Can anyone sell MOCs?

[mobi]

Why do we have to depend on Cuusoo to wait Lego release a set enabling to build a great MOC?

Can someone (individual or business) release a set containing all necessary Lego parts and instructions so that people can buy ready made sets for MOCs?

Will that be illegal? If not, will that be too expensive? Obviously the reseller needs to be able to source all parts from Lego in the first place for each sets.

Thoughts please...

[Siegfried]

Sure. Just don't claim to be part of TLG and there's no harm. There are loads of people doing it. For example...

[Jim]

There might be issues with the availability and pricing of parts though. Some parts are rare and therefore more expensive. And maybe there are not enough parts for more than a dozen models. So the designer of the MOC needs to be aware of this and only use parts which are commonly available, and preferably still in production by Lego.

Gettting parts for MOCs via Bricklink will result in fluctuating prices, which would make it harder to establish a default pricing scheme for these models.

So it is possible, but there are several problems as opposed to a "mass production" Cuscoo solution.

[mobi]

Sure. Just don't claim to be part of TLG and there's no harm. There are loads of people doing it. For example...

Hmm, the prices seem quite steep for such tiny MOCs!

Edited May 9, 2012 by mobi

[caperberry]

Hmm, the prices seem quite steep for such tiny MOCs!

I guess that's a reflection of the time spent developing them and as someone else pointed out, the fluctuation of BL prices. It would be interesting to know how many orders they get.

[mobi]

If we take an example set, say 8110, and try to buy all the parts from Bricklink or Lego, roughly how much more we shall be paying compared to the price for an official set?

[Jim]

If we take an example set, say 8110, and try to buy all the parts from Bricklink or Lego, roughly how much more we shall be paying compared to the price for an official set?

For starters, a sh*tload of extra shipping costs, since you have to place multiple orders on Bricklink. Would be unique to find a seller who sells everything you need, even for a single set. Not to mention multiple sets.

I could be mistaken, but I think you can order only several different parts in one order at Lego (correct me if I am wrong). So buying directly at Lego won't solve this problem.

The new Unimog parts where very expensive on Bricklink right after the release. Maybe they are cheaper now, but they will still be very expensive compared to the Lego price, or the average price per piece in a set.

Not really sure, but my guess would be that the set price could easily quadruple.

At the end of the day, I don't think you'll have a pretty solid business model

Edited May 9, 2012 by Gekke Ted

[Paul Boratko]

I've sold a lot of MOCs and Kits over the years and to be honest, there is very little money to be made from doing so... Spending hours scouring and shopping around for the best prices on parts from all over the world to build a model or put a kit together isn't worth the $100 profit that you might see in the end...

Then if you use places like Ebay to sell your stuff, you have to pay 9% of the final cost up to $100 USD plus your initial insertion fee, then be prepared to get jacked for another 4% from Paypal...

[Lipko]

I've sold a lot of MOCs and Kits over the years and to be honest, there is very little money to be made from doing so...

What about selling instructions? About how many did you sell in total?

[P@u!+ox]

I agree with Gekke Ted. It takes a lot of time, effort and shipping costs to put custom sets together. What to think about instructions for instance, a lot of work to put them together. The result is high prices. I created some custom sets to sell on BrickLink or at events, next to my layout. Up till now, I sold some of them, especially at the events. And once in a while I sell one on BrickLink. The most important thing is that your design has to be something someone else wants to pay for.

[Theo van Vroenhoven]

If we take an example set, say 8110, and try to buy all the parts from Bricklink or Lego, roughly how much more we shall be paying compared to the price for an official set?

If you download Brickstore (http://www.brickforge.de/software/brickstore/) you can import the inventories of official Lego sets.

Then you can calculate the prices of all parts based on average Bricklink prices of the last six months.

When you take 8110 this comes down to about $463...

My experience is that the Bricklink prices for all parts of a given set are at least double the price of the kit.

That is what a lot of Bricklink stores get their profit from...

[caperberry]

If we take an example set, say 8110, and try to buy all the parts from Bricklink or Lego, roughly how much more we shall be paying compared to the price for an official set?

Actually I have some examples

The first price is LEGO's, the second is BrickLink part-out value.

3859: CAVERNS OF NATHUZ £14.99 £21.46

5549: LEGO BUILDING FUN £19.99 £31.91

3841-1: Minotaurus £17.99 £21.40

3860: CASTLE FORTAAN £19.99 £34.26

9395: PICK-UP TOW TRUCK £49.99 £84.92

4626: FARM BRICK BOX £12.99 £15.30

5933: AIRPORT BUILDING SET £19.99 £23.93

5932: MY FIRST LEGO SET £9.99 £14.63

5770: LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND £40.99 £52.24

7325: CURSED COBRA STATUE £20.79 £24.88

5891: APPLE TREE HOUSE £40.99 £48.64

7978: ANGLER ATTACK £11.39 £21.95

[Paul Boratko]

What about selling instructions? About how many did you sell in total?

Selling the instructions via download is nice because there is no product to move... I still have issues with some characters on Ebay thinking they are getting a full 1,800 piece kit for $10 even though it clearly says "Instructions Only" about 10 times in each listing...

[timslegos]

As others have said, i dont think it would be feasible to sell a set that would be comparably priced to actual sets.

tim

[mobi]

May be that is what Lego wants. If people can buy parts as cheap as official sets, then craze for Lego's official sets may dwindle as many MOCs are better than Lego's own

Buying instructions is useful for only those who has huge parts already from several sets. Those who don't own too many sets, instructions alone won't solve the main problem i.e, parts availability.

[Lipko]

May be that is what Lego wants. If people can buy parts as cheap as official sets, then craze for Lego's official sets may dwindle as many MOCs are better than Lego's own

IMHO the majority of Techic builders have no clue about these MOC:s. So I don't think "the craze dwindling for official sets" because of these mean a big risk for Lego. I guess the prize-difference lies elsewhere, probably in production volumes. Lego won't bother with producing rare parts in big volume just for a little percent of Lego builders. Producing Lego is expensive, as moulding-dies (or whatevers) need to be replaced from time to time to maintain the precision of the produced pieces (according to wikipedia). So fewer pieces mean fewer replaces. But that may not be the case, I'm not a moulding production expert.

Buying instructions is useful for only those who has huge parts already from several sets. Those who don't own too many sets, instructions alone won't solve the main problem i.e, parts availability.

Yes, but at least they have a choice. Maybe they only need a few parts for that model.

That can be true even with relatively small (but carefully chosen) collection. Sometimes replacing parts is fine too (different color, maybe a bit of redesigning).

Edited May 10, 2012 by Lipko

[88high]

I have seen somebody make Misha Van Beek's huge monster truck and try and sell it on ebay. I took a good look and saw that some of the parts underneath the frame were random colors. I was thinking of getting it and replacing them, but it looked like a pain and plus, the price at the end of bidding was well over $500USD, and that is too much for me, for a multicolored monster truck...

[CombatBrick]

Can someone (individual or business) release a set containing all necessary Lego parts and instructions so that people can buy ready made sets for MOCs?

Sure. Just don't claim to be part of TLG and there's no harm. There are loads of people doing it. For example...

Hello there,

The Soviet Tank used as an example is actually my creation and perhaps I can shed some light what happens behind the scenes. You can see the price if you click on the image posted and it might seem a bit steep, but here is how it works:

1. Parts: Just the parts (nothing else), just the parts cost is a $$$ - a three digit number. Might be hard to believe but Dk. Green stuff is expensive.

2. S&H: is certainly another factor as I pay for numerous BL orders to get the items shipped to me. Kit's buyer would be a one time S&H price on the other hand.

3. Design: well, it took me months to work out every single detail and that darn turret was a witch to complete. That is obviously time invested.

4. Instructions: It takes a loooong time to create meaningful instructions as they have to be checked and re-checked and checked again. It's 80 pages of dense step-by-step instructions. Again time invested is high.

5. Assembly: never thought of it but pulling together hundreds and hundreds of parts is very time consuming. For example there 68 links on each side, it has to be counted manually of course for each kit. Again, time.

So to summarize, there is a lot money and time spend creating each kit.

Is it worth it? Well, for me money-wise it's not, and it's mostly pride of creating a fairly complex and fun set that I want to share with others.

There are some companies that might be thriving but I suspect that small sets have a much higher margin and are real moneymakers.

Regards,

Alex

[caperberry]

Interesting stuff Alex, thanks for posting it.

I've just had to cost up one of my models and it was an interesting process. It looks like the cost of parts + BrickLink S&H = about the same as LEGO would charge for the model if they were releasing it themselves. i.e. all the other costs Alex mentioned above would push it way (way) over the price LEGO would charge. And seeing as most consumers consider official LEGO sets to be expensive, I imagine 'MOC sets' could only be sold to those who really appreciate the MOC and understand the work involved... i.e. probably other LEGO fans.

Unless of course you design MOCs to a 'price point', as LEGO designers do, which in our case would mean coming up with MOCs using common, cheap parts. Not easy or nice!