2012 - Time to Revisit Dr. Dave's Discount Threshold?

princedraven

OK, so I was thinking: a wise man once said "you should always wait for at least a 30% discount".

But, what with the most recent crazy sales, Police Station £18, AC Mothership £12, Fire Temple £38, etc... is it time to revise this figure?

What are peoples thoughts, do you think this is a one off or could we be looking at these kinds of discounts off the newer ranges in the near future?

I am finding it really hard to even contemplate buying the newer ranges (e.g. Dino) at their current prices and am thinking the recent discounts have made me want more for less. I can't help thinking Dino defence HQ could well be the new 'Fire Temple' in 6 months or so. Even 30% off, Dino defence looks expensive at £66 compared to some of the recent deals.

Thoughts?

Moved to Buying and Selling by YC 3-21-12

roxio

I think its the line between a standard (online) sale discount and then a deeper (mainly instore) clearance sale - we all like the latter one, but can easily be missed as they don't last long.....

Si_UKNZ

I think it'll be a lot more hit and miss with all these new ranges. I agree that Dino probably won't do so well, and it likely to get steeper discounts, whereas some Friends and City sets will probably never drop that low. Some of the dino sets might do OK if they are at the right price point and have the right 'look' and playability.

With fire temple I just don't think it was funky or 'action orientated' enough for the target market, especially as a flagship set (hence all the new Ninjago vehicles and generally more dynamic sets).

It's also down to luck slightly, i.e. how much inventory did they have of that set, and what are the other retailers selling it for.

SirKevbags

So much luck is needed with the in store deals. It quickly becomes a pain going from store to store and ending up empty handed. So for me if it's a set I really want I'm happy with the 30%. Things I'm not so bothered about I'll take a wait and see approach.

I will be more prepared for the Sainsburys 50% sale this year though.

Yellowcastle

I think the recent discounts are more exceptions that prove the rule. Thus, I will continue to shoot for 30% when/where possible.

Oh_buy_one_Kenobi

Dino Defence HQ would be expensive at £66, as 30% off makes it £56!

I'm looking for 50% off now, but Amazon have managed to temp me with a few 44% deals recently. My 7 year old has other ideas however and has just reached enough pocket money to buy Kai's Blade Cycle at full price. I not sure I can bear to watch him hand over the cash!

I do think the success of LEGO in recent years has meant bigger stock levels, in the supermarkets especially. They all want to replace it with with gardening, etc now so we are saving (or spending!) a small fortune.

MinifigsMe

I'm feeling that 40% is my bite point for sets that I want at some point. 50% I'll buy one copy of most things. 30% is fine for sets that I really, really want!

gmpirate

For personal use I think it just needs to be at least 10%. And really that would apply to UCS, modulars and like sets. Any other lines or sets 20%. Its one thing to go to a lot of trouble and time looking and waiting for price drops if you intend to resell, but if its for you own enjoyment I think that would take some of the fun out of it.

If we are talking sets for parts then 40% to 50% seems a good price point. So in effect, I don't think there really is an "overall" price point to watch for. A lot just depends on which type of sets and what you want them for.

richo

I think flexibility is key. 30% is fine as a general rule, but recently I have been getting quite a bit at well over that. 3 Ramses Pyramids tonight at £5.14 each + shipping works out at circa 70% discount.

richo

[duplicate post]

dougts

Couple thoughts - I think the threshholds have to be different US vs. Europe. US prices are generally lower to start, but seems like Europe will then get better (non-clearance anyway) % discounts. Here in Oregon, anything over 30% is generally clearance territory (unless you are talking about buy two, get one free, which is rare.

For me, the threshhold is also different depending on the source/use:
Direct sets for myself: 10% LEGO coupon if I'm not willing to wait for it to hit other retailers, otherwise 25% (BOGO50) once it gets out to Amazon, TRU, etc.
Direct sets for resale: 25% unless near EOL, then 10% or even full RRP
normal sets for myself: 30%
normal sets for resale: 30%

Cam_n_Stu

@richo 'Ramses Pyramids tonight at £5.14 each + shipping' Where from? ;-)

richo

^ Amazon France.

http://www.amazon.fr/Lego-Société-Games-Ramses-Pyramid/dp/B001U3Y5X4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1332364482&sr=8-2

Cam_n_Stu

@dougts is correct, US Vs UK is definitely a different ballgame. The US seems to get discounts on the Direct sets far more easily, partly because they seem to be available for outlets other than Direct! The US also seems to get a better deal on BOGO, BOGO50s, and Black Friday.

LegoFanTexas

Anything 25% off or more is generally interesting, but it depends on the set.

Cad Bane's speeder at $30 was not much of a sale, that was darn near what the normal price should have been, the original $50 was insane.

Death Star is fair at full price.

And so on...

legomyLEGGO

I know it's different for everyone, but my general rule for myself is 30% is the kind of discount that catches my eye, and where I start checking if it really is a deal; 33% is where it's really at for me. Of course, anything more than that is just icing. But that doesn't happen often enough.

As far as going below that, I have to take into consideration different factors, before considering if the discount amount is worth it, some of which are:
What is the set? This includes the rarity, like discontinued or on clearance, or just plain can't find it anywhere.
Where the discount is? Some TRU stores hike the prices, so 30% may not really be 30% off RP. Sometimes exclusivity plays a role. Some stores may not carry what others do. Usual the LEGO stores may.

As dougts alluded to...the 33% I'm referring to is the buy 2 get one free deal from TRU. I wait for this deal primarily. To maximize it you have to get 3 items that are of equal price. Of course, since this is TRU, you'll have to check with what the actual RP is.

drdavewatford

The 30% discount threshold still holds true for me on sets which I don't already own - it's a large enough discount to be meaningful, but also small enough to be realistic.

I also stand by the observation that if you wait long enough then you will eventually get any non-Exclusive set for at least 30% off from Amazon or elsewhere; it's just a case of being patient and keeping a very close eye on the usual suspects, Amazon in particular. A few non-Exclusive 2012 sets have already hit the 30% discount threshold, albeit briefly in some cases, and I've snapped them up and ticked them off the list. I'm confident that the rest will eventually follow suit.

Depending on the set, I do tend to aim for a larger discount on multiples.

turtle1173

I think there are just so many variables that come into play for what makes me finally decide I'm going to buy. For a set like the Death Star, I was happy to get them for around $350-$355. Yet that's just slightly more than 10% off. Not much of a bargain for most sets I would buy. I bought some sets over the past couple months I never would have bought, yet at 50% off I couldn't say no (my wife sure could though :-)

Then there's always the discontinuation factor to consider. I was thrilled back in the late summer of 2010 to buy 5-6 Republic Gunships 7676 at full MSRP because they were already sold out everywhere. I was likewise elated to get several Imperial Flagships at the end of January, when they briefly came back in stock. So normally that wasn't a bargain, yet it really was.

So, in a nutshell, I don't really have any hard set rules.

CCC

^ Amazon France.

http://www.amazon.fr/Lego-Société-Games-Ramses-Pyramid/dp/B001U3Y5X4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1332364482&sr=8-2

Postage for me was Euro 7.20 - shame they only let you get three per order. I added an Atlantis HQ set (for Eur 14.20) and postage only went up to Eur 8ish plus a few cents.

atkinsar

I will admit, I have been passing up a few 30% discounts that have been popping up on sets that are on my wanted list. So I guess I am holding out for larger discounts this year, although I am expecting to wait a long time.

legomyLEGGO

I will admit, I have been passing up a few 30% discounts that have been popping up on sets that are on my wanted list. So I guess I am holding out for larger discounts this year, although I am expecting to wait a long time.

Picking and choosing is definitely tough when you're bargain shopping, especially know when there are better deals to have. You have to sometimes bite the bullet to get a particular set, and even take a 10% discount (lol).

I bought a Public Transport the other day, for that same discount, since it's been a while since I've seen those. I figured they were retired (?).

seonadancing

For somebody like me who lives in the Philippines, I'd gladly pay US retail price. The distributor in the country are selling the Lego sets at 3x - 4x the US retail price. Purchasing sets on Lego.com at a discount is a bonus.

dougts

I bought a Public Transport the other day, for that same discount, since it's been a while since I've seen those. I figured they were retired (?).

LEGO.com cleared out their last public transports at 30% off about two months ago, but other retailers still seem to have plenty of them, so no telling how much is out there right now.

Fatteh

A question for my fellow ACM pedants: what is your average discount off MSRP/RRP for all your new purchases from licenced retailers (calculated on the difference between the sum of your total price paid amounts and the sum of the MSRPs)?

Due to high asking prices and healthy competition between big box retailers, a fair amount of LEGO is sold at significant discount in New Zealand. There are a lot of bargains to be found. I'm curious if this situation applies elsewhere and to a similar extent: my current average discount on 77 retail purchases over the last two years is 39%.

Basta

As you are in NZ, you pay the same over inflated RRP that we do In Australia. So its all relative when comparing with the ROW, generally anything less then 30% off in Australia means we are paying more then the US MSRP/RRP. So average discounts between different countries is probably not going to give a clear picture about overall value.

My goal is to try and pay US retail for my Lego. I was able to do this at Kmart recently with the Monster Fighters Castle #9468 for $99 & The Vampyre Hearse #9464 for $35. This is because most of Kmart's Lego has a regular price of about 10%-15% below the Australian MSRP/RRP, so when they have 20% off sales the discount is quite good. David Jones some times has clearance items at 40% off, so earlier this year I got a few Light Houses #5770 for $42, Just $2 above US retail.

I have not really kept track, but I buy most of my Lego online from OS sites, But the stuff I do get in Australia from B&M stores I would say is normally 30% - 40% off MSRP/RRP.

Fatteh

Basta said:

As you are in NZ, you pay the same over inflated RRP that we do In Australia. So its all relative when comparing with the ROW, generally anything less then 30% off in Australia means we are paying more then the US MSRP/RRP. So average discounts between different countries is probably not going to give a clear picture about overall value.

It's the depth and frequency of discounting in different countries that I'm interested in rather than overall value (given the strength of the Ausy dollar you guys are possibly worse off in that respect than NZ). That, and what sort of savings the hardcore hunters out there have achieved.

CCC

If it is a non-exclusive, I rarely buy unless at least 33% off. I am in the UK.