Aussie sales! Share the news of LOCAL sales!

[natelite]

Has anyone noticed that the Star Wars Endor set 8038 has been taken of the Australian Lego.com sale site?

It's now listed as unavailable?

Anyone herd anything?

i wouldn't be too worried. the set is still in the 2010 catalog so you can still get it at RRP for at least 6 more months.

[jonwil]

If you want 2009 sets (or even what 2008 sets are left), try Toyworld before you try Shop @ Home.

Toyworld almost never seems to discount stuff and different stores may have different stock. Plus (as one Toyworld employee said to me), they order everything LEGO Australia will sell to them and dont "pick and choose" in the way some of the big chains would do.

Toyworld prices will vary from store to store but should be at the most the same as Shop @ home (I have never seen a Toyworld that charges above Shop @ Home) plus you don't have to pay shipping or wait for the stuff to get here.

Shop @ Home is good if you absolutely HAVE to have 2010 sets NOW and cant wait though.

[Svelte]

I have never seen a Toyworld that charges above Shop @ Home

That may be so, but I don't think it's any accident that both their Exclusives from 2008 (Ahsoka's Starfighter at $80 and Endor at $200) were significantly above what the RRP of comparable sets would normally be. This means that the price was effectively driven up, especially for those of us nowhere near a Toyworld who had to buy them from S@H anyway.

My advice? Wait for starwarshop.com to have another one of their 25% off sales

[d00dz]

Looks like the Imperial Flagship is now "Backorders accepted, expected ship date 29 Jan 2010"

[xNick]

Looks like the Imperial Flagship is now "Backorders accepted, expected ship date 29 Jan 2010"

Glad I impulse bought it on Friday, so hopefully I get it before then.

That said, I also picked up Market Street which is on back order so I'm not too worried.

[peterab]

I'm disappointed in you DarthSion. I've always seen it as rather obvious.

S@H tries to not compete with other retailers. They charge an inflated RRP which allow other stores to go under it, and they almost only have sales for clearance purposes. If S@H competed with retailers many would not stock LEGO, and that would be to the detriment of TLG. In time I can see S@H being the best place to buy LEGO... but it'll be at least another 5 years.

Do you agree with my logic or do you think I'm wrong? (I have no proof.)

I'll except your argument gambit at the risk of the ban-hammer

I doubt it will be within five or even ten years, though it's possible. At the moment most sales happen via retail stores, and most of those are large chains who essentially have a stranglehold so can dictate terms; like S@H wont sell below RRP and we will get bulk discounts. This leaves the large chains as the only places that can effectively discount, and hence they also have the largest turnover. It would take a huge economic change for TLG to decide to risk the sales via these chains by selling discounted on S@H.

Compare with the airline industry, many went broke because they paid commision to travel agents on their fare sales. It wasn't the major airlines that risked breaking that relationship it was the budget airlines, who came in and undercut. To some extent it _was_ the major airlines, but with a different paint job so they could claim they weren't. What forced the change was oil prices got to the point that flying became too expensive for enough people that less people could afford it, coupled with 9/11. Except for those rather exceptional circumstances it may never have happened.

I can see the Lego brand stores as a more likely compeditor. a) they dont have to charge shipping b) They can stock exclusives c) If they order enough (and I'd guess they would be counted together rather than individual stores) TLG may be able to justify bulk discounts if other chains asked. For this to be successful they'd need enough Lego stores in each market to be able to compete in sales, that will take time, so this will aslo not be within 5 years here. I'm very interested in watching the US market though. We already have indications that TLG is subsidising that market. They could return to a heathier profit margin if they sold at similar prices yet exclusively through their own retail franchise.

S@H needs to have free shipping and discounted prices before they become a serious competitor to retail chains in Australia. At the moment the S@H ships in bulk to a third party remailer in Sydney I think, who then mails out individual orders. If they were serious about S@H, they would need to remove this third party. To compete effectively here they'd probably have to have a dedicated S@H warehouse, but TLG simply isn't interested in Australia as a market as we are no-where near big enough for the hassle.

[Siegfried]

I'll except your argument gambit at the risk of the ban-hammer

I read it twice, and I could swear you actually agree with me! I don't see it happening in five years either; that's why I said at least. I especially agree that S@H needs a local warehouse. It's insane that they send out sets from Europe when they often have the same sets here already!

[jonwil]

All the evidence I have seen suggests that the big retailers (especially K-Mart, Target and Big W who seem to be the top 3 in terms of sales and market share) are applying pressure on LEGO Australia to give them preferential treatment vs Shop @ Home and smaller stores. My guess is that we will see less product (and later-arriving product) in various smaller retailers and independents (especially those who dont buy directly from LEGO Australia but buy through a 3rd party wholesaler)

[peterab]

All the evidence I have seen suggests that the big retailers (especially K-Mart, Target and Big W who seem to be the top 3 in terms of sales and market share) are applying pressure on LEGO Australia to give them preferential treatment vs Shop @ Home and smaller stores. My guess is that we will see less product (and later-arriving product) in various smaller retailers and independents (especially those who dont buy directly from LEGO Australia but buy through a 3rd party wholesaler)

I think the main problem is TLG doesn't really care about the Australian market that much anyway. It's not big enough to be important to them. I doubt our retailers have the clout to apply much pressure, but I bet Walmart does.

Edited January 3, 2010 by peterab

[jonwil]

They dont have the clout to apply to TLG but they DO have the clout to apply pressure to LEGO Australia to get deals and exclusives (both regular-run sets that are exclusive to one retailer like the wind turbine and special sets like the death star) and for LEGO Australia to favor the big chains vs the small guys.

[peterab]

I read it twice, and I could swear you actually agree with me! I don't see it happening in five years either; that's why I said at least. I especially agree that S@H needs a local warehouse. It's insane that they send out sets from Europe when they often have the same sets here already!

It's not insane if we pay the shipping charge. Of course it does make it far more likely I'll buy mine through US S@H. I doubt we'll get our own S@H warehouse anytime soon because we're just not a big enough market. I'd love to see a Lego store in either Sydney or Melbourne though. That would have the same effect of removing the shipping and make exclusives locally available.

They dont have the clout to apply to TLG but they DO have the clout to apply pressure to LEGO Australia to get deals and exclusives (both regular-run sets that are exclusive to one retailer like the wind turbine and special sets like the death star) and for LEGO Australia to favor the big chains vs the small guys.

I'm pretty sure those exclusives follow TLG's global model, and the larger retailers are offered them first. The S@H exclusives like the Death Star, Emerald Night and modular houses may be offered to retailers here as exclusives purely to increase interest in them in this market, and hopefully boost online sales, or to clear remainders. Lego Australia probably favors the big guys simply because its easier.

[Svelte]

That would have the same effect of removing the shipping and make exclusives locally available.

The downside of that would be that LEGO might decide not to distribute a spread of Exclusives to the major retailers like K-Mart and David Jones, so there would be no deep discounting as we've had during the July sales. We are kind of lucky in that regard.

[Whittleberry]

The downside of that would be that LEGO might decide not to distribute a spread of Exclusives to the major retailers like K-Mart and David Jones, so there would be no deep discounting as we've had during the July sales. We are kind of lucky in that regard.

Yes, this is the single reason I wouldn't want a Shop here. I'm not sure how the positives weigh up against that though...

In other news, do you reckon the $300 Fire Brigade means DJs will be selling it? I'm wondering if shipito will be a better option, as we're likely to only get a 20% discount on it, and that's assuming there's a sale before the eBay ripoff resellers snaffle them all.

Edited January 3, 2010 by Whittleberry

[d00dz]

The problem with ordering from USA is the shipping charge if you are using shipto.

I was planning (still am) but not sure if I will go through with ordering 3 of the Green Grocers then have shipto send it to me.

As im not sure how much they weight it's a gamble.

What do you guys think? Since it's on special if you buy 3 from the USA S@H.

[DarthSion]

Why use that when you can buy from bricklink.

[d00dz]

Why use that when you can buy from bricklink.

It's $119 as opposed to $149.

Dunno never really used bricklink.

If I lived in USA i'd buy so many lego items and resell and make a mint!

When I visit USA i'll definately take a empty suitcase/bag and stash it with so much lego when I get home. Like that guy that took the Millenium Falcon as hand luggage. lol

Edited January 3, 2010 by d00dz

[I Scream Clone]

The problem with ordering from USA is the shipping charge if you are using shipto.

I was planning (still am) but not sure if I will go through with ordering 3 of the Green Grocers then have shipto send it to me.

As im not sure how much they weight it's a gamble.

What do you guys think? Since it's on special if you buy 3 from the USA S@H.

When in doubt about weight and shipping charges, just consult Bricklink's catalog. It gives you box dimensions and weight etc allowing you to work out roughly what shipping will be using calculators on postage websites like USPS and Aus Post

[lightningtiger]

I have it on good information that Lego Australia acts on behalf of TLG in Australia, that's why the Lego Club membership cost 20 bucks here and overseas it's free except for the Brickmaster setup in the USA. Sometimes it's too our advantage that we are a smaller player, we will end up with exclusives that the rest of the world have to buy S@H or in Lego branded stores. Take the Castle one for Target, the Emerald Night at Myers, they are examples of exclusives that I don't believe were offered in Walmarts or Sears stores in the US (hey if I'm wrong tell me).

But here is an odd thing - the Pirate Tank for CW was first offered as an exculsive in Target stores in the US, then in Australian Targets - funny thing they are both controlled by two totally different companies !?!

Sadly we don't get to hear what goes on behind closed doors of toy makers and toy retailiers, for what is made and who sells what ?

Last thing, S@H prices are odd, some things over priced and others are cheap.

P.S. I still see the wind turbines at BigW for $58.88 (note Lego S@H is still $ 79.99 au, but $ 59.99 us) - note BigW stores are partly modelled on Walmart style stores.

[peterab]

The downside of that would be that LEGO might decide not to distribute a spread of Exclusives to the major retailers like K-Mart and David Jones, so there would be no deep discounting as we've had during the July sales. We are kind of lucky in that regard.

Well some of us are lucky since the numbers in stock never seem to be enough to meet demand in my experiance. It's OK for people like me who set their own work hours, because I can be in the store first thing on the morning of the sale. For the vast majority they miss out anyway.

For example I got two of the six Emerald Nights that my local Myer got, and two of the four MMV my nearest Target that had them got. Many many of the members of MUGS, my local LUG, missed out despite being aware of the sales and going to multiple stores. The rarity also encourages people to stock up for Bricklink which makes the situation worse.

The problem with ordering from USA is the shipping charge if you are using shipto.

I was planning (still am) but not sure if I will go through with ordering 3 of the Green Grocers then have shipto send it to me.

As im not sure how much they weight it's a gamble.

What do you guys think? Since it's on special if you buy 3 from the USA S@H.

I've ordered two modular firestations from US S@H and some PF stuff, pick a brick and some track sets. The shipping was $178 US dollars. I ordered before Xmas, as there was a free shipping deal on S@H and a 10% off for large orders.

For US$450 worth of lego that retails for ~AU$900 I paid US$628 or ~AU$748, so I'm about $150 plus whatever shipping I would have been charged ahead. I could have done better by getting shipito to discard the lego boxes and repack into standard size ones, as the box size rather than weight was the main factor in the shipping cost.

[Strand]

It is certainly a disturbing trend with their pricing. I've always been rather unapologetic with my Lego budget, and while it's been easy to whine the last few years with slowly creeping prices, this is certainly the first time where I said flat out that I'm refusing to pay the retail price for new sets I'd otherwise want. I only hope that other rational people do the same thing and vote with their wallets. My main regret is remembering when I was a kid and 100% of my toy allowance came from parents and being helpless in changing that aspect, thus missing so many great sets that I couldn't have at the time. Kids these days must have it so much worse, would any parent not rolling in money pick up an itty box with a speeder on it and plonk down $50 for it? Of course not.

[hollisbrick]

Has anyone seen the 2010 sets yet?

[Svelte]

10199 Winter Toy Shop has popped back up on Shop @ Home Europe today - they must have found a few extra pallets of stock.

I doubt it will last long, so order now if you want this set!

[DarthSion]

I haven't seen any new lego.

And what are the mods drinking, or is that smoking, whats with all the name changes.

[lightningtiger]

I placed a call today to one LEGO AUSTRALIA.

The word is next week stocks of 2010 will start moving into stores and sadly the fire theme of city will be second half release now !

Which means S@H before then or panic stations in june/july at Target or Kmart ?!?!? :skull:

[jonwil]

It wouldn't surprise me if the Fire theme is being delayed because of the large stocks of existing City sets (police, construction etc) and the desire to not have too much new City product on the shelf too quickly.