Notorious Guf Posted February 26, 2013 Posted February 26, 2013 That's what I was thinking. Other than their Clearance items, I can't remember then having a % off sale in awhile. Even the Clearance items aren't really moving in my local store. I wouldn't hold your breath on them having a sale either. Toy sale time sure, but as you are probably aware, they went through a dramatic change a while ago with a new MD who has changed the way they operate & turned them back into making a profit. They have more of a Big W mentality now, so rarely have sales, just "Everyday Low Prices" & trading at all hours of the day. Target have regular sales as they are all Full RRP or more, so they need to do something if they are ever likely to attract customers.
TanTile Posted February 26, 2013 Posted February 26, 2013 From what I have heard the reason K-Mart no longer have fantastic Clearance prices now compared to last year, is because LEGO came down hard on them when they found out they where selling sets below cost. Hence no great deals any more I miss those nice surprises when i scan a random set...
jonwil Posted February 26, 2013 Posted February 26, 2013 What I dont get is, given how much both K-Mart and Big W have been pushing their "low prices everywhere" mentality (just like the supermarkets) why toys seems to be one of the few categories where they DON'T go for the "undercut everyone else and make it up via low overheads and high volumes" business model.
Darth Malgus Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 Do Lego have the right legally to tell someone what they can sell their product for? if that is so then why don't we have comparable prices to the US? I understand that there is a RRP for a reason, however I thought it was the ACCC job to sought what is fair and what is not.
jonwil Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 Plenty of examples where manufacturers/distributors/wholesalers try and force price limits on retailers. Apple for example is well known for dictating prices for iPads/iPods/iPhones and limiting the ability of retailers to discount. The movie studios have some level of control over what price movie theaters charge for tickets. Certain premium electrical brands (like Miele for example) have agreements in place that prevent retailers from offering discounts or negotiating on price. There are probably other examples too.
TheDarkness Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 Speaking with the owner of a small toy store today, and he says in Australia that Lego ship the items to his store for free, but in turn tell him he has to charge the RRP as a condition. Obviously there has to be some leeway for discounts, but he openly said at RRP he makes about 40% profit per set. I have known this guy for awhile, but whether or not he is BSing me, I don't know. Still, on top of that though you have to factor in all the running costs of a physical store. Take it for what it's worth
shawn_low Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 I don't recall Kmart ever doing % off sales. But their clearance deals are usually good. In addition, their items are generally priced below AUD RRP. Recent 'good' deals include $129 Jabba's Palace. RRP is $199. Desert Skiff was $35 against $50 RRP. Still waiting for their Space Shuttle 10231 to go on clearance.
TheDarkness Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 I don't recall Kmart ever doing % off sales. But their clearance deals are usually good. In addition, their items are generally priced below AUD RRP. Recent 'good' deals include $129 Jabba's Palace. RRP is $199. Desert Skiff was $35 against $50 RRP. Still waiting for their Space Shuttle 10231 to go on clearance. I am waiting for the Shuttle to go on clearance as well. It is rather suprising it hasn't. Jabba's Palace just isn't moving off the shelves at my local store, but if they reduce it further again I will probably grab another couple
shawn_low Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 Speaking with the owner of a small toy store today, and he says in Australia that Lego ship the items to his store for free, but in turn tell him he has to charge the RRP as a condition. Obviously there has to be some leeway for discounts, but he openly said at RRP he makes about 40% profit per set. I have known this guy for awhile, but whether or not he is BSing me, I don't know. Still, on top of that though you have to factor in all the running costs of a physical store. Take it for what it's worth Very enlightening information. I do know that the book publishing industry works on similar margins. Books are sold to stores by distributors at 40-50% less than RRP. Stores have high overheads, staffing etc so I would say that most of that 40% RRP would need to be ploughed back into the business. Sadly.
TheDarkness Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 Very enlightening information. I do know that the book publishing industry works on similar margins. Books are sold to stores by distributors at 40-50% less than RRP. Stores have high overheads, staffing etc so I would say that most of that 40% RRP would need to be ploughed back into the business. Sadly. Pretty much. He was pretty forthright about it all. He doesn't hold any of the large sets, because he figures to get the smaller ones in might move more on impulse buys to start with with the potential to progress further. Any orders have to be by the carton, however many of that particular set fit in is what he has to buy. What he spends on Lego isn't that much. He has had the store for 7 months or so, and his biggest month he spent $4200 on Lego to top up the shelves. They get updated lists every week saying what is available to them (how I wish I could see those!) It definitely was an insightful discussion, what it takes to run a store and dealing with Lego, and what not. At least he wasn't charging $6 for a packet of Series 9 Minifigs (shame on you K-Mart)
Darth Malgus Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 when I worked in sports retail Adidas, Nike, Puma all had similar philosphy, spend x and we ship free although tehy didn't care what you sold it at as long as you kept buying from them. Does anyone know who is getting the Barc Speeder set in this year? 75012: http://shop.lego.com/en-AU/BARC-Speeder-with-Sidecar-75012
howie28 Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 I always presume that here in Australia all the exclusive sets are at Toys r Us or S@H.
TheDarkness Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 I always presume that here in Australia all the exclusive sets are at Toys r Us or S@H. Not necessarilly. Target has the Harry Potter Dialon Alley set as an exclusive, and I am sure K-Mart had the Shuttle exclusively
howie28 Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 (edited) Oh, forget them. But I think the Star Wars ones are either TRU or Toyworld Edited February 27, 2013 by howie28
KartoffelViking Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 TMNT sets spotted at Big W Golden Grove (Adelaide) today.
howie28 Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 Hopefully because they have a March release date, that means HF will be on the way too.
Notorious Guf Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 (edited) Plenty of examples where manufacturers/distributors/wholesalers try and force price limits on retailers. Apple for example is well known for dictating prices for iPads/iPods/iPhones and limiting the ability of retailers to discount. The movie studios have some level of control over what price movie theaters charge for tickets. Certain premium electrical brands (like Miele for example) have agreements in place that prevent retailers from offering discounts or negotiating on price. There are probably other examples too. They all have different ways of dealing, but none of them tell the retailer how much they have to sell for. Apple offer an extremely low margin, somewhere around 3%. Retailers want Apple product not to make a lot of money on the hardware but on the accessories. Miele work in another way altogether by not giving the retailer any Margin. When you buy Miele, you infact are buying direct from them & the retailer is acting as an agent who then receives a commision from Miele. You will also notice that retailers are unable to offer any kind of incentive, discount or bonus with Miele to encourage a customer to buy from them. As for LEGO offering free shipping in return for selling at RRP, I somehow find that hard to believe & at least am fairly sure that is not entirely legal. Wholesalers will often give free to store delivery for orders over a particular value & a margin of around 40% I think is fairly common amongst most product categories when it comes to brand name products (not the 100%+ that many customers think). Edited February 27, 2013 by Notorious Guf
Darth Malgus Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 The exclusives have been more spread over the last year or so for star wars. Big W had the UCS 10221 SSD, Target had the UCS 10225 R2, K-Mart had Pre - Vizsla's fighter, Toys R Us had the Y-Wing, that's from memory and my spreadsheet that I keep for my collection, the last Toyworld exclusive for star wars was The Battle of Endor, with Ahsoka's JSF before that.
jonwil Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 I think that (if its not already the case) the law should be changed to make it illegal for any wholesaler or distributor to tell ANY retails what price they have to sell at or otherwise attempt to set minimum retail prices or minimum advertized prices.
Fenaughty Posted February 28, 2013 Posted February 28, 2013 Catch of the day has rebel trooper BP for $19.99 http://www.catchoftheday.com.au/event/18338/product/lego-star-wars-rebel-trooper-pack-89682
jtr Posted February 28, 2013 Posted February 28, 2013 myer has 20% off lego. they have a good selection of new stuff. i ended up getting some base plates
shawn_low Posted February 28, 2013 Posted February 28, 2013 Spotted TMNT at Big W Victoria today. The 79103 Turtle Lair Attack was $75 and the Street Chase Van 79104 was $88. There was also the small set Kaang Attack 79100 for $18.72. PS: Myer 20% off Lego good till 3 March.
Fenaughty Posted February 28, 2013 Posted February 28, 2013 10221 for $498 at Big W online only http://www.bigw.com.au/toys/construction/lego/star-wars/bpnBIGW_0000000306948/lego-star-wars-super-star-destroyer-10221
Darth Malgus Posted February 28, 2013 Posted February 28, 2013 The Empire Strikes out dvd is due on the 13/03 for $15.92 according to Big W and a lego Star Wars search.
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