Everyone knows LEGO sets have become a sensation in the ‘investment’ sphere in recent years. There was even talk of LEGO being touted as being “better than gold “— perhaps an exaggeration—perhaps not. It all depends on how you view it, really.

For something to be considered a worthwhile investment, it has to have value and the potential to produce good returns. Qualities that LEGOS possesses. Having enough value to be even considered pricey, and a good collectibles option—collectibles because it doesn’t just cater for kids, it also has an ‘Adult’ market base too. So, finding discount LEGO sets can be a huge win.

Why Are LEGOS Considered Valuable?

 It is mostly this particular aforementioned market base that drives the market price. Although there are many other factors that also drive the market price, another notable one would be ‘scarcity’—LEGOS retires sets about every two years, and once these are no longer available, their prices jump on the secondhand market. LEGOs do this because set manufacturing is expensive.

 A way of making it less expensive is to manufacture in bulk. Once the sale of a particular set drops, there’s no reason to keep mass manufacturing the set. Therefore, LEGOS discontinues the set. Inadvertently discontinuing the set adds value to the set, making it a collector’s item.

How To Procure LEGOS at The Best Possible Price

Of course, since most valuable LEGOs are considered pricey, anyone would be looking out for ways to get them at cheaper rates, and if you are looking to use them as an investment, the greater your returns, if you got them at cheaper prices.

So how exactly do you find discount LEGO sets? Well, a number of variables are involved, with the most important being the timing. With buying LEGOS, timing is everything because if you get it right, you could get it at the best possible price.

That said, one of the best times to snap up a LEGO set for investment is when it’s about to retire. Because not only would you be able to find it at a discount, you’ll also be probably able to sell it out sooner at a fairly good profit, not having to wait over a long period of time in the hopes the value appreciates.

It is good to note that even though ‘just before retirement’ might be a good time, you risk missing them if you cut it too close, so you have to be really watchful. Also, although retired sets can generally earn more money than their retail price when they’re sold at a later time, the type of LEGO sets that command the most demand are those from popular movie franchises, like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Marvel.

Also, sales are another good way to get discount LEGO sets; at some point or the other, sales are bound to happen, especially at the big chain stores, such as Amazon and Walmart, and sometimes Target.

January, February, August, and July are the common clearance sales seasons, especially at Walmart, so you should be looking to get the best deals then. Another great way to get discounted prices is via Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals. 

Other ways to look out discount LEGO sets include checking out sites. For instance, CamelCamelCamel.com would help you monitor price fluctuations and price history for products on Amazon, so you can easily tell when the price drops and snag it if you want. Another good site is BrickSeek.com; it can be used to check for stock and prices at Walmart and Target.

 The LEGO store site does not often have discounts of more than 20% on anything aside from their $10 variety (small sets), although the double VIP points or GWP— the free gift with purchase offers, that comes along with the discounted $10 variety make them the best option sometimes. Gift Cards and credit card cashback offers are also discounts you can get for LEGOS purchases.

The Advantage of Buying at a Discount

If you are buying your LEGOs to resell at a later time, it goes without saying that buying discount LEGO sets increases the profit you’d be making when reselling it.

Now imagine you purchase several LEGOS sets, at different points in time, all at a discount. When you calculate your profits, you’ll realize that the discounted prices have gone a long way in adding to your ROI.

For instance, if you bought large sets like the 75192 UCS Millenium Falcon, which retailed at $500 when it was released in 2017 targeted at adult Star Wars collectors at a 40% discount— perhaps on sales, means you’d have bought it for $300 instead.

Currently, the UCS Millenium Falcon is priced at $5,000 in sealed condition. Meaning, three years later, you’re making a profit of $4,700— that’s pretty decent cash, you have to agree, even if it’s just $200 away from the amount you would be making if you bought it at its original retail price (i.e., $4,500). If you purchased multiple when it was released at the same discount price, you’d be having that extra $200 across all the LEGOs you resell, which would eventually add up to a substantial amount.

Before you try to rush into buying all the LEGOS you can, with hopes to resell, it is important to note—it is imperative you know which LEGOS to purchase because not all LEGO sets are a safe investment. You—at least to a good extent— also have to know what to buy.

A good example would be a little comparison between a 10189 UCS Millennium Falcon and a LEGO City Pontoon Plane.

 If you bought a 10189 UCS Millennium Falcon in 2008, you’d be sitting on about 1000% profit for roughly eight years of investment, impressive right?. On the other hand, if you bought a LEGO City Pontoon Plane from 2008, you’d have about a 35% increase in value only.

Typically, Any sets that contribute to a specific annually-released collection are usually safer for investors. For instance, 10245 Santa’s Workshop launched for $59.99 in 2014. What this means is that the cheapest you’ll find will be a BrickLink from a UK seller for $185.

Learn more at our popular YouTube channel. Head on over to watch this video about retiring set opportunities and explore the other content that’s available!