Business & Finance
'I flogged my old Lego toys on eBay - now I rake in £300,000 a year while at college'
Key Points
'I flogged my old Lego toys on eBay - now I rake in £300,000 a year while at college' EXCLUSIVE: Jamie says his JTB Collectables business raked in £300,000 across the last tax year, and after buying and accounting costs he was left with around £50,000 profit A teenage college student claims he's flogged £300,000 worth of Lego figures on eBay in the last year. Jamie Bell sold toys he'd 'grown out of' at age 13 and quickly realised he could earn money from Lego pieces in particular.
'I flogged my old Lego toys on eBay - now I rake in £300,000 a year while at college'
EXCLUSIVE: Jamie says his JTB Collectables business raked in £300,000 across the last tax year, and after buying and accounting costs he was left with around £50,000 profit
A teenage college student claims he's flogged £300,000 worth of Lego figures on eBay in the last year.
Jamie Bell sold toys he'd 'grown out of' at age 13 and quickly realised he could earn money from Lego pieces in particular. Now 18 years old, the teen buys kilos of the plastic toys online and from his contacts, in order to flog them to collectors or people selling them individually.
On May 2, he sold a 95kg pile of Lego Star Wars figurines and claimed it to be the 'largest mini-figure lot ever listed on eBay worldwide'. The listing, which includes images of the bundle stacked on his parents' bedroom floor, began at £1 and was bought for an eye-watering £22,428 after 65 bids.
Jamie says his JTB Collectables business raked in £300,000 across the last tax year, and after buying and accounting costs he was left with around £50,000 profit.
The college student says he and his dad decided they needed to hire an accountant at age just 16 because his earnings were skyrocketing. He says he's now selling about 100kg of Lego per month using bulk sales and individual figure auctions online.
Despite his side-hustle's success he doesn't want to make it his full-time job and plans to commit his time to studying History at university next year.
Jamie, from Wandsworth, South London, said: "It's exciting watching the auctions because sometimes someone will pop in right at the end and increase the price by a few thousand pounds. I'd say 40% of people are huge collectors with a lot of disposable income and 60% would be resellers who could take months selling them individually.
"I keep them [the figures] on the floor in big cardboard boxes at my parents' house. I had to get an accountant at 16 but I probably needed one at 15.
"By age 15 my huge bundles were selling well because nobody else was doing it and I realised people would buy them to sell each one individually and I could be their supplier. The profit margins are never certain and the cost was quite high so it's not the listing I've made the most profit on but I think the benchmark of the size was more important than the profit.
"My dad helps with the packing and admin and [my parents will be supportive] but it's up to me because they'll only do so much. It's my side-hustle or business. My mum was shocked because she thought it was a little resale thing and didn't know it had grown into a proper business.
"I could make it my full-time job but for career stability I'd like to have a profession as well. These big sales have become normal now and I save most of the money for my first home and put it in an ISA."
Jamie says he earned a few hundred pounds from selling his own toys then bought a bundle to sell on individually for double the money at aged 14. The teen says he earned £100,000 in revenue in the 24/25 tax year before tripling it for the 25/26 tax year.
He says he's still a collector himself but will buy some high-value figures instead of picking any from the bundles he plans to sell. His £22,000 bundle was bought by a UK eBay user who he believes to be a reseller aiming to profit from selling the items individually.
Other listings on his eBay account show other large bundles sold for £4,458 and two Lego Batman figures sold for £751.