Lego Star Wars Auction Buyers Guide

This guide is provided with the novice buyer or collector in mind and will help you make an informed choice (and hopefully avoid some of the common pitfalls) buying LEGO? STAR WARS and CLONE WARS on ebay. Much of what has been written in this guide applies equally well to other Lego themes and film tie-ins such as the Indiana Jones sets. I love Star Wars Lego and buy, sell and collect the original sets and figures together with my sons. We have an excellent collection much of which has been bought from sellers on ebay many of whom are collectors themselves and appear to share that same genuine enthusiasm for Lego Star Wars. However, and just as for any other items on ebay, it is worthwhile being a little cautious and taking the time to research the items, their current values and their seller's reputation. PRICESThe price guide on the Bricklink website provides a handy reference to new and used values. The completed items via ebay gives a rough idea but can also be a little deceptive as auction prices can be quite variable. Make an informed choice: If a set or item is available direct from Lego Shop At Home or on line via high street stores then check out the prices. New sets can often be cheaper delivered direct from Lego than the same sets offered on auction sites. Why pay over the odds? The same is true of parts or mini-figures. Check the Bricklink price guide and items offered by Bricklink Sellers. Bricklink also provides current values for original set instructions, boxes and separate parts.WHATS THE LOT? Half of the battle using ebay to purchase and collect Star Wars Lego is finding out what is on sale. Try to ascertain EXACTLY what is being sold. Is the item new? With or without Instructions? Boxed? Complete? Any replacement parts? If it an expensive item then be sure to communicate with the seller well in advance of the auction end so that you gain a good idea of the lot, it's quality and the kind of seller. The listing itself can be fairly revealing although the opposite can be true too.PHOTOGRAPHSOften a poor photograph speaks volumes about an item and can set the alarm bells ringing.. It could be that the seller's family dog particularly enjoys playing with Lego Star Wars. An item could be constructed from a large bucket of used parts many of which are in bad condition or alternative parts may have been used. An instruction booklet may be good for children to create the model but in such bad condition that it isn't of any value to a collector. A model may be covered in years of dirt or suffering from degradation including over-exposure to sunshine. On request some sellers are happy to provide more detailed photos.DESCRIPTIONSDescriptions for Lego items are varied. Short and succinct can be perfectly adequate. Long winded descriptions which barely stop short of detailing your postman's shoe size are often more trouble than they are worth. I find the best ones fall somewhere between the two and offer the right amount of information and which is perfectly relevant to the article for sale. Some long descriptions actually say next to nothing about the actual item for sale but bombard the viewer with other information relating to the seller. Lazy readers can easily skim and miss important details hidden within an excessive description. A classic example in Star Wars Lego listings for mini-figures are verbose descriptions which slip into the small print the fact that they contain magnets( see notes on magnetic figures below). These items usually fetch a lower price and less collectable than those without. I, myself, have bought such items by mistake having not taken the time to READ THE LISTING adequately. If you do not want to buy Lego mini-figs incorporating magnets it is a good idea to have a list of the 'magnet' mini-figs that Lego have released. Please see the notes on these items below. Another potential minefield is the addition of the term 'CUSTOM' to a description. The use of the word 'custom' effectively denotes an item that is not an official Lego release. Some expertly built custom figures, dioramas and designs can provide excellent additions to a collection. However the term is also used in descriptions as a 'get out of jail' card for someone to sell an item which purports to be an official Lego release but is seriously lacking in some respect ie. is constructed of the wrong parts. If you are only collecting the officially released Lego pieces then avoid 'Custom' items and look for the term in descriptions.Keen sellers naturally want the best price for their items and will describe them in their best light. A seller may dress an item in a selection of superlatives such as 'amazing' or 'fantastic!!!' but these subjective statements are in themselves worthless and to be taken with a pinch of salt. I have seen a Jango Fett mini-figure described in such glowing terms and its description photographs revealing it to have been chewed to pieces and kicked to kingdom come. Items that are described as 'rare!' or 'super-rare!' often need to be viewed in comparison to the many other exact same items being sold on ebay and elsewhere. I also wonder sometimes if a poor description including bad spelling is simply a way of deliberately 'acting dumb' to slightly mislead and unload poor quality items. But it is too easy to be cynical. It is up to the buyer to contact the seller to bring clarity to a listing and given some of the humungous prices that some Lego items reach it is almost mandatory to get more information before bidding and parting with hard earned money. Do not be afraid to ASK QUESTIONS. A good seller will quickly respond and be keen to promote their item and their reputation. Try to be fairly concise. Vague questions can produce vague answers and can be worthless. A good question should be specific. e.g.. 'Is the set 100% complete with any damage or part substitutions?' 'Does the mini-figure contain magnets?' ' Does the instruction booklet have any creases or tears?' 'Is it possible to view more detailed photographs?' The sellers reply to a question can, just like the bad photograph, be useful in sorting out the wheat from the chaff. There is, however, always the exception and shrewd judgement is always required. Not everyone can take a good photo or write a good description. As with all ebay auctions take note of the sellers reputation and feedback in previous transactions including the sellers own feedback to buyers. It is a jungle out there and be particularly wary of arrogant, rude sellers. An aggressive seller is likely to care less about the service they provide to buyers. Also bear in mind that buyers and sellers of Lego Star Wars can be be both young and old and often hard working mums!ALWAYS READ THETHE LISTING..Failure to read a listing can result in buying something quite different to what is expected. Beware the 'halo effect' whereby buyers read an auction description to be what they would like it to be. A good example are listings for INSTRUCTIONS to sets rather than the sets themselves. Many people have bid on such items thinking they are the actual sets based on the accompanying picture only to be disappointed and hugely out of pocket. If bidding for instructions then ensure that it is in the correct format. If you want to buy original instruction booklets then ensure that auctions are not for 'electronic' versions or PDFs. Incidentally electronic copies violate Lego's own material copyright and Ebay prohibit their sale. Always check the prices of Instruction booklets available for purchase via Bricklink sellers. Many original Lego instruction booklets are easily purchased for very little via Bricklink.On the subject of instructions scans of nearly all the Lego Star Wars sets instructions are freely available on line either direct from Lego.com or via Peeron or Brickfactory websites. Personally I use the Brickset website as a portal to find instructions and Bricklink for inventories.It is useful to look for postage reductions on multiple item purchases from a single seller. If it is not stipulated then ask the seller or in the last instance request an invoice for all the items together and ask the seller at the same time. Some sellers state that they do NOT combine postage. I try to avoid buying from these people who often IMO try to profit from postage whilst avoiding e-bay fees on the final sale price. Excessive postage charges are not good at all and considering the size and weight of Star Wars mini-figures I personally find some charges for these items unacceptable. New standards introduced in 2008 by ebay should, hopefully, help reduce over-charging. Carefully read the auction details concerning shipping costs to avoid any dispute over postal charges. Sometimes the postage can be over the odds and easily missed when seduced by a particularly low auction price. If particularly concerned about delivery time contact the seller. Given the nature of the items it is not unusual for young sellers to be very slow posting and may require a polite reminder. The best sellers often contact the buyer informing them when they have posted the item as a matter of course.BUYING OVERSEAS When looking to buy Star Wars Lego items bear in mind that prices in the US can be very much cheaper than the UK and consider buying overseas as an option. Some of the major store outlets in the US will ship to the UK. Some excellent bargains can be obtained from US outlets having stock sales. It is well worth buying items from US ebay sellers who are more than happy to ship to Europe. However, the shipping cost can be prohibitively expensive. Ensure that you get a quote on shipping costs from overseas sellers prior to buying otherwise it is quite possible to get a nasty shock!Personally I have rarely bought from sellers outside of Europe and the US but have not experienced any problems where I have done so. An important fact to remember with overseas purchases is that items outside of the European Union may be liable to import charges and a handling fee. Legally buyers have to pay taxes and import charges on every item over a minimum value (currently over

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