Buying Lilliput Lane on eBay is fun and you can save a lot of money compared to retail prices. Here are a couple of tips that  may help you get the right price on the item you want. The first thing to know about Lilliput Lane is that the suggested retail price is always twice the wholesale price. Therefore, once you know the full retail price you will know what the dealer will have paid for a piece (half of the retail price). Therefore, if there is a reserve set, it will almost always be above half retail, so you'll know where to pitch your bidding. If you start lower than the wholesale price you will most likely be under any reserve price.

Note also that dealers pay the cost of shipping. And almost all Lilliput Lane in the US has to be shipped from Canada or the UK. Canada is the North American HQ for LL. So you should actually expect the minimum price you'll pay to equal the wholesale price plus cost of shipping. Shipping probably adds 10%. So a retail piece with a value of $100 will possibly sell for $50 plus $5 shipping = $55. Plus the shipping you will pay - which will be up to the dealer and what they offer. Therefore - in an ideal world, where there's a piece that nobody else bids on, you might pick up a good Lilliput Lane for about 60% of it's retail value - all told.

Of course, that's with dealers. And you will expect that they are including all packaging and the title dead (very important). If the auction does not state that the title deed is included you may be able to pick the piece up far cheaper. Having the deed keeps the value high. If in doubt use the feature to ask the retailer a question. If you simply like the pieces to display and don't care about the deeds and packaging you will surely pick up some good items. But do ask the seller if there is any damage before you bid - just to be on the safe side.

But with private sales you can really do well. If you know your Lilliput Lane well (which pieces are retired, which are considered most valuable etc...) you may find some real bargains on eBay. But pay attention, unlike those sold by dealers, some of these pieces may be damaged - read the descriptions very carefully and ask all the questions you need to know before bidding - you are, after all, buying a piece from someone's collection. You have to ask yourself why they don't want it any more.

Good luck and good hunting!

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