Does Lego do the "five days of Black Friday" promotions anymore with sets on deep discount?

jcb193

It seems in years past, for black friday they would always put 2-2 sets on 20% discount.  Sets that were desireable or retiring soon.  I think Carousel and Modulars were some of them.  

I didn't notice it last year and haven't heard ANYTHING about it this year, whereas in the past, the 10-15 sets would usually be spoiled ahead of time.  

Any news?

Huw

I donn't think there will be any discounts this year.

CCC

Yeah, I doubt there will be discounts on anything popular. They can't keep some sets in stock at full RRP, let alone with discounts. 

madforLEGO

I think there will be discounts on sets, but most may already be out of stock before they are discounted (which has also occurred in past years)

Bumblepants

They will reduce keychains and bag tags probably. Yay!

autolycus

Bumblepants said:

They will reduce keychains and bag tags probably. Yay!

There is one benefit to that, at least: If you want a sets that total $249.96 and you want that limited edition tin, the discounted keychains or bag tags might be the way to get the tin!

Or you can do PAB for a few pieces, right? That takes longer to sort out though.

monkeyhanger

It was 5 days of Meh last year. While demand is strong, any company would consider whether to bother discounting or giving freebies.

A lot of the car companies are pulling their big deposit contributions right now as they have 10 month lead times for a lot of their cars in the UK.

Brainslugged

monkeyhanger said:

A lot of the car companies are pulling their big deposit contributions right now as they have 10 month lead times for a lot of their cars in the UK.

Car supply/demand is totally screwed right now. I was looking at getting a nearly new Discovery Sport from a Land Rover dealership a couple of months back that had about 3,000 miles on the clock. I'd gone online where you could "build" the spec of a Land Rover and added literally every extra under sun. The price wasn't a whole lot more than the used one. So I asked the sales guy to "build" the car he was trying to sell us so I could see how much it should cost new. It turned out that the "used" price was £5k more more the "new" price. F that! I'm happy to wait a year or two till the world gets its act together again.

Phoenixio

I'm curious to see what happens this year.  I just blew up my budget with a new PC, but two years ago was fantastic sales.  Things were going fast, but I got Ninjago City and Ninjago City Docks at 30% off, which is unheard of in Canada.  I was therefore excited for last year, but it was very lackluster.  So it could be anywhere in-between, but with how they struggle to keep up with demand and with how half of their sets keep getting indefinitely delayed in North America, I'd say we'll see a few badly selling Ideas and that'll be it.

autolycus

Phoenixio said:

I'm curious to see what happens this year.  I just blew up my budget with a new PC, but two years ago was fantastic sales.  Things were going fast, but I got Ninjago City and Ninjago City Docks at 30% off, which is unheard of in Canada.  I was therefore excited for last year, but it was very lackluster.  So it could be anywhere in-between, but with how they struggle to keep up with demand and with how half of their sets keep getting indefinitely delayed in North America, I'd say we'll see a few badly selling Ideas and that'll be it.

The great sales have usually been the sets that are retiring--with some exceptions like the Disney Train Station. The last couple of years, those have been selling out without the need to do what amounts to a clearance sale. Many of the big retiring sets are already "sold out" on [email protected] in a lot of regions. That usually, but not always, means they're gone for good. No need to discount sets that are already sold out or very close.

I have one more retiring set to buy (UCS A-Wing). I will order it Saturday morning (maybe even at midnight). I would normally wait until Black Friday to see if it is on discount, but I'm not going to risk it.

monkeyhanger

Brainslugged said:

monkeyhanger said:

A lot of the car companies are pulling their big deposit contributions right now as they have 10 month lead times for a lot of their cars in the UK.

Car supply/demand is totally screwed right now. I was looking at getting a nearly new Discovery Sport from a Land Rover dealership a couple of months back that had about 3,000 miles on the clock. I'd gone online where you could "build" the spec of a Land Rover and added literally every extra under sun. The price wasn't a whole lot more than the used one. So I asked the sales guy to "build" the car he was trying to sell us so I could see how much it should cost new. It turned out that the "used" price was £5k more more the "new" price. F that! I'm happy to wait a year or two till the world gets its act together again.

My 6 month old VW ID3 has a motorway.co.uk valuation £2700 more than I originally paid new for it, and about £1500 more than a new one can be bought through drive the deal. I was contemplating ordering a new one and hope the used prices remain buoyant enough that I could be swapping an 18 month old example for a brand new one with almost no actual.money changing hands.

I suppose Retired lego sets can sometimes be like that.

jcb193

monkeyhanger said:

Brainslugged said:

monkeyhanger said:

A lot of the car companies are pulling their big deposit contributions right now as they have 10 month lead times for a lot of their cars in the UK.

Car supply/demand is totally screwed right now. I was looking at getting a nearly new Discovery Sport from a Land Rover dealership a couple of months back that had about 3,000 miles on the clock. I'd gone online where you could "build" the spec of a Land Rover and added literally every extra under sun. The price wasn't a whole lot more than the used one. So I asked the sales guy to "build" the car he was trying to sell us so I could see how much it should cost new. It turned out that the "used" price was £5k more more the "new" price. F that! I'm happy to wait a year or two till the world gets its act together again.

My 6 month old VW ID3 has a motorway.co.uk valuation £2700 more than I originally paid new for it, and about £1500 more than a new one can be bought through drive the deal. I was contemplating ordering a new one and hope the used prices remain buoyant enough that I could be swapping an 18 month old example for a brand new one with almost no actual.money changing hands.

I suppose Retired lego sets can sometimes be like that.

Yeah, my curse too. Been saving the various city modulars till my kids were old enough, but they've appreciated so much I just sell off the old ones and then buy 2-3x as many new ones.

MugenPower

monkeyhanger said:

Brainslugged said:

monkeyhanger said:

A lot of the car companies are pulling their big deposit contributions right now as they have 10 month lead times for a lot of their cars in the UK.

Car supply/demand is totally screwed right now. I was looking at getting a nearly new Discovery Sport from a Land Rover dealership a couple of months back that had about 3,000 miles on the clock. I'd gone online where you could "build" the spec of a Land Rover and added literally every extra under sun. The price wasn't a whole lot more than the used one. So I asked the sales guy to "build" the car he was trying to sell us so I could see how much it should cost new. It turned out that the "used" price was £5k more more the "new" price. F that! I'm happy to wait a year or two till the world gets its act together again.

My 6 month old VW ID3 has a motorway.co.uk valuation £2700 more than I originally paid new for it, and about £1500 more than a new one can be bought through drive the deal. I was contemplating ordering a new one and hope the used prices remain buoyant enough that I could be swapping an 18 month old example for a brand new one with almost no actual.money changing hands.

I suppose Retired lego sets can sometimes be like that.

Not familiar with how new car dealers and pricing works over in the UK, but the problem in the US is that the only real way you can capitalize on the soaring used car values is if you can sell your current car and wait ??? months/years to buy a new one (some reports now say automotive supply chain issues won't reach normalcy until the end of next year).  Dealers in the US are either holding firm at MSRP or marking their limited inventory way up since the demand is so high and their inventory is so low.  So really, the best way to maximize on the gains you made by selling your old car now is to wait it out.

The other problem with buying a new car now is that more and more manufacturers are cutting out standard features with little to no compensation because of parts shortages.  You really wouldn't know unless your salesperson is upfront about it, you keep up on forums, or you take a look at the build sheet.  So, you really are getting less for your money in these cases, and it doubly stinks for people years down the line who are looking at these same cars on the used market and don't realize that some of these MY22 models don't have the same features as the same exact MY21 model.

Anyway, I digress.

FireFox31

Brainslugged said:

monkeyhanger said:

A lot of the car companies are pulling their big deposit contributions right now as they have 10 month lead times for a lot of their cars in the UK.

Car supply/demand is totally screwed right now. ...  I'm happy to wait a year or two till the world gets its act together again.

Thus, the pandemic will condition automobile consumers to not demand new cars as often, decrease the features in new cars, increase the price of used cars, encourage people to repair and maintain what they have, and all around accept higher prices in a shocking leap of inflation.

Similarly, the pandemic will condition Lego consumers to no longer expect sales even on Black Friday, accept longer lead times, rush to buy on day one before products go out of stock, all around increasing our demand and willingness to pay.

And all of this happened right as I was perfecting my deal hunting.  I will continue to buy 18-20 months after a set is released, hoping for end-of-run discounts.  I'm surprised at which 2019-2020 sets are still readily available.  Stalking sales like a tiger in the grass...

Brainslugged

jcb193 said:

Yeah, my curse too. Been saving the various city modulars till my kids were old enough, but they've appreciated so much I just sell off the old ones and then buy 2-3x as many new ones.

I'm the same. I have all the modulars but have only built two. I actually don't like them appreciating in value because I want to enjoy the Green Grocer when I open it, not worry about the opportunity cost of doing so.

jcb193

Brainslugged said:

jcb193 said:

Yeah, my curse too. Been saving the various city modulars till my kids were old enough, but they've appreciated so much I just sell off the old ones and then buy 2-3x as many new ones.

I'm the same. I have all the modulars but have only built two. I actually don't like them appreciating in value because I want to enjoy the Green Grocer when I open it, not worry about the opportunity cost of doing so.

Yeah, it's a bummer. Kids go down to my basement and ask "can we open that one," and I'm "nope, it's too expensive now."

CCC

Brainslugged said:

jcb193 said:

Yeah, my curse too. Been saving the various city modulars till my kids were old enough, but they've appreciated so much I just sell off the old ones and then buy 2-3x as many new ones.

I'm the same. I have all the modulars but have only built two. I actually don't like them appreciating in value because I want to enjoy the Green Grocer when I open it, not worry about the opportunity cost of doing so.

Think about what you paid for it and not what you could sell it for.

I enjoyed cracking open a second Lonely Mountain a few months back.That cost me £50, not the £300 I could probably sell it for.

madforLEGO

CCC said:

Brainslugged said:

jcb193 said:

Yeah, my curse too. Been saving the various city modulars till my kids were old enough, but they've appreciated so much I just sell off the old ones and then buy 2-3x as many new ones.

I'm the same. I have all the modulars but have only built two. I actually don't like them appreciating in value because I want to enjoy the Green Grocer when I open it, not worry about the opportunity cost of doing so.

Think about what you paid for it and not what you could sell it for.

I enjoyed cracking open a second Lonely Mountain a few months back.That cost me £50, not the £300 I could probably sell it for.

Its one reason why I do not mind getting beat up a beat up box here or there. My Green Grocer is sealed in box, but the box is pretty beat to hell and not much would pop the seals, same with pretty much all my mod boxes. Not sure why, but for my mental state it makes it easier to break the seals on those.

jcb193

madforLEGO said:

CCC said:

Brainslugged said:

jcb193 said:

Yeah, my curse too. Been saving the various city modulars till my kids were old enough, but they've appreciated so much I just sell off the old ones and then buy 2-3x as many new ones.

I'm the same. I have all the modulars but have only built two. I actually don't like them appreciating in value because I want to enjoy the Green Grocer when I open it, not worry about the opportunity cost of doing so.

Think about what you paid for it and not what you could sell it for.

I enjoyed cracking open a second Lonely Mountain a few months back.That cost me £50, not the £300 I could probably sell it for.

Its one reason why I do not mind getting beat up a beat up box here or there. My Green Grocer is sealed in box, but the box is pretty beat to hell and not much would pop the seals, same with pretty much all my mod boxes. Not sure why, but for my mental state it makes it easier to break the seals on those.

Yeah, or what I might do is sell the mint one and buy a used one.