In this guide I am going to give you all my secrets and the methods I use to make money selling Lego bricks which make over £1000 each month. I started with £100 and grew it to be a nice side income. This guide is MASSIVE and will take sometime to read. I suggest you grab a warm drink and get comfy!
I’m just going to get straight to it. Selling Lego can be extremely lucrative and with a multitude of ways to make money from the little bricks there is bound to be a method that suits you in this guide. I don’t mind giving you all the information because there is so much demand, I think there is room for everyone to make money selling Lego.
Getting started
To make money selling Lego you will need a few things to get you started:
- Cash! You’re going to need some seed money in order to purchase some Lego to resell. It’s up to you how much you choose and can afford. I started with £100 and grew it to what it is today.
- Alternatively your children have grown out of their Lego and no longer want it. You could use this as your initial stockpile. It’s good because it has been enjoyed for many a year and is now ready to go to the next person to enjoy. Good for you as you can make money from it and if you start making good money you can treat the kids to a new item!
- An eBay or Amazon FBA account or both. Ebay is for selling used Lego while FBA is for new and sealed sets.
- A smartphone that can download the Amazon seller central app once signed up. (For new Lego).
Important! If you’re going to use this method, read the Selling on Amazon FBA guide here (next post!). It will teach you to understand important aspects of selling on the platform. Selling on Amazon is very different and requires some serious knowledge first. Like understanding sales rank, gated products and Amazon policies.
Where to buy Lego to sell?
The Lego company is very strict with who can buy direct and unfortunately the reality is unless you’re a huge retailer it is impossible to buy from them. But that’s OK! Here I am going to list how we beat the retailers at their own game and find heavily discounted Lego.
You will need to be creative in your methods to source Lego at a cheap enough price to make a profit. So first…
You are not the only one trying to make money from selling Lego. There are hundreds if not thousands of other people doing the same as you and so setting deal alerts from HotUkDeals will give you an advantage in being able to see the deal, check it on Amazon and get to the store to buy it quickly.
That’s right, the store.
Clearance aisles and Discount stores
The absolute best place to find Brand New Lego is at retail stores. I know you may be thinking surely you can’t buy it from a store then sell it for more? You can and you will. You see retail stores like Tesco and Asda only have so much space. They need to keep the space for each section profitable and if it isn’t then they sell it at a discount to put something else which is making them money. Retail stores hire multiple people who constantly assess every inch of shelf space, its yield and value to make sure they stay profitable.
When the stock becomes old, they get rid of it. At a loss sometimes. That’s where you come in, scan to check profits on Amazon FBA and buy it all.
In the interest of fairness – this method is somewhat controversial because it involves clearing the shelf. Some people don’t like this method as it takes away from other families who would play with it and have the opportunity to enjoy it. I understand, I am a father myself. It is an expensive toy to begin with and I have been asked by mums and dads in the aisle if they could have one from my trolley. I ALWAYS GIVE IT…BUT I will still purchase the rest. The store is getting rid of it and I want to make money. Judge for yourself if you’re comfortable following this method.
HotUKDeals is great because a lot of the retailers are on there and it’s a good way to see quick bargains to stockpile.
Sometimes I would hit 10 stores a day grabbing all of the Lego, fill the car and go back for more. Some of the best stores for discounted Lego are:
- Tesco
- Asda
- Sainsbury’s
- B&M
- Lidl
- Aldi
These are some of the best but really you can check any store you like! Equipped with your FBA app you can go anywhere.
Helpful tip! While this guide is for Lego you might also find other items in the clearance section. Don’t be afraid to scan them and see if they can make a profit. But remember about sales rank on Amazon which I have covered in another article here. You don’t want stock to sit in the warehouse and be charged for it.
Cashback for purchases!
Don’t forget if you’re going to be purchasing a lot of Lego from retailers online then it makes sense to use a cashback site to earn some of that money back. This also means that you’re actually increasing your profit margin as you are paying even less for the items!
Here is the best cashback sites in the UK
I have listed the two best websites for cash back and as you can see there is an * next to them. That means that the link has my referral code inside. If you click through and sign up from that link I will earn a bit of money which helps pay for this site and running it. Thank you!
Used Lego
This is the other way to acquire Lego. The best places to purchase used bricks are:
- Shpock
- Facebook marketplace
- Carboots
- Ebay
- Local sales or word of mouth
The best used Lego to buy is from others whose kids have grown out of it. There will just be a box of Lego with a bunch of instructions. This is perfect as some of the sets might be discontinued, or have rare minifigs inside which you can sell separately. This is where you will get the most profit.
Pro tip! Don’t buy from people who have already bagged the Lego into 1kg bags or claim there are no minifigs. These people tend to be resellers themselves and have gone through the lot and taken the good stuff. Unless you are going to sell 1kg lots yourself on eBay and can get it for £3-£5 per kg then it is not worth your time.
Should I sell new or used Lego?
When I first started selling Lego online I struggled to make this choice and I am not alone. It is probably one of the hardest decisions to make and it all comes down to your own preference. I began buying lots of used Lego where I recognised pieces and minifigs. This meant I could work out what sets were potentially there, build them up, photograph them and sell the set on eBay to a collector.
After doing this for a while I had built up some good money and found Amazon FBA. I thought it would be good to sell new lego as there would be much less time spent on it and I could focus on sourcing more stock. Honestly I use a combination of the two and there are many ways to sell them. Let’s do a deeper dive of the pros and cons to both.
New Lego
Pros
- No need to clean if you’re parting out new sets.
- Far less time consuming if you are choosing to sell New and Sealed.
- Easily accessible with no waiting around for the seller as you can just go to the store!
- Much lower returns on Amazon FBA
Cons
- Despite being discounted the barrier for entry can be a bit higher as you will need some cash to purchase a meaningful amount to send to Amazon.
- If boxes get damaged in transit they are no longer New and Sealed.
- Storage of these boxes can be difficult especially if you are starting to roll the money and keep building up a stockpile.
Used Lego
Pros
- Much lower entry to start reselling Lego.
- Can really get a bargain from your local selling apps. I once picked up close to 10kg of Lego for £20. I sold it for several times more than that!
- The chance to get some really rare parts, sets or figs. Star Wars, Harry Potter and other franchise Lego is always popular, always commanding good prices even second hand.
Cons
- Cleaning! So much cleaning! This is probably the biggest downside of used Lego as it takes such a lot of time to clean and dry the bricks. Then you have to either build the set or part it out and that’s before you even make any money from it!
- Fakes. Unfortunately it’s inevitable there will be MegaBlocks and other inferior bricks mixed in with the lot. I don’t bother with them and bin them or sell them ultra cheap and try to get feedback on eBay for them.
How should I sell the Lego? As Parts or as a set?
So we now know what Lego can be bought, where to buy it. How to maximise profit with cashback sites and look at the pros and cons.
Next is how to sell that pile of Lego you have amassed!
This question is the most important and whether you have bought new or used there are a few options for you to resell them. This is where it gets quite deep and complicated so I have listed each way to sell them below. There may be some repeat text but it is the only way to list it all! Stay with me!
Investments
That’s right. Just like your stocks and shares, commodities like Gold and Silver; Lego has joined the ranks as one of the best commodities for returns. It sounds ridiculous but there are those out there who stockpile the biggest and most sought after sets in the hundreds. They have professional grade air purification systems to keep them in pristine condition and are happy to wait for 5-10 years on a set to see gains.
This method is not for the faint hearted and while the potential to earn good money is there you need to be willing to hold onto the asset for the long term. There is nothing wrong with using a portion of your profits to do this and continue trading with the rest. I actually do this but on a much smaller time frame. If I see a set in the supermarket that I know is going to be popular around christmas time I keep some back. I do this so I have a nice fat payment at christmas time which can be invested elsewhere for the next year. Each year the payment gets bigger because I continue to trade throughout the year before increasing my cash flow.
Some good sets for investment purposes are:
- Lego Ideas
- Modular buildings
- Winter sets
- Star Wars UCS or unique sets within a franchise.
- Keep an eye out for some of the smaller franchises that don’t seem so popular. A perfect example of this would be Scooby Doo. Nobody wanted it when it was in production but the moment it stopped. Well the prices skyrocketed! A small £10 mummy set was selling in excess of £40 on eBay AND Amazon.
Sell as a set for quick profits
Honestly this is my favourite method. It is far less stressful as there is no cleaning involved and I know I can store them safely, package them up and have Amazon look after them in their warehouse for a small fee. Also Amazon loves new items and providing the seller rank is good (which it mostly is for Lego) they do not stay for long before being bought.
It does involve going around stores scanning and finding stock. Some days you might not find anything while others you will fill your car. The key is to keep searching and when you find something in one store, use Google Maps to scour the other stores nearby and hit them. You must take into consideration your fuel and time costs here. As you get better you will learn to know which of your local stores have regular deals and the ones that never do.
By the Kilo
Yes, just like a commodity people are willing to pay good money per kilo of Lego. But do note that you are expected to clean it and remove any broken/ chewed/ fake parts.
There are many sellers on eBay doing this and it will be a lot of work to get the amount of Lego to compete. I have gone around buying up to 200KG of Lego a month to sell on eBay and while there is good money to be made (especially when you take out the minifigs and rare parts) just be prepared to factor in your electricity bill for the washing!
Pro tip! 1KG of Lego normally sells for between £18 and £23. What dictates the gap in price? How professional the listing is along with any extra minifigs. But what I NEVER see is someone making the listing like a PRODUCT. Find the same bag or cardboard box to ship in and print a Lego themed address label. Even make a Lego minifig stamp and stamp it onto the box. It looks more professional and you will certainly have repeat customers.
Part it out
With many people wanting to get a piece of the action (pun intended) it’s no wonder many are turning to the method of parting out and building a huge array of parts to sell individually. There is a whole community for people who build their own models (MOCs) and need specific parts. While the majority of parts are worth a few pence if you get a decent order it can add up to a good chunk of change. Just be prepared that your bricks and pieces can sit there for sometimes years before the right buyer comes along. This also means that if you want to re-invest your money you need to wait for it to sell.
I personally do not part out Lego much anymore because of this reason. I want to buy and sell it on as quickly as possible for a profit. It should be said you can definitely make more money parting out than flipping as is but you just need to factor in the time restraint that locks up your money. Some people prefer parting out as they like to sort, pack and store the bricks. It is their hobby and it gives them a lot of pleasure to collect and build a storefront with several thousand bricks.
The only thing that matters is you find a way that suits you and your enjoyment!
Saying that there are 3 main things I look for when I do part out occasionally.
- Part Count
- Price per part
- Range of Parts
Part Count
The part count means how many bricks you are getting in the set. This is important as it is the first stage to calculating if the set is worth parting out to begin with. You should also try to find out how many of those parts are unique to the set as these will make the bulk of your initial return. Also see how many minifigure are in the set. Normally the bigger the set the more exclusive minifigs you get.
Don’t purchase sets where you already have a load of a single part. It makes more sense to invest your profits into sets that will give you new bricks and pieces to add to your shop, thus diversifying and being more approachable by buyers.
Price Per Part
There is an old saying in arbitrage that you make your money when you buy not when you sell. This is really true here too. If you can get the set cheaper then the price per part goes down too.
Realistically you need to be making 2 or 3 times your money you paid for the set for it to be worthwhile. If you paid £10 for a set then you need to be making £20-£30 back for your time and effort.
You also need to take into consideration that you may want to put on a sale or discount the basic bricks to be able to build up more rare parts.
To understand the maths we simply take the cost of the set and divide it by the amount of parts you have. That gives you the cost per part!
For example:
Take this Ghostbuster Lego Ideas set. It has 508 pieces only and has a cost of £50.
50/ 508 = £0.098 per part. This is extremely high! For this set I would advise holding onto it as an investment. Since discontinuing I have sold multiple of them at £124.99 on Amazon.
The best sets to look out for are Legos own brands like Nexo Knights, Friends and city etc. Because there are no franchise agreements or license fees they can offer the sets at a much lower price. There will be a load of generic bricks here though so do your research first. This leads onto…
Range of Parts
This is pretty straightforward. You want to be buying sets that give you a good variation that can add new parts as mentioned above.
If you’re really serious about building a store it will take time and planning. You need to know what are the most popular parts, which are your bread and butter, the money makers and leftovers.
Concentrate on building a selection of different colors and more unique parts like wheels. On average you would sell multiple wheels which is more money!
If you have managed to reach this far in the Make Money Selling Lego guide congratulations! Have a break and get another cuppa. There is still quite a lot to go through!
Ready? Ok lets continue!
How much is Lego worth?
This will require some research on your part as it can be quite time consuming. As you become familiar with buying and selling, sets will be ingrained and your knowledge will increase.
But like anything it is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay. So you need to be able to research and have a strategy that works for you.
Research
I use eBay’s sold listings tab to find a specific used set and tend to go for a price that has recently sold rather than squeezing every last penny out of it.
For new sets I always go to Amazon FBA as this is almost exclusively where I sell them. It is really simple and after signing up all you have to do is scan the barcode or type in the lego number, view how many are FBA and what is the price you are happy to sell it at. You can work out your profit in seconds with their inbuilt calculator!
For investments and keeping up-to-date with my investment portfolio I use a combination of the two methods above, coupled with reading some blogs and news about Lego.
The Brickfan and BrickFanatics are the best ones in my opinion!
Strategy
My strategy to make money selling Lego is to purchase new sealed sets that can be sent to Amazon’s warehouse for quick profits.
I also keep an eye out for specific job lots of Lego that I can simply build the sets and sell them on eBay. Rarely do I part out and I don’t clean the used Lego. I reinvest 80% of the money back into buying more Lego and the other 20% goes into the Lego ‘bank’ which is when I send a stockpile up before Christmas to secure a nice bonus at the end of the year. Rinse and repeat.
It doesn’t have to be some elaborate plan. It needs to be simple to follow that can be scaled.
Phew! That was a mammoth task to write but worth it if someone can use this information and make money selling Lego in these difficult times.
I really think that Lego can be a way to earn a good side income that can help pay bills, save up for a deposit or see you through food shopping for the month. Whatever the reason, remember to do your research, set a strategy and stick to it. Good luck and let me know how it goes over on our Social Media pages.
Don’t forget to use our calculators to work out all your fees. If you need we also have a guide for selling on eBay and an eBay and Paypal fees calculator.
Finally if you found this guide on how to make money selling Lego useful please share it to others as I really want to help as many people as I can. It really helps!