Recently there were two interesting items for sale in the second hand marketplace: one LEGO set that has been high on my wantlist and a plastic bag full of random LEGO pieces. After winning the bid for the former one and losing the latter I realized I was more disappointed for the loss than I was thrilled for the win.
I'm still happy for the win. It was for a rather expensive set, but with some missing pieces so the price was extremely good. What makes it even better is the fact that I have most of the missing pieces already from my previous purchases. Putting those all together should net me an almost full set!
But I'm still thinking what treasures the random lot could have held. In a few pictures there were few interesting bricks that hinted there could have been some really nice sets in the bag. It's the mystery and the thrill going through those piles that draws me into those. Finding some rare pieces is so rewarding.
From the financial point too it makes more sense to buy those lots. Even though there might be no sets I'm looking for to add to my collection it's highly probable there is money to be made putting those random pieces together into sets. If I just buy certain full sets, even if I would be willing to sell them the margin would be much lower. But if it's a set I want I wouldn't want to sell it anyway.