Recent Acquisitions

[McMetal]

So, my brother passed away recently and we have been steadily cleaning out a couple of storage bins of stuff he had accumulated over the years, including a TON of unopened LEGO sets, mostly Star Wars. I’ve been gradually bringing the stuff home and cataloging it, thought I had reached the end but found four more big boxes today.

The stuff I brought home today had never even been removed from the original shipping boxes, in fact none of the shipping boxes had even been opened. Among the stuff I found was:

UCS Imperial Star Destroyer
UCS Tantive IV
Death Star II

Looks like those three alone are worth quite a bit now. For you LEGO guys, any suggestions on the best way to sell these? I figure I can always try eBay but would prefer a different option if possible.

Thanks for any advice!

[Rob]

Oh man…. I’m sorry to hear about your brother. 


As for selling this stuff, I’ve always used eBay but the other one that people always seem to recommend is Facebook Marketplace.  But I don’t use Facebook so I’ve never tried it.  If I have something I don’t want to ship, I’ll use Craig’s List still… but that’s rare.

Let me know what you’re looking to get for the UCS Death Star II.  That’s the only OT UCS set I don’t have and I’d be interested.

[Dave]

I’m sorry about your brother as well.

I’m still trying to figure out to do with my massive boxed Lego collection.  I too have several sets that go for huge dollars on eBay, but I’m skittish about selling something so valuable there based on some of the shady things I’ve had happen there.

I am tempted to try Facebook Marketplace, but I don’t know if I want to list them all and more or less have my address out there.  Maybe I’ll list them in smaller batches.

I think my first shot this summer will be to hit up a local toy show and buy a table and see if I can offload a bunch there.

Let me know how things go with your sale and if you find a good means for selling valuable sets.

[Rob]

I do have a buddy who sold an entire collection that way.  It was easy and quick, but he didn’t get top dollar by any stretch.  I guess it’s a matter of whether you value speed and ease or money.

[McMetal]

Thanks a lot guys, appreciate that. He was a great guy and I sure do miss him a lot.  :'(

I have thought about FB marketplace but have not had any experience with that. I guess there are some Lego specific e-commerce sites like Brickmarket like I’ve seen recommended. So I may look into that too.

[EdSolo]

Sorry for your loss.

First, go to bricklink.com.  Not only can you sell there (I haven't tried selling there, but I have bought random missing pieces I needed several times from sellers there), but they also list all sets with both current and recent sales prices for both loose and boxed sets.  It is a much better pricing resource than relying on ebay.

Second, definitely go with FB marketplace to sell.  There are no fees.  You listing gets set by your general location, so you are not giving out your address.  You can also have the listing open to anyone, so it gives you an ebay type audience.  I have had many people overseas ask about stuff.  Anyone local I just meet in a public area.

While selling everything individually can be quite tedious, don't go with the bulk sale.  You will make so much more putting in the work.  For example, the Death Star II is currently selling for $2500 on average for an unopened one.  MSRP was $299.  There is a lot of that out there for Star Wars legos.  If you have the original Cloud City set, 10123, that is worth $5000+ sealed just because of the Boba Fett mini fig. 

I have been selling off my collection for over a year now.  Started with about 400 sets both boxed and loose/complete.  I have sold somewhere around 55-60 sets.  Just from those sales I have made about 70% of the total MSRP of all 400 sets.  It is worth the effort and if most sets are sealed, it is a lot easier and less time consuming to sell.

[Jeff]

So, my brother passed away recently

Thanks a lot guys, appreciate that. He was a great guy and I sure do miss him a lot.  :'(

So sorry to hear about your loss.   

[McMetal]

Thank you, Jeff.

Rob, I will let you know about the DSII, it will probably be one of the last things I deal with since it is the largest out of the 70 sets I have to offload.

Ed - thanks for the tip on FB, I think I will test the waters and see how that goes maybe.

Gotta say, going through this has made me realize what a burden this kind of stuff can potentially become for the people who are left behind to deal with everything. Definitely makes me want to have a smaller footprint and also start meticulously cataloging everything “just in case”.

[Rob]

Absolutely no rush on my end.  I'm not actively looking for one and am in no hurry at all.

And I hear you on the burden thing.  I had a health scare in February where I found out I have a genetic heart condition… my case is apparently pretty minor and I have a great chance of it never affecting me in any serious way, but it carries a small chance of sudden cardiac arrest and it does kill about 1 o 1.5% of people who have it.

I previously figured I’d enjoy this stuff until sometime my 60’s then sell most of it, and just keep the vintage stuff.  But, before I got to the specialist who said my case isn’t severe and he’s not that worried about me, all I could think about was dying suddenly and leaving my wife with 5000 action figures, 250 statues, and a ton of Lego to deal with…

I’m collecting, I’m enjoying it… but at some point it will have to go.  Hopefully not for a long time yet.

[Diddly]

Sorry for your loss, McMetal.

I've sold LEGO on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. Depending on the set, you will get a lot of hits. You'll have to weed through weird people too. Any sale I've made, I always do the meetup in a public shopping center parking lot, juuuuust in case. But also, my experiences have been pleasant. It's a lot like dealing with people on here, most people buying know their stuff and want to make it as quick and painless as possible.

If you really just want to dump the stuff, though, see if there are any LEGO resell shops in your area. We have one here called Bricks and Minifigs, which I think may be a national chain. They sell pretty much anything LEGO related and buy used sets both boxed and opened. They WILL do their best to undersell you (they prefer sets to either be carded or loose/fully built and lower the value from there), but again, if you just want to be done with it, it's probably the easiest route to go.

[Rob]

One more thought about avenues for selling... there is a Buy / Sell / Trade section for Lego on RS.  I'm not sure how active it is, but no eBay fees at least...

https://forum.rebelscum.com/forums/lego-shop-buy-sell-trade.722/

[Jeff]

see if there are any LEGO resell shops in your area. We have one here called Bricks and Minifigs, which I think may be a national chain.

They just opened one of these near me recently with plans for a couple others in the Twin Cities soon.

https://bricksandminifigs.com

I have heard too that they will try to lowball you (since they have to make a profit too).  I kinda look at them like a pawn show or trying to sell cards to collector shops.  If something is "worth" $100, they have to get it from you for 30-50% to make a profit selling it for $100.  You won't get the full value, but they take the brunt of the work finding the buyers. 

I guess it goes back Rob's point about whether you value speed and ease of selling them or full value/money.

[Nicklab]

Very sorry for your loss, McMetal.

Like others have said, doing business with any dealer is going to come with a cost - they need to be able to make money on the deal.  That can definitely get things done more quickly.  But at what cost?

I guess the big question might be about any liabilities there might be for your brother's estate, and do you need to provide for anyone?  Being able to provide more funds for anyone that he left behind might be a greater consideration than getting rid of things quickly.  And that's a family decision.  I don't envy you having to make that.

This is a general topic that has been troubling me lately.  I'm a single parent, and I have one kid.  I have a TON of stuff in my collection.  I've been selling a lot of it off for the past 5 - 6 years, but there's still so much left.  And I do not want to burden my kid with this.  A friend of mine has begun selling off his collection, too, for similar reasons.  In his case it was prompted by dealing with the estate of a parent and all that was left behind.

I might go the dealer route for my GI Joe collection as well as my comics.  Simply because of how much there is.  I've been hesitant to start selling my Transformers, but those need to go, too.  Thankfully there's not that much of those and dealing with it might be a lot more manageable.  And my extra Star Wars?  That's been an ongoing effort that I'm going to keep working through.  And it's because I don't want to leave this overwhelming situation for someone to deal with.

[McMetal]

Thanks Nick, appreciate that. Luckily there are no dependents to worry about, my surviving brother and I are just splitting everything 50/50. The only time consideration is how long do I feel like looking at all these boxes in my man cave? Would like to have it all wrapped up by the end of the summer if possible, I think.

We finally finished cleaning out all the non furniture stuff from his last storage bin yesterday, and wouldn’t you know it I found like 12 more mint in box retired SW sets. I catalogued everything last night and I believe the grand total was 104 unopened sets, something like 67 of which were retired SW sets. 

The fees I would end up paying on this stuff seemed pretty obscene, so I am rethinking the eBay thing now. I joined a SW Lego collector group on FB last night so hopefully that yields some results. At least there I am only paying for shipping and a 3% PayPal fee. (As opppsed to the 15% or so eBay steals) just wonder how they handle disputes if someone claims they never got something and demands their money back.

All these responses have been very helpful guys, thanks again.

[EdSolo]

Some of those FB lego groups are a bit crazy.  I wouldn't really bother with them.  Just list it on marketplace and set it to worldwide so everyone can see it.  I've sold about 80 loose and open sets in the past 18 months.  I have been selling more than just lego, so it may go faster for you.  If all the sets are sealed, you really just need to take pictures of the front and back.  Taking the time to list everything will definitely get you a lot more money than going to a dealer.  You might find some people who will want to buy several sets and ask for a discount.

Personally, I would sell them yourself.  A dealer will give you at best 50% of what you could sell them for, but most likely 30% or less.  Write your first listing in Word.  Then you can just cut and paste.  Essentially you just need set number and title and that it is sealed.  I also list the number of pieces and which mini figures are included (many sets sell just because they contain a unique mini figure).

You are honestly sitting on a mini goldmine.  Like I stated earlier, I have sold about 20% of my lego collection and have made about 70% of the MSRP of everything and I still have a bunch of larger sets and rare items that I haven't had a chance to list yet.  You won't regret it if you just take the time.