Will the sales get better?

[atmail35]

I'm really getting "frustrated" with all these sales. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE getting a deal, but first I bought some Cars 2 stuff at 20% off...then I see it as B1G1 50% off at TRU (effectively 25% off) just last week, now it is B2G1 90% off (effectively 30% off). How LOW will these go?

I'm having a hard time figuring when to buy or if I should wait! Obviously since there is so little time between the deals that I haven't even opened the sets yet, or removed them from my car! I feel like I'm leaving $$ on the table. I could return/rebuy but that has it's own hassles (and wastes gas). Maybe I need more patience or something ;)

Anyone else feel the same way?

[ncbarrett]

I'm really getting "frustrated" with all these sales. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE getting a deal, but first I bought some Cars 2 stuff at 20% off...then I see it as B1G1 50% off at TRU (effectively 25% off) just last week, now it is B2G1 90% off (effectively 30% off). How LOW will these go?

I'm having a hard time figuring when to buy or if I should wait! Obviously since there is so little time between the deals that I haven't even opened the sets yet, or removed them from my car! I feel like I'm leaving $$ on the table. I could return/rebuy but that has it's own hassles (and wastes gas). Maybe I need more patience or something ;)

Anyone else feel the same way?

Could try to get price adjustment, or take back they BOGO 50% off stuff and buy with the new sale.

[atmail35]

Could try to get price adjustment, or take back they BOGO 50% off stuff and buy with the new sale.

I could...but as I said above I do feel like I waste time and gas money driving around. Now that my daughter is out of school it poses other issues (i.e. taking a 6 YO into TRU!).

What are other people's "trigger" points for sale items and buying? I "thought" 25% off was pretty decent actually on newer sets. Now I'm thinking I should wait until I can get at least 30% off.

[ncbarrett]

Could try to get price adjustment, or take back they BOGO 50% off stuff and buy with the new sale.

I could...but as I said above I do feel like I waste time and gas money driving around. Now that my daughter is out of school it poses other issues (i.e. taking a 6 YO into TRU!).

What are other people's "trigger" points for sale items and buying? I "thought" 25% off was pretty decent actually on newer sets. Now I'm thinking I should wait until I can get at least 30% off.

Can't be worse than taking a 3 YO.

Re: trigger point
It all depends on what it is.
I am more than willing to pay full price for sets I really want.
If it is a set I like but not excited about it, Ill wait til 25%
if it is a set that is interesting, but not something i really want anything over 25% will spark my interest.
and if it is just for parts, prefer 50% off.

[Brickbuilder0937]

I almost always wait for at least 30% off. When it comes to sets like the death star or the modular buildings I try to wait for at least 20% off.

[slacker]

I'm going to agree with ncbarrett. Most of the time, I will not buy anything at retail. Maybe the CMF if I find something I need. I usually wait for BOGO50 for that 25% off. If it's a modular building, I will wait until Lego store has their thanksgiving sale since I want a nice box. I rarely order online since the box gets crushed. The after xmas sale at Lego is awesome and it's the only reason why I don't buy much during the year.

[legohunter]

These are very good guildlines for making decision to pull the trigger. Thx for sharing.

IMO, patient is one of the key element to stay out from being robbed by retailers. Unless a set is going to be discontinued very soon, I usually wait....... ($1.5 for a bag of CMF from target / $1.75 from chapters.ca is a good example).

[Legobrandon]

I waited at least four months for the 7599 Garbage Truck Getaway to go on sale. But it never did at Toys"R"Us, so I couldn't wait any longer and I picked it up. Then two or three weeks later, the set was on sale for 50% off :x . I was so angry, but I couldn't do anything about it.

[ncbarrett]

I waited at least four months for the 7599 Garbage Truck Getaway to go on sale. But it never did at Toys"R"Us, so I couldn't wait any longer and I picked it up. Then two or three weeks later, the set was on sale for 50% off :x . I was so angry, but I couldn't do anything about it.

Except enjoy the set.

[sadowsk1]

I waited at least four months for the 7599 Garbage Truck Getaway to go on sale. But it never did at Toys"R"Us, so I couldn't wait any longer and I picked it up. Then two or three weeks later, the set was on sale for 50% off :x . I was so angry, but I couldn't do anything about it.

Except enjoy the set.

Agreed, just enjoy it man. There is no shame in buying a set at retail price that you like. I sometimes felt that way about sets, but if you like it, it's always worth it, it's Lego!

[Legobrandon]

I waited at least four months for the 7599 Garbage Truck Getaway to go on sale. But it never did at Toys"R"Us, so I couldn't wait any longer and I picked it up. Then two or three weeks later, the set was on sale for 50% off :x . I was so angry, but I couldn't do anything about it.

Except enjoy the set.

Agreed, just enjoy it man. There is no shame in buying a set at retail price that you like. I sometimes felt that way about sets, but if you like it, it's always worth it, it's Lego!

I really like it and enjoy it, but I feel like I threw away 30 bucks. If only I waited a couple more weeks. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. I'll just be happy that I have it. :)

[Ice]

Because Canada has weak sales, the best you can hope for is 25% off. Plus, thats if you buy multiples like BOGO 50% off at Zellers or one of those messed up "Buy a certain amount and save" sales at Toys R Us. Or you call their telephone reps and complain to get 30% off which is kinda bizarre. :?

When I see these 25% off sale and the regular price is at MSRP, I usually buy it. So basically, I'm just buying everything at US MSRP because 25% off Canadian MSRP is usually equal to US MSRP. The best deal in Canada is from BN where they had 30% off US prices. That would work out to be roughly 40-50% off Canadian MSRP.

What more can we hope for in Canada? :(

[Legobrandon]

Because Canada has weak sales, the best you can hope for is 25% off. Plus, thats if you buy multiples like BOGO 50% off at Zellers or one of those messed up "Buy a certain amount and save" sales at Toys R Us. Or you call their telephone reps and complain to get 30% off which is kinda bizarre. :?

When I see these 25% off sale and the regular price is at MSRP, I usually buy it. So basically, I'm just buying everything at US MSRP because 25% off Canadian MSRP is usually equal to US MSRP. The best deal in Canada is from BN where they had 30% off US prices. That would work out to be roughly 40-50% off Canadian MSRP.

I usually go to the Seattle LEGO Store to get exclusives. But I don't think I'm saving much money because of the gas prices.

[legohunter]

I usually go to the Seattle LEGO Store to get exclusives. But I don't think I'm saving much money because of the gas prices.

You could save more from LEGO store if you buy multiple exclusive box sets from there. Besides, you don't have to pay for shipping, right?

[Zeya]

I'm really getting "frustrated" with all these sales. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE getting a deal, but first I bought some Cars 2 stuff at 20% off...then I see it as B1G1 50% off at TRU (effectively 25% off) just last week, now it is B2G1 90% off (effectively 30% off). How LOW will these go?

I must say that in a lot of cases, I would rather buy at a "20% off" sale than a "BOGO 50%" sale. Because with 20% off, that lets me buy just one thing, whereas to get better than 20% off at the BOGO sale, you have to buy two items close enough in price.

At the recent TRU BOGO sale, that worked out because I wanted the Creator Lighthouse Island ($40) and the Kingdoms King's Carriage Assault ($40), and so that got me the effective 25% off.

But then TRU had that sale yesterday where I got an email coupon for 20% off any item (not everyone got this, see the other thread). That one was great because I went and bought the $70 Mill Village Raid set, which I wouldn't have bought at the "BOGO50" sale because there wasn't another $70 set I wanted.

The "B2G1 90%" sale is even worse. You now have to get 3 sets in close proximity of price to make it worthwhile.

For me these awkward BxGx sales don't work too well because I typically only want one copy of any given set. However, these are fantastic for heavyweight reseller/investor types because there's the chance at getting multiple copies of an expensive exclusive that don't typically go on sale. They can easily maximize the savings and get their 25 or 30% discount that is hard to come by. This assumes that stock doesn't run out or the items aren't pulled down or checkout quantities limited.

I'm having a hard time figuring when to buy or if I should wait! Obviously since there is so little time between the deals that I haven't even opened the sets yet, or removed them from my car! I feel like I'm leaving $$ on the table. I could return/rebuy but that has it's own hassles (and wastes gas). Maybe I need more patience or something ;)

Anyone else feel the same way?

Yeah I feel ya. I wish there was a roadmap for TRUs sales, but that would be bad for them.

All in all, my rule of thumb is that the best you can hope for is 20 or maybe 25% off. If you get that, then be happy and don't look back. You have to consider that a 5% difference on your purchase amounts to what? Maybe 3 or 5 bucks on a typical purchase ($70 to $100 purhase)? On a huge purchase like three $150 sets, a 5% difference is $22.50, which starts to be a chunk of change, but how often does that happen? Most people would be tickled pink if they were even allowed by TRU to buy 3 sets like that in a purchase. Judging from chatter on here, it sounds like maybe one person out of twenty actually has the stars aligned properly to even successfully finish a transaction like that.

[doncajun]

Does anyone else think TRU may be in serious economic trouble? If they need to habitually have these 25-30% off sales to move product, their profit margins must be almost nominal. I'm sure Lego offers TRU most that then 30% off msrp most independent retailers enjoy, but nevertheless, lately it's appeared that TRU is almost putting their inventory on the shelves for an amount close to cost.

[lukeskywalker]

Does anyone else think TRU may be in serious economic trouble? If they need to habitually have these 25-30% off sales to move product, their profit margins must be almost nominal. I'm sure Lego offers TRU most that then 30% off msrp most independent retailers enjoy, but nevertheless, lately it's appeared that TRU is almost putting their inventory on the shelves for an amount close to cost.

I think that if they're in trouble they will probably price their products competitively.

[ncbarrett]

Does anyone else think TRU may be in serious economic trouble? If they need to habitually have these 25-30% off sales to move product, their profit margins must be almost nominal. I'm sure Lego offers TRU most that then 30% off msrp most independent retailers enjoy, but nevertheless, lately it's appeared that TRU is almost putting their inventory on the shelves for an amount close to cost.

I was considering this thought too, along with why the BOGO 50% instead of strait up 25% discount.
I believe for the same reason.

Very few sets are same price, so they are not actually giving a 25% sale.
The average populace buys 2 different priced sets and doesn't utilize the sale.

Therefore TRU isn't being as generous as it seems.
TRU is shifty like that.

[slacker]

The average customer at TRU, from my observation, are buying a $70 set and a $12 set as a filler. These BOGO sales are to TRU's advantage. With the markup, nobody is saving anything. They are buying them at MSRP.

[legohunter]

Exactly, that's why I am not too excited for BOGO deal unless I need to pick up two same set, and it is rare. The last advantage I took from BOGO was a purchase of two battle packs.