Australian LEGO Pricing

[adventuresinlego]

Time for the tiger to step into this debate, for a quick lesson in Australian geography. The reason why we don't have a huge spider-web of highways.....most of towns and cities are more coastal or 200 to 250km's from the coast line. Of course there are exceptions where mining and farming are the corner stones of those regions....add tourism as well to the mix. You can not compare Australia to the USA, population, number of retail outlets, etc., is totally different.

I have been told prices for Oz are set by the major players in the game both Lego and giants - Kmart, Target, etc.,.

The independents using get the raw end of the deal, only yesterday I found out that Toyworld stores must pay Toyworld a margin for supplying them Lego. Then on top of that Kmart will sell a set for 99 bucks, why the independents sell it for 139 just so Kmart gets a foot in the door with customers to make them think everything in their store is cheaper than anyone else. This is a standard retail ploy used worldwide.

We in Oz have been complaining for years about the price of Lego, but thanks to the power of the Westfarmers and Woolworths together to run the country in a way....sadly it may never change. I guess wait for the sales, wait for it go on clearance, buy it online overseas

....they are only way to beat those beefed up prices.

We don't really have spider webs of highways because don't we just have really long roads like the hume highway to connect us all? And with our cities being all along the coast, it means they don't have to zig zag back and forth across the country delivery, the trip is shorter and cheaper (on fuel).

Look, at the end of the day, I just think us as consumers should be charged priced at what things are WORTH, of course owing for a profit margin for the retailers, BUT, what's the profit margin when a set that has 57 pieces is $25? and exactly how large is the profit margin for a 150pce set that retails for $49.95? Highway bloody robbery if you ask me, sets should be no more than 17c a pce no matter where you buy them in the world, and that is even maybe 2c too much.

As I say, I would prefer my money going directly to Lego and I can assure you, if they lowered their prices, they would sell a lot more product down under as low income families (of which there are millions) will be able to give their children the treat of a 600pce lego set for a change.

Heck, even the minifigs are $4.74 at big dubya and that's as much as I pay for my lunch lololol

I can understand the retailers charging extra, but not shop@home - especially not to jack the prices up and THEN add an extra $30+... and let's face it; an item bought from shop@home doesn't need to be transported all over the country by trucks delivering them to shops, they simply need to be posted in the mail and are sent directly to the person.

Edited May 29, 2012 by adventuresinlego

[lightningtiger]

We don't really have spider webs of highways because don't we just have really long roads like the hume highway to connect us all? And with our cities being all along the coast, it means they don't have to zig zag back and forth across the country delivery, the trip is shorter and cheaper (on fuel).

Pardon me, but what Australian history have you studied ?

A fair chunk of Oz is desert, except where mining, tourism and farming can exist....I sound like a broken record.

One thing hasn't been raised and that is TRU and their tax eh ?

[adventuresinlego]

Pardon me, but what Australian history have you studied ?

A fair chunk of Oz is desert, except where mining, tourism and farming can exist....

Eeek, I don't know what I said that makes you think i suggested anything else- I agreed with you that our cities are all coastal (or close enough too) and I didn't state anything as fact, I just questioned if we had more singular highways that connect the cities, I don't drive, I don't know these things about roads :) And ti's true, instead of having to zig zag across 50 cities across the country there's only a limited amount of cities and that's in somewhat of a large circle around the country... you'd think that would be cheaper than 50 cities back and forth, up and down, left/right. Sorry for the confusion :)

[adventuresinlego]

It's an issue to me for a few reasons;

1. I would much prefer my money go directly to TLG so therefore if the prices at shop@home were cheaper then I would definitely be giving LEGO my money on a weekly basis. Instead of buying on ebay/bricklink

2. The Aussie prices are often 200% the price of US lego- which I understand is for various things, including shipping and handling, but then on the shop@home website they charge an extra $30+ for more shipping and handling!

3. Lego is a luxury item, yes, but it is also educational as well as therapeutic but also highly addictive. Some people will say you can't put a price on education, I say it should be accessible to all.

4. Licensed products make me feel ill- the prices are beyond crass. I aim to pay about 15c a pce for any set, if I get it for cheaper (Ninjago is about 12c) then awesome, I won.

5. I've boght lots of things online but not once have I ever seen prices be changed for different locations, it's always been charged at the exchange rate of the original price- Lego is the first and so far only online-shop that I've seen do this.

6. No matter how many AFOLs there are, Lego is still essentially and technically a kids toy, it is still in the kids section, in the Toys area, and on any given day whilst many adults will stop by and browse- may more kids do. So therefore by default these products are being placed out for children and I'm not comfortable with the idea of deliberately over-charging for a kids toy.

7. Many things in Australia ARE more expensive than our USA or even Asian friends, but we also have many discount outlets, of which Lego there is none- there's not even a Lego shop.

I can't help but wonder if they built some Lego brand stores, would the prices be lowered. But I guess, why would they do that when they can charge us 35c per piece, right?

I love Lego and will still buy it, but only through cheap places, second hand if I have to- but I would be more much happier feeling more comfortable to give Lego my money directly so they can make more awesome sets.

Edited May 29, 2012 by adventuresinlego

[Hodgavic]

The only time i've used S@H was when there was free shipping in Aus, otherwise it's cheaper to get things from Myer or Target on Sales days....Myer often has 20% off and with the myer one card you get an extra 10%, so lego at 30% off means it's pretty similar to the US prices.

I managed to order the Modular Grand Emporium and the Fire Brigade direct from Amazon in the US.....they cost $170 each including shipping......compared to retail through S@H for between $200 and $250...For some reason now Amazon US doesn't lego direct to Australia, which kind of sucks

It's not just lego though, it's most things...I ordered 2 pairs of golf shows from the US and deliverd for less than the cost of one here...and ordering form Amazon UK, things take less than a week to be shipped.

Simple answer is, if you have the time you can get good prices on Lego in Aus, you just have to be prepared to work a bit for it.....or know someone in the US who can post stuff to you.....I'm going to be so broke when my brother spends 3 months in the US next year......my poor savings account. :(

[AndyC]

We can debate economics until the end of time. However, if a set can be bought and shipped from an overseas retailer for less than the local price, I think we've got a problem.

The chances are you're bypassing local sales taxes and quite possibly import duties in those kind of cases though. Not to mention potential differences in running any given store in differing locations. And you're definitely ignoring the differences in local wages and so on.

I'm not saying it makes perfect sense, it's just the way global economics is. Short of unifying all laws and regulations across the entire planet, it's not about to change.

All those things sound to me like the 'Handling' of the Shipping and Handling :S

'Handling' is the bloke packing it in boxes and the guy who deals with invoices etc. It rarely, if ever, is a term used to cover global import/export tariffs etc.

[juzo]

I buy most of my lego abroad, purely because it's always cheaper than buying in oz.

I have all of the modulars and all but 2 were bought in the states. The 2 i bought local was only because i made a deal with the seller to ship free if i bought both of them at the same time. Having said that, it was both the pet shop and emporium and i still paid $440 delivered when i could have bought them from bricklink and saved $60 odd bucks doing it that way.

I'm constantly keeping an eye on sales at target etc. and buying what i can that way. But for the bigger stuff i rarely bother looking local anymore at all. Postage prices here will also be much higher given our geography. I live in a country area 3 hours from the city and it'll cost me say $30 to ship a pet shop 3 hours down the road whereas i bought the tower bridge from amazon in the states and it shipped for $20!!

It's the way it is, not much you can do about it.

[lorax]

As my mailman would tell you, I get almost everything from overseas because it is cheaper (Lego, clothing, shoes, cosmetics). There is no doubt that it is frustrating, and while I don't necessarily agree with all the justifications, I do know it is a larger issue than Lego.

The thing that does make me a bit annoyed is when there is Lego that is not made available to Australia (I believe other regions also have the same issue). Sets that when you change your region to the US, are available, but change the region back to Australia and you get that screen with the man holding plugs (telling you that the item is not available to your region). And these are not just licensed sets, so I don't understand what harm it would do to sell to us (I would understand if it was just licensed sets).

[OzBen]

At my local post office i am known as "the LEGO guy"

I understand the economies of scale and our remote location on the globe will translate into higher prices for Aussies.

Clearly the volumes of Lego coming in from overseas sellers is so small that not enough for TLG to consider it damaging to their business.

The way i look at it, as long as there are sellers willing to ship to Australia i will keep giving them my business and when there are some good sales on i will head to the shops.

Edited June 3, 2012 by OzBen

[ChristopherMcL2]

Prices are a bit steep here in Australia.

The mini figure series is a good example. From what I understand they are almost exclusively produced in China. And from what I understand they are one of our highest ranked trading partners.

So how can we still be charged nearly $5.00 for a mini fig?

And I agree with ordering overseas.

I have leant towards that approach for some time now. And that's quite sad because I believe in supporting TLG.

[Toyfast]

Hi,

I am the owner of www.toyfast.com

We ship to Australia and this is how it works...

Let's say a European user pays 100 € for a product

That is 100 + VAT tax

VAT tax is charged on the basis of the shipping country, in our case 20% (other EU countries might have form 15& like Luxemburg to 25% like Norway)

The EU user pays 120€ (100 + 20%).

He then has to pay shipping and that's an extra 15-20 € so let's say in the end he get's the product at home for 135€

What will happen to an Australian customer (we ship in Australia).

He will not pay vat.. so he will pay 100 + shipping.

Shipping to Australia is very high and there is a lot of burocracy (time consiming) connected with it

We charge 50€

So the Australian user pays 150€

In the end he got the same product with 20.000 Km on top of it.. only for 15€ difference.. That is not bad at all!

A norwegian user will be paying almost the same !!!

the problem is that many sites speculate. The keep VAT on top of the prices just to avoid the hassle of taking it out (or worse ... refunding it).. or they simply prefer to sell to Australian resellers who then add on top the margin.

So.. if you are an Australian user.. visit our site ;) ... we've got really great prices !

We have a specific page for you (it will actually work for newzealanders too!) with all the (easy) instructions to be registered as VAT-free customers.. and start buying Lego.

(not much on the site now.. we're waiting for August "refill" with ll the new series.. Monster Fighter, Lord of the rings and the new modular house Town Hall)

Edited July 23, 2012 by Toyfast

[Toyfast]

Hi,

I am the owner of www.toyfast.com

We ship to Australia and this is how it works...

Let's say a European user pays 100 € for a product

That is 100 + VAT tax

VAT tax is charged on the basis of the shipping country, in our case 20% (other EU countries might have form 15& like Luxemburg to 25% like Norway)

The EU user pays 120€ (100 + 20%).

He then has to pay shipping and that's an extra 15-20 € so let's say in the end he get's the product at home for 135€

What will happen to an Australian customer (we ship in Australia).

He will not pay vat.. so he will pay 100 + shipping.

Shipping to Australia is very high and there is a lot of burocracy (time consiming) connected with it

We charge 50€

So the Australian user pays 150€

In the end he got the same product with 20.000 Km on top of it.. only for 15€ difference.. That is not bad at all!

A norwegian user will be paying almost the same !!!

the problem is that many sites speculate. The keep VAT on top of the prices just to avoid the hassle of taking it out (or worse ... refunding it).. or they simply prefer to sell to Australian resellers who then add on top the margin.

So.. if you are an Australian user.. visit our site ;) ... we've got really great prices !

We have a specific page for you (it will actually work for newzealanders too!) with all the (easy) instructions to be registered as VAT-free customers.. and start buying Lego.

(not much on the site now.. we're waiting for August "refill" with ll the new series.. Monster Fighter, Lord of the rings and the new modular house Town Hall)

[Tontus]

I don't know how accurate this data is, but doing a quick Google search revealed that the average Australian income is $98,000. The average US salary according to some new show the History channel was around $44,000. That would imply that the average Australian would have slightly more than double the disposable income that I do. So why would LEGO charge you guys double? Because they can. According to the stats, it would take both of us the same amount of work to buy the same amount of LEGO, so it could possibly be argued that you're not paying double what we are. I'm not going to argue that though.

EDIT - It just hit me, I'm not sure what currency that $98,000 was in. I don't have time right now to check, so everything I said might not apply. You guys ever think about moving? I never get tired of your accent, so y'all are more than welcome over here in Memphis.

Edited July 23, 2012 by Tontus

[Faefrost]

From a foreign business perspective Australia is a bit of a hurdle. It has the vast distances similar to North America but without the widespread North American population or rather customer density. It has Europen style taxes, tariffs and fuel and transport costs, but without the European short travel distances and once again the high customer density.

From the shippers perspective there really is very little difference in costs between shipping a portion of a container and shipping a full container. But that overall cost of shipping the container must be amortized over the number of purchasers of the product that comes out of that container. And this escalates and increases at every step of shipping. So they only ship what hey can sell into the population or customer base, and base prices around how much of it they will sell and the costs of getting it there.

[Sparhawke]

I don't know how accurate this data is, but doing a quick Google search revealed that the average Australian income is $98,000. The average US salary according to some new show the History channel was around $44,000. That would imply that the average Australian would have slightly more than double the disposable income that I do. So why would LEGO charge you guys double? Because they can. According to the stats, it would take both of us the same amount of work to buy the same amount of LEGO, so it could possibly be argued that you're not paying double what we are. I'm not going to argue that though.

EDIT - It just hit me, I'm not sure what currency that $98,000 was in. I don't have time right now to check, so everything I said might not apply. You guys ever think about moving? I never get tired of your accent, so y'all are more than welcome over here in Memphis.

Not sure where you are getting these stats from but the average Aus income is no where near the $98k that you have mentioned. Its closer to the $60k mark

[Ratsmitglied]

Average income depends on which average you use, and where you get the stats from.

The most recent data for mean gross income for taxation purposes (probably the most accurate figure in a lot of ways) gives just under $50k AUD as the mean income.

At the end of the day, the headline reported income from newspapers is usually close to double the median income (i.e. the amount that 50% of the population earns less than) because the population base is smaller, so those with a very high income have a greater effect on the mean than they do in other countries.

this article (from 2011, but the figures will be fairly close still) gives a better idea - http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2614076.html

Edited July 24, 2012 by Ratsmitglied

[Siegfried]

I've merged this with a similar topic.