Pandemic buying strategies

FireFox31

The pandemic has changed the way we buy Lego.  Lack of discount, supply shortages, and overall inflation have affected us all.  Yet, Lego has retained some of its traditional practices such as set retirement timelines.

Do we change our view from "how do we get the best deal" to "how do we get the set at all"?

Common Lego sets used to be always available on Amazon and Target for 20% off, with larger sets sometimes discounted 5%.  I used to buy common sets at Amazon or Target in Oct-Nov the year after the set was released hoping for more than 20% off as they cleared out remaining stock.  Now, sets don't go on sale and don't remain at retailers through or after their retirement date.

During the pandemic, it seems better to buy from Lego (for guaranteed 5% off using VIP points) and either stack that with a GWP or get double points (10% off).  But even GWP and double points have been canceled from their regularly scheduled times, store calendars have stopped, GWPs are released on short notice.  How can we optimize getting deals at Lego.com?

To monitor availability at Lego.com, I've requested notification emails when items come back in stock.  Since I only want to buy with GWP or double points, I must sign up when I know or expect these to be available.  Is it possible to get stock and sale notifications for Amazon and Target?

I've created a Lego.com wishlist to see what's in stock or not at a glance.  This doesn't differentiate between temporarily out of stock and truly out of stock (discontinued?).  For Amazon and Target, I keep Lego sets I want "saved for later" in my cart.  This allows me to quickly see if any items are on sale.  What are other tricks for managing wishlists to watch for availability and discounts?

My local board game store now offers Lego and can order some sets for me.  They have a 10% off loyalty program.  That's a fine deal in the pandemic era and I love supporting the store.  What other alternatives retailers can get us good discounts?

Used to wait for the entire year's sets to be known (late Dec) before looking at any so I could do it all at once.  Now I have to wade through hundreds of unavailable sets multiple times per year to buy during the current year instead of after it.  What's an efficient way to get a comprehensive view of new sets throughout the year in which they're released?

Thanks for sharing your tips on finding product availability and getting discounts during this confusing pandemic.

560Heliport

A Barnes & Noble membership costs $25 a year and gets you 10% off. 

bandit778

My strategy for buying Lego is to firstly categorise the sets I want to buy with a numbered scale (the main site does this quite nicely from 1-4) so I have a priority list.
Number 1's - Must have or can't miss - buy them as and when I find them, if it's at a discount, so much the better (especially if you can join a membership like @560Heliport suggests above, being UK based I don't have that) or join a LUG for the benefits that come with that.
Number 2's - would really like but at a 15 - 30% discount then set up wish lists at vendors that usually do that sort of discount.
Number 3's - like the sets, would be nice to own but at a 30 - 60% discount and do the same as number 2's.
Number 4's - Nice set, not what I normally buy and like the look of it but would have to be an a amazing deal for me to buy it and add them to another wish list.
Then I just go about my life.
Anything other than Number 1's, if I get them at the price I think is palatable, all is good, if I miss them, so be it as anything other than the 1's are not important enough to me to worry about.
It also gives focus and thinking time to the desirability of what is on my lists, sometimes things get added, sometimes things get removed but I still manage to maintain a healthy collection without buying just because and takes away the element of FOMO.
I appreciate others are different, but this works for me.

madforLEGO

I think we started to see a lack of discounts before the Pandemic. With the pandemic, I just started focusing on what I really wanted instead of looking for good deals and utilizing VIP points when possible to drop prices. Also buying items as they came out instead of hoping they appear on sale at some point (as many times Amazon did not have what I wanted). I also started buying parts I wanted more than the sets they were in.

karrit

I've been buying parts a lot over the past two years if there are sets that have a few parts I want from themes I'm not into.  If it's a set I really want I try to get it with a decent GWP or Double points.  Of course the ongoing stock or lack there of issues make everything a gamble these days.  There are few sets that I'm willing to grab on day one unless there is also a GWP or Double Points deal going on.  So I tend to grab newer stuff at Target or Walmart as soon as a sale price appears.  Got a bunch of sets over the past year having Target price match the online Walmart deals which resulted in an additional 5% discount for me using my Target Redcard.  I've also gotten some great deals from Costco but they usually only seem to have stuff before the holidays and I'll only get sets in the Warehouse because their Online prices add on shipping costs erasing the better deals.

I've been marking sets as Favorites on Target's website so I can easily see when they are offering sale prices.  I held off on the 2021 Harry Potter Summer wave waiting for the anticipated GWP after getting burned the previous year by buying sets right away.  I didn't want to pay full price for the Fluffy set but I caved when the Dorm GWP was available so I could get a second copy.

I have various wishlists set up on Lego.com as well as requests for in stock notifications.  The Target website also allows for in stock notifications sometimes but they are about as reliable or not as the Lego.com ones.

I still find the occasional clearance deal in Walmart but never as good as a few others in other parts of the country have found.

Paperballpark

Dammit, I came in here expecting tips on purchasing pandemics! ;)

The_Rancor

Over the last few years I tend to have reduced the overall amount of new sets I buy (through any method or retailer) but usually buy new sets when they’re released as soon as they’re available from Shop @ Home (which can be tied into GWPs in some cases). Before they often then have long and fluctuating periods of availability.

I went through a period in the mid ‘10s when I left a lot of sets until they went on sale before buying, but although I saved money, I often felt like the purchase, build and display experience didn’t feel very special when they were bought so long after they came out, with another significant wave soon after. I also probably got tempted into buying more sets I didn’t really need so the discounts perhaps wasn’t saving as much as I thought. It’s all about balance!

datsunrobbie

My buying strategy really did not change when the pandemic hit. I still go to Savers a couple times a week and buy most of the LEGO that they have. I still check Walmart, Target, and other local retailers for discounts, but have not been finding nearly as many deals as I did a couple of years back. I usually only buy direct from LEGO if it is a set that is not available elsewhere, like the '66 Batcave.

My biggest change in LEGO shopping has been switching to buying complete sets of CMFs from @MinifiguresPlus, which I started doing when Toys'R'Us closed up shop. Local availability has been hit-or-miss, and buying a full set ends up being cheaper and less work.

Sethro3

With stock levels and rarer discounts, I have found to just buy fewer sets in general. Not ideal of course, but it has created a more second dark age for me with realizing the constant expenditures of LEGO and trying to find space to display/store and time to build or the endless sorting. It is all overwhelming to me these days and the pandemic only helped make me realize it.

With that said, when I look to buy something, I always try to get a deal instead of day 1 full price purchase with no other incentives. It's just too expensive of a hobby to justify that anymore.

FireFox31

Discount tips above include:

In-store price matching to websites (Target, Walmart, etc).

Target wishlists and Amazon "save for later" to watch for sales.

Target Red Card for 5% off.

Barnes and Noble $25 annual membership for 10% off.

Wait for Lego.com double points or gift with purchase.

Check thrift stores / charity shops like Savers, Salvation Army, etc.

Join a LUG for their special discounts.

Buy only the desirable parts from otherwise less interesting sets.

Availability tips include:

Target in-stock notifications, though not always reliable.

bandit778 said:

Number 3's - like the sets, would be nice to own but at a 30 - 60% discount and do the same as number 2's.

How does anyone find Lego at 30 - 60% discount?  In five years of buying, I've only seen 30% off rarely and 50% off for the Lego Movie 2 sets.

The_Rancor said:

I went through a period in the mid ‘10s when I left a lot of sets until they went on sale before buying, but although I saved money, I often felt like the purchase, build and display experience didn’t feel very special when they were bought so long after they came out, with another significant wave soon after.

I solve this by staying a year behind on Brickset articles.  Initially, I did it to avoid spoilers for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  However, I miss GWP notifications.  Is there a way to get email from Brickset when they post about GWP?

datsunrobbie said:

I still go to Savers a couple times a week and buy most of the LEGO that they have.

How do you evaluate the prices at Savers (or any other thrift shop)?  I stopped at my local Savers and found a bag of colorful Friends parts for under $10 but the value of the bulk parts was not immediately clear.  Yes, I bought it, because colors are fun.

karrit

FireFox31 said:

How does anyone find Lego at 30 - 60% discount?  In five years of buying, I've only seen 30% off rarely and 50% off for the Lego Movie 2 sets.

I got several sets at 40% off in my local Walmart a few days ago.  I had been wanting but not needing the Vidiyo Punk Pirate Ship and when the theme cancellation announcement happened I decided to go pick one up at their current 20% off price of $48.  When I checked out it rang up at $36 so 40% off.  I decided the next day to go back to check out some other sets since the shelves were pretty well stocked for a change.  Got 2 more Vidiyo Stage sets, Raya's Heart Palace & a Dots set all at 40% off.  I used their price checking scanner in the Walmart app on my phone to scan each set I was interested in.  The ones that came up 40% off I bought.  The shelf tags were all still only showing the 20% off prices.  There may have been some other sets that were 40% off but I only checked prices on ones I was interested in.

bandit778

FireFox31 said:

bandit778 said:

Number 3's - like the sets, would be nice to own but at a 30 - 60% discount and do the same as number 2's.

How does anyone find Lego at 30 - 60% discount?  In five years of buying, I've only seen 30% off rarely and 50% off for the Lego Movie 2 sets.

There are on occasion (in the UK at least) times when sets do progress over 50% off but these are usually either one off lightning deals or sets that may not be great sellers but make reasonable parts packs.

You also have to make the most of stacking discounts as and when they happen. On numerous occasions I've benefited from " x% of all LEGO" deals that then stack on top of already considerably reduced sets making the discount price a worthwhile buy for sets that may have been left for the just the reduced price.

CCC

[UK] It is rarer to find good deals now compared to 8-10 years ago. Long gone are the days where you could get 50% off many normal retail sets in supermarkets, let alone 75% off like they used to do for the ones that wouldn't shift at 50% off. So many people invest now, that if they go to 50%, then even badly selling sets will disappear quickly. Even the 30% off sales from Argos and supermarkets are rarer than they used to be, or when they happen all the good stuff has gone already. And since tesco direct has gone, no crazy misprices. I know ASDA and other supermarkets stopped doing the big sets online or in store for a while, but they seem to be back now. Although I've not seen the heavy discounts there either, unlike when they clearanced The Hobbit sets at 50% off just a few weeks after release. I've still got at least one £50 Lonely Mountain somewhere. And £5 at Amazon for the Wizard Battle and Witch King sets was an amazing price.

Shropshire

[UK] for me though, I do wonder if this is less pandemic related and more sign of the times;

- better stock management, less stock held in store, overnight replenishment, better data on ordering/sales etc.. supermarkets are viscous about giving shelf space to products that don't sell. i.e. left with less to clearance in store.

- reduced competition, loss of Woolworths, Debenhams, Tesco Direct, changes to The Entertainer etc, outsourcing Toys in supermarkets. Lego's use of "exclusives" to control where can source from especially for some larger sets.

- rise of online, both the likes of Amazon/Zavvi and also bricks and mortar stores selling online - how many of us carry home a MiLF from John Lewis rather than click.

- rise of "discount paths" - affiliated links etc for online becoming the "discount" for those in the know.

- rise of Lego Brand stores... there are a lot more and there's attraction to buy there for a lot of people.

I still cringe when I can remember walking past the section filled with The Hobbit sets in Sainsbury's at 50% off and didn't buy a single set - was in my dark ages and whilst I noticed it as walked past (Hobbit fan) I wasn't in Lego mode then.

datsunrobbie

FireFox31 said:

datsunrobbie said:

I still go to Savers a couple times a week and buy most of the LEGO that they have.

How do you evaluate the prices at Savers (or any other thrift shop)?  I stopped at my local Savers and found a bag of colorful Friends parts for under $10 but the value of the bulk parts was not immediately clear.  Yes, I bought it, because colors are fun.

If buying a full set at Savers I will look it up on Brickset or Bricklink to get a reality check on pricing, but full sets are not that common at my local Savers, and often are not actually complete. I picked up #75810 for $75 at Savers thinking it was complete, but it was missing bag#1. But I found #10188 for $80, and it was complete.

My last trip to Savers I picked up 2 $50 tubs that ended up being roughly 1/4 off-brand blocks, and a $20 tub that had #41130, #60221, #60239, #60286, #75193, #60231, and #41256, all nearly complete, so I feel like that balances out overpaying for the other tubs, especially after getting it all for 30% off.  When I take back the off-brand blocks I get a 20% coupon for future purchases, and I get 30% off all purchases on Tuesdays just for being old.

If your local Savers works like mine, one bit of advice I can give is buy all the LEGO you find on any given trip if you want to rebuild sets from the bulk lots. I have found that most of the time if there are multiple lots available that parts from any sets will be scattered among all the lots, and the only way to recover whole sets is buy them all. 

datsunrobbie

Big discounts at local retailers are certainly harder to find than they were back in 2015/2016. Back then I was finding sets at Target for 50% to 75% off on a regular basis. Walgreens dropped a bunch of small sets at 90% off in 2015.

CCC

Shropshire said:

[UK] for me though, I do wonder if this is less pandemic related and more sign of the times;

- better stock management, less stock held in store, overnight replenishment, better data on ordering/sales etc.. supermarkets are viscous about giving shelf space to products that don't sell. i.e. left with less to clearance in store.

- reduced competition, loss of Woolworths, Debenhams, Tesco Direct, changes to The Entertainer etc, outsourcing Toys in supermarkets. Lego's use of "exclusives" to control where can source from especially for some larger sets.

- rise of online, both the likes of Amazon/Zavvi and also bricks and mortar stores selling online - how many of us carry home a MiLF from John Lewis rather than click.

- rise of "discount paths" - affiliated links etc for online becoming the "discount" for those in the know.

- rise of Lego Brand stores... there are a lot more and there's attraction to buy there for a lot of people.

I still cringe when I can remember walking past the section filled with The Hobbit sets in Sainsbury's at 50% off and didn't buy a single set - was in my dark ages and whilst I noticed it as walked past (Hobbit fan) I wasn't in Lego mode then.

All very true, plus the increased fan base that was already growing especially since the Lego Movie and the introduction of 18+ sets. That increase was happening without covid, but covid helped speed it up. And the rise of investing too. So many lego investors on YouTube and so on say they've been doing this for two years or a similar time frame. Some people are used to investing now at full RRP on day 1.

FireFox31

Shropshire said:

- rise of "discount paths" - affiliated links etc for online becoming the "discount" for those in the know.

Where can we find affiliated links which grant us discounts? And do they exceed the 5% off we get from VIP points at Lego.com?

CCC said:

Some people are used to investing now at full RRP on day 1.

This is surprising but seems to be working.  I missed out on a few 2020 sets but there are loads available on eBay for 10% above RRP.  Even small but desirable used sets (that I've checked) from the past few years sell at or above RRP.  Seems like sellers have reached a consensus on pricing and are patient to wait for the prices they ask.  I must be more patient to wait for non-investor sellers who list below the typical asking prices.

Is there a good way to get eBay listing notifications much faster than the official eBay saved search emails?

Marshallmario

   I really don't see Lego at supermarkets here in Wisconsin. Maybe it's different in other parts of the country and it definitely seems different overseas.
   Waiting for a GWP was my best bet but in the last year that strategy has taken a dump. $150 and now $200 to qualify is way high for me and the sets that would make the threshold are out of stock anyway. 
   Savers here in Madison, Wis. closed years ago.
   Really double points and my Target red card are my best (only) options left. It does seem Target carries more and larger sets both online and in store so that helps.

CCC

FireFox31 said:

Shropshire said:

- rise of "discount paths" - affiliated links etc for online becoming the "discount" for those in the know.

Where can we find affiliated links which grant us discounts? And do they exceed the 5% off we get from VIP points at Lego.com?

CCC said:

Some people are used to investing now at full RRP on day 1.

This is surprising but seems to be working.  I missed out on a few 2020 sets but there are loads available on eBay for 10% above RRP.  Even small but desirable used sets (that I've checked) from the past few years sell at or above RRP.  Seems like sellers have reached a consensus on pricing and are patient to wait for the prices they ask.  I must be more patient to wait for non-investor sellers who list below the typical asking prices.

At 10% above RRP, that is not working if they bought at RRP. Even worse if they needed to hold it for two years after buying on day 1. It might be people realising it is not a good quick flip after all, or ones that bought for a GWP and sell on the set as quick as possible.

Shropshire

^I was being UK specific and by discount path also included Costco i.e.  for members. I also for me tend to have lots of Nectar points so again that's a "discount" when buying from Ebay i.e. even if i'm paying RRP at Ebay from a Lego authorised store if I throw in some Nectar points I get a real terms cash discount.

A good example is they recently had a 50x Nectar points bonus on for buying any 1 item at Ebay in one specific hour with a cap of 15000 bonus points.. so I bought a Modular building i'd been wanting and in effect got £75 discount on a £300 spend which was the value of the 15k cap. This is an example of having to get crafty,

Really worth mentioning too, for mainstream sites (Amazon, S&H etc) always feels good to use Brickset affiliate links available on the main page and in reviews etc and keep the site running. What I tend to forget myself is the link works for everything you buy not just buying Lego so even when i'm buying cat food and bin liners good to know it helps the site and in turn the community.

FireFox31

CCC said:

At 10% above RRP, that is not working if they bought at RRP. ... or ones that bought for a GWP and sell on the set as quick as possible.

I'd love to know where the resellers get their product so they profit with such small margins.  I just bought #75941 Indominus Rex on eBay for 5% above RRP, free shipping, sealed, mint, complete, authentic.  How did the seller make money on that?

Perhaps a sketchy yet solid business plan is to register as a toy store, buy Lego sets at wholesale, save them for two years until they're retired, then sell them at above RRP.  You'd simply be operating two years behind, storing sets akin to a wine cellar.  I got this idea after visiting a large toy store I found in PA, shelves lined with 2-5 year old sets, sealed and mint, all at collector pricing well above RRP.

Yes, some GWP are better than the sets required to get them.  I kick myself for not buying the UCS Batmobile purely to get the amazing minifig-scale Batmobile GWP, immediately selling the UCS one.

Shropshire said:

A good example is they recently had a 50x Nectar points bonus ... in effect got £75 discount on a £300 spend

Now that's a strategy!  Nectar points.  Seems like it takes some effort, but worth it.  The loyalty cards may be selling your purchase info to marketers, so know there's a price for this deal.

CCC

FireFox31 said:

CCC said:

At 10% above RRP, that is not working if they bought at RRP. ... or ones that bought for a GWP and sell on the set as quick as possible.

I'd love to know where the resellers get their product so they profit with such small margins.  I just bought #75941 Indominus Rex on eBay for 5% above RRP, free shipping, sealed, mint, complete, authentic.  How did the seller make money on that?

Probably bought at a discount, a store doing a clearance, bought on an AFOL day, bought for the GWP, double VIP points, bought from someone else that no longer wanted it, or possibly stolen (rare, but happens).  Or they are not making a profit on it but just want it gone and someone else was at 10% above RRP.

FireFox31 said:

Perhaps a sketchy yet solid business plan is to register as a toy store, buy Lego sets at wholesale, save them for two years until they're retired, then sell them at above RRP.  You'd simply be operating two years behind, storing sets akin to a wine cellar.  I got this idea after visiting a large toy store I found in PA, shelves lined with 2-5 year old sets, sealed and mint, all at collector pricing well above RRP.

That's almost impossible. The discounts you'd get on RRP direct from LEGO are not that great as a small independent store. Also you don't get to pick and choose which sets to invest in. You have to take an entire range of types of sets. And even then, you have to have a physical store for some time, so you'd need to be paying store rental too. And you cannot only stock LEGO, you must prove you sell other toys too. A lot of real but small stores can no longer afford to buy LEGO direct to sell, as the profit margins are not there and they have to take so many small undesirable sets that get repeated year after year. One near me, the owner told me he buys his LEGO stock from a supermarket when they do offers and it is cheaper than him buying direct, plus it means he can choose what to buy and he often gets it quicker than if he bought direct - small stores are the last in the chain, often not getting stock until months after the sets were released and so all the keen buyers have already bought it and the rest are expecting discounts.

Astrobricks

Marshallmario said:

   I really don't see Lego at supermarkets here in Wisconsin. Maybe it's different in other parts of the country and it definitely seems different overseas.
   Waiting for a GWP was my best bet but in the last year that strategy has taken a dump. $150 and now $200 to qualify is way high for me and the sets that would make the threshold are out of stock anyway. 
   Savers here in Madison, Wis. closed years ago.
   Really double points and my Target red card are my best (only) options left. It does seem Target carries more and larger sets both online and in store so that helps.

I believe most of the talk of good deals at supermarkets are in the UK, where supermarket means something different than in the US.

FireFox31

Is it possible to predict when GWP will be offered?  Are there any which release at similar times each year (like the Chinese New Year and Christmas vignettes)?  I tried to use the Brickset news archive to research what was offered and when but I felt that I was missing information.

I just visited a Lego store 1/26/22 and spent $85 to get the tiger GWP.  The next day, the taxi GWP came out with a $200 limit.  I could have easily spent that to get both had I know.

Is it unethical to return what I bought (and the tiger), then buy it again with another $115 to get the tiger and the taxi?  My Lego store is an hour away, so time and gas eat into that discount.

WesterBricks

FireFox31 said:

Is it possible to predict when GWP will be offered?  Are there any which release at similar times each year (like the Chinese New Year and Christmas vignettes)?  I tried to use the Brickset news archive to research what was offered and when but I felt that I was missing information.

99% likely this GWP was intended to be released at the same time as the Boutique Hotel, and was delayed for reasons related to manufacturing/packaging.

CCC

FireFox31 said:

Is it unethical to return what I bought (and the tiger), then buy it again with another $115 to get the tiger and the taxi?  My Lego store is an hour away, so time and gas eat into that discount.

They should allow you to do it, and if they do then ethics don't really come into it as they allow it.

WesterBricks said:

99% likely this GWP was intended to be released at the same time as the Boutique Hotel, and was delayed for reasons related to manufacturing/packaging.

Or possibly shipping and transportation issues. Or maybe just LEGO screwing around with the day 1 purchasers!

FireFox31

My current favorite buying strategy:

Shop at Lego.com only during GWP or double points.  Consider Bricklink value of a GWP as a discount against your purchase.  Try to spend as close to the GWP threshold as possible, maximizing percentage of discount from the GWP.

Consider items on your wishlist as a resource to cross GWP thresholds.  Save low priced sets to help cross the thresholds when you're close and high priced sets for large thresholds.

To get the tiger GWP, I spent exactly $85.94, thus maximizing the percentage discount that the tiger represented.  I saved a $100 set to cross larger thresholds.  And now the taxi is out, so that $100 set can go toward that.