Why are LEGO Education items very expensive?

asherkobin

Some people have tried to answer before on various Google searches.  But I'm not satisfied.  My first guess is scale of production.  The worldwide retail market for LEGO is probably orders of magnitude larger than education.  So economies of scale factor in (although these aren't electronic components, just ABS for the most part).  My second guess that often educators are much more lenient in terms of spending $2000 for something (not their money) where a consumer would pay $200.

PS: Sorry for probably a duplicate question in these forums, but I did spend a few minutes with the search.

stlux

You are not only paying for the bricks, but also the lesson plans and other education resources linked to those sets.
That’s what makes those sets valuable for an education background, and not necessarily for the general consumer. 

Spike Prime is a possible exception where the educational material can also be useful in a domestic environment.

Huw

Most of the larger ones come in a robust plastic box suitable for the rough and tumble of classrooms which of course adds to the price.

daewoo

asherkobin said:

My second guess that often educators are much more lenient in terms of spending $2000 for something (not their money) where a consumer would pay $200.

I believe that's certainly part of it. A school or academy or whatever has access to resources and additional monies that the average consumer does not....unless you believe that you can rake in $20G for Lego on a Go Fund Me page.

stlux

Huw said:

Most of the larger ones come in a robust plastic box suitable for the rough and tumble of classrooms which of course adds to the price.

True, I missed to highlight that one. I have a collection of Education storage boxes ( #9840, #45497 and #45498 ) and sorting trays ( #45499 ) because of the excellent quality and stackability.

Not cheap, but worth the money to me.

To those people who think schools have money to throw out of the windows on expensive Lego: this might be true for some schools/regions/countries, but there's plenty of counterexamples of teachers having to buy there own class material.
I'm pretty sure Lego Education material is not priced the way it is because of "schools have money to waste anyway".

The value in Lego Education is in the quality of the material and the lesson plans.

Aleydita

Some of the pupil workshop kits are great value for money.

Bobflip

I didn't know about the lesson plans, that makes a lot more sense. I remember my school having one of these sets and always wondered where it came from, not seeing it in my regular non-teacher catalogues.

stlux said:

Huw said:

Most of the larger ones come in a robust plastic box suitable for the rough and tumble of classrooms which of course adds to the price.

True, I missed to highlight that one. I have a collection of Education storage boxes ( #9840, #45497 and #45498 ) and sorting trays ( #45499 ) because of the excellent quality and stackability.

I've recently started using disposable foil barbeque trays for sorting. Obvs not on the same durability level but they've survived a few sorts so far, are incredibly cheap, stack perfectly, and are fully recyclable! https://cdn.bmstores.co.uk/images/hpcProductImage/imgFull/341035-5pk-foil-baking-tray.jpg