What to Sell on eBay: Lego MiniFigures

Mini-figures, big bucks.

Back in my day, we didn't have all these fancy Lego figures with expressions and haircuts and major motion picture relevance... we had one guy. He was all yellow and always smiled. He was either an astronaut, knight, pirate, or just a regular dude. But nowadays, there are thousands of different Lego men and women... and aliens, skeletons, monsters, celebrities, and just about any variation you can think of. Lego has become the best selling toy of all time and its popularity has exploded in recent years thanks in no small part to the expansion of those little people, known to collectors as Minifigs.

As of 2010, there were over 3600 different Minifigs, and over 4 billion have been manufactured. I imagine these numbers have risen dramatically in recent years, especially when you consider that these figures are popular enough to have their own major motion picture!

People are nuts for Lego out there, and you can make a tidy sum by picking Lego at local thrift stores and garage sales and reselling. It all sells, be it complete sets, bulk lots of bricks, weapons and accessories, or Minifigures. I know two local toy stores that sell bulk bags of bricks on consignment for over $10 a pound.

If you find Lego on the cheap (and make sure they are authentic Lego), buy it! There is a huge second-hand market for it. Almost every parent has accumulated a big plastic bin of loose Lego bricks for their kids, so once the children are grown and the toys are no longer being played with, they are often sold very cheaply at yard sales.

Your average Lego figure will sell on eBay for $1 - 4. Some specialty themed sets, like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars, can go for $5 - $12 each! Some rare figures with their accessories can fetch up to $100 and beyond.

As you know from my previous post on selling in lots, I'm not a big fan of getting only a buck or two on an eBay auction. I like to hoard a big bag of Minifigs to sell in a lot. If I am able to identify figures that go together in a certain set, I'll put them up together. Otherwise, I'll put them up in lots of anywhere from 20 to 60 figures at a time.

Make sure you take a lot of photos to go with your auction, and include the words "Minifig" and "Minifigure" in your title, as people might search for using one term or the other. As always, be honest about the condition of your items, and describe any missing hands or damaged figures. If your figures seem to consist of mismatched parts, no problem, just say so in the description.

I've probably sold several hundred Minifigs since I started picking. They're small and don't take up much storage room. They are also a great example of an item that is not terribly valuable on it's own, but worth a bundle when you can acquire enough to sell in bulk.

So keep an eye out for Lego, my friends. They are the building blocks to picking riches!