What's it like selling things on Bricklink?

[insurrection]

Hi, I'w been thinking a little about starting to sell things on Bricklink as well as just buying. But before I get into setting up a store I'd like to know what's the odds for getting things sold, and I thought some of you have experince from this that you could share

Say for example I have a set that, according to the Price Guide, have been sold 50 times for a total quality of 100 copies, at an quantitiative avarage price of 250 USD. The lowest current avaiable set for sale is at 251 USD, the avarage of avaiable is 300 USD.

I'd like to get 255 USD for my set if I am to sell it - what is the odds of this? And how long time would it take me to get it sold at that price?
(I live in Sweden if that's a matter (with shipping and things like that changing the odds of getting a buyer).

/greatfull for response

[Bluesecrets]

I do sell both on ebay and on bricklink. I can tell you a few things.

1) Selling sets on bricklink is random depending on what you are going to sell. Research...see if your set has been selling recently. You can see those stats on bricklink. But be prepared that your set might sit there for a LONG time until someone wants it
2) Selling on ebay...as long as it is a set in demand, it will sell pretty fast. But you will pay higher fees on ebay.
3) Figs...if you know what you are looking to sell..those can sell pretty quick on bricklink
4) Parts...that is so random I can not even give you the best guess as what will sell.

Research at bricklink. I started my bricklink store there in July. I have had at least one sale a week since. Its rather regular for me, but I tend to actually sell more parts than anything else. Today alone, I got three orders for a lot of small plates. I do replenish my store with clearance sets, sets I have stockpiled, and pab. It takes time to sort for a store.

Be prepared that people as a LOT of questions about estimating shipping on sets. Some people are REALLY CHEAP about shipping (Like they want you to ship a fragile part in an regular plain envelope without padding, even though you know it will break in transit).

And become very familiar with customs forms because you will be filling them out pretty regularly.

[insurrection]

Thank you for the answers Bluesecrets!

1) Selling sets on bricklink is random depending on what you are going to sell. Research...see if your set has been selling recently. You can see those stats on bricklink. But be prepared that your set might sit there for a LONG time until someone wants it

Well, I'v looked into stats quite much (under "price guide"), but all those figures dosen't help me to relate to how fast a set could sell. It only tells me if it sells faster or slower compared to other sets (whith which I can compare the numbers).

That was why I constructed an exampel in my original post, so that I could have a clue on how fast a set with those stats would generally be sold (then I would also know that a set with better stats would generally sell faster and vice versa).

So if you or someone else hava any kind of figures for my example it would be appriciated!

[Bluesecrets]

I don't have those kind of figures. But you could infer them by looking at other set's data. If a fast sale is what you are looking for, I would not count on it happening at bricklink, research at eBay. And without trying to sound harsh about this, people at bricklink do know the value of sets and parts, they are AFOL's and TFOL's. At eBay, they are just regular people who do not really know how much things are worth and will pay what they feel they can for a set. With sets I get far more money and far quicker sales at eBay...but it depends on if it is selling there. Current sets will not bring in a large amount of money. Others are having great success selling at Amazon. I have not done this, so I can not speak to that.

[RichardAM]

I was selling on Bricklink for just under two years, and while at first it seemed like the best idea in the world -sell lego I don't wan't, buy lego I do- it certainly didn't work like this. Compiling an inventory, checking the quantities of certain pieces and storage of the 'shop' were some main problems I encountered, though shipping, customs and payment was always easily done.

The biggest issue is trying to sell Lego that no-one wants. Parting out sets is all well and good, but those pieces may sit in your inventory for months, but besides that, and crucially, because this next point is important, there will always be competition there. There's always going to be that possibility that a hundred other people are selling the same Lego as you, maybe cheaper, maybe 'louder' because of their operation or feedback.

As such, regrettably I found selling on Bricklink more bother than it was worth. I had a lot of success with the Euro-exclusive Castle Advent calendar a few years ago, but definitely go for exclusives or rare items whenever you can. Try and stand out, and offer something new if at all possible.