Tip #7: Don't invest in Lego sets that just got released as they need to sit on the shelf way too long. Invest in retiring sets instead which are usually announced in Q4.
That is definitely a sound tip - hopefully people who do this can still pick the set(s) up on sale before they discontinue so they already have a healthy (potential) profit margin built in. Thanks for sharing!
@@CraftedBricks retailers usually discount prices before retiring sets and bringing in new sets. Tip #8 (from experience) its better to buy investment sets in person as from buying online you run the risk that the box is damaged, and from the point of view of the retailer they usually aren't going to reship for a box with a couple of dents which they think is useless to you anyway.
I just got the pet shop for 270€, which is a modular set from 2011 and im going to wait some time in order to sell it around 450€ at least, when i realize there are no other of these sets available for selling.
I buy Lego to ENJOY them. However I’m smart and when I need to sell a set I make sure I keep all pieces and disassemble them with care and into new bags. I keep spare parts/manuals etc and even keep the front cardboard box art (larger front covers are folded in half). The key is to look into re-released sets and if the reviews are negative that’s more money for me. I know that my old model will sell for a crazy amount. Cause of nostalgia or whatever. There’s only money in the Star Wars stuff, so I watch a lot of Star Wars and buy the sets on discount, my ppc is usually only 8 cents. I’ll sell if I can get 2/3x the original value. And I get it easily. Open sets sell more easily than boxed because they sell for a little cheaper plus I get the value of enjoying the set by assembling it and showing it. I don’t sell a lot of sets but if a set is not my tea I can easily disassemble it and get some money for it. The key for me is that I don’t part out my used sets, they get everything like spare parts etc. most consumers are okay with getting an unboxed used set for $10-30 dollars cheaper. And I’m okay with the loss because that money translated into the joy of me actually building the thing.
As someone who invests in Lego starwars I dont typically have any issues selling sets, the fanbase is so large and diverse that almost any set someone wants. Obviously there’s some factors that play into that heavily like; exclusive figures, current media, and over all build quality that play in how popular a given set is after it retires. But in my opinion still a worth while investment.
Anakin - your comment put a huge smile on my face. That's very sweet and true! The primary focus of of buying and building Lego is to ENJOY it and to create cool things to have in your home on display that when you look at them make you feel happy!
Again thank you and I'm glad you enjoyed the video and I hope found it to be helpful. Lego investing is proving to be tough at the moment with all the competition, price increases and rising costs of living/inflation. Let's hope things improve soon!
I ran a Bricklink store for a year after collecting/storing for about 5 years. Thousands of dollars in revenue but just a few hundred in profit. Can definitely confirm everything he says in this video.
Thank you for sharing your experience, and it is interesting (but also heart breaking) to hear that despite having a good backlog of investment sets to sell making a good (large) profit was difficult. Although yes you can make money from investing in Lego, it is difficult and I stand by my stance that there are better and easier options for investment. Anyway have a superb week ahead. Cheers, Simon
Watched this the night before I was about to drop multiple thousands on retired sets through Marketplace. You slapped me back to attention. I'll keep collecting for sure, but you're right it's not all roses out there. Thank you!
Hi Ken - I'm glad my video gave you pause for thought. Of course there's nothing wrong with collecting and buying some sets (on sale) for investment purposes - but making investing in a Lego a dedicated thing and money making strategy is certainly not as good as it used to be and is becoming more difficult / of a burden versus investing say in other types of assets. I wish you all the best with growing your Lego collection!
Never buy already retired sets at a premium for investment, it's fine for personal collection but there's no profit to be had on trying to flip an already marked up set another 20-40% higher just to cover fees for a profit.
Some points I'd want to add: --- Seasonal sets, especially the Winter Village series, have generally increased in price over the years. Not alot of people would buy it at release, but there's always this market of new people trying to get the older sets in order to complete their village-- and unlike the Modular series, there's a smaller market pool availability on it. --- Short-lived themes tend to appreciate in value over time, especially if they get discontinued prematurely. Good examples would be the Mystery Castle from Hidden Side and the Vidiyo Bandmates Series 2. Whilst the former has the added benefit of being a "seasonal set" (since there's a Halloween LEGO community that tends to buy it as well as the Monster Fighters Haunted House and Mystery Mansion from Scooby Doo), the latter was directly affected by scarcity, even after you saw those same figs being sold as discounted stocking stuffers during Christmas as stores were trying to sell them to cover losses. I also believe that Overwatch will increase in value over time as well due to the minifig design and amount of unique elements specific to that theme. --- SDCC items... those have an immediate uptick on market value due to exclusivity and are most guaranteed to not be re-released in normal set production, particularly the packs with a single minifig.
I am sorry but I do not agree with this idea of not investing in Lego. I have been collecting Lego for 10 years now and I have been investing in Lego for the last 5 1/2 to 6 years and it has been EXTREMELY profitable for me. It all depends on what sets you are buying and for what price. Lego does nothing but just increase. Some sets more than others but for the most part it increases. As for Lego raising their prices and it effecting investing, well there will always be tons of buyers that want sets after they retire and I have sold sets for triple what I paid for them 8-9 months after they retire quite often. Lego is a GREAT investment! Way better than gold. The prices and market for gold go up and down too much. Lego sets will always increase in value if you hold them long enough and buyers will always want them due to the rarity of them once they retire. Everyone is free to have their own opinion and listen to whoever they want but for me, Lego is a gold mine!
No problem at all Jay - I'm pumped to hear Lego investing is working out for you! If you read through the comments you'll see that there are people who've had the exact opposite experience to you or have come to the same conclusion that I have. ...so I think the effectiveness of investing in Lego is going to be situational, and vary from person to person. Which is actually why I presented points for consideration in the video on both: why I think investing / buying & selling Lego is not a good idea AND tips to help people investing in Lego if they choose to. My personal experience is that I have been successful with making money from buying and selling Lego - but I feel it's less profitable now, more of a hassle than it's worth and I think there are more liquid and better options to invest in versus Lego sets. But as you say everyone is free to have their own opinion and will come to different conclusions. So thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience with Lego investing!
The problem is 5 years ago not many people were doing it now there is way too many people buying a ton of Lego and filling up the space room at there home.
Thanks for the video mate. I own an absolute carp-load of lego, so I find your video very disturbing / jarring / troubling. But it is thought provoking, and probably the reality check I needed. My wife will be thrilled with your video since it might help me reduce my lego activities. I have many points to make regarding the pros/cons of purchasing lego for profit, but one negative point I want to make which doesn’t get much attention is the environmental ethics. And I have struggled with this for many years, but choose to ignore for some stupid reason… Lego is made out of plastic. Increasing its demand is a bad idea; the environment does not win in any way. More importantly, people (like me) posting boxes of lego around the country/world to each other, only for them to hold and store, and then sell and post to someone else, does not help the environment. This process has some purpose if someone actually opens up a box and enjoys the lego, with minimal postage involved. But a box of lego that simply circulates the planet for a bunch of idiot investors like me to make a potential profit is a waste of resources. I really struggle with this point. Lego is bulky. There are many better ways of investing your money which don’t have such a negative impact on the wellbeing of our planet.
What a superb and well crafted comment. Thank you for sharing your thoughts JK! I'm glad I was able to share some ideas with you that may give you pause for thought and think through maybe adjusting your Lego investing patterns. It is a 'sticky' thing to let go of, I know I struggled to completely stop buying sets to invest in. But I've had much more and easier success with investing in other things like ETF's on the stock market. As for your thoughts on investing in Lego being bad for / not helping the environment. That's a very novel but on point thought. I think with the world progressing as it is we all need to think about ways to be less of an impost on the Environment. Even our small actions can make a difference, you've given me something to think over today, thank you!
I'm closing my wallet I'm not impressed with the quality these days for nearly thousand dollar sets which is insane my money will be saved for food and gas
I totally hear you, with the rise in the cost of living being so felt day-to-day, spending $1000's on Lego models just doesn't feel right or seem sensible!
A little harsh but I get your angle. As for Lego re-releasing popular retired sets that would be amazing if they decided to so! I think recent upgraded releases have been incredibly positive and effective - like the new Galaxy Explorer and the Eldorado Fortress.
Have You seen what have they done with the price of Statue of Liberty set? (number 3450-1) Not that I wanted it and now I'm bitter becouse I'm more into technic sets but I was mindblown when I saw that.
That set is 20+ years old so I've no doubt some people are trying to sell it for a lot due to its rarity. You could it you are interested in it probably BrickLink the parts for cheaper than buying the set!
Scalpers are people who buy things with a very limited supply/timescale and a massive demand (like concert or sports tickets). These people deprive genuine fans of face-value tickets and completely distort the resale market. By contrast, anyone can buy a Lego set anywhere in the world for years until it retires - often on discount. As this video explains, the supply of any set is initially 'unlimited'. If more investors buy a specific set, then Lego will simply make more, so the notion of Lego investors being scalpers is therefore a myth as they don't deprive anyone of a set - they simply sell it for a profit when demand eventually exceeds supply. Just like people who buy wine, watches, jewellery, cars, art, and any of the other investment options available (are they all scalpers too?).
The Christmas themed sets are almost always a great idea. A new one comes out each year, almost always a $99 set. The original Christmas train goes for $500 now, even though there was a re-release in 2016, that is much more modern looking. The 2016 goes for $250-300. I’m living in Mexico for 1 year, where the elf club house is on clearance for $80, meanwhile in the US it is completely sold out, and is going for $150-200 on eBay. It’s very tempting to buy 10 of them, store them for a year, and sell them in a year when I’m back in the states. Of course I’m keeping one (maybe 2?) for myself :)
Sounds like a good strategy with the Christmas themed sets Neuron21! Especially where as you say you can pick up some select sets in Mexico at discounted pricing. I wish you every success with it! Cheers, Simon
I’m a big believer in buy and hold. I look for good deals on eBay and then just hold them for a very long time. I guess I’m trying to build a collection that would’ve enthralled me as a child. I want my brothers children to step in to my “museum” and just be amazed with it all. I don’t even know if I will ever sell the sets. Im seeking out acrylic boxes to keep all of my sealed sets in to keep them locked in to their condition.
It sounds like you are a 'Collector' versus Investor. But what a collection you must be building if you are taking precautions to protect your sets in acrylic boxes. All the best with it!
This is true for investing in collectibles in general. I always have to laugh when people dismiss the idea of a core-satellite portfolio because "picking individual stocks is gambling", but then proceed to tell me how they've invested into trading cards, watches or any other sort of super-hard-to-resell article. No thank you, I'd rather buy more Microsoft and Danaher stocks.
Very solid points and comments! I'm leaning more and more into ETF's as my investment choice over Lego (or any other collectible), far more liquid and I don't have to store anything or deal with people directly when I need to sell. All the best to you with your investments!
@@CraftedBricks Oh yeah, diversity is of course key. Just picked two super-solid companies with cashflows to the moon and back to proof my point that individual stocks (compared to collectibles) can be way more solid.
I'm just going to buy the sets I want to build for myself because I like them or the IP, and hey, if they go up in value great, if not, i still get enjoyment
But buying large lego sets is a lot riskier than buying smaller ones. As you said people might not want to pay so much for a set or maybe you get scammed on ebay. And ebay usually sides with the buyer even for example if they stole all the mini figures out of the set
Since the release the Technic Racers series in 1999, l have been collecting and building Lego. The real value of the Lego experience is actually in the modifications and improvements that one can explore within that car design series. ('Brickself: Lego Transpod') I did at one time tried to justified my purchases by an investing mindset. Most of those sets proved to be a great stock for the exploration of really cool design options...(the transverse engine.) More resently l have noticed more than a growing interest in the investing of sealed sets...never to be played with or shared . More than 20 years forward now...we all have gone through different times...and experiences... hopefully the actually playing, building, modifing...and sharing will remain our main purpose for our interest in Lego.
Hi John, what a well constructed comment, thanks for sharing. And agreed, Lego is, and should be, a creative and enjoyable hobby (that is also best shared) versus a hard and fast means to just make money. But that said there is room for everyone so if people want to use it to make a little extra money too, then that I certainly understand, having done that myself. All the best! Simon
Thanks for the great video.. well set out and presented 👍.. it definitely lowered my expectations on what is realistic before getting in lego investing.. what do you think about the idea of buying mid range sets from popular themes like Star wars and for longterm investing (10 to 20+ years)? Ive been thinking about doing this on a small scale, but its difficult to to find current examples or 'vintage' new in box lego set to analyse the prices..
No problem at all, I'm glad the advice and ideas gave you food for thought. As to your question, I would not recommend in investing in mid-sized sets from Star Wars, we see too many re-releases and over the 10+ year timeframe you'll likely be stuck with old sets no one wants anymore. If you are thinking of investing I think invest in some of those niche pop-culture popular sets could be an option, I'm thinking the Back to The Future Time Machine, Optimus Prime, etc. But I feel odd giving advice on what to invest in these days as I'm not into investing in Lego anymore.
@@CraftedBricks thanks for the info and quick reply👍 ye I think the risk of re releasing of sets makes this a no go for me so I might look for something else. And I appreciate that giving investment advice is dodgey haha
my Lego Mania era took place in the mid 2010s. was easy to find People who hadnt got a sense of what they were selling, or were generous and understood theyre just basically selling a bunch of printed plastic... Good Times. Glad i collected most of the minifigures i wanted before everything got deemed rare and expensive.
It sounds like you were in your peak Lego acquisition phase a good time! That said I do like many of the more modern era sets that Lego are producing, but there's so many sets being released these days that I tend to buy only the sets that I know I connect with and I'm really going to enjoy building and displaying. : )
Yeah there are definitely too many sets being released every year and also many rereleases for example the Disney castle which got remade or many other sets . And also too many people investing in helmets or others sets and the market is too saturated so idk which set I will invest in maybe some ucs which are always safe picks (if they don’t get remake )
A well reasoned comment, thanks for sharing. Although I published this video quite a while back I still think some of the points I made, like you said to about the market being over-saturated hold true. So many other better things to invest in versus Lego. Have a superb week ahead!
@@CraftedBricks thanks yeah I was thinking about investing but I don’t see many sets with potential and without many people who bought them as an investment.
Tysm I’m glad I didn’t try to invest I. Lego even though it’s so popular it not worth the amount of effort it takes to even make a small amount on a single set. I still love Lego I’m I’m glad I won’t have to safe extra to invest and can just have fun building and playing with my Lego sets.
I’ve been investing for about the same amount of time (since 2015). I’ve had some big hits and some real losers. Some sets take a while to see a decent return and some jump 50% immediately on retirement. It’s more of a hobby than a true investment to me, as there is no way to make a real large investment with the amount of space it takes. But, after 7 years, I’ve gotten better at picking sets and knowing what will do well. My worst investment was the original UCS Batman Tumbler. Ended up selling it 6 years later for the same amount I bought it for.
Great comment David and thank you for sharing your thoughts on Lego investing. Your experiences echo mine in many ways with some sets doing well in a very short space of time and others languishing or not doing well at all. I was fortunate enough to offload my original UCS Batman Tumbler right in the week that I heard rumors of a new one being released. All the best to you for continued success with it!
hey crafted bricks nice video. im thinking of buying 2 copies of the a fram cabin as my first ever lego investment, its 13 percent off RRP. What do you think? cheers
Hi there, given my pitch in this video is to NOT invest in Lego I'm a bit concerned about giving you Lego investment advice. But that said given you can get these sets at less than retail, and that it is a good Ideas set, then yes picking up two of those and holding them sounds reasonable. All the best!
Usually I buy used ones, disassemble and reassemble them for fun, for possibly reselling them later for the same price I bought them. This makes it a free hobby. If I repackage them in plastic bags, they might even sell at a higher price.
An interesting approach! I personally don't like buying second-hand Lego as you never know what quality the parts are going to be in, but it sounds like this a winning strategy for you, so kudos to you!
Its all so obvious. Lego is bulky, hard to ship / move, illiquid and the returns.........mweh. Its a bad investment if its your main investment. If its a speculative side investment it can be very fun, but dont fool yourself into thinking this should be your main "long term bread winner"
Well said! And I agree with your points and sentiment, hence my video and for me personally stopping investing in Lego. I'm also even more noticing this year in 2023 how crazy expensive Lego sets (new releases) are becoming. It's disheartening.
@@CraftedBricks Yep same. Luckily i allocated the % of my net worth i wanted in lego in 2020/21. Now im just gonna cycle it. (sell some and only use profit to rebuy new sets). Them knocking all the prices up and hedging my old sets to a higher floor? Thank you lego. Gonna be harder to get returns on future yeah (as you said)
Sounds good Arachnid-Man, I used to follow the same approach. But just a word of caution, sometimes just because you or I like a set doesn't mean it is a good investment choice. We may like it, but others or the general Lego community may not and then it may be hard to sell. Just some food for thought. Good luck!
That could be something. But I'm not quite sure that people are actively trying to create an artificial market with Lego, like maybe is done with some Crypto currencies or even certain stocks on stock markets. But an interesting observation, thanks for sharing.
Renato, thank you so much! Your comment has made my day! ...I have several mod and Lego build type videos planned next. But given how well this video has been received I will make other similar videos in the future on other topics related to our hobby. I have a few ideas already. Thanks for the sub too!
I agree. It’s a bad idea. There is always risk of the bottom falling out from under investors. So many people trying to invest will end up unloading their inventory for cheap. Never pay retail either. I purchased a brand new sealed UCS AT-AT for $600, when it retails for $850. Purchased a UCS Landspeeder new sealed for $120, when it retails for $240. Sure, these aren’t everyday deals…but they’re out there. And the hunt makes it fun.
Thanks for sharing. Hunting for sets at a discount to sell on later at either retail pricing or above is certainly a sound strategy. I hope it all works out for you!
Im planning to sell all my lego collection even the ones from 1990s. I realized new sets are hard to sell. Also, ebay charges so much fees making it harder to make profits! An item i listed for USD30 was bought by then cancelled by me when i realized i only get USD 14!!!!!
Yes those eBay (inc. PayPal) fees are insane. I've kind off sold off most of the sets I want to sell and I'm not buying anymore. But if I do have to sell something I try the free options first like Facebook marketplace. Could be a good option for you to try?
@@CraftedBricks I'm using Facebook groups as a well to sell. Mind you I live in Dubai and the community is small for lego. However, I do post on the US and euro groups. Haven't made much sales (two in the past 6 months!). But still trying. ebay is faster. However, will be trying Bricklink. I hope eBay drops their fees in the future.
Hi there - BEFORE COMMENTING: Please make sure you have watched the FULL video to listen to BOTH sets of points. I.e. the 7x reasons why I (now) consider investing in Lego to be a bad idea AND the 6x Lego investing tips that I've learnt to help make investing in Lego successful. I'm seeing a lot of comments that make it clear people haven't watched the back 3rd of the video where I go into Lego investing tips like ensuring you buy sets you intend to invest in on sale/at discounted pricing. Also my UCS Snowspeeder purchase example was a once-off mistake and was back in a time when the UCS Millennium Falcon (the older one) was selling for up to $5000! That was a different time with different thinking where pricing like that for some sets was 'normal', now of course I'd never buy an investment Lego set aftermarket. The important point I was actually making is that set-releases are becoming more common place and can adversely impact your ability to sell-off any superseded Lego sets that you may be holding as investments. On the whole though it's be really good to have some constructive commentary on this topic - both for and against. Thank you to all! 🙂
Hi Simon, you’ve made some great points here and hit the nail on the head when you mentioned buying the right sets. There’s also the competition you’re going to face as more people do seem to be buying investment sets these days. I personally don’t buy investment sets but do occasionally sell some due to a change of heart with the ones I bought with the intention to build. I think you have to be a Lego collector or investor as with the point you made being a collector will sway your opinion on what you think other people will like in the future.
Thanks Simon and I'm glad you found the video interesting and could think about your own journey with buying and selling sets. To one of your points - the good thing about buying Lego is that most sets (not all) seem to at least hold their value so if you do have a change of heart and no longer want a set, as long as you've kept it sealed and new, you can sell it on to reclaim your purchase funds. I've done this myself many times and it sounds like you have too. All the best! Simon
Good video and solid points. During Covid plenty of people where getting into the game and making easy money. The market has changed now and people are struggling to flip their titanic’s and back to the future cars for profit like they used to.
Thanks Garryn, and you make a good point about things being different during Covid. With all those lockdowns most people, myself included, were buying a lot more things online, so selling investment Lego sets was certainly easier and more profitable. Things have definitely changed now though (as you say) and I think profiting from Lego investing will become harder. Not impossible just harder. Have a great day!
To me as a 22 years old, who grew up with most of the subthemes such as Ultra Agent, Agents, Pharaoh's Quest, and one licensed Theme (DC Comics) and still is collecting it, and in a process of making builds of My own... LEGO is not a jewel, but a Toy for Kids starting from the age of 0-4 years old, not 30 years old, as WOODY would say... Yes I named some of important themes that has been part of my teen years, but ever since the success of THE LEGO MOVIE, it made this company a Jewel Company, targeting ADULTS, just let's face it.
Some interesting thoughts there, thanks for sharing. I think when you rediscover Lego as an Adult it becomes and means something else. For me now I think Lego is an amazing 'creative medium' where I can craft anything I set my mind to and that's something really special.
I can't do it anyway. At least not with anything that actually interests me. I like building way too much to trust myself around a bunch of unopened sets.
Brett - you are on the right track! Lego is best suited to build and enjoy versus hoarding and investing in. But I appreciate, and I've certainly done it, that there's also a space for people who want to keep, store and resell a collectible toy like Lego for profit. All the best to you!
Spot on! I do a similar thing with the Modular building sets, I've only built one of the many I own. But better to buy them when they are available versus later at a premium. Thanks for sharing.
Atleast Lego keep there products on the shelf a few year so u can save up. Unlike other brands that rotates 4 times a year *cough! Card collecting,cough!!* 😂
#6 Buy soon to be retired sets, even if price will be bit higher than year prior, you end up with much shorter turnover, buying set on release and freez money for 3 years before retiring is not a good idea when you could turn this money two times giving you better value over time. Great video, i think every new investor should watch it and answer those points themselves. I any of it are problem for you, dont bother. I know im ready for the ups and downs, and want to continue this road :)
Now that's a good a good tip Areios, and when combined with seeking the investment set for a discounted price, which tends to happen when the product is in it's late cycle, then that could be a good strategy. And your last point is what I had in mind for this video, i.e. to present both why I personally think investing in Lego is a bad idea (now) and then tips on how to improve your success with it if you choose to be in the game. It's up to each person to make the decision on whether investing in Lego is a good venture or not go given their personal circumstances. It sounds like it is working out for you, which I'm pleased to hear!
I agree with you, I think it's already happening with the rising costs of living and inflation people are not spending as much on toys and collectables. I think it will be a tough few years for Lego investing. Thanks for sharing!
I bought a ton of sets i never built and they sit in a stack on my floor. They are worth a ton now. It blows my mind. I bought all the LOTR ring sets years ago. They sold terribly and i picked up so many in the discount section of Walmart. Now they are worth a TON. Nothing i did was planned. Just ended up that way. Blows my mind what legos are worth. Its just plastic lol.
It sounds like you had a lucky break and windfall! Well done and I'm glad you've been to make some healthy profits. It is amazing how much some people are willing to pay for plastic toys, Lego, collectible SW toys, etc!
This is a really well done video, great job! This should have more views lol. I personally am currently just a Bricklink seller that sells parts and Minifigures, and I haven’t gotten too much into the investment side of things due to space constraints and me not being able to wait for a set to go up in value 😂
Thanks for commenting Shroo26! I'm actually pretty happy with the views, and I think this vid will continue to get more views as it's a solid topic and I'm happy with how the video flowed. Good engagement on this means that in the future I will tackle a few other topics that I have in mind. + well done on being a BrickLink seller. As a MOC builder and modder I can't stress enough how important BrickLink is and it's sellers like you who make it possible for people like me to design and build custom models and mods. Keep up the good work!
So far my tastes have been pretty spot on with their worth later on in years. Just makes me regret not getting multiple sets but at the same time I don't want to sell my sets at all(I did in 2017 when I was down bad for money and regret it all). I do trade in some surprises that I have to rebuild when they become a ton of money later on(since I pieced them out originally). Ninjago Dawn of Iron Doom, bought two for $10 each as an example. It's just nice knowing my hobby isn't fruitless when times get tough. I only buy what I like not what I think a set is gonna be down the line. So far so good.
That all sounds very good Squaresided - and I agree it's nice to know that our Lego purchases at least hold their value overtime and can be a fallback if we need to sell some for extra funds.
I completely understand. The only plus I think is that investors give people who missed out on a Lego set the opportunity to have it. And there's some value in that. I know I've bought some older sets (like the Technic Space shuttle) from people at crazy prices, but I'm happy to have those older sets in my collection.
Iam currently selling off all my sets,six years ago I was making a killing I won’t buy anymore Lego now every man and his dog are resellers most of the big profits are history
@@phillipbyrnes2885agreed, I imagine it’s much like every other thing these days. Too much competition, too little profit margins to really get into lego compared to say 5-10 years ago.
@@JeffHoopAdventure - Yes that is a good point and something that I've mentioned in comment replies to. As that secondary market allows Lego enthusiasts to purchase retired sets that they've missed out on. Thanks for sharing Jeff!
That's a long wait! I wonder in comparison with that timeframe how you would do investing in the stock market or property. INHO those are better options than investing in Lego. Thanks for sharing!
The longer you wait, the more value you get this is for the stock market, property as well as for Lego@@CraftedBricks You can make very nice profits from Lego, after 3 years or so, like 50-100% easily. I'm a big fan of the stock market, and my all time favorite is buy and hold TQQQ for 5 - 10 years, with annual return of 40% on average.. Of course if you can wait 20 years, you will have a lot of capital
I never buy a set with the intention to sell later. I have bought hundreds of older "rare" sets at retail or less than retail cost. Why would I use space to store sets for zero profit? I do have a ton of duplicate sets that I bought on discount or on purpose as I felt they were a great value, I've checked if they would be worth it to sell but it just doesn't make any sense. I'm better off to just dump the parts into my collection rather than sell on ebay and have to pay fees and possibly shipping as well. Heck I'd give them away before I did that!
Now you sound like a 'true' Lego enthusiast - only buying what you want to build and/or use for parts for custom builds and mods. I love it! All the best to you with your Lego builds and projects this year!
Im investing in a quite a few sealed lego sets but, I'd rather invest more in certain minifigures. I'm investing in about 20 sealed star wars and batman sets just bought them recently because these ones are going to retire before or at the end of 2022. I don't really want to go broke off buying lego so I watch how I am spending.
Lxcas it sounds like you are someone with a plan! And getting those sets close to retirement sounds like the way to go to be able to sell them sooner than later with a mark-up. I know what you mean about over-spending on Lego, I was like that when I first started investing in Lego. You'll be ok though, when you need spare funds you can always liquidate part of your holdings. It's what I did from time to time. All the best! Simon
Interesting points. You assume from the outset that investors buy at retail price. Ideally you buy at discount. And even, better at clearance price. Not everything gets discounted of course. Variety is actually a double edged sword. It means not all bets will pay off. Just like how the stock market plays out. You have to try and pick the winners. If you don’t like risk, then Investing in general is not for you. Selling Lego for profit is not difficult. See top point. The difficulty is that people think you will earn millions. Or that prices will only ever go up and never hit a plateau or go down.
Hi Krispy - did you see my 'investing tips' at the back 3rd of the video? Tip #5 was exactly that, wait for a sale to buy Lego sets to invest in! And yes you make a good point, diversifying the sets to invest in - like you do if you were investing in stocks or other assets - is certainly the way to go. Some will result in good profits, others neutral, and some at a loss. The video was intended to provide a balanced view on Lego investing and points to consider for people. I'm glad it is working out for you though, keep it up!
I think a lot of people posting about their investing in Legos are just trying to brag and they don't really have what they say. Aside from that you can still make a lot as long as you don't try to do what everyone else is minus a few sets such as Sesame.
Maybe so Nathan! This topic certainly has had very mixed views and responses. And I think you are right, you can make money with investing in Lego if you put in the time and effort. From my own experience I've been successful with it - but it's time to stop now. I think there are better things that are less onerous to invest in. But each to their own! Thanks for sharing.
Sold my UCS Slave 1 for $500. Sold my Tantive IV 1st gen for $340. Sold the 4x4 Crawler for $450 (used). So far, I am hitting the mark on which sets are hot items. I will always buy at less than MSRP, if possible (for LEGO investing). I sold a few discontinued MegaBloks Call of Duty sets too, and received quite a bit of money (used and new).
Certainly different times these days! I feel like 'investing' in Lego has really exploded to become a 'thing' over the last decade. But it's getting to be highly oversaturated with the secondary market absolutely flooded with people trying to sell their sets to profit.
I resell here and there, but the most annoying are people asking for lower prices. Not even that, but insultingly low offers. I think it is especially prevalent right now because of the economy. They don’t want to pay market value and they prey on people they think need the money. I want to tell these people sometimes if they want lower go try and find it somewhere else. I do only buy sets now on discount late in their cycle, just because when they retire I can typically get RRP for a used set. I’m not into storing sets to sell later, but if I get tired of a set most times I can get at least what I paid for it back.
Oh yes I hear you - I experience that a lot and it does get very frustrating. Especially the ridiculously low-ball offers where they say things like 'this is my final offer', as if that's supposed to prompt me to accept it! Re buying sets when they are discounted it's becoming pretty much mandatory I think to be successful in this game. Thanks for sharing and I wish you all the best with your Lego reselling!
I'm happy I'm happy you're I love it all. I love a lot the only thing I hate is the inflation in the prices of lego going up. That's the only thing I hate here but I do not care about lego resellers I don't care about people that .. I want to sell I do not care every minds to me if you put. I want to sell their shoes or sneakers and other stuff down. It's more common now it's not that rare especially who cares I want to
Great video, would love to see more videos in this style. What are your opinions on investing in LEGO mini-figures? Many LEGO mini-figures seem to rapidly rise in price especially if they are part of a popular theme like Star Wars and depict relevant characters. Although parting out sets for mini-figures presents a problem buying figures on bricklink when the sets are in still in production then reselling later seems as if it could be a viable strategy.
Hi Legoinator - thank you, I appreciate your feedback! As to your question regarding investing in Lego mini-figures. I think investing in the Collectible Minfig series' and buying whole sets of them to re-sell when they are out-of-print could work. But buying Lego sets to part out the minifigs to sell the minifigs at prices >> than the cost of the sets you parted them out from, seems costly and risky to me. We often see cases of minifigs re-released in later sets which plunges the value of the original figures. I think to that investing in Lego mini-figures would require a lot of knowledge and research to pick the correct minifigs to buy - i.e. that they are rare and popular (maybe you are in the know?). Also, and it's just my personal take, I dislike paying high prices for minifigs. Some of the prices I see for minifigs on BrickLink when I'm ordering parts are ridiculous and I always wonder who's buying them? I hope this helps and gives you some food for thought! Cheers, Simon
With walmarts crazy sales and finding $30 sets at $10 and $40+ sets at $20 at my LGS, how can I not invest. I was looking for a video on super mario lego investing but found this and I enjoyed it very much. Subbed.
To be quite honest and with all due respect, only your reasons # 5 and 6 are irrefutable. Number 5 is set in stone. 6 is the one that everything else relies on and will trump all the posited pitfalls. Get good at that and it all falls into place. Thank you.
Hi Noam - I appreciate you being so polite and diplomatic with your comment. With a topic like this I've no doubt that people are going to have diverse views and experiences. I think all 7 reasons are valid, and each in their own way adversely impact the Lego investing experience. But I get where you are coming from indicating that reasons 5 (storing your investments properly) and reason 6 (ensuring you choose the right sets to invest in) are key. All the best you!
Solid video. I am now rediscovering all my old childhood Lego sets from my attic and finding they have increased massively in value, so am considering getting into LEGO investing more seriously. This video raised some good points. It seems to me that Lego Star Wars is generally a solid investment due to the enduring popularity of the franchise. Some sets that I purchased for around $5 as a child are now worth upwards of $50, even second hand! Being able to hold for the medium - longer term seems to be key.
Great comment! I hope you are holding onto and not selling your childhood Lego! Those sets will have huge sentimental value and you should keep them. As for investing in new sets to hold, yes Star Wars seems to be an ever popular theme, I'd go with the UCS sets a safe option versus smaller sets, but of course up to you. All the best with your Lego investing venture and have a superb weekend!
Reason 8: You can't liquidate it quickly if you really need the money. I just try to get rid of my collection of movie posters and merchs and this is a serious problem. Even if there is a large collector market left it takes time to find customers for the specific set (and unless you go very cheap they also prefer to wait for you or others go lower). And Reason 9: It's for poor people. Investing more then in $100,000 is only possible if you build an additional storage room.
Some solid points there, thank you for sharing. I fully agree with you on the it being an investment that's not quick or easy to liquidate. There are far better investment options out there that's for sure. Have a superb week ahead!
Great video with good arguments against investing. I will say there are a few exceptions to your points that I’ve experienced as an investor. I also feel that there one major factor was not discussed. To my first point. When a new Lego set is released and does sell out, that window of time when it isn’t available can be extremely advantageous. As an example, when a new Speed Champions set is released and is highly anticipated, it will typically sell out fast and be put on a 30-60 day backorder. During this time, there will be a lot of people who missed the initial release and were waiting for that set. In my experience I’ve been able to sell every set I was able acquire fairly easily during that backorder period. As long as you are not gouging prices, people will pay that premium rather than wait. I typically can sell as many as I can get my hands on within 24-48 hours of posting it for that 1-2 month period. So even though it is a small set, if you sell say 25 of them with a 25-50% ROI, that’s a tidy profit. My second observation …the time of year when to sell is extremely important. I will agree that recently the influx of quantity of product has changed the resale market. It wasn’t long ago that during the holidays you would find every single set sold out online for over a month. Still, that time of year can be extremely profitable if you plan for it…Happy to see Voltron representing, wish I had bought more at the time. Well done.
Hi Jason, what a well-crafted, sensible and well worded comment! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with buying and reselling Lego. It sounds like you have several tactics that are working well for you and it will be interesting I'm sure for others to read your comment. I wish you all the best and for continued success! Cheers, Simon
Reason 3 hits so hard. I'm trying to off load some sets I don't want anymore for less than anywhere they can be found online, and people are still trying to get a 50% discount on top of that.
In 2020 I Lost the interest in Lego and stopped buying sets and sold everything except my lego trains. I've been in the model railway hobby since 2020, Lego was a good time but it's not the same as it used to be in my opinion.
I agree with you, the hobby feels like it's changing. Too many products perhaps? Too expensive? Perhaps other factors. Focusing in on a key theme and enjoying just that like you are seems like a good strategy. For my part I've been focusing more on custom Lego builds that either I design or build from instructions produced by talented designers in the Lego community.
@@CraftedBricks cool that you make Something different with Lego and I have are Märklin train Set.that is Just Like Lego buth with Light bricks and I have Fleischmann wher collection Thomas and Friends and more stuff.
Do you think that Lego Trains are better investment, cause they somewhat real, rather the fantasy Ninjago and Marvell. And they released only once per year, and appeal to wide consumer group? However my thought - why someone will buy overpriced 2022 set, if will be possible to buy 2023 with Black Friday discount?
@@AK.__ I will say Yes too the old Lego trains buth new trains don't have the Same Charm like the old Lego trains. I collected Lego trains with Thomas the Tank engine toys,I collect Thomas toys still today with Model Railyway Stuff from Bachmann and Hornby from Thomas and normal Modellrailway stuff.
Majority of my collection and buying / selling is Pokémon (TCG) I have a sealed Lego collection. Mostly vintage castle sets I love and want in my collection long term. Seeing the proliferation of TH-camrs “investing” in sealed Lego seems doomed to fail for all the reasons you mentioned, when the market becomes saturated there will be a flood of horders exiting. Not every set is special and should command a premium. Very bizarre, at least with TCG, they are “collectible” in the sense sealed product to get the cards is finite and they are easy to ship.
A well worded and thought through comment, thanks for sharing. And I like the utility of your Pokemon card investing, much easier to ship that sort of collectable as you say. The more time that goes on, and it's been a while since I published this video, the more I still think using Lego as a pure investment and profit mechanism is a bad idea, there are so many more liquid and better/ more sensible things to invest in. + Lego is becoming extremely expensive with price hikes and larger and more complex sets being common. So people's willingness to pay a premium on Lego that is already expensive is low.
Bit late to the party but my dad runs a Bricklink store where he partouts sets and then sells the parts individually, as that brings up way more than waiting 5 years and selling the set. All of the profit can be used for our own Lego project, so it's really just an investment. He's very busy with it tho and it's definitely not something you can live off on your own, and he's slowly starting to realise it's maybe a bit too much haha
Great comment! ...I always think that BrickLink sellers like your Dad are the un-sung heroes of the Lego MOC/custom model community. Much what we build and do would not be possible with out people who work hard to find, sort, sell and pack Lego parts, I've no doubt that as you indicate it is a LOT of work! Good to know it is profitable though despite the effort commitment.
I have come to the same conclusion so instead I am a reseller who now buy new and used lego to sell as parts. In the past I used to flip , buy cheap and sell on ebay. I still do that but it's even more money in parts. But it takes time and effort.
Ah excellent, you must now be a BrickLink parts seller. I salute you! BrickLink sellers are so important to sustain and enable our Lego enthusiast community. Without people like you we could not order parts for our MOCs and custom builds. Keep up the good work!
I don't think much of it and as we can see, a greed develops that leads Lego to produce more and more expensive sets. Lego is a toy and a hobby and it should be that first and foremost. Lego has always been rather expensive, but what's happening right now is sick. But somehow we don't want it any other way, but I think it's wrong. I buy Legosets that I like and some are in stock but not to make money with them but to build them at some point when I feel like it. What drives me to buy the sets in advance is precisely this speculation. For example, I would like to have a small Lord of the Rings set which I missed at the time .... the part costs about 60 € now after 10 YEARS this 450 part set costs 500 €. Sick
A well constructed comment, thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences. And I agree, what's happening now with a flooded market (both new and retired sets) and everything being so expensive is disheartening. I feel more and more reluctant to buy Lego, but I do pick up some sets that I may not want right now, but do because I don't want to be faced with crazy prices in the future. All the best to you!
I own a 6211 (mid-size star destroyer) from 2006 in pristine condition as it was stored away in the original shipping box for over a decade properly. Bad news for all investors: the glue of the seals has lost its stickiness and all seals are unharmed, but open. Isn't it funny that some youtubers buy lego sets as investment but are too cheap to buy limited sets ( e.g. bricklink designer program) they really praise with a moderately raised price to build them for themselves. Find the error ...
Very good video. Just one point on smaller sets...I do not agree that one does not generate higher profit from some of them. The ghost busters car being referred to in the video is an example of insane potential profit that could be made....so to say avoid...uh I am not sure :)
Thanks Tamer - and you are right you can make money from investing in smaller Lego sets - I think though, and as I mentioned, it is more work to do that as you have to sell more of them and go through that whole sell transaction process more times to get a similar profit aggregate to selling several of those mid-large sized sets. But of course there are some small Lego sets that if you pick right, like you've said with the Ecto-1 that you can indeed do well. Thanks for sharing and all the best to you!
Create price alerts for the sets you want. Especially new sets and set it to about 20 percent off. Often comes that the best price is somewhere during the middle of it's lifetime. Almost any set goes down by 30 percent at some point, technic sets easily by 40, bought some friends set at 50. You have to understand that at a certain point the price can't go any lower before it gets shady business somehow. If you are too close to end of life you might see prices already rising again or already out of stock. For me I care less how long I have to hold it, more important is what I paid for.
As per the old age adage: 'buy low sell high' ...and you are in the green. It sounds like you have a solid and well thought through Lego investing approach. I wish you all the best with it and for healthy profits. : )
Very good video the problem is Lego is rating prices to the point where people can’t afford new sets and the global economic situation is making it difficult to sell
Thank you Tony! And yes you make a good point. Both the increase in pricing of Lego sets + the current situation with rising cost of living / rampant inflation means it's more difficult to afford even current sets, let alone discontinued sets priced at a premium.
A great video with good points. For me investing is not something to get rich of: it's a bit of a sport, with the ultimate goal to have my lego hobby fund itself. How cool is it if all the lego I want is paid for by the profit from the sets I sell. I'm not there yet, but slowly creeping towards this goal. I also have the mentality that if a set is not doing well, I always still have the lego in it. I can part it out and build something myself if it does not do well. I think quite a few people see those promises that it does better than gold, and expect that this is a get money quick scheme. But just like with other markets, you have to know the product you invest in to have a chance of making a profit. Not every set is a goldmine.
What a well constructed comment, thanks for posting up your thoughts and experiences with Lego investing! Your comment on 'needing to know the product you invest in' (to be successful) is very much on-point. I think you have to be very knowledgeable and selective with what you choose to buy to invest in. It sounds obvious but as I'm sure you know well from experience selecting the right sets to invest in and what to ignore is harder to do in practice.
Great video, thank you much! As a parent, who buys occasionally sets for my kids and thought about start investing in it, couldn't agree more, specially in #1 and #3. Recently, the choice is so huge, so there is no reason to buy old set for increased price, but just to scoop a new set for discount. Each themes have unlimited varieties to choose from. As per buying from someone - yes, I realize that the person want to get a profit and i respect this, but I want to get a deal. So I polite way usually offer my price, and if there is no agreement - simply moving on to other seller who will be more flexible...
Great comments - thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts on this topic AK. And your experience when buying says it all, people these days (I've found) are not willing to pay trumped up prices for retired Lego sets. Some mark up sure, but not huge increases to original retail pricing. All the best to you!
Yeah as a Lego enthusiast, I hated the fact Lego retired the castle and Ninja themes only to be replaced with sci-fi Bullcrap like Ninjago or Nextgo. But then I realized, eh these Ninjago mech's are cool enough, I'm curious to see how one of these things comes together..so I make the purchase. Oh look, turns out, Ninjago nowadays is pretty freaking sweet, oh look the best Ninjago sets ever IMO are ones I can go out and buy RIGHT NOW. I'm satisfied with what I own and have 0 interest in buying older Ninjago legacy sets...Why do that when I can buy from the NINJAGO LEGACY line which is based off original sets but are far better looking and are sold in stores right now🤣 My Ninjago 2042 city is looking pretty epic though! Aren't all you investors out there thrilled that Im happy?
Hahaha 🤣 I love this Video! Finally somebody speaks the truth (cough, cough). Listen up all you people. I couldn't of said it any better. You will lose! Ok so how many of y'all jumped on the $40 Central Perks on Cyber Monday. How many of you have a cabinet full of the classic bat mobile joker sets, or Bro Thor's 💰💰💰
Hi Adrian, thanks for commenting. It's a tough one, I still think you CAN be successful and make money with investing in Lego (hence why I provided some investing tips in the video that have worked for me). But for the reasons I outlined in the video, I'm out and I think, like you do also, that it's no longer worth the work, hassle and risk. There are better options for investing in versus toys/collectables. All the best to you! Cheers, Simon
I live in rural area i'm not able to get those good deals like other people. Closest Target or Wallmart is 50 miles away. I had a sale of $42 only made about $30 profit with fees sold 4 Chima polybags from bricklink@@CraftedBricks
Great video and advice. We all have knowledge of a few sets that increased in value over time. and we tend to fix on those "wins". But even on those, how much profit was realized? Could this really be scaled to the level of a traditional financial investment? If this is like any other collectible market, the usual advice applies: buy what you are enthusiastic about, since you may be stuck with it. If you like it and were likely to keep it anyway, well no harm done. As the video says: don't speculate because someone told you it's going to be a good investment - it's best to stick with what you know. And you cannot compare old markets where large numbers of ppl were not collecting these items, to ones where ppl are actively buying for the purposes of resale and keeping things in mint condition. We saw this with comics in the 1990s, and after this current era with people hoarding sets, we may well see a crash in the LEGO secondhand market as ppl are forced by financial circumstances to sell their sets.
What a well thought through and well worded comment - thank you for sharing! Your thoughts in particular on the Lego re-sale market becoming more and more crowded I think are particularly pertinent. I'm certainly observing that in Australia and notice that it's becoming harder to sell off the remainder of my investment Lego sets (at a modest premium) as there's a lot of competition and high volume to sets available. All the best to you!
@@CraftedBricks Thank you for the well thought out and concise video. I was thinking; I really enjoy Lego maybe I should get into investing in it. But the first site I saw that recommended investment sets had some really obscure ones that I doubt were/will be popular. That made me pretty skeptical. You're the first person I've seen that wasn't talking out of their butt about the subject 🤣
I don’t buy extra sets to make a profit so much as to make enough to help pay for the sets I really want to keep. It’s a lower bar to meet. And gifts with purchase really help to this end.
Hi Hector - that sounds good! And I agree selling off those gift-with-purchase sets to offset some of the cost of buying the sets you want for yourself is a good strategy. I do the same thing. Thanks for sharing!
100% agree. I came to this same conclusion a while ago. Great video. You have represented my view better than anyone else on TH-cam that I have seen. The unfortunate thing is I think the resell market is very beneficial on the balance. For example, I feel the Battle of Endor, Mill Village Raid, and Medieval Market Village, to be some of the best sets ever. I was in my dark ages though. I am glad I had the option to buy those sets, albeit at a premium. Luckily, there are not too many Star Wars sets that interested me that were still available at retail, and the Castle theme had already died. So there wasn't too much on retail shelves to compete for my money. So I was able to buy those three sets a few years ago. Subbed :) Edit: While I have decided to stop investing, I am considering not selling off ALL my investments because some of them will make amazing gifts for birthdays for nieces and nephews. I have a bunch of 501st battle packs that I will probably hand out as gifts in a few years. The kids would be stoked!
Thanks for your detailed comment Something Awesome! And yes I certainly agree with you, on the whole you can make money from investing in Lego. I just think (for the reasons outlined in the video) that it's more hassle than it's worth and can be harder in the current climate than people may think. + Good call on retaining a few of your sets to give away as gifts to family. I actually may do another give-away on the channel at the end of the year (not confirmed yet) but a few of the set's I've not sold I could give away :)
The Lego secondary market is simply too small to entertain this massive influx of investors. It’s primarily a toy, so you have adults actually being the outlier in Lego purchasing. Then out of those adults, only a portion of them will be serious collectors willing to spend top dollar on retired sets. Then, of course you have all of the “investors” who are speculation buying all these sets with nobody to sell them to but each other or certain collectors (with very low sales rates). Selling collectibles are not like stocks, you NEED the buyers. Not the right market for people looking to make tons of money quickly or easily- or at all.
Well said and I'm certainly feeling like what you are describing is the case at the moment. As I mentioned in the video I'm selling off my investment sets and it's been a hard slog to get some of them sold. I'm competing with a lot of other people and having to progressively drop my pricing. Thanks for sharing!
Another key tip is if the source material is flopping, the merchandise will flop too. The flash bombed at the box office which explains is why they are trying to retire the batcave so fast. Sorceror sanctum is getting retired fast since recent mcu movies like ant man 3, marvels are bombing. So not exactly huge demand for the merch. Plus lego has to pay licensing fees which affect their bottom line
That's an interesting take on things, thanks for sharing that insight. I think may definitely factor into how much demand there is for certain sets, adding to the risk that some retired sets may be difficult to sell, or at least difficult to make a profit on.
Yes that's true - each persons commitment and focus to investing will determine their success with it or not. + the circumstances that are unique to their country. I suspect it may be easier to buy and sell Lego (at a premium) in some countries versus others. Storage of those investment sets is certainly onerous. All the best to you Lee!
Hi Morne, I'm not sure they are ruining the hobby - but I certainly get where you are coming from. Super high prices being charged for some of the popular discontinued Lego sets make it eye wateringly hard to buy if you missed out and can certainly make the hobby feel off.
Yes and no to your 6 points, you are not taking into consideration the ecconomy. Many collectors may have financial problems for the next 2 years, when this happens they will have to sell their sets at lower prices or even below cost! Also when Lego rereleases older sets, they sometimes change them (even though the new set maybe better), the older set becomes rarer and more valueable. Only invest in popular limited time release sets, (ie a set based on a popular movie, like 'Back to the Future', or 'Harry Potter'). Lego never tells how many sets they make, so only spend what you can afford to loose. Point 7.Never buy a set after market!
Hi Ande - do you mean the 6 suggested tips I go over on Lego investing? Then yes they apply + I agree with your idea of also investing in pop-culture type sets, that's why I had for example the Ghostbusters & Volton sets on screen with me. Regarding re-releases, in my experience old superseded sets that have been replaced with a better and more modern sets do not become more valuable, but I'm sure some examples contra to this exist, but on the whole no. And finally yes I certainly agree with your no.7 which relates to my point about buying Lego sets to invest in on-sale when ever possible. I think my UCS Snowspeeder example left-footed a lot of people watching this video, it was a once-off mistake and in a time where those rare UCS sets were going for high prices, you probably remember the old UCS Millennium Falcon for example going for up to $5000. Anyway good points and thank you for sharing!
I have started investing in lego sets when the simpsons house came out, i started watching lego investment video's late 2022. Tbh i buy sets I like and think people will want later. I invested in the steamboat willy Mickey mouse set to celebrate the 90th birthday, iff they dont bring the same set on the 100th birthday again this will be a huge profit set same as the simpsons are going. Our local butcher gave 2 simpsons character packs per bought salami so we ate frackloads of salami for months ;) unfortunatly we opened all for the kids to play with since the simpson houses were off limit ;)
I love the fact that your local butcher was giving away Lego Simpsons character packs as a promotion top sell Salami! That's brilliant! Thanks for sharing and I wish you success with your Lego investing journey! : )
i know someone who invested in lego sets around the late 80s till late 1990, i remember seeing a photo of a shelf with about 10 copies of the 6990 futuron monorail alopng 5 copied of 6990 message intercept base. thats over 35k profit just for these...
Oh yeah there will always be cases of people getting lucky and investing in/buying the right toys or collectables in the past and being able to sell then at hefty profit. My video/case is for now. It's of course not impossible, just harder in the current climate, and there are better things to invest in versus Lego. Thanks for sharing!
2:37 wish someone would point this out to the eejits who ask for silly money on Ebay for sets that are only temporarily out of stock. Why buyers fall for this is beyond me.
Some buying and selling behavior that we see on eBay or say Facebook market place is just weird huh!? I always think if a set sells out initially, just wait, there's no rush to own specific Lego sets straight away, wait for an opportune moment to buy! Thanks for commenting!
One of the best categories for the investments in Lego are the limited edition trains, like Emerald Night, Maersk Train or Santa Fe series. It's a huge Lego train fan base and most of them are willing to pay a premium price for them.
I sometimes get asked by ebay time wasters -"What's the lowest price you'll accept for this item?" My reply - "What's the highest price you'll pay?" Stops the conversation pretty quickly. Just chanced upon your channel - quality video.
Hi Matt - that is a brilliant response! (and made me laugh!) ...I'm going to use that one for sure. I'm still in the process of offloading my remaining investment sets. Thanks for sharing!
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Tip #7: Don't invest in Lego sets that just got released as they need to sit on the shelf way too long. Invest in retiring sets instead which are usually announced in Q4.
That is definitely a sound tip - hopefully people who do this can still pick the set(s) up on sale before they discontinue so they already have a healthy (potential) profit margin built in. Thanks for sharing!
@@CraftedBricks retailers usually discount prices before retiring sets and bringing in new sets. Tip #8 (from experience) its better to buy investment sets in person as from buying online you run the risk that the box is damaged, and from the point of view of the retailer they usually aren't going to reship for a box with a couple of dents which they think is useless to you anyway.
I just got the pet shop for 270€, which is a modular set from 2011 and im going to wait some time in order to sell it around 450€ at least, when i realize there are no other of these sets available for selling.
@@rain8183So putting away for 5yrs to make 180 dollars?
I buy Lego to ENJOY them. However I’m smart and when I need to sell a set I make sure I keep all pieces and disassemble them with care and into new bags. I keep spare parts/manuals etc and even keep the front cardboard box art (larger front covers are folded in half). The key is to look into re-released sets and if the reviews are negative that’s more money for me. I know that my old model will sell for a crazy amount. Cause of nostalgia or whatever. There’s only money in the Star Wars stuff, so I watch a lot of Star Wars and buy the sets on discount, my ppc is usually only 8 cents. I’ll sell if I can get 2/3x the original value. And I get it easily. Open sets sell more easily than boxed because they sell for a little cheaper plus I get the value of enjoying the set by assembling it and showing it. I don’t sell a lot of sets but if a set is not my tea I can easily disassemble it and get some money for it. The key for me is that I don’t part out my used sets, they get everything like spare parts etc. most consumers are okay with getting an unboxed used set for $10-30 dollars cheaper. And I’m okay with the loss because that money translated into the joy of me actually building the thing.
I try to invest in sets I think might do well, but if they flop I’ll be more than happy to add the model or parts into my collection.
Oh yes that's a good strategy! ...and I've done the same, parting out those dud sets into my spare parts or into a new MOC build.
Great advice for any collectible, one I follow myself. If I'm stuck with it, it doesn't bother me, I enjoy it either way.
I buy sets that go into my loft and I'll be making them with my daughter when she is old enough, that's my investment, the joy
What a lovely and healthy approach to Lego buying!
As someone who invests in Lego starwars I dont typically have any issues selling sets, the fanbase is so large and diverse that almost any set someone wants. Obviously there’s some factors that play into that heavily like; exclusive figures, current media, and over all build quality that play in how popular a given set is after it retires. But in my opinion still a worth while investment.
Sounds good and I'm glad to hear you having success with investing in Lego!
I'm not collecting them to sell, I'm collecting them because they're simple and beautiful and because they make me happy
Anakin - your comment put a huge smile on my face. That's very sweet and true! The primary focus of of buying and building Lego is to ENJOY it and to create cool things to have in your home on display that when you look at them make you feel happy!
Now that I entirely saw the video this is the best and most realistic overview of lego investing I have ever saw.
Again thank you and I'm glad you enjoyed the video and I hope found it to be helpful. Lego investing is proving to be tough at the moment with all the competition, price increases and rising costs of living/inflation. Let's hope things improve soon!
I ran a Bricklink store for a year after collecting/storing for about 5 years. Thousands of dollars in revenue but just a few hundred in profit. Can definitely confirm everything he says in this video.
Thank you for sharing your experience, and it is interesting (but also heart breaking) to hear that despite having a good backlog of investment sets to sell making a good (large) profit was difficult. Although yes you can make money from investing in Lego, it is difficult and I stand by my stance that there are better and easier options for investment. Anyway have a superb week ahead. Cheers, Simon
You need to run a Brick store, everyone knows that Lego is the worst enemy to all Lego Shops. But there are a lot of other interesting competitors
@@llothar68so megabloks, knex and kre'o?
Oh, and mcfarlane construction toys
More money for me, cheers!
Ayoo this is crazy but I received some gifts from you yesterday from a whatnot stream! Thanks so much! It was a Robert stream!
Watched this the night before I was about to drop multiple thousands on retired sets through Marketplace. You slapped me back to attention. I'll keep collecting for sure, but you're right it's not all roses out there. Thank you!
Hi Ken - I'm glad my video gave you pause for thought. Of course there's nothing wrong with collecting and buying some sets (on sale) for investment purposes - but making investing in a Lego a dedicated thing and money making strategy is certainly not as good as it used to be and is becoming more difficult / of a burden versus investing say in other types of assets. I wish you all the best with growing your Lego collection!
Never buy already retired sets at a premium for investment, it's fine for personal collection but there's no profit to be had on trying to flip an already marked up set another 20-40% higher just to cover fees for a profit.
To much Over production. Old toys were thrown away or broken. New stuff is saved by old men in there closest. Not very rare.
Interesting take on this, thanks for sharing!
Some points I'd want to add:
--- Seasonal sets, especially the Winter Village series, have generally increased in price over the years. Not alot of people would buy it at release, but there's always this market of new people trying to get the older sets in order to complete their village-- and unlike the Modular series, there's a smaller market pool availability on it.
--- Short-lived themes tend to appreciate in value over time, especially if they get discontinued prematurely. Good examples would be the Mystery Castle from Hidden Side and the Vidiyo Bandmates Series 2. Whilst the former has the added benefit of being a "seasonal set" (since there's a Halloween LEGO community that tends to buy it as well as the Monster Fighters Haunted House and Mystery Mansion from Scooby Doo), the latter was directly affected by scarcity, even after you saw those same figs being sold as discounted stocking stuffers during Christmas as stores were trying to sell them to cover losses. I also believe that Overwatch will increase in value over time as well due to the minifig design and amount of unique elements specific to that theme.
--- SDCC items... those have an immediate uptick on market value due to exclusivity and are most guaranteed to not be re-released in normal set production, particularly the packs with a single minifig.
Some solid ideas and points on Lego themes that may do well in the future if invested in. Thanks for sharing Aaron!
I am sorry but I do not agree with this idea of not investing in Lego. I have been collecting Lego for 10 years now and I have been investing in Lego for the last 5 1/2 to 6 years and it has been EXTREMELY profitable for me. It all depends on what sets you are buying and for what price. Lego does nothing but just increase. Some sets more than others but for the most part it increases. As for Lego raising their prices and it effecting investing, well there will always be tons of buyers that want sets after they retire and I have sold sets for triple what I paid for them 8-9 months after they retire quite often. Lego is a GREAT investment! Way better than gold. The prices and market for gold go up and down too much. Lego sets will always increase in value if you hold them long enough and buyers will always want them due to the rarity of them once they retire. Everyone is free to have their own opinion and listen to whoever they want but for me, Lego is a gold mine!
No problem at all Jay - I'm pumped to hear Lego investing is working out for you! If you read through the comments you'll see that there are people who've had the exact opposite experience to you or have come to the same conclusion that I have. ...so I think the effectiveness of investing in Lego is going to be situational, and vary from person to person. Which is actually why I presented points for consideration in the video on both: why I think investing / buying & selling Lego is not a good idea AND tips to help people investing in Lego if they choose to. My personal experience is that I have been successful with making money from buying and selling Lego - but I feel it's less profitable now, more of a hassle than it's worth and I think there are more liquid and better options to invest in versus Lego sets. But as you say everyone is free to have their own opinion and will come to different conclusions. So thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience with Lego investing!
The problem is 5 years ago not many people were doing it now there is way too many people buying a ton of Lego and filling up the space room at there home.
Thanks for the video mate. I own an absolute carp-load of lego, so I find your video very disturbing / jarring / troubling. But it is thought provoking, and probably the reality check I needed. My wife will be thrilled with your video since it might help me reduce my lego activities.
I have many points to make regarding the pros/cons of purchasing lego for profit, but one negative point I want to make which doesn’t get much attention is the environmental ethics. And I have struggled with this for many years, but choose to ignore for some stupid reason…
Lego is made out of plastic. Increasing its demand is a bad idea; the environment does not win in any way.
More importantly, people (like me) posting boxes of lego around the country/world to each other, only for them to hold and store, and then sell and post to someone else, does not help the environment. This process has some purpose if someone actually opens up a box and enjoys the lego, with minimal postage involved. But a box of lego that simply circulates the planet for a bunch of idiot investors like me to make a potential profit is a waste of resources.
I really struggle with this point.
Lego is bulky. There are many better ways of investing your money which don’t have such a negative impact on the wellbeing of our planet.
What a superb and well crafted comment. Thank you for sharing your thoughts JK! I'm glad I was able to share some ideas with you that may give you pause for thought and think through maybe adjusting your Lego investing patterns. It is a 'sticky' thing to let go of, I know I struggled to completely stop buying sets to invest in. But I've had much more and easier success with investing in other things like ETF's on the stock market.
As for your thoughts on investing in Lego being bad for / not helping the environment. That's a very novel but on point thought. I think with the world progressing as it is we all need to think about ways to be less of an impost on the Environment. Even our small actions can make a difference, you've given me something to think over today, thank you!
I'm closing my wallet I'm not impressed with the quality these days for nearly thousand dollar sets which is insane my money will be saved for food and gas
I totally hear you, with the rise in the cost of living being so felt day-to-day, spending $1000's on Lego models just doesn't feel right or seem sensible!
IMO Lego investors are just scalpers. I think LEGO should re-release 10 random but popular sets every year all the way down to models from 1980s.
A little harsh but I get your angle. As for Lego re-releasing popular retired sets that would be amazing if they decided to so! I think recent upgraded releases have been incredibly positive and effective - like the new Galaxy Explorer and the Eldorado Fortress.
Have You seen what have they done with the price of Statue of Liberty set? (number 3450-1) Not that I wanted it and now I'm bitter becouse I'm more into technic sets but I was mindblown when I saw that.
That set is 20+ years old so I've no doubt some people are trying to sell it for a lot due to its rarity. You could it you are interested in it probably BrickLink the parts for cheaper than buying the set!
Scalpers are people who buy things with a very limited supply/timescale and a massive demand (like concert or sports tickets). These people deprive genuine fans of face-value tickets and completely distort the resale market.
By contrast, anyone can buy a Lego set anywhere in the world for years until it retires - often on discount. As this video explains, the supply of any set is initially 'unlimited'. If more investors buy a specific set, then Lego will simply make more, so the notion of Lego investors being scalpers is therefore a myth as they don't deprive anyone of a set - they simply sell it for a profit when demand eventually exceeds supply. Just like people who buy wine, watches, jewellery, cars, art, and any of the other investment options available (are they all scalpers too?).
The Christmas themed sets are almost always a great idea. A new one comes out each year, almost always a $99 set. The original Christmas train goes for $500 now, even though there was a re-release in 2016, that is much more modern looking. The 2016 goes for $250-300. I’m living in Mexico for 1 year, where the elf club house is on clearance for $80, meanwhile in the US it is completely sold out, and is going for $150-200 on eBay. It’s very tempting to buy 10 of them, store them for a year, and sell them in a year when I’m back in the states. Of course I’m keeping one (maybe 2?) for myself :)
Sounds like a good strategy with the Christmas themed sets Neuron21! Especially where as you say you can pick up some select sets in Mexico at discounted pricing. I wish you every success with it! Cheers, Simon
I only buy vintage sets from 1999-2004
Wow, your way of speaking is so kind and reassuring, you emit positive energy!
Aww that's very kind of you, thank you!
I’m a big believer in buy and hold. I look for good deals on eBay and then just hold them for a very long time. I guess I’m trying to build a collection that would’ve enthralled me as a child. I want my brothers children to step in to my “museum” and just be amazed with it all. I don’t even know if I will ever sell the sets. Im seeking out acrylic boxes to keep all of my sealed sets in to keep them locked in to their condition.
It sounds like you are a 'Collector' versus Investor. But what a collection you must be building if you are taking precautions to protect your sets in acrylic boxes. All the best with it!
This is true for investing in collectibles in general. I always have to laugh when people dismiss the idea of a core-satellite portfolio because "picking individual stocks is gambling", but then proceed to tell me how they've invested into trading cards, watches or any other sort of super-hard-to-resell article. No thank you, I'd rather buy more Microsoft and Danaher stocks.
Very solid points and comments! I'm leaning more and more into ETF's as my investment choice over Lego (or any other collectible), far more liquid and I don't have to store anything or deal with people directly when I need to sell. All the best to you with your investments!
@@CraftedBricks Oh yeah, diversity is of course key. Just picked two super-solid companies with cashflows to the moon and back to proof my point that individual stocks (compared to collectibles) can be way more solid.
I'm just going to buy the sets I want to build for myself because I like them or the IP, and hey, if they go up in value great, if not, i still get enjoyment
That sounds like a very healthy approach to Lego collecting!
But buying large lego sets is a lot riskier than buying smaller ones. As you said people might not want to pay so much for a set or maybe you get scammed on ebay. And ebay usually sides with the buyer even for example if they stole all the mini figures out of the set
Yes I've read some sad stories, on some of the Lego Facebook groups that I'm part of, of people being scammed with eBay Lego set purchases. Not good.
Since the release the Technic Racers series in 1999, l have been collecting and building Lego. The real value of the Lego experience is actually in the modifications and improvements that one can explore within that car design series. ('Brickself: Lego Transpod')
I did at one time tried to justified my purchases by an investing mindset.
Most of those sets proved to be a great stock for the exploration of really cool design options...(the transverse engine.)
More resently l have noticed more than a growing interest in the investing of sealed sets...never to be played with or shared .
More than 20 years forward now...we all have gone through different times...and experiences... hopefully the actually playing, building, modifing...and sharing will remain our main purpose for our interest in Lego.
Hi John, what a well constructed comment, thanks for sharing. And agreed, Lego is, and should be, a creative and enjoyable hobby (that is also best shared) versus a hard and fast means to just make money. But that said there is room for everyone so if people want to use it to make a little extra money too, then that I certainly understand, having done that myself. All the best! Simon
Thanks for the great video.. well set out and presented 👍.. it definitely lowered my expectations on what is realistic before getting in lego investing.. what do you think about the idea of buying mid range sets from popular themes like Star wars and for longterm investing (10 to 20+ years)? Ive been thinking about doing this on a small scale, but its difficult to to find current examples or 'vintage' new in box lego set to analyse the prices..
No problem at all, I'm glad the advice and ideas gave you food for thought. As to your question, I would not recommend in investing in mid-sized sets from Star Wars, we see too many re-releases and over the 10+ year timeframe you'll likely be stuck with old sets no one wants anymore. If you are thinking of investing I think invest in some of those niche pop-culture popular sets could be an option, I'm thinking the Back to The Future Time Machine, Optimus Prime, etc. But I feel odd giving advice on what to invest in these days as I'm not into investing in Lego anymore.
@@CraftedBricks thanks for the info and quick reply👍 ye I think the risk of re releasing of sets makes this a no go for me so I might look for something else. And I appreciate that giving investment advice is dodgey haha
my Lego Mania era took place in the mid 2010s. was easy to find People who hadnt got a sense of what they were selling, or were generous and understood theyre just basically selling a bunch of printed plastic... Good Times. Glad i collected most of the minifigures i wanted before everything got deemed rare and expensive.
It sounds like you were in your peak Lego acquisition phase a good time! That said I do like many of the more modern era sets that Lego are producing, but there's so many sets being released these days that I tend to buy only the sets that I know I connect with and I'm really going to enjoy building and displaying. : )
Yeah there are definitely too many sets being released every year and also many rereleases for example the Disney castle which got remade or many other sets . And also too many people investing in helmets or others sets and the market is too saturated so idk which set I will invest in maybe some ucs which are always safe picks (if they don’t get remake )
A well reasoned comment, thanks for sharing. Although I published this video quite a while back I still think some of the points I made, like you said to about the market being over-saturated hold true. So many other better things to invest in versus Lego. Have a superb week ahead!
@@CraftedBricks thanks yeah I was thinking about investing but I don’t see many sets with potential and without many people who bought them as an investment.
Tysm I’m glad I didn’t try to invest I. Lego even though it’s so popular it not worth the amount of effort it takes to even make a small amount on a single set. I still love Lego I’m I’m glad I won’t have to safe extra to invest and can just have fun building and playing with my Lego sets.
That's a positive and healthy outlook on the hobby Snublefoot!
I’ve been investing for about the same amount of time (since 2015). I’ve had some big hits and some real losers. Some sets take a while to see a decent return and some jump 50% immediately on retirement. It’s more of a hobby than a true investment to me, as there is no way to make a real large investment with the amount of space it takes. But, after 7 years, I’ve gotten better at picking sets and knowing what will do well. My worst investment was the original UCS Batman Tumbler. Ended up selling it 6 years later for the same amount I bought it for.
Great comment David and thank you for sharing your thoughts on Lego investing. Your experiences echo mine in many ways with some sets doing well in a very short space of time and others languishing or not doing well at all. I was fortunate enough to offload my original UCS Batman Tumbler right in the week that I heard rumors of a new one being released. All the best to you for continued success with it!
The old Tumbler is €600 now in my country...
I invest in lego! by building them and playing with them...
Haha! ...play and enjoyment is one of the best Lego investments that you can make!
Great talk about Lego investing, realistic and honest, appreciate that alot
Thanks and I'm glad my video game you some realistic food for thought on the topic. Have a great weekend ahead!
hey crafted bricks nice video. im thinking of buying 2 copies of the a fram cabin as my first ever lego investment, its 13 percent off RRP. What do you think? cheers
Hi there, given my pitch in this video is to NOT invest in Lego I'm a bit concerned about giving you Lego investment advice. But that said given you can get these sets at less than retail, and that it is a good Ideas set, then yes picking up two of those and holding them sounds reasonable. All the best!
@@CraftedBricks they are 30 percent off now. thanks for your advice
Usually I buy used ones, disassemble and reassemble them for fun, for possibly reselling them later for the same price I bought them. This makes it a free hobby. If I repackage them in plastic bags, they might even sell at a higher price.
An interesting approach! I personally don't like buying second-hand Lego as you never know what quality the parts are going to be in, but it sounds like this a winning strategy for you, so kudos to you!
Junk wax era for all new modern collectables
Its all so obvious. Lego is bulky, hard to ship / move, illiquid and the returns.........mweh. Its a bad investment if its your main investment. If its a speculative side investment it can be very fun, but dont fool yourself into thinking this should be your main "long term bread winner"
Well said! And I agree with your points and sentiment, hence my video and for me personally stopping investing in Lego. I'm also even more noticing this year in 2023 how crazy expensive Lego sets (new releases) are becoming. It's disheartening.
@@CraftedBricks Yep same. Luckily i allocated the % of my net worth i wanted in lego in 2020/21. Now im just gonna cycle it. (sell some and only use profit to rebuy new sets). Them knocking all the prices up and hedging my old sets to a higher floor? Thank you lego. Gonna be harder to get returns on future yeah (as you said)
I only invest in the sets I like.
Sounds good Arachnid-Man, I used to follow the same approach. But just a word of caution, sometimes just because you or I like a set doesn't mean it is a good investment choice. We may like it, but others or the general Lego community may not and then it may be hard to sell. Just some food for thought. Good luck!
@CraftedBricks good luck to you to!
Reason 8: The big amount of Re seller on YouToube that share all the "secrets" and create a sell and resell bubble itself
That could be something. But I'm not quite sure that people are actively trying to create an artificial market with Lego, like maybe is done with some Crypto currencies or even certain stocks on stock markets. But an interesting observation, thanks for sharing.
This is one of the best lego videos period. Subscribed
Renato, thank you so much! Your comment has made my day! ...I have several mod and Lego build type videos planned next. But given how well this video has been received I will make other similar videos in the future on other topics related to our hobby. I have a few ideas already. Thanks for the sub too!
I agree. It’s a bad idea. There is always risk of the bottom falling out from under investors.
So many people trying to invest will end up unloading their inventory for cheap.
Never pay retail either.
I purchased a brand new sealed UCS AT-AT for $600, when it retails for $850.
Purchased a UCS Landspeeder new sealed for $120, when it retails for $240.
Sure, these aren’t everyday deals…but they’re out there. And the hunt makes it fun.
Thanks for sharing. Hunting for sets at a discount to sell on later at either retail pricing or above is certainly a sound strategy. I hope it all works out for you!
Im planning to sell all my lego collection even the ones from 1990s. I realized new sets are hard to sell. Also, ebay charges so much fees making it harder to make profits! An item i listed for USD30 was bought by then cancelled by me when i realized i only get USD 14!!!!!
Yes those eBay (inc. PayPal) fees are insane. I've kind off sold off most of the sets I want to sell and I'm not buying anymore. But if I do have to sell something I try the free options first like Facebook marketplace. Could be a good option for you to try?
@@CraftedBricks I'm using Facebook groups as a well to sell. Mind you I live in Dubai and the community is small for lego. However, I do post on the US and euro groups. Haven't made much sales (two in the past 6 months!). But still trying. ebay is faster. However, will be trying Bricklink. I hope eBay drops their fees in the future.
Hi there - BEFORE COMMENTING: Please make sure you have watched the FULL video to listen to BOTH sets of points. I.e. the 7x reasons why I (now) consider investing in Lego to be a bad idea AND the 6x Lego investing tips that I've learnt to help make investing in Lego successful. I'm seeing a lot of comments that make it clear people haven't watched the back 3rd of the video where I go into Lego investing tips like ensuring you buy sets you intend to invest in on sale/at discounted pricing.
Also my UCS Snowspeeder purchase example was a once-off mistake and was back in a time when the UCS Millennium Falcon (the older one) was selling for up to $5000! That was a different time with different thinking where pricing like that for some sets was 'normal', now of course I'd never buy an investment Lego set aftermarket. The important point I was actually making is that set-releases are becoming more common place and can adversely impact your ability to sell-off any superseded Lego sets that you may be holding as investments.
On the whole though it's be really good to have some constructive commentary on this topic - both for and against. Thank you to all! 🙂
Hi Simon, you’ve made some great points here and hit the nail on the head when you mentioned buying the right sets. There’s also the competition you’re going to face as more people do seem to be buying investment sets these days. I personally don’t buy investment sets but do occasionally sell some due to a change of heart with the ones I bought with the intention to build. I think you have to be a Lego collector or investor as with the point you made being a collector will sway your opinion on what you think other people will like in the future.
Thanks Simon and I'm glad you found the video interesting and could think about your own journey with buying and selling sets. To one of your points - the good thing about buying Lego is that most sets (not all) seem to at least hold their value so if you do have a change of heart and no longer want a set, as long as you've kept it sealed and new, you can sell it on to reclaim your purchase funds. I've done this myself many times and it sounds like you have too. All the best! Simon
Good video and solid points. During Covid plenty of people where getting into the game and making easy money. The market has changed now and people are struggling to flip their titanic’s and back to the future cars for profit like they used to.
Thanks Garryn, and you make a good point about things being different during Covid. With all those lockdowns most people, myself included, were buying a lot more things online, so selling investment Lego sets was certainly easier and more profitable. Things have definitely changed now though (as you say) and I think profiting from Lego investing will become harder. Not impossible just harder. Have a great day!
both sets are not EOL how should you be able to sell those at a profit? If you expected that, you did everything wrong
Don't invest in Lego at all, buy the sets you love for your collection and if you get lucky selling a few in the future, more power to you.
That's definitely a healthy way to think about it Dante Yoda, thanks for sharing!
To me as a 22 years old, who grew up with most of the subthemes such as Ultra Agent, Agents, Pharaoh's Quest, and one licensed Theme (DC Comics) and still is collecting it, and in a process of making builds of My own... LEGO is not a jewel, but a Toy for Kids starting from the age of 0-4 years old, not 30 years old, as WOODY would say... Yes I named some of important themes that has been part of my teen years, but ever since the success of THE LEGO MOVIE, it made this company a Jewel Company, targeting ADULTS, just let's face it.
Some interesting thoughts there, thanks for sharing. I think when you rediscover Lego as an Adult it becomes and means something else. For me now I think Lego is an amazing 'creative medium' where I can craft anything I set my mind to and that's something really special.
I can't do it anyway. At least not with anything that actually interests me. I like building way too much to trust myself around a bunch of unopened sets.
Brett - you are on the right track! Lego is best suited to build and enjoy versus hoarding and investing in. But I appreciate, and I've certainly done it, that there's also a space for people who want to keep, store and resell a collectible toy like Lego for profit. All the best to you!
I only buy the ucs sets/other sets that i want and store them cuz i dont have space to build em yet :/
Dont wanna buy retired sets on the 2nd market.
Spot on! I do a similar thing with the Modular building sets, I've only built one of the many I own. But better to buy them when they are available versus later at a premium. Thanks for sharing.
Atleast Lego keep there products on the shelf a few year so u can save up. Unlike other brands that rotates 4 times a year *cough! Card collecting,cough!!* 😂
#6 Buy soon to be retired sets, even if price will be bit higher than year prior, you end up with much shorter turnover, buying set on release and freez money for 3 years before retiring is not a good idea when you could turn this money two times giving you better value over time.
Great video, i think every new investor should watch it and answer those points themselves. I any of it are problem for you, dont bother. I know im ready for the ups and downs, and want to continue this road :)
Now that's a good a good tip Areios, and when combined with seeking the investment set for a discounted price, which tends to happen when the product is in it's late cycle, then that could be a good strategy.
And your last point is what I had in mind for this video, i.e. to present both why I personally think investing in Lego is a bad idea (now) and then tips on how to improve your success with it if you choose to be in the game. It's up to each person to make the decision on whether investing in Lego is a good venture or not go given their personal circumstances. It sounds like it is working out for you, which I'm pleased to hear!
I agree! I do the buy 1, stock 1 to sell later to fund my hobby of collecting. I think a lot of folks are going to get recked in the next few years.
I agree with you, I think it's already happening with the rising costs of living and inflation people are not spending as much on toys and collectables. I think it will be a tough few years for Lego investing. Thanks for sharing!
I bought a ton of sets i never built and they sit in a stack on my floor. They are worth a ton now. It blows my mind. I bought all the LOTR ring sets years ago. They sold terribly and i picked up so many in the discount section of Walmart. Now they are worth a TON. Nothing i did was planned. Just ended up that way.
Blows my mind what legos are worth. Its just plastic lol.
It sounds like you had a lucky break and windfall! Well done and I'm glad you've been to make some healthy profits. It is amazing how much some people are willing to pay for plastic toys, Lego, collectible SW toys, etc!
This is a really well done video, great job! This should have more views lol. I personally am currently just a Bricklink seller that sells parts and Minifigures, and I haven’t gotten too much into the investment side of things due to space constraints and me not being able to wait for a set to go up in value 😂
Thanks for commenting Shroo26! I'm actually pretty happy with the views, and I think this vid will continue to get more views as it's a solid topic and I'm happy with how the video flowed. Good engagement on this means that in the future I will tackle a few other topics that I have in mind. + well done on being a BrickLink seller. As a MOC builder and modder I can't stress enough how important BrickLink is and it's sellers like you who make it possible for people like me to design and build custom models and mods. Keep up the good work!
So far my tastes have been pretty spot on with their worth later on in years. Just makes me regret not getting multiple sets but at the same time I don't want to sell my sets at all(I did in 2017 when I was down bad for money and regret it all). I do trade in some surprises that I have to rebuild when they become a ton of money later on(since I pieced them out originally). Ninjago Dawn of Iron Doom, bought two for $10 each as an example. It's just nice knowing my hobby isn't fruitless when times get tough. I only buy what I like not what I think a set is gonna be down the line. So far so good.
That all sounds very good Squaresided - and I agree it's nice to know that our Lego purchases at least hold their value overtime and can be a fallback if we need to sell some for extra funds.
So whats your current set tips? 😁
I hate lego resell market.
I completely understand. The only plus I think is that investors give people who missed out on a Lego set the opportunity to have it. And there's some value in that. I know I've bought some older sets (like the Technic Space shuttle) from people at crazy prices, but I'm happy to have those older sets in my collection.
Iam currently selling off all my sets,six years ago I was making a killing I won’t buy anymore Lego now every man and his dog are resellers most of the big profits are history
@@phillipbyrnes2885agreed, I imagine it’s much like every other thing these days. Too much competition, too little profit margins to really get into lego compared to say 5-10 years ago.
The lego resell market is great. Sure some sets can be expensive but otherwise how would a person purchase a retired set?
@@JeffHoopAdventure - Yes that is a good point and something that I've mentioned in comment replies to. As that secondary market allows Lego enthusiasts to purchase retired sets that they've missed out on. Thanks for sharing Jeff!
Also your time horizon must be longer, not just 7 years, it's a 20 years or more plan 😁
That's a long wait! I wonder in comparison with that timeframe how you would do investing in the stock market or property. INHO those are better options than investing in Lego. Thanks for sharing!
The longer you wait, the more value you get this is for the stock market, property as well as for Lego@@CraftedBricks You can make very nice profits from Lego, after 3 years or so, like 50-100% easily. I'm a big fan of the stock market, and my all time favorite is buy and hold TQQQ for 5 - 10 years, with annual return of 40% on average.. Of course if you can wait 20 years, you will have a lot of capital
I never buy a set with the intention to sell later. I have bought hundreds of older "rare" sets at retail or less than retail cost. Why would I use space to store sets for zero profit? I do have a ton of duplicate sets that I bought on discount or on purpose as I felt they were a great value, I've checked if they would be worth it to sell but it just doesn't make any sense. I'm better off to just dump the parts into my collection rather than sell on ebay and have to pay fees and possibly shipping as well. Heck I'd give them away before I did that!
Now you sound like a 'true' Lego enthusiast - only buying what you want to build and/or use for parts for custom builds and mods. I love it! All the best to you with your Lego builds and projects this year!
Im investing in a quite a few sealed lego sets but, I'd rather invest more in certain minifigures. I'm investing in about 20 sealed star wars and batman sets just bought them recently because these ones are going to retire before or at the end of 2022. I don't really want to go broke off buying lego so I watch how I am spending.
Lxcas it sounds like you are someone with a plan! And getting those sets close to retirement sounds like the way to go to be able to sell them sooner than later with a mark-up. I know what you mean about over-spending on Lego, I was like that when I first started investing in Lego. You'll be ok though, when you need spare funds you can always liquidate part of your holdings. It's what I did from time to time. All the best! Simon
Interesting points. You assume from the outset that investors buy at retail price. Ideally you buy at discount. And even, better at clearance price. Not everything gets discounted of course.
Variety is actually a double edged sword. It means not all bets will pay off. Just like how the stock market plays out. You have to try and pick the winners. If you don’t like risk, then Investing in general is not for you.
Selling Lego for profit is not difficult. See top point. The difficulty is that people think you will earn millions. Or that prices will only ever go up and never hit a plateau or go down.
Hi Krispy - did you see my 'investing tips' at the back 3rd of the video? Tip #5 was exactly that, wait for a sale to buy Lego sets to invest in! And yes you make a good point, diversifying the sets to invest in - like you do if you were investing in stocks or other assets - is certainly the way to go. Some will result in good profits, others neutral, and some at a loss. The video was intended to provide a balanced view on Lego investing and points to consider for people. I'm glad it is working out for you though, keep it up!
I sooooo need3d this video right now. I get sucked into hype sometimes and the lego resale hype is high right now. Much much appreciated!!
No problem at all! I'm glad the video gave you some things to think about!
@@CraftedBricks yes for sure.. i was getting so wrapped up in it. Its really making think a biiit more critically and less irrationally 😅
I think a lot of people posting about their investing in Legos are just trying to brag and they don't really have what they say. Aside from that you can still make a lot as long as you don't try to do what everyone else is minus a few sets such as Sesame.
Maybe so Nathan! This topic certainly has had very mixed views and responses. And I think you are right, you can make money with investing in Lego if you put in the time and effort. From my own experience I've been successful with it - but it's time to stop now. I think there are better things that are less onerous to invest in. But each to their own! Thanks for sharing.
@@CraftedBricks I would also suggest diversify since it you can make up for mistakes easier that way.
Sold my UCS Slave 1 for $500. Sold my Tantive IV 1st gen for $340. Sold the 4x4 Crawler for $450 (used). So far, I am hitting the mark on which sets are hot items. I will always buy at less than MSRP, if possible (for LEGO investing). I sold a few discontinued MegaBloks Call of Duty sets too, and received quite a bit of money (used and new).
Oh yes you can still make money from investing in Lego and it sounds like you've made some good choices & profits! 👌
Lego used to be bought for the fun of playing with it, not hoping it would "Hold it's value"...new world!
Certainly different times these days! I feel like 'investing' in Lego has really exploded to become a 'thing' over the last decade. But it's getting to be highly oversaturated with the secondary market absolutely flooded with people trying to sell their sets to profit.
I resell here and there, but the most annoying are people asking for lower prices. Not even that, but insultingly low offers. I think it is especially prevalent right now because of the economy. They don’t want to pay market value and they prey on people they think need the money. I want to tell these people sometimes if they want lower go try and find it somewhere else. I do only buy sets now on discount late in their cycle, just because when they retire I can typically get RRP for a used set. I’m not into storing sets to sell later, but if I get tired of a set most times I can get at least what I paid for it back.
Oh yes I hear you - I experience that a lot and it does get very frustrating. Especially the ridiculously low-ball offers where they say things like 'this is my final offer', as if that's supposed to prompt me to accept it! Re buying sets when they are discounted it's becoming pretty much mandatory I think to be successful in this game. Thanks for sharing and I wish you all the best with your Lego reselling!
I'm happy I'm happy you're I love it all. I love a lot the only thing I hate is the inflation in the prices of lego going up. That's the only thing I hate here but I do not care about lego resellers I don't care about people that .. I want to sell I do not care every minds to me if you put. I want to sell their shoes or sneakers and other stuff down. It's more common now it's not that rare especially who cares I want to
Great video, would love to see more videos in this style. What are your opinions on investing in LEGO mini-figures? Many LEGO mini-figures seem to rapidly rise in price especially if they are part of a popular theme like Star Wars and depict relevant characters. Although parting out sets for mini-figures presents a problem buying figures on bricklink when the sets are in still in production then reselling later seems as if it could be a viable strategy.
Hi Legoinator - thank you, I appreciate your feedback! As to your question regarding investing in Lego mini-figures. I think investing in the Collectible Minfig series' and buying whole sets of them to re-sell when they are out-of-print could work. But buying Lego sets to part out the minifigs to sell the minifigs at prices >> than the cost of the sets you parted them out from, seems costly and risky to me. We often see cases of minifigs re-released in later sets which plunges the value of the original figures.
I think to that investing in Lego mini-figures would require a lot of knowledge and research to pick the correct minifigs to buy - i.e. that they are rare and popular (maybe you are in the know?).
Also, and it's just my personal take, I dislike paying high prices for minifigs. Some of the prices I see for minifigs on BrickLink when I'm ordering parts are ridiculous and I always wonder who's buying them? I hope this helps and gives you some food for thought! Cheers, Simon
With walmarts crazy sales and finding $30 sets at $10 and $40+ sets at $20 at my LGS, how can I not invest.
I was looking for a video on super mario lego investing but found this and I enjoyed it very much. Subbed.
Hi CS, thanks for commenting and subscribing, much appreciated! It sounds like you guys in the US are getting some great Lego bargains at the moment!
To be quite honest and with all due respect, only your reasons # 5 and 6 are irrefutable. Number 5 is set in stone. 6 is the one that everything else relies on and will trump all the posited pitfalls. Get good at that and it all falls into place. Thank you.
Hi Noam - I appreciate you being so polite and diplomatic with your comment. With a topic like this I've no doubt that people are going to have diverse views and experiences. I think all 7 reasons are valid, and each in their own way adversely impact the Lego investing experience. But I get where you are coming from indicating that reasons 5 (storing your investments properly) and reason 6 (ensuring you choose the right sets to invest in) are key. All the best you!
@@CraftedBricks Sure thing. With so many just rebuking egotistically out here, I try to make it clear I am not.
Solid video. I am now rediscovering all my old childhood Lego sets from my attic and finding they have increased massively in value, so am considering getting into LEGO investing more seriously. This video raised some good points. It seems to me that Lego Star Wars is generally a solid investment due to the enduring popularity of the franchise. Some sets that I purchased for around $5 as a child are now worth upwards of $50, even second hand! Being able to hold for the medium - longer term seems to be key.
Great comment! I hope you are holding onto and not selling your childhood Lego! Those sets will have huge sentimental value and you should keep them. As for investing in new sets to hold, yes Star Wars seems to be an ever popular theme, I'd go with the UCS sets a safe option versus smaller sets, but of course up to you. All the best with your Lego investing venture and have a superb weekend!
Reason 8: You can't liquidate it quickly if you really need the money. I just try to get rid of my collection of movie posters and merchs and this is a serious problem. Even if there is a large collector market left it takes time to find customers for the specific set (and unless you go very cheap they also prefer to wait for you or others go lower).
And Reason 9: It's for poor people. Investing more then in $100,000 is only possible if you build an additional storage room.
Some solid points there, thank you for sharing. I fully agree with you on the it being an investment that's not quick or easy to liquidate. There are far better investment options out there that's for sure. Have a superb week ahead!
Great video with good arguments against investing. I will say there are a few exceptions to your points that I’ve experienced as an investor. I also feel that there one major factor was not discussed. To my first point. When a new Lego set is released and does sell out, that window of time when it isn’t available can be extremely advantageous. As an example, when a new Speed Champions set is released and is highly anticipated, it will typically sell out fast and be put on a 30-60 day backorder. During this time, there will be a lot of people who missed the initial release and were waiting for that set. In my experience I’ve been able to sell every set I was able acquire fairly easily during that backorder period. As long as you are not gouging prices, people will pay that premium rather than wait. I typically can sell as many as I can get my hands on within 24-48 hours of posting it for that 1-2 month period. So even though it is a small set, if you sell say 25 of them with a 25-50% ROI, that’s a tidy profit. My second observation …the time of year when to sell is extremely important. I will agree that recently the influx of quantity of product has changed the resale market. It wasn’t long ago that during the holidays you would find every single set sold out online for over a month. Still, that time of year can be extremely profitable if you plan for it…Happy to see Voltron representing, wish I had bought more at the time. Well done.
Hi Jason, what a well-crafted, sensible and well worded comment! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with buying and reselling Lego. It sounds like you have several tactics that are working well for you and it will be interesting I'm sure for others to read your comment. I wish you all the best and for continued success! Cheers, Simon
If you buy to sell, the tax man knows. EBay will hand over your details so you better declare!
Reason 3 hits so hard. I'm trying to off load some sets I don't want anymore for less than anywhere they can be found online, and people are still trying to get a 50% discount on top of that.
I've been there too, it sucks! I hope you are able to recover at least some of your funds to save.
Also an extra tip: invest in Lego themes you also like, in the worst case you will remain with those sets.
In 2020 I Lost the interest in Lego and stopped buying sets and sold everything except my lego trains.
I've been in the model railway hobby since 2020, Lego was a good time but it's not the same as it used to be in my opinion.
I agree with you, the hobby feels like it's changing. Too many products perhaps? Too expensive? Perhaps other factors. Focusing in on a key theme and enjoying just that like you are seems like a good strategy. For my part I've been focusing more on custom Lego builds that either I design or build from instructions produced by talented designers in the Lego community.
@@CraftedBricks cool that you make Something different with Lego and I have are Märklin train Set.that is Just Like Lego buth with Light bricks and I have Fleischmann wher collection Thomas and Friends and more stuff.
Do you think that Lego Trains are better investment, cause they somewhat real, rather the fantasy Ninjago and Marvell. And they released only once per year, and appeal to wide consumer group? However my thought - why someone will buy overpriced 2022 set, if will be possible to buy 2023 with Black Friday discount?
@@AK.__ I will say Yes too the old Lego trains buth new trains don't have the Same Charm like the old Lego trains.
I collected Lego trains with Thomas the Tank engine toys,I collect Thomas toys still today with Model Railyway Stuff from Bachmann and Hornby from Thomas and normal Modellrailway stuff.
@@feuerwehrfeuerwehrfan1122 Thank you much for insight. Appreciate!
Majority of my collection and buying / selling is Pokémon (TCG) I have a sealed Lego collection. Mostly vintage castle sets I love and want in my collection long term. Seeing the proliferation of TH-camrs “investing” in sealed Lego seems doomed to fail for all the reasons you mentioned, when the market becomes saturated there will be a flood of horders exiting. Not every set is special and should command a premium. Very bizarre, at least with TCG, they are “collectible” in the sense sealed product to get the cards is finite and they are easy to ship.
A well worded and thought through comment, thanks for sharing. And I like the utility of your Pokemon card investing, much easier to ship that sort of collectable as you say. The more time that goes on, and it's been a while since I published this video, the more I still think using Lego as a pure investment and profit mechanism is a bad idea, there are so many more liquid and better/ more sensible things to invest in. + Lego is becoming extremely expensive with price hikes and larger and more complex sets being common. So people's willingness to pay a premium on Lego that is already expensive is low.
Bit late to the party but my dad runs a Bricklink store where he partouts sets and then sells the parts individually, as that brings up way more than waiting 5 years and selling the set. All of the profit can be used for our own Lego project, so it's really just an investment. He's very busy with it tho and it's definitely not something you can live off on your own, and he's slowly starting to realise it's maybe a bit too much haha
Great comment! ...I always think that BrickLink sellers like your Dad are the un-sung heroes of the Lego MOC/custom model community. Much what we build and do would not be possible with out people who work hard to find, sort, sell and pack Lego parts, I've no doubt that as you indicate it is a LOT of work! Good to know it is profitable though despite the effort commitment.
I have come to the same conclusion so instead I am a reseller who now buy new and used lego to sell as parts. In the past I used to flip , buy cheap and sell on ebay. I still do that but it's even more money in parts. But it takes time and effort.
Ah excellent, you must now be a BrickLink parts seller. I salute you! BrickLink sellers are so important to sustain and enable our Lego enthusiast community. Without people like you we could not order parts for our MOCs and custom builds. Keep up the good work!
I don't think much of it and as we can see, a greed develops that leads Lego to produce more and more expensive sets. Lego is a toy and a hobby and it should be that first and foremost. Lego has always been rather expensive, but what's happening right now is sick. But somehow we don't want it any other way, but I think it's wrong. I buy Legosets that I like and some are in stock but not to make money with them but to build them at some point when I feel like it. What drives me to buy the sets in advance is precisely this speculation. For example, I would like to have a small Lord of the Rings set which I missed at the time .... the part costs about 60 € now after 10 YEARS this 450 part set costs 500 €. Sick
A well constructed comment, thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences. And I agree, what's happening now with a flooded market (both new and retired sets) and everything being so expensive is disheartening. I feel more and more reluctant to buy Lego, but I do pick up some sets that I may not want right now, but do because I don't want to be faced with crazy prices in the future. All the best to you!
I own a 6211 (mid-size star destroyer) from 2006 in pristine condition as it was stored away in the original shipping box for over a decade properly. Bad news for all investors: the glue of the seals has lost its stickiness and all seals are unharmed, but open. Isn't it funny that some youtubers buy lego sets as investment but are too cheap to buy limited sets ( e.g. bricklink designer program) they really praise with a moderately raised price to build them for themselves. Find the error ...
Interesting take and thanks for commenting. Not good to hear about your SD set, I hope you are able to sell it and make some profit. All the best!
Very good video. Just one point on smaller sets...I do not agree that one does not generate higher profit from some of them. The ghost busters car being referred to in the video is an example of insane potential profit that could be made....so to say avoid...uh I am not sure :)
Thanks Tamer - and you are right you can make money from investing in smaller Lego sets - I think though, and as I mentioned, it is more work to do that as you have to sell more of them and go through that whole sell transaction process more times to get a similar profit aggregate to selling several of those mid-large sized sets. But of course there are some small Lego sets that if you pick right, like you've said with the Ecto-1 that you can indeed do well. Thanks for sharing and all the best to you!
@@CraftedBricksthank you for the feedback. Totally agree and thank you for sharing the video :)
Create price alerts for the sets you want. Especially new sets and set it to about 20 percent off. Often comes that the best price is somewhere during the middle of it's lifetime. Almost any set goes down by 30 percent at some point, technic sets easily by 40, bought some friends set at 50. You have to understand that at a certain point the price can't go any lower before it gets shady business somehow. If you are too close to end of life you might see prices already rising again or already out of stock. For me I care less how long I have to hold it, more important is what I paid for.
As per the old age adage: 'buy low sell high' ...and you are in the green. It sounds like you have a solid and well thought through Lego investing approach. I wish you all the best with it and for healthy profits. : )
Very good video the problem is Lego is rating prices to the point where people can’t afford new sets and the global economic situation is making it difficult to sell
Thank you Tony! And yes you make a good point. Both the increase in pricing of Lego sets + the current situation with rising cost of living / rampant inflation means it's more difficult to afford even current sets, let alone discontinued sets priced at a premium.
A great video with good points. For me investing is not something to get rich of: it's a bit of a sport, with the ultimate goal to have my lego hobby fund itself. How cool is it if all the lego I want is paid for by the profit from the sets I sell. I'm not there yet, but slowly creeping towards this goal.
I also have the mentality that if a set is not doing well, I always still have the lego in it. I can part it out and build something myself if it does not do well.
I think quite a few people see those promises that it does better than gold, and expect that this is a get money quick scheme. But just like with other markets, you have to know the product you invest in to have a chance of making a profit. Not every set is a goldmine.
What a well constructed comment, thanks for posting up your thoughts and experiences with Lego investing!
Your comment on 'needing to know the product you invest in' (to be successful) is very much on-point. I think you have to be very knowledgeable and selective with what you choose to buy to invest in. It sounds obvious but as I'm sure you know well from experience selecting the right sets to invest in and what to ignore is harder to do in practice.
Great video, thank you much! As a parent, who buys occasionally sets for my kids and thought about start investing in it, couldn't agree more, specially in #1 and #3. Recently, the choice is so huge, so there is no reason to buy old set for increased price, but just to scoop a new set for discount. Each themes have unlimited varieties to choose from. As per buying from someone - yes, I realize that the person want to get a profit and i respect this, but I want to get a deal. So I polite way usually offer my price, and if there is no agreement - simply moving on to other seller who will be more flexible...
Great comments - thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts on this topic AK. And your experience when buying says it all, people these days (I've found) are not willing to pay trumped up prices for retired Lego sets. Some mark up sure, but not huge increases to original retail pricing. All the best to you!
@@CraftedBricks Thank you much. Good luck with investments and future builds!
Yeah as a Lego enthusiast, I hated the fact Lego retired the castle and Ninja themes only to be replaced with sci-fi Bullcrap like Ninjago or Nextgo. But then I realized, eh these Ninjago mech's are cool enough, I'm curious to see how one of these things comes together..so I make the purchase. Oh look, turns out, Ninjago nowadays is pretty freaking sweet, oh look the best Ninjago sets ever IMO are ones I can go out and buy RIGHT NOW. I'm satisfied with what I own and have 0 interest in buying older Ninjago legacy sets...Why do that when I can buy from the NINJAGO LEGACY line which is based off original sets but are far better looking and are sold in stores right now🤣
My Ninjago 2042 city is looking pretty epic though! Aren't all you investors out there thrilled that Im happy?
Hahaha 🤣 I love this Video! Finally somebody speaks the truth (cough, cough). Listen up all you people. I couldn't of said it any better. You will lose!
Ok so how many of y'all jumped on the $40 Central Perks on Cyber Monday. How many of you have a cabinet full of the classic bat mobile joker sets, or Bro Thor's 💰💰💰
Hi Adrian, thanks for commenting. It's a tough one, I still think you CAN be successful and make money with investing in Lego (hence why I provided some investing tips in the video that have worked for me). But for the reasons I outlined in the video, I'm out and I think, like you do also, that it's no longer worth the work, hassle and risk. There are better options for investing in versus toys/collectables. All the best to you! Cheers, Simon
stick to polybags way easy to store then box sets
True that, have you been able to make much profit from the Polybags?
I live in rural area i'm not able to get those good deals like other people. Closest Target or Wallmart is 50 miles away. I had a sale of $42 only made about $30 profit with fees sold 4 Chima polybags from bricklink@@CraftedBricks
Great video and advice. We all have knowledge of a few sets that increased in value over time. and we tend to fix on those "wins". But even on those, how much profit was realized? Could this really be scaled to the level of a traditional financial investment?
If this is like any other collectible market, the usual advice applies: buy what you are enthusiastic about, since you may be stuck with it. If you like it and were likely to keep it anyway, well no harm done. As the video says: don't speculate because someone told you it's going to be a good investment - it's best to stick with what you know.
And you cannot compare old markets where large numbers of ppl were not collecting these items, to ones where ppl are actively buying for the purposes of resale and keeping things in mint condition. We saw this with comics in the 1990s, and after this current era with people hoarding sets, we may well see a crash in the LEGO secondhand market as ppl are forced by financial circumstances to sell their sets.
What a well thought through and well worded comment - thank you for sharing! Your thoughts in particular on the Lego re-sale market becoming more and more crowded I think are particularly pertinent. I'm certainly observing that in Australia and notice that it's becoming harder to sell off the remainder of my investment Lego sets (at a modest premium) as there's a lot of competition and high volume to sets available. All the best to you!
@@CraftedBricks Thank you for the well thought out and concise video. I was thinking; I really enjoy Lego maybe I should get into investing in it. But the first site I saw that recommended investment sets had some really obscure ones that I doubt were/will be popular. That made me pretty skeptical. You're the first person I've seen that wasn't talking out of their butt about the subject 🤣
I don’t buy extra sets to make a profit so much as to make enough to help pay for the sets I really want to keep. It’s a lower bar to meet. And gifts with purchase really help to this end.
Hi Hector - that sounds good! And I agree selling off those gift-with-purchase sets to offset some of the cost of buying the sets you want for yourself is a good strategy. I do the same thing. Thanks for sharing!
100% agree. I came to this same conclusion a while ago. Great video. You have represented my view better than anyone else on TH-cam that I have seen.
The unfortunate thing is I think the resell market is very beneficial on the balance. For example, I feel the Battle of Endor, Mill Village Raid, and Medieval Market Village, to be some of the best sets ever. I was in my dark ages though. I am glad I had the option to buy those sets, albeit at a premium. Luckily, there are not too many Star Wars sets that interested me that were still available at retail, and the Castle theme had already died. So there wasn't too much on retail shelves to compete for my money. So I was able to buy those three sets a few years ago.
Subbed :)
Edit: While I have decided to stop investing, I am considering not selling off ALL my investments because some of them will make amazing gifts for birthdays for nieces and nephews. I have a bunch of 501st battle packs that I will probably hand out as gifts in a few years. The kids would be stoked!
Thanks for your detailed comment Something Awesome! And yes I certainly agree with you, on the whole you can make money from investing in Lego. I just think (for the reasons outlined in the video) that it's more hassle than it's worth and can be harder in the current climate than people may think. + Good call on retaining a few of your sets to give away as gifts to family. I actually may do another give-away on the channel at the end of the year (not confirmed yet) but a few of the set's I've not sold I could give away :)
Wish Ebay fees were just 10%. It is more like 20%. Their taking a percentage of the shipping fee is just theft.
Yes I felt that pain too, which is why I stopped selling on eBay a long time ago. Fees on-top of fees with them 😞
very well explained
Thank you! I appreciate the comment, have a superb weekend!
The Lego secondary market is simply too small to entertain this massive influx of investors. It’s primarily a toy, so you have adults actually being the outlier in Lego purchasing. Then out of those adults, only a portion of them will be serious collectors willing to spend top dollar on retired sets. Then, of course you have all of the “investors” who are speculation buying all these sets with nobody to sell them to but each other or certain collectors (with very low sales rates). Selling collectibles are not like stocks, you NEED the buyers. Not the right market for people looking to make tons of money quickly or easily- or at all.
Well said and I'm certainly feeling like what you are describing is the case at the moment. As I mentioned in the video I'm selling off my investment sets and it's been a hard slog to get some of them sold. I'm competing with a lot of other people and having to progressively drop my pricing. Thanks for sharing!
Another key tip is if the source material is flopping, the merchandise will flop too. The flash bombed at the box office which explains is why they are trying to retire the batcave so fast. Sorceror sanctum is getting retired fast since recent mcu movies like ant man 3, marvels are bombing. So not exactly huge demand for the merch. Plus lego has to pay licensing fees which affect their bottom line
That's an interesting take on things, thanks for sharing that insight. I think may definitely factor into how much demand there is for certain sets, adding to the risk that some retired sets may be difficult to sell, or at least difficult to make a profit on.
To me, reason #0 is that you earn the enmity of all of your customers for price-gouging.
Paying crazy $ for retired Lego sets and also minifigures can feel pretty jarring!
Depends on an individuals commitment.
The biggest obstacle is storage.
Yes that's true - each persons commitment and focus to investing will determine their success with it or not. + the circumstances that are unique to their country. I suspect it may be easier to buy and sell Lego (at a premium) in some countries versus others. Storage of those investment sets is certainly onerous. All the best to you Lee!
I feel as the better sets to invest in would be creator expert and technic scale cars.
I definitely agree - the large Technic sets and Creator Expert vehicles are good Lego investment options!
Scalpers are ruining the hobby.
Hi Morne, I'm not sure they are ruining the hobby - but I certainly get where you are coming from. Super high prices being charged for some of the popular discontinued Lego sets make it eye wateringly hard to buy if you missed out and can certainly make the hobby feel off.
Yes and no to your 6 points, you are not taking into consideration the ecconomy. Many collectors may have financial problems for the next 2 years, when this happens they will have to sell their sets at lower prices or even below cost! Also when Lego rereleases older sets, they sometimes change them (even though the new set maybe better), the older set becomes rarer and more valueable. Only invest in popular limited time release sets, (ie a set based on a popular movie, like 'Back to the Future', or 'Harry Potter'). Lego never tells how many sets they make, so only spend what you can afford to loose. Point 7.Never buy a set after market!
Hi Ande - do you mean the 6 suggested tips I go over on Lego investing? Then yes they apply + I agree with your idea of also investing in pop-culture type sets, that's why I had for example the Ghostbusters & Volton sets on screen with me. Regarding re-releases, in my experience old superseded sets that have been replaced with a better and more modern sets do not become more valuable, but I'm sure some examples contra to this exist, but on the whole no. And finally yes I certainly agree with your no.7 which relates to my point about buying Lego sets to invest in on-sale when ever possible. I think my UCS Snowspeeder example left-footed a lot of people watching this video, it was a once-off mistake and in a time where those rare UCS sets were going for high prices, you probably remember the old UCS Millennium Falcon for example going for up to $5000. Anyway good points and thank you for sharing!
I have started investing in lego sets when the simpsons house came out, i started watching lego investment video's late 2022. Tbh i buy sets I like and think people will want later. I invested in the steamboat willy Mickey mouse set to celebrate the 90th birthday, iff they dont bring the same set on the 100th birthday again this will be a huge profit set same as the simpsons are going.
Our local butcher gave 2 simpsons character packs per bought salami so we ate frackloads of salami for months ;) unfortunatly we opened all for the kids to play with since the simpson houses were off limit ;)
I love the fact that your local butcher was giving away Lego Simpsons character packs as a promotion top sell Salami! That's brilliant! Thanks for sharing and I wish you success with your Lego investing journey! : )
i know someone who invested in lego sets around the late 80s till late 1990, i remember seeing a photo of a shelf with about 10 copies of the 6990 futuron monorail alopng 5 copied of 6990 message intercept base.
thats over 35k profit just for these...
Oh yeah there will always be cases of people getting lucky and investing in/buying the right toys or collectables in the past and being able to sell then at hefty profit. My video/case is for now. It's of course not impossible, just harder in the current climate, and there are better things to invest in versus Lego. Thanks for sharing!
2:37 wish someone would point this out to the eejits who ask for silly money on Ebay for sets that are only temporarily out of stock.
Why buyers fall for this is beyond me.
Some buying and selling behavior that we see on eBay or say Facebook market place is just weird huh!? I always think if a set sells out initially, just wait, there's no rush to own specific Lego sets straight away, wait for an opportune moment to buy! Thanks for commenting!
One of the best categories for the investments in Lego are the limited edition trains, like Emerald Night, Maersk Train or Santa Fe series. It's a huge Lego train fan base and most of them are willing to pay a premium price for them.
Yes I think some of the specialised Train sets can make for good investments. Nice tip!
I sometimes get asked by ebay time wasters -"What's the lowest price you'll accept for this item?" My reply - "What's the highest price you'll pay?" Stops the conversation pretty quickly. Just chanced upon your channel - quality video.
Hi Matt - that is a brilliant response! (and made me laugh!) ...I'm going to use that one for sure. I'm still in the process of offloading my remaining investment sets. Thanks for sharing!