Prices of sets variable

cglittle

How are prices of complete (used) sets determined?
I bought a bulk lot from a local seller getting rid of his kids Lego. Everything more or less complete, a few pieces I replaced from my own stock of spares.
The Elves sets had me interested. One set in particular on eBay, used was asking for more than £100. Other sellers on eBay for same set were more, but other sets were more realistically priced.

What makes one set demand more money than another?

Just curious to know how much of a goldmine I’m sitting on

Calibrick

A site like Brickpicker can show you sales trends/costs over time for sets at common sales locations, such as eBay, this site, competitors, etc. That can give you a quick and dirty idea of today's value (look at what people PAID though vs. what people sell it for, especially if looking at auction sites in your analysis) for the overall Internet of Things.

It's really consumer demand driven, in my humble opinion - something it hot and people are flipping them quickly, the price goes up. It's languishing and no one's buying, and the price goes down. There are also externals that change consumer demand, e.g., a new Star Wars film that rocked may drive a bump to SW sets for a time. There are also factors that go into valuing your sets such as condition, is it complete (complete means you have or have obtained ALL parts the set came with, including any extras, instructions - I'm sure there are arguments for the box, but if you lack that, I think you can still sell as complete and note you don't have the box in your public comments), if you have books, etc. that you probably should account for.

For my part, I keep it simple - I price my sets based on sales here only, since this is the only location I sell at (sets are one of the few things I manually price in my store), so I want to be reasonably competitive. I look at what I paid, the six-month average values based on sales on this platform (easy to find by finding the set's catalog entry here), current prices, pricing other sellers in my country set, fees I have to pay upon sale, if I mind sitting on it, etc., and kind of go from there.

Some sets I don't list and sit on for several years before selling, also - prices consumers are willing to pay do increase for some themes when a set is no longer produced by LEGO. Some sold poorly when new so aren't all-that valuable reselling as used.

I'm sure each seller has their own way for valuing and pricing their sets, this is just how I do it. :-)