Increase in prices at Target?

[rezlo]

Hi I've been to 2 targets this week looking for any clearance sets but instead I found the newer wave of hobbit sets marked up. Ambush was 23, elf army 34 and lake town chase 57. Is this at all targets of just the 2 I go to in Chicago? They didn't have the larger battle set. Is Target going the way of TRU? Just thought it was odd

[rezlo]

Just looked at their website. Ambush is under 18$ and the other 3 sets are retail. Makes no sense to me. Will Target in store price match if I show them their own website? Thx for any advice or help

[ezra]

I live in SoCal, between LA and OC, and I've also noticed this in various targets of more wealthier locations.

On a side note, I also collect hot wheels when I see any that I like. And even the price increase is noticeable in hot wheels. Usually, hot wheels are 97 cents, and in the richer neighborhoods, their targets have hot wheels price at 1.27.

It definitely depends where you are.

[The-Daryl]

Wow!

I first noticed "weird" Target Online prices just after Black Friday (whenever they had that Cartwheel 50% off 6869 coupon) - The Quinjet is a $69.99 set; but online it was listed at $84.99 (and was until just recently it went back down to $70). But every store in my area that still had some in stock were regular price.

I've yet to see any above retail IN stores, but several sets online seem to have a small mark up that comes and goes (but it's mostly sets that are OOS - Loki's Cube $25, Chopper Showdown $27, etc).

I was hoping it was just a glitch/mistake due to high volume of sales and promotions during the holiday season. It's horrible to hear they are marking some stuff up in store.

@Rezlo Target will price match themselves, or anyone else. You just have to go to customer service and request it. You can also add your red card 5% discount to the price match, which makes them a great option for those of us in a state that amazon charges tax in.

[bea]

Target in my area has been marking up in-store prices above MSRP for Lego for a few years now.

Another trend I saw is that when they do their first cut 15% markdown on Lego, they would first mark UP the MSRP by 15% and then call it clearance. You'd see things like a set with a real MSRP of $19.99 with a sticker that claims the regular price is $21.05 on "clearance" for $20.01.

[lego the hutt]

There was a thread about this last year so this isn't new. I have seen it in stores in a Target or 2, but they are always in more densely populated areas (in and around the Portland Oregon area is where I have noticed it). As soon as you get to Targets that are in smaller areas the prices go back to MSRP.

[lego the hutt]

A quick search brought up the old Target price increase thread. It is from 2012 so this has been going on for awhile.

http://www.toysnbricks.com/forums/viewt ... ice#p49026" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rezlo]

Thanks for all the feedback. I didn't realize this had already occurred at lots of Targets in different areas. Thanks for the price match advice too. I'm still new (under a year) to Lego and the site as well.