How to best Sell Used Legos Sets Online at Bricklink

My son Brendan set up his online business last summer and ended up selling out his store for about $900. He still has lots of Legos left, but is not ready to sell those yet. Your kids can run a business selling used Legos too, or adults can jump in and run the business too.

• Used Legos are Easy to Sell

Unlike most toys, Legos continue to have adult fans and the adults who collect Legos are serious and will pay good money to get what they want. In fact, used Legos tend to become more valuable the older they get, especially if they are in sets. It helps to still have the boxes and instructions but those aren’t essential. While sets that are still in boxes are prime, most buyers don’t expect that. They do like instructions but anyone can download those from Lego.com. You can print them out, or just give the buyer directions on how to find them. Unless a set has been unpopular, Lego sets tend to retain their original value and go up over time. What is important is having all the pieces in the set. Complete sets are worth a lot more than just a bunch of pieces. They are also easier to sell. If you are missing some pieces, you can often find these online at Bricklink so that your set can be completed.

• How to Set Up Your Lego Online Business

The best way to sell LEGO is to go to a site called Bricklink, which is an online megastore for used Legos. Within Bricklink are many stores set up by individuals around the world who sell their used Legos. You can browse individual stores or look for specific Lego sets or parts. By looking up the sets and pieces you have to sell on Bricklink, you can get an idea of what prices you can charge. Buyers on Bricklink expect to pay shipping, and the international buyers are not deterred by shipping costs. Moreover they are also some of the best buyers because some international collectors can’t get sets they want in any other way. So it is a good idea to agree to ship outside theU.S.if you want to get the best prices on your items

• Do I have to sell just Sets?

No, you can sell anything Lego at Bricklink and lots of people offer individual pieces for sale, which are great for anyone who is missing a piece in a set, and will be helpful to you if you have a few pieces missing in your sets. If you want to offer individual pieces for sale, you will probably need to divide these up and put them in Ziploc bags, envelopes or plastic sorting bins to keep them organized. Be sure to label the pieces! Look on Bricklink to see how different pieces are labeled so that your buyers can find the pieces they want.

• Do I need to take photos of my sets?

No! One of the best features of Bricklink is that you don’t have to take any pictures of your items! The site has pictures of all the sets and pieces pre-loaded and all you have to do is check the box for picture when you list an item and Bricklink will automatically put the correct picture next to your item. That makes it easy!

• How to Set up Your Store at Bricklink

You need to click on the “Sell” tab at the top of the page. There will be a helpful page in which you can tell what, and in what condition, your sets and parts are. Don’t do that yet. You need to create the store settings. Click on “My Store Settings”. There will be several things for you to fill out on that page. Do so, and then click on the tabs above to set other things. Be to click “Save Settings” at the bottom after you finish each page! You will need to enter an email address and also set up a sellers account at PayPal. Bricklink also allows you to take checks, but PayPal is a lot faster and easier for most customers.

• Get Your Legos Ready to Sell

After you have set up your store, it is time to fill it! Choose the items you want to sell and be sure to clean them. Check to be sure you have all the pieces and put them all together in a box or Ziploc bags. Make sure you don’t have any junk in your pieces. If you have the instructions, you should include those too. Sets are generally worth more than pieces, because they have more in them, and they’re made officially by the LEGO Company. If you have any instructions for sets and have all of the pieces, then rebuild the set! If you don’t have instructions, you can find them online at the Lego website under "service" and "building instructions."

• Price Items and Add them to Your Store

Next, check on Bricklink to find out what prices are being asked for the sets you want to sell. Of course themes likeStar WarsandBatmanwill be worth the most, but many other sets can also bring good prices. You have to have an idea of what the other stores are selling the item for before setting your prices. If you want to sell your items fast, you might want to price them slightly below what the competition is asking.

Now you have your items ready to put on your store. Great! You need now to actually put the items in the store. Go back to the helpful page telling you how to put your items in the store, and go through that. Be honest of what your set is like, and you might want to price it down if it is used or in bad condition (If it’s in bad condition, then your price should be pretty low). Include pictures in your store by copying the stock pictures on Bricklink. Not getting any orders? Maybe you didn’t check the other prices first and priced it too high, or maybe there isn’t much of a demand for what you’re selling. Just hang in there, and eventually it will be sold. If you really need to get rid of it, then price it below the competition, which should help. Bricklink lists the lowest cost item first on a search, so this can help your store get traffic too

• Monitor your store and questions through Bricklink or Email

As a parent, I liked the fact that I could have the questions asked by buyers filtered over to my email so I didn’t always have to check the Bricklink store or else wait for my son to tell me about them. However, on the other hand, because my son could answer questions through Bricklink, I didn’t have to be involved in every transaction. Usually the question that buyers want to know is the cost of shipping, so it helps if you have already weighed your sets and can use that weight to figure out shipping costs. You can ship either through UPS or USPS and either site lets you ship from home and offers free boxes to ship with. Buyers on Bricklink know they are paying for shipping, the cost is not a problem, but you will need to tell them how much to pay you on PayPal (price of item plus shipping), before you send the item.

• Get Ready for Shipping your sets

You need to get supplies ready for shipping and sending off these sets you have for sale. Get standard boxes to ship the sets in form your mail service. (USPSfor me) and some bubble wrap/some sort of cushioning for the sets, especially if they are being sold for a lot. Take sets apart and offer to not include the box to ship more efficiently and lower shipping costs. Bricklink lets you print out a receipt for your orders right on the website. After you ship an item, you can also record the fact that it is shipped on Bricklink so that your buyer knows it is coming.

Whether you help your kids set up a used Lego selling business or do it yourself, you will be glad you didn't just throw those Legos away when you see the dollars coming in!