retrieved and a bit of sorting you can easily see which pieces have the highest price.

[john cleese]

New pieces on BL are NEW as they are described by Bricklink itself. I have bought a lot of used parts and unspoken rule is that used pieces should be good as well or it should be mentioned otherwise (teeth marks, yellowed, deep scratches, A-B-C class, 7/10, etc.). So basically used pieces have been used to build or MOC and have some signs of usage but cannot be stated as NEW. These might need a wash (I always do it myself) thou.

To find out most expensive pieces I would suggest using application called Brickstock. You would need to create a list of all pieces you have, including number and condition (new/used). And then there is an option to set a price manually or pick up average price from Bricklink. Then after some time when prices are retrieved and a bit of sorting you can easily see which pieces have the highest price.

Either I wasn't aware of this yellowing problem or at least I forgot in the past 10 years about it. at any rate I have watched a video that says you can fix this with hydrogen peroxide. Is there any good reason not to do this? Not to say I would try to list them as new of course. Or any of the parts. although I am still waiting for the explanation of how parting out a MISB legoland exclusive from the 1980s is not shoe on head moronic

[zux]

I am still waiting for the explanation of how parting out a MISB legoland exclusive from the 1980s is not shoe on head moronic

Use the application I mentioned. It has an option to part out the set. So this would be quite easy to compare prices of MISB and parted out set.

I have read stories that there are seller who sell used parts as new (for serious money). Buyer normally notice this upon receive (otherwise there wouldn't be such story :) ) and when decides to return an order it was noticed that same piece appeared is same store's stock as New again. So if you still not sure if your pieces should be new or used go with BL definition for new parts. Be honest here, it would be much easier for you and your buyer.

[john cleese]

So as I was researching how this crazy aftermarket works, I came accross http://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/clone/catalogitem.page?P=3069bpx7&name=Tile%201%20x%202%20with%20100%20Dollar%20Bill%20Money%20Pattern&category=%5BTile,%20Decorated%5D#T=P

This is a joke right? I have several of these I am sure. Who would buy one of these for even the amount depicted on the tile?

[dr_spock]

So as I was researching how this crazy aftermarket works, I came accross http://alpha.brickli... Decorated]#T=P

This is a joke right? I have several of these I am sure. Who would buy one of these for even the amount depicted on the tile?

I take it you haven't seen the money tile Xmas tree entry for the EB Raffle over in the Town section?

Now if you have one or more of these in your collection new or used -> http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=47996&ColorID=86

[john cleese]

I take it you haven't seen the money tile Xmas tree entry for the EB Raffle over in the Town section?

Now if you have one or more of these in your collection new or used -> http://www.bricklink...7996&ColorID=86

I understand supply and demand but this is just ridiculous. I don't care if there is only one of these on Bricklink. If someone other than the 12 year old son of a Pfizer CEO purchases this element for this price, he should probably at least talk it over with his shrink.

[Big G]

The interesting part is looking at previous sales and seeing how much someone has actually paid for one of them, Lowest price paid for a used one of those pieces of rigging was over $65

Edited November 29, 2015 by Big G

[zux]

So as I was researching how this crazy aftermarket works, I came accross http://alpha.brickli... Decorated]#T=P

This is a joke right? I have several of these I am sure. Who would buy one of these for even the amount depicted on the tile?

You forgot to chose a colour, there's over a ton of this pieces for sale.

[john cleese]

are there any colors which do not fair well using the peroxide or oxiclean recoloration methods?