How To Buy Cheap LEGO?

Lego isn’t as expensive as you might think. Tips and tricks to get yourself some cheap LEGO!

The wallet. The credit card. The debit card. The digital wallet. The purse. Whatever form it is in, we can all agree that money is what gets us from A to B in our current modern society. However, people across the world have entirely unique financial backgrounds, shopping habits and investment opportunities, so when LEGO comes into the conversation it’s important to keep in mind just how diverse the world is.

While I claimed a few times that LEGO sets aren’t as expensive as many make them out to be, I do find myself in the position where claiming that something at 10 bucks is cheap, may not be entirely objective. Yes, 10 bucks in Ireland is less than one hour’s minimum wages, and it pays for 2–3 sandwiches. However, I know for a fact that in Eastern Europe those same 10 bucks are worth a lot more, however the price of LEGO isn’t really much cheaper, if at all. Just checking what the cost of a single Speed Champions set is, converted from Hungarian Forint to Euro, the price is exactly the same, however, 19.99 Euros in Hungary is worth a lot more than in Ireland and you work for it a lot longer. Going further east, it gets even worse, as in Romania, the price is actually 22 cents over 20 euros!

Given the above, I think it’s my duty to list alternative methods for buying LEGO for those really wanting to create and build stuff, and work their imagination with these history-making plastic bricks. I would also kindly ask every reader, if they know other methods of scoring LEGO on the cheap, please post your ideas in the comments, you might just help someone start their first LEGO collection without spending half their salary.

Charity shops

Believe it or not, I have seen LEGO in charity shops. These are basically shops where random people dump their stuff and leave them there for the shop to sort and sell. The proceeds from those sales then go towards noble causes, anywhere from cancer research to helping puppies get a home.

For those who have the time, charity shops are a great place to find stuff. I have several vinyl records and DVDs that I bought at my local shop and seriously, the prices are so low, it’s unbelievable.

Now, I have to admit, I never picked up any LEGO from charity shops, but that’s not because there wasn’t any, but rather because I was stupid. I absolutely should have. There was one shop not long ago that specialised in vintage items on the cheap, and there was a big box full of LEGO pieces, and it didn’t register that I should snap it up. If you see some, and it’s really LEGO — look for the LEGO branding on the studs — don’t be an eejit like me, buy all the LEGO they have, you won’t ever get a better deal than that.

Yard sales

This is applicable more to the US than Europe, but there are plenty of people who sell random stuff on the side of the road. Some of that random stuff is also LEGO, believe it or not.

What often happens is that people who do yard sales, they just want to get rid of stuff. Perhaps it’s not even their stuff, they just inherited a house that had all sorts of crap in the attic. Not everyone knows the value of LEGO, and they’ll happily settle for 20 bucks on a 5 kilogram box of LEGO bricks. That could very well be five entire sets of LEGO Mindstorms, each worth $500, they wouldn’t know the difference.

If you see LEGO at a yard sale, don’t think twice about it, go for it, chances are you’re going to get an insanely good deal.

Bulk eBay deals

This is something I am actually trying myself a bit too. It also doesn’t have to be on eBay. Practically, any site that sells used LEGO is perfectly fine. You’ll find that many sellers will have anywhere between 0.5 kg to 10 kg job lots available for sale. While LEGO is made of plastic, it isn’t terribly heavy, so even a 0.5 kg bag can be excellent value. The higher you go, though, the better the chances are of landing a really good deal. I, for instance, just bid on a 6 kg lot at 100 bucks. If I win the bid, this will be an insanely good deal.

I will be reviewing this purchase very soon, and let you know what pieces I received and their total value, so subscribe and follow while you’re here!

The downside? You only have a vague idea of what you’re going to get rather than an exact list of pieces. But, there’s always pictures that can give you some idea as to what to expect. The one thing to look out for though is sellers who claim it’s LEGO and turns out not to be, and instead you find yourself with a pile of cheap knockoffs. So, make sure the seller has a good track-record.

Online and in-store sales

Of course, you don’t have to go the used LEGO route to get good deals. You can always keep an eye out for bargains on websites, and retail stores. How good will these deals be? Hard to tell, but generally, you can save up to 35% on a set if you’re lucky. If you’re incredibly lucky, even 40 or 50%, but that’s unbelievably rare.

The general downside to this approach is that you’ll always have to buy LEGO when the price is right, rather than when you want to. This means you always need to have a bit of cash put aside to jump on bargains like these, and some can still be costly. Take for example the Lamborghini Sian I got recently. I managed to save about 25% on it, but that still meant spending 280 euros.

Mid to long-term investments

In some ways, a follow-up to the previous method, but also a less straight-forward approach is to get sets when they’re at less than original price, and get two sets rather than just one. The second one you’ll never open, but stash it away for a few years, maybe even an entire decade. The price of it new will go up quite a bit because essentially every LEGO set is a limited edition, there is a finite number of them, and a tiny fraction of those stays unopened.

Keep doing this every year, and within a few years you can start selling some of them off, covering the cost of newer purchases. If done right, it can absolutely cover all your LEGO hobby needs and potentially even generate some side-income. Beware though, as with every investment, there is a risk involved. Having said that, if Brickset is anything to go by, unopened sets do sell well years later. It is a very long game, though, which requires a lot of patience and space to store LEGO.

Attila Vago — Software Engineer improving the world one line of code at a time. Cool nerd since forever, writer of codes and blogs. Web accessibility advocate, Lego fan, vinyl record collector. Loves craft beer!