eBay's Cafe Corner listing price average

[mikey]

That is exactly what most business guys among us are doing, and i hate to see

that others are 'suffering' from that. No offense to you however! :)

I think releasing those sets again would control that again. Look What happened

to those Maersk coloured bricks... at some point they went skyhigh with prices.

Until TLC came with new Maersk sets.

I know it sounds easy, but these bricks should be used to create lovely things,

not make a profit...

Maybe with the amount of people buying multiples of the recent modular buildings as an investment, then the inflation in prices will slow down. I don't think the secondary market would ever be saturated, but the inflation seen with the first few sets will not be as severe.

The modulars are sometimes perceived as a 'cash cow' which is great if only a handful of people choose to pursue this investment, but the more 'investment' sets floating around in the future, the less they will be worth.

[Larrynautik]

I bought all the parts on BL and the Lego Pick@Brick for 235€ shipping included. I Should also have used the Lego customer service for the rare expensive parts, but I completely forgot to do that.

This set actually goes for 500€ in Europe...

My only regret is the Carousel. It will be hard to rebuilt it part by part though. Maybe when I'll get too much money on my bank account

[dragunov]

As far as I'm concerned People who hike prices up like that are scum of the earth. It's obscene. I don't care how scarce an item seems to be there's no excuse for it. Profiteers have my utter contempt.

What if it started at something a few euro's above the price, but bidders got it that far because of the demand?

[Locutis]

What if it started at something a few euro's above the price, but bidders got it that far because of the demand?

I work in an industry that deals with collector's coins. When a really rare item comes out, we sell it at the issue price. Once it sells out at the Mint, we get bombarded with orders. A quick look at a place like eBay shows it selling for 2x what we are selling it for, so we limit 1 per customer at that point, and raise the price slightly (usually in 10% increments). People get angry at us for raising the price, but we have to do it to avoid selling them all to people who will simply sell us out, then turn them on eBay for 5x what they are worth because we are sold out, too. We have our own customers to sell to as well, and by slowly raising the price, and limiting numbers, we can control the number of items per day we sell, thus restricting and controlling the market. On something that we would normally sell 5-10 per day, and we see sales of 20-30 per day even with raised prices, we raise the price another 10%. The next day sales are a bit slower (down to 5-10), but the following day, it's back up to 20-30, and a quick look at eBay shows the prices re-adjusted to our increase. Eventually we overprice the product so that the eBay resellers have no room to make money on it, but collectors are paying more than issue, but less than on eBay.

It's very difficult being a reseller of a collector's item that the market seems to dictate the price on. Very often, it's not quite the market that dictates the price, it's the price gougers. If someone had 20 Cafe Corner sets, and decided to sell them on eBay or Bricklink for only 10% over issue, they would *ALL* be snatched up instantly by resellers, who would then resell them for the higher price. This isn't market dictation, it's seller dictation. Simply, all sets that are advertised to be sold at a reasonable price are purchased not by a collector who would be the one to set a trend price, but by someone who intends to sell it for 2x - 3x issue price.

We find in our business that after we eliminate the price gougers from reselling, about 1-2 months later the price comes down! Yes, which proves it wasn't the collectors who were setting those high prices, simply the gougers. A recent example is a coin that came out in May, instantly sold out, and our price went up 10% for every 10 units sold, and it nearly doubled in one day. We sold out of our product in only two weeks, but I'm sure most people were buying from us to peddle on eBay. Our price when we sold out was $300 each, and they were over $400 on eBay. Now, only 2 months later, the market has softened because the gougers are out of it, and the price is a more realistic $250. For an item that came out at $140, it's only $110 over, which seems realistic. This price is the collector's trend price, not a price set by gougers buying, then marking up and reselling.

In the coin industry, it seems like there are more people buying to resell than there are people buying because they like it. I have a feeling there are also parallels between what I have experienced, and with high-demand Lego.

Locutis

[peterab]

My Lego Ambassador stated there would be no re-issue of Cafe Corner as the mold for the 5 high windows is retired, and it would be almost impossible that it will be allowed back into production.

[jozero]

I just got into Lego Modular Buildings. I'm really enjoying them, thus far I have Pet Shop and the Grand Emporium. Of course now I'm hungry for more. From Wikipedia article on Modular Buildings it appears only one is released per year :

Cafe Corner : April 2007

Market Street : 2007 (an anomaly)

Green Grocer : 2008

Fire Brigade : 2009 (I'm not a fan of this one)

Grand Emporium : March 2010

Pet Shop : May 2011

Hopefully sales have been great and Lego will release two sets a year instead of just one each spring. Personally I'd love to see a rerelease of Green Grocer, but since this is unlikely I'll have to try out a MOC. I really like the townhouse part of the Pet Shop, so for my first MOC I might just rebuild that but in a slightly different colour and other minor changes.

Edited August 15, 2011 by jozero

[scottwb2010]

My Lego Ambassador stated there would be no re-issue of Cafe Corner as the mold for the 5 high windows is retired, and it would be almost impossible that it will be allowed back into production.

Well with that news is that not more likely to bump up the price on the secondary market as it will become harder to buy each part to build your own from scratch?

[youtoo]

My Lego Ambassador stated there would be no re-issue of Cafe Corner as the mold for the 5 high windows is retired, and it would be almost impossible that it will be allowed back into production.

It's such a shame they retired the 5-high window, not because of Cafe Corner, but because the new 6-high are too tall for MOCs based on the 80s 90s town designs :(((

[scottwb2010]

I bought all the parts on BL and the Lego Pick@Brick for 235€ shipping included. I Should also have used the Lego customer service for the rare expensive parts, but I completely forgot to do that.

How does this customer service bit work for getting the rare parts? As I went into there but it doesn't tell you how much each part costs!

[Piranha]

I was talking to TLG Customer service the other day about a replacement for a train (7939) and they asked me if I liked trains and which ones I had, then suggested the Maersk Train. Followed up by saying it will be super collectible one day. Usually with sets it is one and done.

[Lord Insanity]

The Cafe Corner used the newer 6 high windows. I believe the discontinued parts in question are the 5 high doors.

[sonicstarlight]

Yeah, I can't remember the last time I saw a 5 high door in a set now that I think about it. It would be a shame if that part was the only reason they couldn't re-release the Cafe Corner in the future.

[enrgie]

I am another late to the modular series as well and would certainly love to see a re-release of those sets. Even with parts that are discontinued, I am sure Lego can come up with creative solutions!

[doriansdad]

I am another late to the modular series as well and would certainly love to see a re-release of those sets. Even with parts that are discontinued, I am sure Lego can come up with creative solutions!

I pieced together Market Street and Cafe Corner off Bricklink and Lego Direct. Each set has a few rare pieces that are no longer produced and really drive up the price. I managed to build each set with new correct pieces for $350-$380 each. If you are willing to use different colors then it can be done more cheaply...just time consuming. Past re-releases have failed for TLG so I don't see them trying it again. I too came late to the modular series and wanted to collect them all but I didn't really mind spending the money....supply and demand at its finest and after all it is the underlying driver of any collectors market. My advice is grab the Green Grocer before it too is $800+.

The Cafe Corner used the newer 6 high windows. I believe the discontinued parts in question are the 5 high doors.

I bought the 5 high doors from Lego Direct so those are certainly still in production. Now that the red roof slopes are back the only rare parts for the Cafe Corner are the now discontinued 1x2x3 white panels....the new version has the extra side wall that makes the winds look way too small...and the blue arches which you will also need for Market Street. These parts are now either impossible to get in the quantity needed or if available are very expensive.....best bet is to pay the $700 for a new set on ebay if you must have them.

[Lord Insanity]

I bought the 5 high doors from Lego Direct so those are certainly still in production.

They are not currently available from Lego Direct/Online PAB in the US. They have phased the two door parts out of current sets too so I doubt they are still in production. Anything that might be left in other countries is probably the last of the stock.

[doriansdad]

They are not currently available from Lego Direct/Online PAB in the US. They have phased the two door parts out of current sets too so I doubt they are still in production. Anything that might be left in other countries is probably the last of the stock.

Did you call Lego Direct? I don't mean PAB...contact customer service and you should be able to purchase them for $3.05 each...at least I was able to as of 6/20/11 without a problem.