How To Save Money On LEGO Mocs
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- čas přidán 23. 12. 2022
- Ever wondered how people afford to build giant LEGO Mocs?
Well there's good news and bad news. It's still expensive no matter what you do, but I'll show you tips to significantly cut the costs.
I used these methods while building my LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts castle Moc.
If you want to follow my progress make sure to subscribe, thanks for watching
The reason all the bulk sellers are in Germany is because of the proximity to Lego fabrik. They let you buy basic pieces by weight, meaning these German sellers by all the in demand stuff and sell them for a mark up on bricklink. For most people though it's a fair trade, but I wish similar Lego stores existed elsewhere too.
Same!
So why are all the Germany based resellers on Bricklink and other marketplaces expensive as hell? I get stuff so much cheaper from China or Thailand... I'm in Germany, and even the postage costs are way too expensive, they all charge at least €3,95 postage even if you only order 10 tiny pieces for €2,00.
@@corumeach I wish I knew. I always feel a bit bad when buying internationally on bricklink, but the price difference is too great to ignore.
german vat: 18%
the lowest in europe except the microstates.
@@iuter87 yeah, that too
As someone who lives closer to the Canada border, I generally find Canadian bricklink stores have parts for DIRT cheap in USD so I've been buying a LOT from Canadian sellers. The shipping is SURPRISINGLY cheaper than I expect. There's only been a few stores with large orders where the shipping gets crazy.
Buying outside the US in general is better. The shipping is never as bad as you expect
@@maddiesworldofbricksbuying from the US to Canada tho, now that’ll cost you hundreds
@@badhbts fml lol
@@badhbts Or US to basically anywhere else.
Fantastic video! Some tips I would suggest; get your tiles from the lego store, they are usually the same price as bricklink, and they will be in mint condition. Also plan your moc around cheap colours, and look for Bricklink stores that sell bricks in poor condition (with dents or sun damage) these are great for filling in the interior of your builds.
Great tips
Duplo Bricks are also great for space fillers.
Checking 2nd hand stores could be good too. Usually you wont find large quantities of each of course, since they are old sets people bought, but can get some special ones or basic ones. But you can get a decent amount for like a $10.
For sure!
Garage/yard sales are good too :)
I can confirm the german bricklink stores are the place to buy from. The brick24 megastore, brickina, and bricksy are all great. I think le gold too.
le gold has become very unreliable and doesnt even bother to answer emails :/
I've ordered from all of those
This video is easily the best out there on acquiring tons of useful lego pieces to build MOCS.
Thank you for saying this
Your Hogwarts is looking incredible! I love shopping the pick a brick wall, thank you for the tips!
No problem
Absolute gorgeous build. Would love to see an update!
New update out now
I live in Norway and we don't have any official Lego stores. We have a private store with a pick a brick wall but it has extremely limited assortment and is very expensive and also pretty far from where I live. Shipping to Norway is generally very expensive as well and we have to pay taxes so it's usually just cheaper to buy official sets from toy store unless you can find some cheap used ones, although with Lego having become a collectible item most people try to sell used sets for ridiculous prices and it's usually cheaper to just get used sets from Bricklink even with the shipping cost.
Maybe not everyone supports it, but I use some Chinese-made parts, such as flower/tree. The Chinese have learned how to make them well, and where the Lego logo is not visible, you cannot immediately determine whose production.
I use other brands like 90% of times^^
There is nor difference anymore in quality.
@@seimen4348 Here the psychological factor still plays, for me personally. There is no logo on the pins) I don’t know everything about the quality, but plants and tiles are definitely not inferior in quality. The Chinese also learned how to make cool figurines. Not copies, but their own. Lord of the rings, naruto, demon slayer and even star wars are of high quality. Particularly pleasing is the 360-degree pattern,
Lego is completely lazy in this regard.
I buy and SELL alot of lego. Main difference is lego has value on the aftermarket
@@seimen4348you disgust me
@@mocworksand you disgust us people around the world who knows Lego is the same plastik😅
great advice, I will definitely need it to make my next videos
Happy to help
The Germany tip is good to know. I’m currently working on a few small-scale MOCs and I was weary of ordering internationally. Also, I came for the advice but am staying for the epic castle MOC!
Thanks! That's the plan. Suckered them in with useful info and keep em for the moc
In my experience, it's Germany and the Netherlands that have these really big/good/cheap BrickLink stores.
Invaluable and great advice, thanks 🙏
You're welcome
Whenever I generate a list of parts I need, Leo online PAB ends up cheaper only because of the shipping. The problem with Bricklink is that no one seller ever has even a majority of the parts I need, so the shipping adds up fast when I have to order from multiple shippers. Sometimes, the shipping alone costs more than the parts I need from a given seller.
If you only need a few things it can be tough
Brilliant tips! Great video!
Thanks!
Great tips. I found that shipping from Germany is actually quite expensive, but you are correct that massive quantities are certainly much better priced. They have an easier time keeping their stores stocked with commonly used parts, which is an issue for smaller stores.
For example, if you want to build a large city on mils, you need a ton of larger plates and those are very hard to find in anything but the larger stores. In such a case, it is far easier to buy it from LEGO itself, even though individual pieces are still quite expensive.
Beautiful build.
Thank you
Is there a pick a brick online? Because I don’t live near any Lego stores.
PAB wall is still very limited here in Japan since the pandemic. Wish there's more varieties. I would go all out. Especially making mini figures.haha great video. Hello from Japan 🗾🇯🇵
i just want to do bionicle mocs but i sold my legos a long time ago, i was thinking that is there an app that lets me build digitally and then check what pieces and buy those specific parts
I was wondering if you have any more updates on the castle? I'm building my own and would love to see what else you've got. U know it's not easy to come up with everything yourself.
New update out now
Any new updates on the castle? I love the build process so far. Hopefully all is well.
Yes very soon
I was in my local Lego shop recently, and they have ditched the round plastic cups for the Pick-a-Brick wall, in favour of square cardboard boxes. This makes it even easier to get good value, as you can build the bricks together and fit then wall-to-wall inside the box, with no spare space lost in the gaps. I know this because about 10 years ago they offered such a box as a Christmas bonus if you spent over a threshold, and I did exactly that. The box was filled corner to corner with solid Lego! Presumably these boxes will roll out across the globe over time, so if they still have the cups in your local store right now, it is just a matter of time.
Unsure if you’re still responding but I tend to buy bulk lots as that’s just the best way to get ahold of misc pieces. Also all those tips don’t really do so good if you’re in technic stuff. For that I’d reccomend buying educational sets (motors are cheap that way). Also a number of people have a “distaste” to technic, so it isn’t too impossible to buy a technic lot off of someone
Do you have to pay customs when ordering from Germany? Or any any other tax extra?
Nope
Thank you for this very nice video. Where i can find these building plans to build such Mocs? Do i have to pay for them or can i get them for free?
MOC is an acronym for My Own Creation so they're all custom built by various creators. Some creators may release instructions but most don't because the extra step of tracking the building process and make it easily understandable is usually not worth the time
These are great tips for those that are fortunate enough to be able to utilize them. For me personally, none of these tips are of any true help. Im in New Zealand (a small isolated country located far far away from most other countries) so being able to obtain lego parts at even a "reasonable" price is near impossible, as shipping and handling fees are absurd here due to location. There aren't many bricklink stores in New Zealand either, and we only have *one* official Lego store nation-wide (not of close proximity to me). That leaves me with having to order parts from the Lego online Pick-A-Brick section. Atleast I'm able to earn reward points, qualify for free shipping and promotional gifts if able to meet the minimum eligibility criteria. Not ideal I know, but I don't think I really have much of a choice...
Try the German stores
@@maddiesworldofbricks Yeah, that's a bit of a hit or miss. A few German stores I find are on par with other countries in terms of pricing. Some German stores are definitely priced lower, though not all of them ship to New Zealand. There have also been a few cases where the shipping & handling fees are twice as much as I would pay directly from Lego (Our Lego parts distributor is Poland). A decent chunk of what I might have saved in parts is made up in fees unless if perhaps brought in super large quantities, which I don't have the luxury of.
Which shops are best and cheapest in Germany for big orders?
They're all good
Notes to everyone on the keys to keeping costs down when acquiring tons of pieces for lego mocs:
Utilize the pick-a-brick wall at a LEGO store near you. This is the best way to get new parts for the cheapest price. Place large orders for parts from the biggest bricklink stores in Germany. This is the next best way to get bricks at more affordable prices and make sense of larger shipping costs. Lego's pick-a-brick at home may be necesarry, but is more expensive so try to avoid this. That's all.
If you're into building MOCs I would simply not buy LEGO lol. Rip-offs and legit companies like Bluebrixx even have a better quality sometimes and are muchhh cheaper. Imo it's only worth it to buy real LEGO for MOCs when you're a hardcore brand collector or someone who wants to turn this into capital in 30 years somehow. If you just want to build a nice MOC there's no reason not to get the cheap LEGO compatible stuff instead, especially when it's just background stuff, set pieces, foliage etc. I built a display Castle moc for around 50$ and it looks dense and awesome, if it was real Lego I would've payed 300-400$ for that size and the rare foliage pieces. Put some LEGO figures on it and it looks wonderful
@@bighatastrea nostalgia doesnt hit the same with rip offs. Its lego or nothing. From an artistic side, you're definitely right.
@@rickmortyson4861 It's plastic chips anyways. I think $160 for a bag of colored plastic chips is already ridiculous.
Hello my name is Jeppe and I'm danish.
A part of being in the european union is the benefit of no import/export tax.
We also don't have to show our passport when crossing the borders.
This is because of the "Schengen Agreement"
My point is, anybody living in europe can get the cheap german pieces :)
That's lucky
Except in the stupid UK who moronically voted out of Schengen. REJOIN NOW I want cheaper Lego.
if you think of any more tips pleas tell me.🥺
bro posted this on christmas
PIB wall do not exist in my country... Not anymore. And even when it did, it wasnt based on cup, but pure weight.
I've had some ideal pick a brick selections, where I could just buy one or two cups of just the pieces I needed. My biggest problem is that going to the Lego store is a whole trip, so I need to be lucky in what they have when I swing by. i'm Star Wars focused, so sometimes they just have nothing that makes sense for me.
I did like the online pick a brick to just get a whole bunch of varied heads (i don't use standard yellow ever for heads)
The biggest save for buying a lot of Lego is buying big lots locally. You can get lucky, buying a lot that has 500 euro of Lego in it and only pay 60euro because it's jumbled and perhaps has some random other lego in it.
Sometimes you can get lucky
It's great for heads too. They are cheaper
I bet you get some nice stuff
I always thought there should be some kind of app for modeling, so that you build everything virtually and it would calculate all the brick types and quantities required (so that you can than order exactly what you need)...
Bricklink stud.io can do that. I'm terrible at it though and prefer to build with actual bricks
@@maddiesworldofbricks
Same. Working with my hands is much easier for me, even if I have to rebuild several times over.
I just found out you can do this on the lego website thanks.
Haha german here thx for the tips man 👍😄🇩🇪
Anytime!
What about including brick from other brands like Geobrix or Bluebrixx?
Never
@@maddiesworldofbricks why?
It is not that I want to change your mind. I just cant figure out your reasons. I want to understand it.
@fluminox13 lego is the higher quality product and the only one that maintains its resell value
I can answer that. I love Bluebrixx and their train sets, but I can't recommend their part packs. Bluebrixx is not a producer, they source part from different Chinese producers. Gobricks is great, the rest is not on the same level as Lego. And surprisingly they are more expensive than Bricklink. The only exception are chrome parts. Lego doesn't do them anymore, so getting them from Bluebrixx is perfectly fine.
in the thumbnail those legos look delicious
Really happy to live in germany 🤙
Lol
Germany mentioned! :D
Thank you for these tips, great video.
Anytime
I use to buy via Pick-A-Brick and in large quantities
Nice!
Yaaay, I live in Germany!
and if it is a cool part and even if you dont need them, you can resell them!!!
Yep
The stores in Germany are able to make most of the bricks cheaper because of the Legoland factory. If you don’t know what it is you should watch a video about it.
Have you heard of LUG's?
This dude is absolutely crazy for saying that Lego's Pick a Brick is more expensive than other marketplaces. The main issues with Lego's PaB is that they don't have EVERY single part out there in every color, but they do have MOST. The shipping can take a long time if its coming from Denmark, but that is comparable to many other sources on Bricklink. Keep in mind my experience is with buying parts for MoC sets or modifications to existing sets, not quite on the scale as what Maddie is showing in this video. I've found that so long as I'm spending >$100 on parts at once, I'll order parts on PaB and anything they don't have (or if it is the rare instance of being significantly cheaper on bricklink) the part I put it into a Bricklink list and can hopefully find a seller who has the handful of parts I still require. This method has saved me hundreds of dollars already compared to ordering the parts exclusively from Bricklink sellers.
I should also mention that PaB's naming conventions are VERY inconsistent compared to what Bricklink calls the parts, so there will be a large learning curve to teach yourself the new naming conventions for previously familiar parts. Part numbers are usually the same between PaB and Bricklink about 90% of the time in my experience.
What does "mocs" mean?
My Own Creation
Stands for my own creation
Goodwill online is great for bulk bricks
Are you getting good prices? I haven’t seen much that’s better than my local Facebook Marketplace.
@cosmo9362 it depends on the auction. Try to swoop in at the last minute and bid higher. The fixed prices are pretty good per pound
@@jonnygranville281 I guess I’ll have to check again. I use to see them for over $8/lb and I can get them on Marketplace for $4-5/lb.
You are comparing the LEGO Pick a Brick Wall with the most extreme expensive option where you pay on line per piece.
btw I intensely dislike the huge dimple in the bottom of the cup that makes it look bigger than it really is. Don't know who that is supposed to fool. Because of the terrible internal shape of the cups the parts need to be very small to fit. Our LEGO store has gone environmental and is now offering rectangular cardboard boxes. It would be fairer and easier if they simply sold bricks by the kilo. Grab a bag full of exactly what you want and have it weighed.
I am in Canberra Australia where we have an annual Green Shed Charity LEGO sale. Last year they had 13 tonnes of LEGO. You get to scrounge in large tubs for what you want and pay less than US$20/kg. They also sell full sets. Money goes to good causes. Otherwise check out charity stores and negotiate for quantity.
Thought the thumbnail was several bags of different types of weed until I looked closer and saw they were legos
Lol plastic drugs indeed
i do need to find a lego store near me so i can get parts for a lego minecraft moc
Best of luck
Hello from germany
Yeah even though there's ways to be smart and save money it's still super expensive when your building like really large scale mocs
For sure!
If you are someone who is concerned about the price of Lego, as myself have no shame in buying knock offs, not everyone's rich and can afford it
Large MOCs are insanely expensive even when using non-Lego bricks. It's almost inacceptable for a hobby unless your only problem is where to dump all your money.
dont watch a lego video if you dont use lego then
@@leonhadley21 no way you're offended by using fake lego
@@pineappleboy1468 im not offended but dont watch a lego video and then talk about fakes
@@leonhadley21 have you tried crying about it somewhere else?
International shipping to import expensive plastic? What
Yes
It's such as shame that official LEGO stores have no Pick a Brick wall :(
...they do
I’ve never been to an official LEGO store that didn’t have a pick a brick wall.
@@RobCartwright I can re-check when I'm going to visit place with official LEGO store mentioned on LEGO website that's in my city.
But my hopes are low with my previous experiences :(
What are Mocs?
Mocs stand for my own creations
Well apparently the world likes Germany again. At least our Legos.. Nice haha 😂
Lol. Your bricklink stores do good work
Unfortunately the nearest LEGO Store is a 3 day trip away...
That's brutal
@@maddiesworldofbricks I just happen to live in a state where the nearest LEGO store is 2 states away in every direction (except North, that's Canada). Either I go west to Seattle, south west for Salt Lake, south to Denver, or East to Minneapolis....
@taqresu5865 I recommend salt lake, that's where I live lol. We have 2 stores now
@@maddiesworldofbricks lol it'll have to depend. I would need to have other reasons to visit beyond the LEGO Store.
Maybe if I could convince my family to try out the Lagoon. For my Senior Class Trip, we visited the Lagoon. That's near enough to justify a visit to the LEGO Store, right?
@taqresu5865 yeah! Lagoon is actually right in the middle of the 2 stores. Probably a 15 min drive to each one
Is he gone
Nope lol
The Lego Wall at the grapevine Texas use to be awesome. It’s not even worth looking anymore. It never fails to disappoint
dude i just want 10 8x16 plates not $70 gone from my bank account
Yah that doesn't cost $70 lol.
@maddiesworldofbricks yeah it's more like $5 a piece
@@brikfanz 8x16 plates are like $1. Maybe $1.50 tops.
@@maddiesworldofbrickstrue
but they still add up when you need a ton of em
Unfortunatelly México have that kind of lucky, the only tipy of lego pieces you going to find in the stores are Bricks 1x1, 2x2, 3x2, 2x4 and that's all for construction but for figures only have city figures, no knights, no skeletons, no space, LEGO hate México.
Sounds like bricklink is your best option
Bricklink is cheaper than Pick a Brick...
It depends what you're buying but generally speaking yes it is
@@maddiesworldofbricks If you only buy standard parts maybe, but if you want special parts like for MOCs, you can't get everything from pick a brick for a good price.
@@Ichexistierpick a brick instore is the cheapest way to buy bulk bricks
@@leonhadley21 no it's not.
@@Ichexistier yes it is, get over a thousand pieces for 18 quid/dollars thats brilliant
If I may ask... have you ever just contacted a US based store and said "hey, I want to buy thousands of parts, any chance I could get a 20% discount for spending $400 in one go on just parts?
They might take you up on that... Just a thought...
You might even say "I normally buy from Germany because even with shipping, it's cheaper, but I'd buy from the US if you can work with me a bit."
I've never tried it so I can't say.
Ali Express fake legos if you really want to save
I don't wanna go to the effort of saving money..... I need a sugar momma!! 😅
(Just got back into LEGO after my last set was in the late 80s as a teen, and after splurging on 75192 and only having a small budget for Black Friday and retirements, I'm sooooo frustrated at not being able to just buy ALL THE LEGO... sets and loose bricks n pieces!!!) 😖
A dark age of 30 years is something to brag about, for sure. Welcome back!
fortnite
What about fortnite
xD the USA guy that's upset about europe shipping... when literally all the big online giveaways or many other things that are super cheap or free "only in US" i get hundreds of "only in US" events happening yearly on social medias and stuff, so for once EU has something better than in US don't be fking jealous entitled
I'm not upset about the shipping
@@maddiesworldofbricks I think he was referring to another commenter. Loved the video btw.
Why do Lego CZcamsrs always have such long fingernails lol
Built in lego separators
Why do jackwagons always have shitty comments about CZcamsrs?
clip ur nails
Webrick or gobrick helps too