Hello,

I'm having a problem right now with purchasing some LEGO in the United States. First, let me tell the story, it won't take much time.

During my visit in New York three years ago, I visted the LEGO Store at Rockefeller Center and it was a terrific experience. I was in my dark ages back then, so I didn't buy anything, but when I came back home, I started searching information to see what's new in the world of Lego, and a few monthes later, I became an AFOL. Of course, I found the pricing diversity between the US and the rest of the world as well, so I almost immediately pitied not buying anything while in New York.

Since then, whenever someone close travels to America, I ask them to buy me some LEGO. Later that year, my sister and her husband visited NY right before Christmas and I asked her to buy me two smallest Dino sets ($13 and $20). It was my Christmas present, though, so I don't know the exact prices.

I asked my friend to bring me two $20 Super Heroes sets a year later. However, he didn't visit the official store and bought them for $25 each in Toys'R'Us. It was weird, but I supposed TRU has higher prices and let it go.

Right now, my brother is in New York. You guess right, I asked him to buy me two smaller GOTG sets ($20 and $40). However, as usual, thing didn't go smoothly. Brother sent an email claiming he had gone to Rockefeller Center and they sell the smaller one for $24 and the bigger one for outstanding $63. I said he might have made a mistake, he said he was right, a shop assistant helped him locate the sets by looking at the pictures I provided, and that the price may differ.

All right, finally to my question. How does buying LEGO in US work? Is there a tax included in the official prices? Are shops such TRU more expensive? Is it possible for a set to have 50 % higher price in the official store? I will welcome any help explaining this conundrum.

Thanks.

What I know is: TRU are expensive than LEGO and yes, Tax is applied in Total amount...

Edited September 21, 201410 yr by VintageLegoEra

What you've experienced is the only official LEGO store in the continental US that sells sets above regular retail price. I believe it's because the rent is so high in Rockefeller Center. All other LEGO stores sell sets at the correct price, as do the other big chains like Target and Walmart (usually).

Yes, in the U.S., taxes are applied to the base price, and the sales tax varies depending on what city and state you're in. I can't account for New York, as I've never bought Lego there. Most states have a sales tax of around 6%. Some individual cities add their own sales tax, so you might pay an additional 1% based on location.

A few states have *no* sales tax and you're just paying base price. Delaware is about 2 hours south of New York and has no sales tax. I occasionally take trips through Delaware, and the Christiana Mall is off exit 4 of Interstate 95 and has a Lego Store, so I like to stop there for some tax-free shopping. That's probably not convenient for your purposes, but keep it in mind just in case someone does go to Delaware instead of NY.

Your best bet for buying Lego in the U.S. are places like Wal-Mart and Target since they sell at the advertised base price. They will occassionally have sales where a few dollars are knocked off, and you will also sometimes find sets on clearance for 30 to 50% off. This is not something you can rely on, but I have scored some good prices at both stores.

You can also use the Toys N Bricks blog to find out what sales/discounts are happening when your relatives or friends are visiting the U.S.A. or Canada.

http://toysnbricks.com/

Like most things, what happens in NYC is not representative in most cases of what happens in 'fly over country' where I live.

Sales tax out here in California is between 8 and 9% most places, 9% where I live. 6% would be nice! Haha. Definitely need to do some research when traveling.

There is a second LEGO store opening in Manhattan soon. Perhaps it will have prices more in line with stores in the rest of the country.

According to the internet, NYC sales tax on "most personal property" is 8.875%, which would be on top of the listed price. And a lot of retail is marked up in Manhattan to begin with.

I have visited the NYC Rockafeller LEGO store and can confirm that it does charge prices above LEGO retail. It is the only store I have ever seen do this. I even asked and they said it was due to the location.

Thank you all for your responses and tips. I broadened my horizons about shopping in America - for example, I had not idea the tax differs between the states. I wrote to my brother and he's now trying luck in the toy stores along the way. No success yet, but I'm crossing my fingers. Thank you once again, you all have been very helpful!

There is also a Lego store in the Staten Island mall in New York. I am not sure if they have the markup. If someone were to be touring NY, they could always ride the free ferry from Manhattan to Staten Island. Not sure how far the mall is from the ferry, but maybe that would be a way to avoid the Rockefeller Center markup. As for the new Manhattan store on 5th avenue, my guess would be that it too would have inflated prices. It is probably the cost of rent that forces these stores to sell the sets for more.

+1 to buying at the big stores, Target and Wal-Mart to get the actual TLG prices.

Another way to get around paying sales tax is by ordering on Amazon. They also often have prices lower than even the big box stores, so it's a double win. I just bought 75055 and 75054 for $10 below RRP each; no sales tax, and free 2-day shipping. Its a better deal that going through TLG on double-points month.

The only thing is having a U.S. address. I wonder if Amazon would ship to a hotel room....

Just to answer one question that I didn't see in my skimming, yes ToysRUs does mark all of their sets at least 20% more than anywhere else. This practice really sucks in October when they do the Bricktober stuff, but for the most part I have stopped going to TRU for anything but polybags as they seem to get the new ones and Walmart never has any although I did just see some new ones at Target.

Standard Price on all the GOTG here is $19.99 plus tax for the cheapest set 76019 Starblaster Showdown, $39.99 plus tax for the Knowhere Escape set 76020 and $74.99 plus tax for the Milano spaceship set 76021

Pretty much everything is taxed here in the US...while there are states that have no state sales tax and some places allow you to get away with no federal taxes on some things, you still end up paying federal taxes on things like gasoline and such. For Delaware they pay a state income tax, so for folks who just go through and buy things it is a good deal, but if they get gas, they have to pay that federal tax. There are also property taxes too...it's a fun system.

You have federal tax and then state taxes, which may be at 0% on goods, but the state income tax is X%...where I live we pay the federal tax on goods and services, the added state tax on goods and services and then if you are in a large city, you have a city tax. That is why Rockefeller Center is so high, you are paying all 3, NYC has a city sales tax I believe as well. In California, same thing...Los Angeles pays base federal, base state and base city tax on purchases so this all adds up to 10% of the price.

We also pay income tax to the federal and state govts at the end of the year and also on personal property such as cars, boats, things like that...so when you add it up in total, the US pays around 45% taxes of our total income every year (there are a lot of other taxes that come into play for other things too like capital gains on shares of equity sold and all kinds of financial instruments as well, plus if you have a certain instrument and sell early you get penalized and taxed)

This is why our government has so much money to send aid around the world and give fighter planes to Egypt and all that...the American people pay for it and so do tourists when they buy the goods and services. Fun eh?

Just to answer one question that I didn't see in my skimming, yes ToysRUs does mark all of their sets at least 20% more than anywhere else. This practice really sucks in October when they do the Bricktober stuff, but for the most part I have stopped going to TRU for anything but polybags as they seem to get the new ones and Walmart never has any although I did just see some new ones at Target.

Actually, Toys 'R' Us is a lot better than they used to be about markups. Some sets, like the Legend Beasts from LEGO Legends of Chima, are not marked up, and Toys 'R' Us stores are also now willing to price match pretty much any item carried by their major competitors. Good things to keep in mind if Toys 'R' Us is the only store near you with an extensive LEGO selection!

Sales tax is paid separately from the list price of sets, and varies depending on where you buy them from. Some states have fairly high state sales tax, relatively speaking, while others like New Hampshire have no sales tax at all.

Thank you all for your responses and tips. I broadened my horizons about shopping in America - for example, I had not idea the tax differs between the states. I wrote to my brother and he's now trying luck in the toy stores along the way. No success yet, but I'm crossing my fingers. Thank you once again, you all have been very helpful!

The taxes are weirder. Sales tax is a local thing in most states. Not even a blanket state tax. So sales tax will vary by city or county, not state. Also some states will have a sales tax some will not. Your brother happened to go to the most expensive Lego store in the US and the one with one of the highest tax rates. (NYC is horrible for taxes). In the US sales tax is calculated at the register and is not part of the "advertised" list price for these reasons. (It's also the merchants will not mask the government taxes by bundling them into their pricing.)

From my experience, Toys 'R' Us has greatly reformed their pricing structure in the past year, at least in the United States.. Sets in most themes seem to be priced at MSRP, and for any that aren't, Toys 'R' Us has instituted a price-matching policy where they'll match any price (even a discounted price) from a competitor if you bring proof of the price change like a newspaper insert or flyer.

Sales tax in the U.S. are applied after the base price. Some states (like New Jersey) have a higher sales tax, and some (like New Hampshire) have none at all. Some local governments also institute additional sales taxes, but from my experience as a U.S. resident that's not the norm.

EDIT: Ninja'd by my twin brother!

Edited September 24, 201410 yr by Lyichir

Good to know about TRU, hadn't been there in a long while, thanks for that info. NYC does have high taxes, but oddly enough, here in St Louis, we are not far from the same exact tax rate in the city.

This all leads me to ask what it is like in Europe now...have only been to Ireland and that was way back in the early 2000's prior to the euro and all that, is there a specific tax structure there by country, state/province and city? Australia?

I know in my trip to Taiwan in 2009, it was pretty much a straight up transaction and even in restaurants you didn't tip unless it was fancy, but with the great street food there, we did that mostly.

The only thing is having a U.S. address. I wonder if Amazon would ship to a hotel room....

Yes, they will. Or at least, they certainly used to. I don't know with certainty that they still do.

The problem is if things go wrong, it gets very complicated. I ordered some hardback books from Amazon to a hotel where I was staying in NY. The books arrived damaged even though the packaging was in perfect condition. I complained to Amazon but told them not to send replacements. I was very clear about that and had it in writing. They sent replacements anyway. Naturally, they arrived after I had left the US. Amazon charged me for the replacements. The staff at the hotel were very cool though and returned the books for me, so Amazon refunded the money for the replacements. They also offered to e-mail a voucher by way of apology. I never got the voucher. I wanted to let them know but at the time, there was no way to tell them. I boycotted Amazon for a few years after that.

Taxes....what fun. America. You can own your own home. I owned one in NJ not long ago. But, my property taxes amounted to over $800 a month. So, I was actually renting from the county even though I 'owned' the house. So, that gets me to sales tax just across the river in NYC. Yep, everything should cost more there due to the relatively high tax rate. Plus, labor costs are higher, transportation costs higher, just about everything costs more. Not complaining, not being political, but two plus two equals four, except some places where you need to add an extra two for taxes.

To compare one example, in the UK, VAT is included in listed prices, but it's a higher percentage than US sales tax. There are also Council taxes for your home and income taxes are at a higher level, although there are much more extensive public services. The tax situation in the US isn't unique, it's just different to navigate.

Agree that TRU has improved their pricing, to an extent. My local TRU charges only slightly above MSRP on current sets, but also has a huge stock of sets that are out of production which they routinely mark up about 15-20% of the original MSRP.

I'm lucky to live in a state where tax is only 6% on non-food purchases with no other local city or county taxes tacked on.

Edited September 25, 201410 yr by rodiziorobs

Taxes....what fun. America.

In theory, the tax structure is very simple:

1) If you make money, the government gets a cut.

2) If you spend money, the government gets a cut.

3) If you own anything of value, the government assesses you on a regular basis until you're eventually forced to sell, at which point the government takes a cut

So long as you make nothing, consume nothing and have nothing of any worth, you're fine.

In practice, as the prior post have pointed out, it gets complicated real fast and varies from region to region. Where I live, there's earned income tax, unearned income tax, sales tax, meal tax, gas tax, environmental impact tax, alcohol tax, tobacco tax, property tax, excise tax, appreciation tax on collectables, service tax, etc. After a while you just get used to it and cross state lines to buy Scotch for sixty cents on the dollar compared to the corner store.

Even with US prices, US taxes, and US currency exchange rate, new LEGO sets still come out a better deal in the USA than in most other countries.

where I live we pay the federal tax on goods and services...

There is no federal sales tax in the US