This is a Guest Article by LEGOJoe. If you’re an expert on an aspect of reselling and would like to contribute, get in touch!
LEGO is the classic toy enjoyed by boys and girls all over the world for decades. Chances are you’ve probably played with them yourself at some point (or stepped on a few). You can make a lot of money flipping LEGO and similar building block toys – you just need to know what to look for. Here’s a quick guide to get you started.
Minifigures
Minfigures are usually the most valuable item in many LEGO sets. Lots of resellers will just flip minifigures and do quite well. They are small, easy to mail, and fairly easy to authenticate. Branded minifigures such as characters from Star Wars, Disney, Marvel Super Heroes are typically the best selling minifigs. A lot of the classic figures from the late 70s and 80s also sell very well. You may be surprised at how high some of these tiny little plastic people can go for.
Helpful Links
New Sets
“LEGO Investing” is a thing and many people are successfully doing quite well at it. There are entire groups on Facebook dedicated to this form of reselling. Investing usually involves a decent amount of capital up front as it requires purchasing brand new sets. In short, you keep an eye on which sets are retiring soon and buy as many as you can afford. You then store them for a while until demand increases. Then you can usually sell them higher than your purchase price and make a profit.
There are some great websites that will tell you when sets are retiring, and give you hints at which are the most valuable. Groups are also helpful for that.
Helpful Links
Used Sets
If you enjoy sorting LEGO and putting together sets, you can also make money by selling used sets. The process is identifying valuable sets and trying to piece them back together with your existing LEGO or bulk lots that you purchase. The beautiful thing about LEGO is that for most sets, you can recreate them using standard pieces. We love finding partial LEGO sets at thrift stores and yard sales, looking up the list of parts on the LEGO website or Bricklink, and completing those sets. If you happen to have a printed manual for these pieced-together sets, those will typically sell for more as it will make them more complete.
Special Pieces
If you have a valuable set that is missing a few pieces or a sticker sheet that you don’t have, you can usually order those pieces from websites like bricklink.com or toypro.com for a reasonable cost.
If you have a lot of special pieces in your inventory, you can set up your own store on sites like Bricklink to sell specific pieces to other collectors.
LEGO Manuals
Sometimes at thrift stores on online auctions, you can find bulk lots of LEGO instruction manuals. We love buying these and having them handy to build and complete sets using our inventory of bulk pieces. You can also sell manuals online to others looking to complete their sets or replace missing/damage manuals for that set. Manuals that are older and hard to find, or go to larger LEGO sets tend to do the best. If you get your hands on an old or thick manual, search for the number on the cover and add “manual” to see if there are any price comps. We’ve sold manuals from $5 – $30 a pop, depending on the set. These are very easy and cheap to mail in a flat Manila envelope with cardboard backing to prevent folding.
Bulk Lots
If you have a lot of LEGO pieces, you can also sell them in bulk by the pound. Search marketplaces like eBay and Mercari for “LEGO bulk” to see what others are doing and what the going rate is. Currently, standard run-of-the mill LEGO pieces tend to go for around $10/pound – about a gallon size ZIPLOC bag full. The price goes up if they are pieces from specialty sets and retired sets. For example, a bag of Star Wars pieces will usually go for more than the standard rate. Especially bulk lots with pieces that can help someone complete a retired or expensive set.
If you sell LEGO in bulk, you’ll want to make sure that they are clean and authentic LEGO-branded bricks.
Bionicle / Hero Factory
LEGO produced these for a time in the 2000s but stopped somewhere around 2012. They are easily identifiable because they look like robots. If you find these complete in their original canisters with a manual, they will usually sell. Bulk pieces will also sell for a decent amount. We purchased a garbage bag full of Bionicle pieces for $10 at a garage sale. After some time sorting them, we sold about 7 of them as complete sets for $15-$25 each without the canisters. The rest of the pieces we did as a 15 pound bulk lot, which sold for $185. Not a bad return on $10.
Off-Brand Considerations
Mega Bloks
MEGA Bloks is one of the main LEGO competitors and is under the Mattel umbrella. Because of that, they produce sets for in-house brands which usually sell for a good amount. In particular, the HALO branded sets and minifigures usually do very well on marketplaces. They also have Pokemon, Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Masters of the Universe-themed sets. If you happen to see any of these while you’re out thrifting, they are definitely worth looking up and seeing if it’s something worth picking up to flip.
TYCO
Tyco had their own “Super Blocks” that were compatible with LEGO from 1984 – 1990. While they are no longer produced, there are people that specifically seek out TYCO Super Blocks on marketplaces. Some claim they were better than LEGO and remember them with fond memories. If you happen to run across a bulk lot or an old container of them on your thrifting adventures, they are definitely worth a comp check. They are easily identifiable because the bigger blocks will usually say “tyco” somewhere on the center of the block. They are also a little shinier and slightly more “rounded” than LEGO.
KRE-O
Kre-O is a Hasbro brand that started producing their own interlocking blocks compatible with LEGO in 2011. They have licensing deals with some well-known brands that they create sets for which usually make for a good flip. Some of the Kre-O Transformers sets have sold for good amounts.
Laser Pegs
Laser Pegs are building blocks that lights up. Think LEGO meets Lite-Brite (for you 80’s kids). These will usually sell in complete sets or in bulk pieces on marketplaces.
Light Stax
Light Stax Illuminated Blocks are identical in size to LEGO and LEGO DUPLO blocks with LED blocks lighting up. These have also sold well on online marketplaces.
