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Mill Village Raid TRU BOGO price will be 119.98 and Amazon price for two will be 134.84, so the TRU BOGO will save you 11% there, However,
TRU does not have the easy no questions asked return policy that Amazon does, if you change your mind and just don't want the item you have to pay return shipping, the only way for them to pay return shipping is if it is sufficiently damaged and that is up to them to decide.
TRU is not really 50% off the second one when they jack up Queen Anne's to 139.99 while Amazon price is 105.99.
Check around before jumping into what seems like a real savings.
I think people have been spoiled by the sales of the past few years and good prices, but with the way businesses want every dollar, and people prepared to pay that dollar, I do not think deals on many of these set will get better (unless TRU has a Buy two get the third free sales any time soon.) I mean people are assuming Amazon will consistently match TRU or other store with prices, but that is not guaranteed and anywhere where Amazon has a state presence they do not get the tax free, which is one of the main reasons why people shop at Amazon to begin with.
Sales tax, I get charged no matter who I buy from, TRU or Amazon so it's a wash in that department.
It's also worth noting that Amazon has been price matching each and every TRU promotion these past few months, so if you prefer Amazon as a retailer, that's an indirect reason to get excited about TRU sales.
I suffered a lot of mark-up shock, I'll just say that. Even with the BOGO promotion I found very little in the way of deals to be found. Every single Lego item on their shelf is simply more than what it costs elsewhere. It was kind of appalling to be quite honest.
I think that TRU is simply "the" first and only place that a couple generations of parents think of when it comes to a toy vendor and the company knows that these people will blindly pay the markups. There is still a large segment of the adult population that can't be bothered to buy online at places like Amazon, and TRU counts on that.
They are of course allowed to charge what they see fit, but a savvy buyer can't even consider TRU for most LEGO shopping scenarios.
I return a lot of it, they send out more, some of it is smashed, they get that back, send out more...
A terrible waste of money, but it never costs me a dime, but it does take time.
Sometimes I'll pay $5 more for a $100 set to not have it smashed all to bits.
However, I still have been able to get some really good deals at TRU. I just have to be very careful. I find TRU is good for the mid-price sets, say around $40-$80 range. Anything outside this range is typically priced higher at TRU then Amazon or S@H.
Example, got Garmadon's Fortress for $41.99 at TRU last week, retails for $69.99, best Amazon had was $52.
The other thing I notice is that whenever TRU has a good BOGO 50% of B2G1free deal all the big sets, i.e. Grand Emporium, are always out of stock.
And their sheer presence in the market forces Target and Walmart to stay competitive with their own promotions. Even Amazon is falling in line with their recent price matches. TRU only marks up a portion of their sets and it is really the responsibility of the consumer to know when they're getting a good deal.
We have lost so many toy stores the past few years... it would be terrible for the collecting community to lose another. And as long as the deals at LEGO Brand stores are few and far between, the best deals are to be had elsewhere.
If they didn't do that, they would more loyal customers... But when you consider that TRU is right next to my local Lego store, it is rather hard to consider shopping there when the experience at the Lego store is so much nicer, VIP points are more useful, and they carry everything, almost all the time.
Then again, I buy most sets from Amazon because of no sales tax and better prices, but I have to return a lot of damaged sets too.
Oh well, fair points all around. :)
The other thing about TRU is that they seem to have sets that other stores do not have (at least in my local store). When a set sell out, one can still get it at TRU at least for a few days, which is nice.
We all have our favorite stores. If one store does not work for you, move on. Most of us already know the cost of the sets we want, we are members of Brickset after all. If a current deal is does not work for you, another will come along - until the set is retired.
Most of my Train and Creator sets were purchased during BOGO sales at MSRP.
The majority of my LEGO shopping is at the LEGO retail store, but if you stack TRU deals and are looking at sets sold at MSRP, you get some great deals.
The $5 sets were all correctly marked. Most $10 sets were marked to $12. They had a couple of the $20 sets marked correctly, but about half of them were priced at $25 (which was a kick in the junk considering the current trend of almost ALL $20 sets being marked down to $15 at many retailers). Once you got to the $30 level, I believe every single set was marked up $5 or more.
I do not intend ill-will by contributing to your thin patience with the TRU bashing. I merely went there today for the first time in a long while and left feeling like the place is definitely not for me. Just stating my feelings. You're right that this is a very expensive hobby. And when a retailer elevates the pain in the wallet I'm guessing that some people can't help but be discouraged by the place. I have my Lego budget planned down to the dollar, so paying more than I have to anywhere else strikes me as absurd. If I had a large amount of disposable income, as no doubt many of you do, I might be inclined to just shop there for the perfect boxes and large selection. Maybe. But then I'd probably prefer to support the Lego Stores directly.
As best as I could figure and as some of you have noted, the only way to efficiently capitalize on the BOGO offers would be to buy a pair of $100+ sets, and optimally stacking some other discount on top of that. Shopping at TRU when no deals are going on? Pffffft... not a chance.
I doubt that any TRU discussions will cause them to go out of business. I have my stores I prefer and I don't care if someone bashes my stores, I don't own the stores, makes me no difference and I take no offense to it.
Ambush Attack was marked up $12->$13
Tower Takedown was not ($20)
Dino HQ was not ($100)
Ambulance was not ($20)
Patrol Car was marked up $12->$13
Creator T-Rex was marked up $18->$20
That's really all I remember.
Scored a $10 gift card and used $10 in rewards r us coupons along with the bogo50% off sale.
These sets and more will be making the journey to Connecticut later today to be installed in the Stamford Museum layout.
I also went into the store and got two Creator Houses. One for me and one for my kids for Christmas. ;-)