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Nannan Z Undead!

Joined: 13 Nov 2005
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Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:59 pm Post subject: Opening your Bricklink store (essay on TBB) |
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I hope some of you may find this bit of information useful. It outlines tips and strategies for builders to open their own Bricklink stores to fund the hobby.
link
Please let me know of any comments, questions, or suggestions.
-Nannan _________________
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salty tbone

Joined: 04 Apr 2007 Location: Pennsylvania
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:10 am Post subject: |
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I just read that and thought it was great advice. I usually buy sale/clearance sets to sell down the road to fund my hobby, but the minifigs seam to be simpler, easier to ship (plus you get to keep the bricks!).
Your good intentions might've just quadrupled your competition, though.  |
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ZombieAndi Destroyed!

Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Location: near my laptop
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 12:07 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I guess SW Minifigs will stay ways overpriced for a long time... _________________ ~Andi
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Dazombie ZOMGpire!

Joined: 04 Feb 2005 Location: Lavalcula, Québecula, Canadania
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:19 pm Post subject: |
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Very interesting article. But like salty tbone wrote, aren't you worried that this information will only bring more people into the Bricklink game, hence lowering the prices of the minifigs online while making the stocks in stores even lower than they already are?
Andi wrote: |
Well, I guess SW Minifigs will stay ways overpriced for a long time... |
Prices for Star Wars minifigs are really high because they are drvien up by Star Wars collectors, not because of the secondary market sellers like Nannan. _________________
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Swoosh Zombie ZOMGpire!

Joined: 30 May 2005 Location: behind you, preparing to nom
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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A well written piece indeed, but I think there's a few major flaws with the overall plan:
1) Biting the hand that feeds - While I wouldn't be too concerned about increased competition as the demand for minifigs is certainly there, the consequences of people selling more figs for less might not be too palatable. If as you suggest, more and more builders turn to selling figs to offset their own purchases, it doesn't take long to drive down the price of the figs. So some of the "big sellers" bring their prices down to meet you, but need to offset these losses. How? By increasing the cost of their other parts for sale. Builders still buy a lot of parts from these sellers, but wind up paying more for them in the long run.
2) Target audience - You wind up dealing with a lot of one time buyers, either minifig collectors or non-FOLs looking to replace a lost minifig. They're about as fickle as you can get; purchasing decision is based mostly on price, so if yours isn't the lowest, you're probably not going to make the sale.
3) Devaluation of your collection in the long run - So you sell off all your extra figs and instructions and are left with this big pile of "free" LEGO. What happens five or ten years down the road if you need to raise some cash in a hurry? That minifig-less, instruction-less Star Wars set is probably worth less than the original MSRP whereas a complete set in the same condition would probably fetch two and a half to three times it original value. Even if you recover your original investment quickly by selling the figs, you loose out in the long run. _________________ My BrickLink store |
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Zombiekid24 Undead!

Joined: 10 Apr 2006
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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Swoosh Zombie wrote: |
3) Devaluation of your collection in the long run - So you sell off all your extra figs and instructions and are left with this big pile of "free" LEGO. What happens five or ten years down the road if you need to raise some cash in a hurry? That minifig-less, instruction-less Star Wars set is probably worth less than the original MSRP whereas a complete set in the same condition would probably fetch two and a half to three times it original value. Even if you recover your original investment quickly by selling the figs, you loose out in the long run. |
Well he made the stipulation that you are a builder. So down the road all those pieces are probably in another MOC or in a pile anyway that they won't cobble together the model to resell anyway. |
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copyrrrrr Undead!

Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Location: Arizona, USA
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:25 pm Post subject: |
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It is a great essay Nannan. Thanks for sharing. I do have a thought to share, however.
Some people, myself included, partially or completely live off the income they generate from the brick.** My only criticism of the essay is the "sell as cheaply as possible" notion. People who sell parts/minifigs without regard for the price by dumping them at the lowest price, and using the income as a psuedo-rebate program for their hobby can drastically harm a market where people work hard to earn a profit. Suggesting the idea that the lowest price should be your goal could easily lead to a crash in the values of figs if enough people do this... leading to parts sellers that lose value in the most valuable part of the sets they part out... leading to parts dealers to be less profitable... leading to our communities' loss of the large, well stocked parts seller. I would prefer that such an idea not even be suggested. It is a bending of the rules in the supply-demand concept, and could hurt the brick marketplace more than it could help you individually.
**I sell sets bought through LEGO, so minifig sellers can't hurt me. _________________ BULLETIN ISSUED SATURDAY 01.31.2009 11:59:59PM PST. ATTENTION ALL CITIZENS: PLEASE READ THIS
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ZombieSolo ... eats you all. [zMOD]

Joined: 05 Feb 2005
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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Quiet Jeremy, I'm hoping this will trick everyone into buying a bunch of new Star Wars sets and dumping the figures on there, competing for the lowest price!  |
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ZombieGIR Destroyed!

Joined: 07 Jul 2006 Location: a frozen desolate wasteland (New England)
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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Well stinks for me. I like to keep the figs too. Interesting piece though. _________________
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djmangunz

Joined: 14 Dec 2008 Location: Stalking, always stalking...
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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Very helpful man. Thanks for taking the time to write it. I'd be happy to buy your clone wars figs from you on the cheap.  _________________ Don't worry ladies, the guns are on safety... |
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mshiels

Joined: 01 Mar 2005 Location: Mississauga, ON, Canada
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 10:22 pm Post subject: |
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nuked |
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