It really depends on what you want. The best time for buying sets would probably be around Black Friday, though there are usually very limited quantities.A place that I have found helpful is Brickset. Brickset amalgamates all major online retailers into one list to get you the best price. Usually, Amazon has the best prices, but there is always the possibility that Target, Toys R Us, or even Walmart could have a better price. Be sure to check online before making any good purchases. Buy LEGO in USA | Brickset: LEGO set guide and databaseIf you want to wait and get the best price, then you should definitely wait for an unpopular set to be discontinued and buy the set on clearance. I have found lots of really good sets at places like Kmart or Shopko for cheap by just waiting for the set to go on clearance. You need to keep your ear to the ground, though, to know when the sets are going to be discontinued. Again, I would suggest checking sites like Brickset.If you have been involved in the LEGO hobby for some time you are well aware of how important it is to have a LEGO shopping strategy.
LEGO is not cheap, and both the LEGO Company as well as retailers are taking advantage of the popularity of the brand by keeping prices as high as they can. This is an unfortunate occurrence, especially in the current economy. Ultimately the strategy may backfire both for LEGO and retailers, but that is another topic, and whatever they do, we can still develop our own LEGO shopping strategies to get the best deals. One of the places people often shop for LEGO is Toys’R’Us. It is pretty much the only toy-shop chain left in the USA, and people naturally think of visiting them first when shopping for LEGO or other toys. One thing they are often not aware of however is how much Toys’R’Us jacks up prices on LEGO sets (and probably everything else too). A $5-$10-$20 mark-up from regular retail price is very common. Worse is when Toys’R’Us advertises sales around holidays. You will see 40% Off and BOGO 50% (Buy-One-Get-One-50%-Off) sales on LEGO advertised on the Toys’R’Us website and at their retail stores. H
owever that 40% or 50% off is NOT what you think it is! In fact you often end up worse then buying the same LEGO set at an Official LEGO Store, or some generic retailer like Wal-Mart. I will show you how Toys’R’Us is cooking the numbers and what you really end up with when you bite the hook on a Toys’R’Us LEGO sale. Eye-opening, isn’t it? The point is that if you want to get LEGO for the best prices, you really have to do your math. LEGO shopping could actually be quite fun if you take finding the best prices as a challenge. And it doesn’t have to be a long and tedious endeavor. Just have the latest LEGO Catalog or visit the Online LEGO Shop to check regular retail prices (I like the Catalog because I can take it with me to the store I’m planning to shop at). Then have a calculator handy to decode all the pricing voodoo retailers use to lure us into buying from them. 🙄 Again, the most notorious offender is Toys’R’Us. Other retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, Barnes & Noble and of course Official LEGO Stores almost always use the regular retail price, and when they have LEGO sales they to be decent, even excellent (like the 50% off regular retail price on some of the best LEGO sets at Wal-Mart last December). Th
ey may not sounds as fancy as Toys’R’Us as BOGO smoke-and-mirrors LEGO sales, but you don’t have to do complex calculations just to figure out if you are actually getting a deal. Also, Jason’s point about the LEGO VIP program is enlightening. If you are close to a LEGO store, or if you shop at the Online LEGO Shop, make sure you take advantage of this program. Especially when you can combine it with LEGO’s free shipping and double VIP point offers (like currently), you can really get an excellent deal as these offers are stackable. I also like Jason’s strategy of going right back to the store and getting a free set with the just acquired VIP points. How is that for an instant saving? 😉 So what do you think? Did you learn something from the video? Have you ever fallen for the Toys’R’Us advertisements? Do you have your own LEGO shopping tips you would like to share? What is your shopping strategy for this holiday season? Feel free to discuss in the comment section below! 🙂
You may also like to check out the LEGO Shopping Tips section for more LEGO shopping ideas and strategies or select from the following posts:Update: The big day is almost here, and we're already seeing Black Friday toy deals! Click here to see our roundup of Black Friday toy deals you can buy now, or read our roundup of the top toy ads to see what's still to come. Fancy electronics get most of the attention as Black Friday doorbusters, but the shopping holiday is a great time to stock up on holiday gifts like toys, too. Whether you're standing in for Santa, or just adding to your personal collection, we'll tell you the best times to get the greatest deals during the 2016 Black Friday season! This year for our Black Friday predictions, we've created a "cheat sheet" with the top tips you need to know when shopping this season. For savvy consumers who want more information, scroll down for our in-depth analysis. So what can you expect from Black Friday toy deals? Then, consider signing up for the DealNews Select newsletter to keep track of the latest deals in your inbox, or download our app to have them at your fingertips.
Want more details on how, what, where, and when to buy toy deals this Black Friday? Then check out our full analysis below. Toy hunters have a lot to look forward to this Black Friday season, with the week of Black Friday itself being the best chance for deals. Get ready for toy offers to start strong at the beginning of that week and grow in volume until Black Friday — which we anticipate to be the single best day for toy savings. We'll see a sharp resurgence of interesting toy bargains again on Cyber Monday. Don't expect too much excitement from the rest of Cyber Week though, as deals tend to wind down as merchants gear up for their holiday sales. It's best to pause your toy hunting and pick it up two weeks before Christmas when things take off again. Deals on the most desirable toys — like the Fabulous 15 from Toys "R" Us, or last year's popular remote-controlled BB-8 and Viewmaster VR — will continue to be sparse during the Black Friday season. That's not to say there won't be deals on the hottest toys of the holiday season;
there will just be so few of them, and they'll sell out so quickly, that they'll be hard to come by. To add insult to injury, when there are deals on the season's hottest toys during the Black Friday season, they're pretty impressive: up to 60% off, in some cases. Last year that included Star Wars toys, Frozen dolls, and a random assortment of items from the Fabulous 15 list. But again, they come and go so fast it's hard to ensure that you snag one. If you want to take your chances, and think you can move quickly, the best time to find deals on the hottest toys is in the week leading up to Black Friday (though we wouldn't rule out Black Friday itself or Cyber Monday). Historically, there have been one or two deals on those must-have toys on those days — and we literally mean "one or two deals." For the past several years, LEGO has offered the same "Brick" Friday discount: Up to 50% off a wide selection of sets, plus free shipping on all orders, plus a free limited edition holiday-themed set with orders of $99 or more — and we expect them to repeat this offer this year.
This sale doesn't offer just one or two sets at half-off so they can claim "up to 50% off," either; LEGO reduces a ton of sets by 50%. This will truly be the best time to hunt for LEGO deals, not only during the Black Friday season, but all year. Even the "bad" deals are still 20% off. There will be other LEGO deals scattered throughout the season, but they'll mostly be on individual sets. Our recommendation is to wait on buying any LEGOs until you see what the Brick Friday sale has to offer. If that doesn't appease you, there will be a resurgence in LEGO deals starting on Cyber Monday and continuing into that following week, when we typically see the highest volume of individual LEGO deals. Tabletop games, with all their bits and pieces, can be downright expensive! Luckily, our data indicates that Amazon will be the place to help you save some coin. Stay alert during Cyber Week (12/1 to 12/4), and expect the most bargains on popular titles like Ticket to Ride, Tokaido, Dominion, Pandemic, Munchkin, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and more.
Over the course of the entire Black Friday season, Amazon will be the store to beat. Last year, it turned in 16% more toy deals than the next highest contender, Target, and we expect the same first-place performance this year. It should be pointed out that even though Target may come in second overall, it actually offered more deals during Black Friday week. Last year, third place went to Walmart, which offered a third fewer deals than Target during the Black Friday season (and about 40% fewer deals than Amazon). We don't expect any greater performance from them this year, as Amazon has tended to match or beat every Walmart toy deal for the past several years. Finally (and sadly), Toys "R" Us — a company with "toys" right in its name — wound up at the back of the pack last year, offering up a quarter as many deals as Amazon. Remember: Even though Black Friday is a great time to buy toys, deals always tend to get better and more frequent in the two weeks before Christmas.