Subject:
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Re: part pricing theory and practice
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.theory
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Date:
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Fri, 30 Mar 2001 21:49:30 GMT
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Viewed:
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481 times
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In lugnet.market.theory, Cary Clark writes:
<snip>
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> It sure looks to me like service pack $5320 is a real bargain compared with BrickBay. The average prices are 2x S@H's, so unless I
> plan to never use fully half the parts, I'm better off going direct to Lego.
>
> Which brings me to my theory question: What is setting the price on Brickbay?
Individual sellers. Buyers either decide it is a good price, or pass if they
choose to wait. Lego makes a large variety of parts (and colors), to get the
exact combinations (assuming you wanted more than one part type) might entail
buying excess quantities of multiple types of sets. BrickBay, Baylit (et al) are
an attempt to reallign the availability of parts (i.e. sets) to buyers. Price is
set by the seller based on their best guesstimate on what the market will bear.
If the guess is wrong, theres always sale markdowns.
> Inertia? As bulk packs become available, Brickbay prices are slow to come down. White 2x4 plates are available by the hundred for
> $6.99, yet the lowest price on Brickbay is well above that.
OK, if all you want is white 2x4 plates, I suspect you already know where to
go. If someone wants Turquoise 2x6 plates, don't plan on calling S@H. BrickBay
prices are usually some multiple of the best available cost for the 'raw
product'. If $6.99 is the best available cost for 100 of that item, then expect
them to be 2x, 3x or even 4x on BrickBay. Now, most serious builders already
know what you and cannot get at S@H. If S@H does not have it, then there are few
other recourses than BB and Bl.
> Greed? Hardly seems likely, since no one is earning their livelihood by parting out Lego. And Baylit's elevated prices are explained
> by Jon as limiting the work he has to do, which seems entirely reasonable.
Try the word 'value'. Someone who buys these sets at discounts (deep or
otherwise) is providing a 'value added' service. Yes, some people may be earning
(or at least attempting to earn) a living doing this, but that does not imply
'greed'. More likely, it implys a desire to fill a perceived need and turn a
profit in the process. One might even call it capitalism.
> Return on investment? In the Lego world, it's common practice to buy, part out, sell the unneeded bits, and recoup the initial
> investment. But if the sets are bought at deep discount, the price per part should seldom exceed 5 cents. I understand marking up
> the parts, but there's no way it can pay for the sorting work involved and sufficiently compensate the seller for the time involved.
There is a considerable amount of work involved in sorting and listing items.
Anyone who does not think so should try it sometime. Start off with, say, 5
copies each of 8 different sets. Make sure that those sets average somewhere
between 200-400 pcs each. Were talking about listing ~12,000 pcs which may
involve as many as 700 distinct lots (part type * color).
> Demand? Most likely. But it is curious that buyers are willing to value Brickbay Lego, which is sometimes of questionable quality,
> as much as parts guaranteed new from S@H.
This is an issue that has been recently discussed. Personally, I mark all my BB
listings as 'new' or 'used'. Its a bit more effort, but it leaves no room for
confusion.
> Value? Maybe Lego enthusiasts actually value parts more than LDI does. How else does one explain why used Lego commands a great a
> price as it does?
Some parts have not been made/produced for many years. The *only* available
channel is the used after-market or sets being parted out. I think a classic
example are some of the black roof elements, which are/were mostly available
thru one of the RoboForce sets and thru the Twisted Time Train. Another example
is 'blue shutters'. Those were available in one of the FreeStyle boxes and in
'Majisto's Magical Workshop'. Imagine parting out MMWs just for the 'blue
shutters'. Imagine finding enough MMWs to even consider parting them out.
Ray
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Message has 1 Reply:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | part pricing theory and practice
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| I was thinking about buying some white plates from Brickbay, and came up with this comparison (viewing in a monospaced font is a good idea): Brickbay Baylit S@H #5320 Lo Avg Hi 1x1 10 12 17 20 6 x8=48 1x2 8 10 16 15 5 x8=40 1x3 8 12 20 12 5 x4=20 (...) (24 years ago, 30-Mar-01, to lugnet.market.theory)
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