Ways to save on LEGO without a sale

bluelion3

I started a list of ways to save money on new LEGO sets that are not discounted anywhere else.

I'm sure this list is not complete, so please add to it!

LEGO VIP program
Effectively a 5% discount.
Earn 1 point for every $1 you spend and for every 100 points LEGO will give you $5 to spend on more sets for your favorite LEGO fan!
http://vip.lego.com
Use at the LEGO store or at http://shop.lego.com.


Discover credit card - ShopDiscover program for Shop.lego.com
Effectively a 5% discount.
http://www.discovercard.com/customer-service/rewards/shopdiscover.html
LEGO Store 5% cashback bonus when you shop at shop.lego.com. Must link to LEGO retailer site from the ShopDiscover Web page found at Discovercard.com and use your Discover Card.
When combined with the VIP program, you get effectively 10% off!
The LEGO store sometimes offers free shipping.

Discover credit card - ShopDiscover program for Target.com
Effectively a 5% discount.
http://www.discovercard.com/customer-service/rewards/shopdiscover.html
Target.com 5% cashback bonus when you shop at www.target.com. Must link to retailer site from the ShopDiscover Web page found at
Discovercard.com and use your Discover Card.
Target.com offers free shipping on certain items if you spend more than $50.

Target store "REDcard" credit card
Get 5% off when you use your card in stores and online.
https://redcard.target.com/redcard/rc_main.jsp

Toys R Us Rewards program
Effectively a pretty insignificant discount. Currently about 3% but will be at best 10% in Nov-Dec.
http://rewardsrus.toysrus.com
I use this because I shop at Toys R Us sometimes, but there is a lot of fine print: https://rewardsrus.toysrus.com/termsandconditions.cfm
Currently you have to spend $150 within a three month period to get a $5 certificate to use at Toys R Us or Babies R Us.
All discounted items (in-store and advertised discounts, coupons and clearance) qualify for only $0.50 for each $1.00 spent.
"R" Us Dollars Standard Program Benefit (effective 2/1 - 10/31): Rewards"R"Us members receive a $5 reward certificate ("R"Us Dollars) for every $150 in qualifying purchases at Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us, in-store or online, (up to $1,800) during select promotional periods. Members may only receive a maximum of four $5 reward certificate(s) ($20) per month and a maximum of twelve per quarter ($60). ...blah blah blah...etc...
The deal in November and December is a little better, but still, watch the fine print.
https://rewardsrus.toysrus.com/Faq.cfm
From 10/31 - 12/24/10 Members earn 10% back on their holiday purchases!
Earn 10% Back on your holiday purchases at Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us, in-store or online, from October 31 - December 24, 2010.
Rewards"R"Us enrollees earn 10% back in "R"Us Dollars on QUALIFYING purchases made online or in stores during this promotional period. Members can receive up to $50 "R"Us Dollars during this period.

I use these discounts when buying sets that are not on sale at Toys R Us and that are not discounted at Amazon.

Yellowcastle

^ Very helpful. Thanks!

Legoboy

^^ I'm sure it is appreciated in the US, but you have sales so often....isn't it worth waiting a couple of days before the next sale rather than saving 5% here and earning a few points there? At some point, most sets are included in one sale somewhere or another. ;o)

dsdg88

ShopDiscover provides 15% cash back when shopping at barnesandnoble.com (thanks to doriansdad for this tip).

^ flump6523, sometimes you can't really wait for a sale; see the thread on Winter Toy Shop for example. And in those cases it's part of the hunting and gathering thrill to beat RRP even if the savings is small.

dlaw

thanks bluelion, I'm a relatively new TRU customer (bought the Shuttle Expedition a few weeks ago) and just signed up for the rewards program.

bluelion3

I never realized Barnes & Noble had so many LEGO sets.

When you join their Kids Club you get a 30% off coupon usable towards one children's book or toy (you know, like LEGO). And you can receive a $5 reward certificaet for every $100 spent on kids' stuff (maximum of four per year). You just have to have a child under 13.

jwsmart

TRU also has their own credit card which is different than the Rewards program, and much better:

Toys"R"Us & Babies"R"Us Preferred Rewards MasterCard, you'll get just that — rewards you can use to save on things you need for every stage of your child's life.

Earn 4 reward points for every $1 spent on eligible purchases at Toys"R"Us & Babies"R"Us
Earn 1 reward point for every $1 spent on eligible purchases everywhere else MasterCard credit cards are accepted
Automatically receive a $10 Savings Reward Certificate in the mail for every 1,000 points you earn. You can receive up to 3 certificates per month. As a cardmember, you are also eligible to receive special offers and coupons from Toys"R"Us & Babies"R"Us. All with no annual fee!

That's $10 for every $250 spent at TRU (4%), or for every $1000 (1%) spent elsewhere, up to $30 in certificates per month, and the certificates are good for much longer than the standard reward zone ones - about 6 months or so.

I should note I only use it for TRU, and as an emergency card...

sidersdd

^ For that TRU card, is it 4 points for every $1, even on sale/discounted items? It's not like the Rewards program where it reduces to 50%? It's nice (and probably obvious) that it's a Mastercard, which can get you further discounts when they do the Mastercard Mondays ($25 off $125+ purchases I believe).

rocao

^^ I think jwsmart's approach to only use it for TRU purchases is... well... smart :)
Most credit cards that give you rewards or "cash back" will give you a better % on restaurants, gas, travel, etc, so I'd look to own and use those cards and restrict the TRU card's usage to TRU just for the 4%.

sidersdd

With that TRU card don't they sometimes offer something like 20% off your purchase when you sign up too? If so, does that stack with BOGOs?

slovakiasteph

You can also use a website like Ebates or Mr. Rebates to get a percentage back any time you make an online order...

Ebates gives 6% for B&N, 3% for LEGO Shop, and 1% for TRU.
Mr. Rebates gives 5% for B&N, 4% for LEGO Shop, and 1% for TRU.

Not much, but stacked with other deals, it helps. I could send you a referral link if you'd like. :)

SutterCane

I was offered another 10% off when I was using my BOGO50% coupon today at TRU if I signed up for the card, so I guess it stacks, but maybe is reduced to 10% instead of 20% if you're buying something already discounted? *shrug*

jwsmart

^ The 10% is a one-shot when you sign up for the card. Save it for a good purchase. I used it on S1 minifigures, before I understood the depth of my LEGO problem.

The other offers are just like normal TRU offers, so the normal stacking rules apply.

@sidersdd - I haven't followed it too closely, because I don't buy a lot of LEGO at TRU that isn't on sale in some way, but I think they give you an accounting of your points on the chase web site. In any case, it's a couple more % off of the sale price, which is OK for me...

sidersdd

I think they bump it up to a "20% off your first purchase" offer around the holidays. I really seem to remember that.

sonsofsceva

I don't think I saw it in there, but having a Swagbucks account and a Bing account can get you $5 (or 5 GBP) every few months from Amazon (or amazon uk). If you do the minimal-time activities for each, it takes about five minutes a day, mostly with searches I do anyway. I and my wife garnered about $30 this summer so far for LEGO purchases.

Also, don't forget that the TRU rewards dollars can be used two at a time in store (vs. one online). I used the last 20% TRU coupon with two $5 TRU rewards dollars to buy the Heroica Caverns for $6.

bluelion3

Thanks to a post by @typo on another thread, I learned that AAA members can get $10 off a purchase of $100 at Target.com. Target has free shipping for many items in orders over $50. See www.aaa.com/target.

bluelion3

AAA also has a 10% discount for Barnes and Noble. www.aaa.com/barnesandnoble. Free shipping over $25.

MCNwakeboard

You can buy gift cards to Barnes and Noble on sites like Plasticjungle.com at a 13% discount and combine that with coupons...when they work.

andysd

If you live in Southern California and you have a Disneyland Annual Passport, you can get 10% off all purchases at the LEGO store in Downtown Disney by presenting your pass. Combine this with your VIP card to earn and use reward points for additional discounts.

Ma1234

If you live in Southern California and you have a Disneyland Annual Passport, you can get 10% off all purchases at the LEGO store in Downtown Disney by presenting your pass. Combine this with your VIP card to earn and use reward points for additional discounts.

Yup. That's exactly what I do. I buy pretty much everything at the Disneyland LEGO Store with my annual pass discount. Plus, add the VIP card, and it is effectively 15% off, and 20% during double points months, typically in October and March.

sidersdd

Toys R Us has bumped up their offer to 15% off your first in-store purchase when signing up for the TRU Credit Card. And it sounds like from others that this can stack with BOGOs. As I mentioned before I seem to recall this going to 20% off last year, but I can't find evidence of that. I may sign up this year. Need to time it right though (come on SSD and Death Star...)

LegoFanTexas

Yes, but looking online right now, there is really nothing I see worth buying BOGO50% considering their prices.

Sometimes TRU can be a steal, but not this time, in my humble opinion.

sidersdd

^ Right, not now. And actually the SSD and Death Star can't be purchased in-store (at least not around here). Perhaps when the 2012 Star Wars or Super Heroes sets are first released - right before TRU tax is added.

legoDad

@bluelion3...thanks for the tips. Very helpful.

cavegod

just thought i would mention,

if you import a lego set from the USA then you still get the 1 point per $ spent and if you then buy from the UK shop at home the points are usable, so a $500 set will give you 500 points or £25 in the UK, so double savings all round!

atkinsar

^ I did not know that, thanks for the tip.

Legoboy

^ Yeah, Lost doesn't allow me to forget how she did that for her Diagon Alley.....last May......in Boston!

brickupdate

Wow - I didn't know about all these tips - thanks!

mr_benn

One nice tip I was recently given for UK buyers is to use a cashback site like quidco to get a few % off your purchases - for the Lego S@H at the moment it's 6% of the cost once you've knocked off VAT. Which is not a stunning amount by itself, but it's very satisfying to use it with a nice discount (such as the recent 10% off)

Matthew

@cavegod - you've lost me. Do you mean if you use your card while in the USA, or is it possible to order from the USA S@H in the UK?

Legoboy

^He means spend whilst visiting the US, accrue points 'cheaply', bring your VIP card back to the UK and spend the cheap points on expensive products. US points are easier and cheaper to earn so worth more when they are redeemed in the UK., ie. $100 in the US gets you 100 points. 100 points are worth $5 in the US, but if you bring them back and spend in the UK, 100 points are worth £5.

cavegod

if you have a person in usa to order it and then ship it to you, i suppose if you use your card it will work just as well.

cavegod

or if you know somebody who works for Merlin and gets the 40% staff discount ;-)

dsdg88

I was trying to use shopdiscover.com with lego S@H this past weekend and hit a problem: since I had previously purchased at S@H with a different card the S@H site remembered that one and wouldn't let me change the card to my Discover card.
I had to call Lego to get my default credit card changed.
BTW during the holidays several of the shopdiscover.com cash back rates are higher. For example with Target the rate is now 10%.

Datoda

^ I don't know if Discover has fixed the loophole-- At least in two occasions in the past I went to a merchant webpage through shopdiscover.com and inadvertently used a non-Discover card to pay, yet I still got the extra cashback from Discover.

streeker

Save an extra 5% on Amazon.com. Load up your cart with the sets you like.When you log in, click on Today's Deals, scroll down to Your Quick Picks. Amazon will display several items that are personalized Gold Box Deals that carry an extra 5% discount on top of the current discount. Eg. right now, I can get MMV for 85.50 or an extra 5 bucks off on Amazon's price of 89.xx.

This extra discount isn't workable for Amazon.fr.

Yup, LS@H VIP reward carries over to euros, too.

BTHodgeman

Huh... I don't have a "Your Quick Picks" section in my Gold Box area. Weird.

Brent

sidersdd

American Express has a promo going on right now called "Gift Chain." Register your card, and then when you shop on-line at certain stores (TRU & Walmart for example) for purchases over $25 with that card you can win prizes - such as free ShopRunner subscription, AmEx gift cards, statement credits, etc. I received a $20 AmEx card for a $50 purchase on TRU.com.
https://giftchain.amexnetwork.com/

MorkMan

I'm bumping this thread back up. Are these deals still valid? Are threre any new ways to do it? I'd love to hear the more recent tips!

not12fall

Upromise.com gives you a percentage back that can be linked to your 529 account for college savings. Target is 7%, Walmart 5%, TRU 5%, Kmart 6%, Lego 5%. No amazon or B & N savings. If you use their credit card you get another 5% back for these online retailers. They also offer increased rates at holiday. TRU was 10% this past xmas. They also regularly update their website with coupon codes.

busumoe1

^^^I've been using Upromise for the past few months, almost exclusively for Lego purchases. I am a bit disappointed with the site so far, but I am probably still going to use them because I am still earning more with them than other sites.

First it's the customer service. I am spoiled, since Fatwallet is one of the best I've used. It tracks your "click-through" and assign you a number. In case you do not get your cashback, it is easy file a request online and they get right on it. They even email you if they think the vendor is stiffing you. Upromise has none of that, and the live-person support is clueless. More than once I got no cashback from my purchases and their excuse is that you just have to wait.

Second, their 5% credit card bonus is also not consistent. The card will always give you 1% base on your purchases, and then another 4% in a separate reward transaction. If Upromise does not report your purchase, the card will not give you the bonus. So you take a chance where you could go with a reliable site for less cashback or gamble with Upromise.

For now, about 75% of my transactions came through and Upromise staff promise that I have up to one year to track down the cashback from previous transactions. All in all, I still earn more than other sites so I am going to stay with them for a few more months. But I'd advise anyone else jumping into Upromise to expect some disappointment.

siouxsie311

Does anyone know if you can still use your Disneyland annual pass at the Disneyland Lego store?

BrickDancer

^Yes for 10% discount :)

jockosjungle

In the UK I think if you have a season ticket to the Discovery Centre you get a 10% discount

siouxsie311

Thanks @BrickDancer. Just wasn't sure if that was still available.