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. Y
ou 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. However 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). They 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. Ho
w 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:I hear cries all the time from the casual Lego buyer about how expensive Lego sets have become, how they used to be cheaper...once upon a time. I've often wondered where these people are buying their Lego. Is it possible that their perception of price is simply because they are buying Lego from Toys"R"Us? I usually avoid Toys"R"Us like the plague. Occasionally, always because of a promotion or exclusive, I will venture through the doors of the big box toy store to purchase Lego. It wasn't always this way. Even though I have always been a big Lego shop-at-home user, there is something to be said for going into a store to see all the products lined up in person.
I used to do this almost exclusively at Toys"R"Us, until a few years ago when a Lego brand store opened adjacent to my normal shop. After going into the Lego store on a regular basis, I started noticing the price differences. I found that sets at Toys"R"Us are generally a dollar or two more than they were at Lego. Sometimes they would be 5, 7, even 20 dollars more than the price of the same item at the Lego brand store. While shopping at Target or Walmart, I would take note of their Lego pricing as well. It was the same retail purchase price (RPP) as I could get directly from Lego. Even when items are on Sale at Toys"R"Us, or when they run one of their buy-one-get-one 40% off sales, it sometimes only brings the pricing down to normal RPP. Here are a few examples: City Camper Van (60057) - A smaller set and one of the best value sets that is out right now. Sopwith Camel (10226) - This one is fairly exclusive. It is not even available at WalMart or Target and getting harder to find anywhere at all.
A $25 markup by Toys"R"Us. Defend the Batcave (10672) - Just sneaking in a few extra bucks on this Juniors set. Minstorms EV3 (31313) - One of the most expensive sets that Lego puts out currently. Even on sale, this robotics set is also marked up. Water Scooter Fun (41000) - Reddit user tophrman pointed out this gem. Probably the largest percentage markup I have ever seen. Why does Toys"R"Us do this? What makes the same toy more valuable because it is on the shelves of one store compared to the next? I'm not talking about only exclusive items here, I'm talking about the same sets that are available nearly everywhere that Lego is sold. These other stores sell Lego at RPP (or lower), while Toys"R"Us marks up dozens of sets.How do we stop it while still having access to some of the cool exclusive stuff that you can only get at Toys"R"Us? Please discuss in the comments below.Star Wars Lego sets, Nerf blasters and selfie kits that let you make music videos are among the predicted best selling toys this Christmas.But shoppers should be aware that prices for the sought-after gifts can vary by more than 70 per cent between retailers as the holiday price war starts early.
The annual Dream Toys top 12 list includes a £20 SelfieMic which features an adjustable selfie stick and a karaoke microphone that allows youngsters to create their own music videos.Lego's £70 Star Wars Rebel U-Wing Fighter, the £40 Paw Patrol Air Patroller and £90 Friends Amusement Park Roller Coaster also make the list, which was compiled by the Toy Retailers Association (TRA). The SelfieMic features an adjustable selfie stick with a karaoke microphone so budding pop stars can sing, lip sync and perform to thousands of songs Lego's £70 Star Wars Rebel U-Wing Fighter is also predicted to be one of the best selling toys this Christmas The incredible U-Wing Fighter includes 4 big engines, an opening minifigure cockpit with transparent lower observation window and opening side doors with pull-out stud shooters The £60 Nerf N-Strike Elite Hyperfire foam dart blaster, £90 Wheels Ultimate Garage and the £100 Thomas & Friends TrackMaster Sky-High Bridge Jump are among the most expensive toys on the list.
A cuddly toy that hatches out of an egg was also named as one of this year's must-have Christmas gifts, but it is already selling out.The adorable £59.99 Hatchimals - which come in brightly coloured speckled eggs - are already sold out or in short supply in some major shops after being on sale just a month.They are being offered on sites like eBay for three times the price, prompting makers Spin Master to promise to ramp up production.In the run-up to Christmas, Amazon and Tesco are offering the UK's best-selling toys online cheaper than rival e-commerce sites, according to independent research from global ecommerce analytics firm Profitero.With Black Friday more than two weeks away, parents can cash in now with bargains like an interactive Finding Dory My Friend Dory which was £28.77 at Amazon, 74 per cent less than the £49.99 price tag at toysrus.co.uk. The adorable £59.99 Hatchimals - which come in brightly coloured speckled eggs - are already sold out or in short supply in some major shops after being on sale just a month
The Little Live Pets Snuggle my Dream Puppy costs around £49. Youngsters can watch Snuggles breathe when he falls asleep Silly Sausage (left) is a family game where players respond to commands from the foot-long red plastic sausage – such as passing it on or twisting it. The game costs £17. The Lego Friends Amusement Park Roller Coaster is pictured (right) The Hot Wheels Ultimate Garage from Mattel includes five Hot Wheels vehicles plus a helicopter to get the action started right away. It costs just under £80 The £40 Paw Patrol Air Patroller (pictured) is expected to be one of the most popular toys this Christmas And a Nerf Modulus Tri-Strike Blaster, which costs £50.14 at Tesco, can be found for £35.98 at Amazon, £39.96 at Toys R Us and £44.99 at Argos. - than online at Toys R Us, where the price of one best-selling toy is more than 70 per cent higher than at Amazon.The Profitero analysis measures the price of the best-selling toys on Amazon and compares them with the price of the same products online at Tesco
, Argos and Toys R Us. Eight of the 10 best sellers are available on all four sites and these products make up the basket for the analysis. The basket bought on Amazon is eight per cent cheaper than the average price among all four retailers; the same basket bought from Toys R Us is seven per cent more expensive. Competition among retailers is particularly fierce this year which means these prices change on a daily – even hourly – basis. Andrew Pearl, from Profitero, told Retail Times: 'As Christmas approaches, we're coming in to the most important buying season for toys. It's vital for brands and retailers to closely monitor their performance on the digital shelf to remain competitive. Savvy shoppers are increasingly researching products online to choose the best deals.' The Shopkins Chef Club Hot Spot Kitchen Playset (left) can be bought for £24.99 on Amazon and comes with two recipe books, pictured (right) is the Speak Out Game which costs around $20 Youngsters can cook up a treat in the Shopkins oven and pop down the surprise breadboard for a slice of the good life