Additional condition - USED (poor)

Wild Bricks

I'm sure some people will read that first line and have a gut reaction of NO, but please hear me out.

I am continually surprised by what people will buy and what fills hobbyist's needs. Less than a month ago we listed over 200 minifig heads that were listed as C quality with the disclaimer/description of: Grade C. Should be used for filler only. Chipped, paint worn, stained. Priced accordingly. We have sold all but 32 of them!

When I first started selling I thought that there was no way I would ever offer damaged pieces, but found over time that there are people who are looking for filler bricks or damaged items for one reason or another. I try to be honest in all of my descriptions so that my buyers know what they are getting. I feel that representing items that I consider Grade C as USED (Acceptable) is misleading and not good business.

I would like to see an additional CONDITION of USED (Poor) be added so that we can be as honest and forthright with our buyers as possible.


Thoughts? Opinions? Other options?

Jay37

I think that's an idea worth persuing. Over time I have accumulated lots of pieces that fall below my personal standards as far as Acceptable is concerned (usually these are predominantly sun damaged or heavy scratching/nicks), but may be of use to someone. At the moment I only list items in such conditions if I consider them rare or vintage and will describe them carefully in the public note. However that leaves me with a lot of bog standard stuff that would still be usable. If I were to describe each piece that would be a lot of time taken up, but if there was a 'Used - Poor' category that effectively covers stock of this nature, I would welcome it.

WESTIEKATH

Yes I am in the same boat here. I have a bag full of heads, torsos etc which I would consider in real bad shape and same here Jay just too time consuming to list them all with every fault. I too would welcome a 'Used - Poor' category. Any chance Lawrence?

Brick-Cat

Yes I agree,possibly add another category for faded bricks as from sorting out used lots i have many faded blue, grey and white parts.

Have seen many Mocs utilising faded colours to good effect, especially white.

Jay37

I have seen people sell things like Lego jewellery and I'm sure anyone looking to get into this sort of thing would rather practice on cheap, poor condition parts, rather than having to use more expensive stock. I've also seen an article (I think it was an old issue of Blocks magazine) where someone builds fairly large MOCs and paints over them to give a certain effect. Again, this sort of project would surely benefit from being able to get hold of bricks where condition is not necessarily a major consideration.

WESTIEKATH

Yes I have had a customer who paints over minifigures and creates new outfits for them.

Calibrick

I'd be down with this... though honestly, this is how I treat the Used (Acceptable) category today - basically I list everything as Used (Good) which ranges from good to like new (I see like new as in the eye of the beholder, so try to avoid that setting), and anything less I list as acceptable - and I add a note why, e.g., there's a single deep scratch, etc.

BO terms do not allow you to list chewed parts, etc., but it would a good category to list faded colors, the odd color pour lots (like the older blues that have changed over the years to almost a turquise-ish dark blue), really scratched up transparent parts, etc.

Honestly, I usually recycle anything that's this bad, but it would be nice to be able to help fill a user need if there is demand for this. :-)

Jay37

Do you think in estate agent terminology, "chewed parts" could be described as "pre-loved with character features"...

Calibrick

Lol @Jay37 !

andirunner

I second what @Calibrick said regarding the "acceptable" category. I use this only for parts that I think will be of use/value to someone (for example, 1x8 dark orange bricks or something) and indicate the flaws in said parts. But I would welcome an additional category as well.