Hobbes Posted June 13, 2005 Author Posted June 13, 2005 It's true, LEGO was never cheap - but it was affordable once. Big sets (like trains in the 80s) always have been expensive but I dare say that the small sets were cheaper - even with taking inflation into account. Quote
Hobbes Posted June 13, 2005 Author Posted June 13, 2005 I'm with you, snefroe1. Your explanations imply some sort of "symmetry", though. By which I mean that percentagewise the products should differ roughly by the same amount. Then how does one explain these two: 7249: USD 49.99 vs EUR 51.99 (AT) 4886: USD 39.99 vs EUR 51.99 (AT) This just defies my sense of logic, expensive or not being ignored. Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 13, 2005 Governor Posted June 13, 2005 It's true, LEGO was never cheap - but it was affordable once. Big sets (like trains in the 80s) always have been expensive but I dare say that the small sets were cheaper - even with taking inflation into account. I didn't think the smallest 4+ Pirate sets were too badly priced. But what LEGO could of done is ridded the sets of those maxi-figures, replaced them with 2 mini-figures and volia! SYSTEM Pirate sets! They would provide bonus pieces for AFOLs and afforable sets to get the kiddies buying them, and hooked on the theme. But no! The maxi-figures spoil it for the AFOLs and the kiddies aint gonna care too much what size the figures are. As for the larger sets... Its not so simple to SYSTEMize them, therefore they seem too expensive. Quote
Jipay Posted June 13, 2005 Posted June 13, 2005 honestly, i haven't a clue how tlc is setting her price, if she's setting her price at all.first, is the production cost of US lego sets the same as european lego sets? Is she producing all sets in billund or for a part in the us? we know there was a company in Korea and there is one in Tsechia. how does TLC come to her final price in Europe and the US? I don't know. second, there are also other costs, next to TLC's cost, like transport costs, coming from Maersk and local distribution companies. these costs will be much different in the US and Europe. oil prices are after all very different in europe and the US. then there is the wholesailer. he also takes a cut. Wages in europe and the US are very different either. finally, the retailer, even tho TRU clearly is a multinational. he also takes a cut. in the end the customer pays an extra 21% in Belgium, probably in the rest of europe as well. in some other parts of the world, there probably is an extra import tax as well... there's also the evolution of currencies. the dollar is very weak. not a good thing for TLC. what any EU company does right now to deal with this, is to decrease profit margins in Europe, and increase margins in the US. that is why EU companies survive right now, with this high euro. they limit profit margins and costs in europe as much as possible. I assume TLc is doing the same; unfortunately, i have a feeling that they don't... the difference between us and europe is not only based on vat, but also on wages, oil prices, profit margins of the actors of the economic pipeline... that explains the differece. all these elements are part of the final price; we all know that the european social-economic model is very different to the American model, so it's inevitable that prices are as well. it's always been this way, but thanks to the internet and globalisation, we now see the difference. my guess is that TLC tries to get an equal profit margin in Europe and the US. but because life is more expensive in Europe than in the Us, it's very logical to assume that tlc's products will be more expensive in Europe. but it is possible that TLC uses one continent against the other and tries to get a larger profit margin in the US than in europe, since costs are a lot higher here than in the US. that would allow TLC to decrease her profit margins here in Europe in order to become more competitive against the new players in this market. then there is the SAH. at first you would have to say that it is a ripp off. after all, SAH follows the local prices, even tho they're offering exactly the same products all over the world while costs are minimal and the same all over the world. it suggests that tlc's taking huge profits in Europe. however, i don't really know how large/expensive the european structure of TLC as a company is in al the different countries of the EU, compared to the Us structure; it seems to me that the local SAH simply follows local prices because costs on infrastructure in europe are a lot higher and they might be acused of dumping,... I have to disagree. I made finance and economics and nothing logical, even oil can explain such a huge difference. There is a real problem here. Having this kind of price difference is not possible, especially since the difference should be the same for all the sets then. For this one, there is a particular gap Quote
xwingyoda Posted June 13, 2005 Posted June 13, 2005 well we all talk about how ridiculous the price of the Crawler but here is the worse The Isd is 299$ (that = 247 Quote
Jipay Posted June 13, 2005 Posted June 13, 2005 Yes, I agree, the isd is ridiculous. I took mine in Canada, cause it wouldn't have been possible to buy it in Europe :'( Quote
snefroe Posted June 13, 2005 Posted June 13, 2005 i bought mine from an american. saved me quite a lot of money as well... Quote
xwingyoda Posted June 13, 2005 Posted June 13, 2005 like a stupid beeeeeep bought mine here at SAH *wacko* , oh well, it was a nice bday present ;) Quote
Jipay Posted June 13, 2005 Posted June 13, 2005 I wander how we could do for the deathstar. thanks god it's ugly :-D Quote
Darth_Ewok Posted June 14, 2005 Posted June 14, 2005 It's true, LEGO was never cheap - but it was affordable once. Big sets (like trains in the 80s) always have been expensive but I dare say that the small sets were cheaper - even with taking inflation into account. Well, the prices now are affordable for some children, at the school I go to kids are walking around with cell-phones and I-pods that their parents bought for them, a lego set is alot less then that! Alot of kids are so spoiled... >:( stuff is more expensive in part because (as shown above) kids nowadays have more money to spend, and alot of them don't earn it, they just beg their parents for it! Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 14, 2005 Governor Posted June 14, 2005 Where is this money coming from? Also with the portable phones, they also require ongoing funding to make out going calls and messages. That's an expense I didn't have when I was a kiddie. Quote
snefroe Posted June 14, 2005 Posted June 14, 2005 It's true, LEGO was never cheap - but it was affordable once. Big sets (like trains in the 80s) always have been expensive but I dare say that the small sets were cheaper - even with taking inflation into account. Well, the prices now are affordable for some children, at the school I go to kids are walking around with cell-phones and I-pods that their parents bought for them, a lego set is alot less then that! Alot of kids are so spoiled... >:( stuff is more expensive in part because (as shown above) kids nowadays have more money to spend, and alot of them don't earn it, they just beg their parents for it! i agree completely. if you look at modern toys, including traditional games, like Clues, chess, stratego,... they're all rather expensive, but they're stil being sold in large numbers. but also the so called "good toys" , like books are not cheap. you also see an entire music industry rising up, making lots and lots of money by producing, and selling, songs/albums for children. it seems to me that parents are willing to cut their own budget and the family budget just so they can buy whatever their children want... we also underestimate the influence children are having on the decision making at home. For instance, it seems children have a very important influence on what car the family purchases, where to go on holiday,... Quote
Darth_Ewok Posted June 14, 2005 Posted June 14, 2005 it seems children have a very important influence on what car the family purchases, where to go on holiday,... You can say that again, my Mom mentions vacation just once... My sister: Can we please go to Blah Blah Blah PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE! PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE! PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE! My Mom and I are thinking: We never asked her! :-D Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 14, 2005 Governor Posted June 14, 2005 My parents weren't that generous... They said go earn your own money to buy your LEGO and we're not even going to give you any for your birthday! Most of the LEGO I didn't buy myself came from my other relatives on those special occassions... Quote
Darth_Ewok Posted June 14, 2005 Posted June 14, 2005 My parents weren't that generous... They said go earn your own money to buy your LEGO and we're not even going to give you any for your birthday! Most of the LEGO I didn't buy myself came from my other relatives on those special occassions... hmmm... I am in a similar situation, I get an allowance from my parents, but work alot and they don't often buy lego for me on my birthday or christmas Quote
eDeevo Posted June 14, 2005 Posted June 14, 2005 I still don't understand how you guys do it in other countries... the prices many of you have to pay for LEGO would probably keep me out of collecting entirely... if any of you ever need any help locating anything at a cheaper price (discounted or not) within the USA, I'd be more than happy to help you out... Life is Good. Quote
Governor Mister Phes Posted June 14, 2005 Governor Posted June 14, 2005 I've noticed on eBay that LEGO in the USA sells for a lot cheaper than it does here. But that seems to be because not as many people bid on it. I see many great assortments of Pirate related pieces pass through eBay, but due to the postage it would cost to get sent to me, it wouldn't be such a lucrative anymore. So while it may be cheaper to source LEGO in the USA, the postage costs kinda spoils that the rest of the world... Quote
snefroe Posted June 14, 2005 Posted June 14, 2005 I still don't understand how you guys do it in other countries... the prices many of you have to pay for LEGO would probably keep me out of collecting entirely... if any of you ever need any help locating anything at a cheaper price (discounted or not) within the USA, I'd be more than happy to help you out... Life is Good. well... our average wages/salaries are higher than in the US. i think that makes a difference... Quote
xwingyoda Posted June 14, 2005 Posted June 14, 2005 I still don't understand how you guys do it in other countries... the prices many of you have to pay for LEGO would probably keep me out of collecting entirely... if any of you ever need any help locating anything at a cheaper price (discounted or not) within the USA, I'd be more than happy to help you out... Life is Good. well... our average wages/salaries are higher than in the US. i think that makes a difference... so are our taxes... (and life is more expensive...). Quote
snefroe Posted June 14, 2005 Posted June 14, 2005 i know... still... i can't say that the average belgian doesn't have all the stuff the american has, so... in fact, we're saving a lot more money than the average american as well... Quote
Jipay Posted June 14, 2005 Posted June 14, 2005 We also have one job, whereas in the USA a lot of people have 2. But still, lego speaking, we cannot afford as many Lego sets as people in the USA. Especially when I see sales on Xwings for 20$... This will never happen in Europe :'( Quote
eDeevo Posted June 15, 2005 Posted June 15, 2005 We also have one job, whereas in the USA a lot of people have 2. But still, lego speaking, we cannot afford as many Lego sets as people in the USA. Especially when I see sales on Xwings for 20$... This will never happen in Europe :'( Wage-wise, I cannot compare to others right now (the US Gov'ment dosen't pay us soldiers well), but because in instances like the recent sale at my local Wal-Mart, where they had the newer X-Wing for $12.50, & the fact that it took over 4 months for them to finally sell them all off, provides me with ample opportunity to continue collecting LEGO without fear of spending great deals of $$. Like I said, deals like this are fairly commonplace within this country... which is mainly the only reason I buy newer sets at all... otherwise I'd just stick to buying Classic Castle & (older) Pirate LEGO sets & minifigs on eBay & bricklink (or trading for them from good folks like yourselves)... :-D Life is Good. Quote
Hobbes Posted June 15, 2005 Author Posted June 15, 2005 I'm in the lucky position that my girlfriend's sister lives in the States. She visits "home" twice a year, my girlfriend and I visit her once a year and the parents go there, too. That's at least 4 opportunities to "collect" LEGO and bring it with me or have it brought to me. I got my 5 Santa Fe cars for about EUR 23 each on a US S@H sale instead of EUR 39.99 at the "local" S@H. My (extended) 4511 cost me a bit more than half of what it costs here. And straight tracks at regular US-price are even cheaper than on bricklink (let alone eBay "Europe") :o If I didn't have that connection I don't know if I had that much LEGO |-/ Quote
Hobbes Posted June 15, 2005 Author Posted June 15, 2005 7344 is around EUR 20 in Europe (stores or S@H) and I just found it on TRU/amazon.com for $29.99 which at the current exchange rate comes to EUR 24.93. That's the first item I see that is more expensive in the States. Unfortunately it's one I don't like ;) Quote
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