Finish sets or sell off, need opinions

mightycaseyatbat · 2014-04-18T15:08:01.000Z

Greetings fellow pickers! As I mentioned in my introduction post, my Lego fever began running rampant last year when my nephew dug out my old Black Monarch castle last year. I decided I'd purchase a large lot and begin collecting again. I bought a 20lb. lot of assorted colors from eBay. After sorting through and figuring out what I had, it turns out that I had about 80% of set 6210 (Jabba's Sail Barge) and about 40% of set 6209 (Slave I 2nd Edition). None of them came with the minifigs, but I did eventually track those down. I was mortified at how much the minifigs were. That being said, these are 2 iconic sets, and I have them proudly displayed on my desk at work after finishing them off. I came to two conclusions. One, don't buy large lots on ebay since shipping was just awful. Two, maybe there are other outlets. So I checked Craigslist and a buddy at work led me to ShopGoodwill. Luckily, there's a Goodwill store in my city, so I can buy from there and pick up the lots to eliminate shipping. They do however charge tax and lot fees, so it's not scotch free. So, I began to study and follow lot sales on Goodwill. I wouldn't purchase anything that I didn't recognize parts from a particular set so I wouldn't end up with a lot of just bricks that don't belong to something I'm collecting. This was a good thing and a bad thing. I found a lot of partial sets and some minifigs here and there. Prices weren't bad. Generally ranging from $0.02 to $0.08 per pound. It involves a lot of luck. Sometimes there's minifigs, sometimes there's not. Sometimes the pieces are in great shape, sometimes they aren't. Plus, there are other people to bid against. Then there's also the fact that it's a lot of Legos laying around the bonus room that the wifey wasn't thrilled about having. Fast forward to now. I've sorted out and put in part lists on BrickLink for around 50 sets that I have anywhere from 30% complete to 95% complete. I have them in freezer bags stored in storage bins to keep things tidy. So, now, my question to you guys. One, how do secondary used sets sell? I mean most of these are in good condition. There are surface scratches on some parts. Not bad though. Any parts that have indentions or bad marks or teeth bites, etc., I just toss from the get go. I've washed and sanitized parts. In other words, not mint condition, but maybe good to great condition. I've been lucky to find a great deal of minifigs. Some sets more than others. So I can finish some sets off rather cheaply. Some, not so much. The shipping/handling fees kill me a bit on BrickLink, although I have found some local sellers that I can meet and waive those fees. Secondly, should I complete all these sets and try to sell them as used on the secondary market? It's hard to tell how much it'd cost to finish them out as I'm still sorting through pounds of lots. I've meticiously sorted by color. Then basically look up said part and see if it belongs on my wanted list and to which set it belongs. So, it's taking a while to find out what I truly have and what I truly need to buy to finish off the sets. Thirdly, the time problem. I don't have a lot of it. I have a 2.5 year old that consumes my time until he goes to bed. I generally work anywhere from 42-45 hours a week (on occasion 50). And we have another baby due in August (also a boy). So, I can try to keep the bonus room tidy and spend 30 minutes to an hour a week continuing to sort what I have. OR, I can just pack everything up and sell as a mega-lot on eBay/Craigslist and explain what I have. I will note, that I'd like to finish off the sets. I'd like to keep a few here and there and save because they are iconic SW sets for the most part. I am also working on some Harry Potter, Castle, Pirates, Indiana Jones and modulars (I have a little over 60% of Cafe Corner). I've recently also began to assemble a shadow-box to store some of the minifigs in that I'd like to keep. I figure in the end-game that I'd like to sell off some sets and just get the minifigs that I want and some that are rare and just stockpile those. Keep most in storage for years to come and keep a few on display. I'm just curious as to what other people would do that are in my situation. Sorry for being so long-winded, but I wanted to go into detail with what I'm working with and get some honest opinions. Thanks everyone for your time and attention. Best Regards, mightycaseyatbat