Advice on how and when to pull the trigger on a set...

piratemania7

So I have a quick question for all my fellow bricksetters. If there is a set you want, just afraid to pull the trigger mostly due to cost is there any schematic you use to look up or analyze the price of the set? What sites do you peruse? Stores? I just need to be confident, as much as I can, when I do finally make the purchase that I get the best deal possible. ( I feel like I just need to keep watching amazon as their prices seem to fluctuate the most ).

FollowsClosely

I I like it, or even think I may like it, I buy it. If I don't get around to building it I sell it and pocket the difference.

TheLoneTensor

A set you want? To build?

25% off. If you expect more, you'll probably be disappointed.

Reliant

tensor said:

25% off. If you expect more, you'll probably be disappointed.

This is a good benchmark. I think some have become spoiled by the 50% off sales at Walmart's and the like. The problem is you end up having a very small chance finding any on the shelves. Most of the time when 50% hits everything is gone pretty quick. You end up wasting time and gas money driving around looking than if you had just bought it from amazon when it hit 25% off. I am going through that now with the Rancor Pit and the X-wing both hitting 25% but I still cant pull the trigger. Easier said than done I guess. :)

tamamahm

It depends on the set.

As an example, Haunted House I did not expect to get a grand price on anytime soon or even at all. I simply used a 10% coupon when I had one. I didn't even bother looking, waiting. There are a few other 'key' sets, I don't bother to wait for discounts or only minimal discounts on.

A set like the police station that my son wanted to buy? I waited until I could find him a reasonable discount. There is also never any guarantee that the price is the best it will be. I bought the police station a year ago for around $78. That was the best price I had seen. Supposedly there were some at 50% last summer, but I never saw them. This past week it was down to $68. Sure it was ten dollars cheaper a year later, but this was for my son who was buying it with his Christmas money. It was the best deal at the time, but not 'ever'. To me $10 is not worth waiting a year.

A set I think is okay, but it is okay if I don't end up with it? Then, I simply but if I find a great deal.

My son DESPERATELY wanted a Lego set after not having built one in 3 months. He was almost willing to pay an upcharge of $12 to get it that day instead of waiting 3-4 days from Amazon.

My point is... there is a large situational component to all of this. At the same time 25% is a good range for a discount.

Renny

25% to 30% is usually my buy trigger. If I find myself still not purchasing the set at that discounted price, that tells me that I don't really want it. Like the above poster said though, there are exceptions. I paid full price for the Sopwith Camel as I don't think I have ever seen that on sale and I think the same will go for the grand prix racer.

LegoFanTexas

Sopwith Camel will go on sale at some point, Amazon sells it so sooner or later I'm sure they will discount it.

However, you'll have to watch it closely and pay attention, it might only get discounted for a few hours here and there, if it is a set you want to build now, you might be waiting months and months for a discount.

:)

On the other hand, you can setup price alerts on , so that helps as well...

CCC

I tend not to worry about the percentage off but more about the total saving. If I only get 10% off a new set and it is £10, I'll get it new (for me). Whereas £100 sets, I will wait for a bigger discount.

LOTR sets and so on, the big sets will all be available at 33% off on a number of occasions, and usually 50% at least once. For those the discounts are worth waiting for, especially if you want multiples.

DaSmokeEater

Honestly, when the price is right for YOU, and what you want to pay. It will always cost more or less later so buy when you buy without regrets regardless.

I usually wait for cheap and clearance items, but am a sucker for the kids lists too. Bargains in some areas outweigh the guilt of other times.

zippityzoom

25-30% is good. But when you see it at that, especially online (much harder to resist in person), I tend to wishfully hope for more price cuts to come.

hantot

I've got a script pulling data from 20 different retailers. Anything over 33% on my wanted list sends me an email. I'll accept 20%+ on retailer "exclusive" standard sets and buy UCS direct from Lego during a promotion

I probably miss out on the silly big discounts but when combining with amazon/argos vouchers from credit card etc then it helps to save a fair bit and I've not missed one before going EOL yet

emilewski

For me, 25% is the buy mark. If I am not in a hurry for a set then I will wait to see if I can do better later, but 25% is not hard to come by and is reasonable for me.

SirKevbags

@hantot That sounds like a fine system you have running. Is that easy to set up for us computer simpletons? Doesn't sound it.

cloaked7

I agree with what most people have posted. 20-25% off is typically a good price point. For some sets it's difficult to find them at a greater discount.

One thing about a set you really want is to make sure you get it while it's reasonably available and at a good price (whatever that may be). The problem is, it's typically difficult to know when a set will be EOL'd and even more difficult to know how many (if any) a retailer has in stock when it EOL's.

So, you can wait and wait for a set to be marked down on clearance, or such, and it be sold out before that ever happens. And, often when a retailer has limited inventory in stock and know they aren't getting any more they will just let the set sell out without discounting it. So, you never know.

If it's a set I want and definitely am going to get I will get it sooner rather than later once it reaches a price point I'm comfortable with.

You can even save your receipt and not open the set and return it if you ever find it at a lower price. Kind of like an insurance policy.

monkeyhanger

I have a dilemma today - the SSD is the cheapest it has been since Christmas on Amazon.it @ 333.28 euros delivered to the UK (£282.44), and best case scenario is that it will have 20% off on May 4th and i'll get a free Han polybag. It's only just over a month away. Wait for May 4th and hope TLG reduce it by 20% (I think they might as they did last year and it should be retired this year if past UCS history can be relied upon) or buy it now before someone buys one at the current price and sends the Amazon price back up again.

SirKevbags

@monkeyhanger you always have afol day which is 15% off plus points as an option if you pass on the IT deal or don't get a deal you like on May 4th. The Leeds brand store isn't so far for you now for afol day or I can send one up if you can drive to Durham to collect it.

monkeyhanger

kevbags: There is the AFOL day, but a 195 mile round trip isn't what i'd consider local. Still, it's a good "reserve" to know that at worst case i'll have a few opportunities to get 15% off. I think i'm going to hang on for May 4th unless it drops below £270 on one of the European Amazon sites in the meantime. I am desperate for a new Lego fix, it has been so long since I built anything new.

SirKevbags

^ Thats why I mentioned sending one to Durham. My folks visit me every couple of weeks so you could pick it up from there.

hantot

@kevbags well it does have a website too... i just dont want to share it in case people steal all the bargains (and don't want to compete with this site either)

not12fall

The Sopwith Camel was 10% off at the local Lego store.

I have gotten spoiled by the big discount stores putting stuff up at incredible discounts. I end up with a lot of lego I would not have normally purchased. I just can't leave it on the shelf, though I do go back and return some after the fever has worn off. For Easter, the bunny will be bringing more bricks than candy :) But if the kids really want the set and I don't see the price going more that 25% off after watching it for a while, I will pop if I think they are getting towards the end of supply. I have missed out on many Ninjago spinners by waiting for a sale I didn't see happen.

monkeyhanger

Kevbags: Thanks for the offer. If May 4th proves to be a discount free zone and the Amazon price isn't favourable at FR/ES/IT then I might take you up on your offer for the AFOL event after that if you're going. My back-up plan for getting a Han in that scenario is to blow my £45 VIP points towards a Rancor set, but would a £45 points/£15 money transaction for a £60 item count towards a £50 eligible spend?

CCC

^ Normally you are fine paying with VIP points, as the bonus item gets added to the cart and VIP points are taken as regular payment by the cart.

But, I had a big problem last year - paying with something like £47 credit card, and £5 in VIP points. The TC-14 was missing from an order - but was there when I placed the order, it was in the dispatch note, it was in the email confirmation. It just wasn't in the box.

I phoned and complained and I was told that it was removed at their discretion since I had not spent £50, I had only spent £47 plus VIP points. Eventually I got the TC-14 but it took a long phone call (about 45 minutes).

Anyway, you can read all about it here, top of page 15:

http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/3914/the-may-the-fourth-promotional-item-2012-chrome-tc-14-minifigure/p15

prof1515

If I want it, I buy it. I don't give a rat's arse about discounts because if you wait for a particular discount that might never happen you can end up like the people who whine about how they missed out on a set and have to pay far, far more than MSRP. If I want it, I buy it. If I don't really want it, I might get it on a discount but ultimately it's something that I can pass without regret.

mathew

Actually if you have patience you can find a deal on a set that you really want. I was able to get the IS for a great price right before it was discontinued. Yes it can be risky but unless you are rich you can broke buying all of the sets that you want at full price.

piratemania7

I actually have been keeping my eye on Jabba's Palace...The other day I think it was 85ish dollars? Back up to 95ish today. I should have gone for it the other day. This is on Amazon of course; once it goes back down to 85-90 I will look to buy. Of course, I also keep an eye on Millenium Falcon but that price doesnt seem to fluctuate a lot.

not12fall

Target.com put the Millenium Falcon on sale before xmas for $95. Glad I got it then. It hasn't been discounted much since then. I only wish I had bitten on the Maersk Train when that was on sale. Kick myself daily. So, there is something to be said for picking it up while you can.

piratemania7

oh man 95 bucks! I woul have picked it up too! Yeah, I guess there really is some meaning behind just picking it up while you can...

lulwut

I have never paid retail for any set that I wanted. Don't know if it's just a streak of luck, but on sets $140 or less, I have always waited until I could get 35% or better. Even on themes I swear to stay away from I cave in at this discount; recently bought the Bug Obliterator for $50.

On bigger sets or harder to find sets, I'll settle for 10%-25%. I'll be picking up the new X-Wing this May on release day since I was able to snag a $200 GC for 25% off via Craigslist.

I am thankful to various people on here and different sites that point out a great sale online when there is one. This is how I manage to get most of my sets at a decent discount.

Nothing to it. Just buy what you want at the price you're comfortable with.

dougts

wait, so someone sold a $200 LEGO gift card for $150? sounds like a stolen item(s) from store X, return to LEGO store without a receipt deal.

on another note, where are you finding 35%+ off?

TheLoneTensor

Yeah, and where'd you find the Bug Obliterator for $50?

dougts

^ no kidding, I want that set, but have been waiting for under-$60 at least, which is 25% off.

lulwut

Plenty of sales and promotions come and go that can net you 35% or more on sets.

Capital One is running a promotion where you get $20 back by using the Shopsavvy app. Used it on the Bug Obliterator at WM for $63.97, so it ended up being $50 after tax and the $20 credit.

TheLoneTensor

You bet there are plenty of sales and promotions, but if we don't know about the promotions (like this Capital One promo), the rest of us can't take advantage of them.

Diggydoes

prof1515 said:

If I want it, I buy it. I don't give a rat's arse about discounts because if you wait for a particular discount that might never happen you can end up like the people who whine about how they missed out on a set and have to pay far, far more than MSRP. If I want it, I buy it. If I don't really want it, I might get it on a discount but ultimately it's something that I can pass without regret.

Well usually EOL´ed sets don´t jump in price that high just a week (or so) after retirement, so if you´re playing that "i wait for a discount"-game you gotta be aware if you loose it you have to pay retail-price plus a little extra depending on how long you´re gonna wait after EOL!

Thanos75

I am a sucker for a deal. I dont even think twice about it if i see a set for 50% off....doesnt matter what the set is. Now 30% it better be a set I want...I will pass up 30% or lower. I found #9472 for $40 at Wal-mart today. The set just EOL'd last week. They had 6 sets for sale. I only picked up three.

kdzgon

Sorry for foolish questions, but I have two: what is AFOL day, and how do you set up price notifications for Lego sets on Amazon (or elsewhere)? I rarely find good sales, so right now I feel like a bit of an idiot - thanks for any help!

kdzgon

BTW, I will note TRU has buy one, get 1 50% today & tomorrow only, with less restrictions than usual. There are a few sets that are even the "regular" retail price, vs TRU's inflated prices.

piratemania7

Jabba's Palace back at 27% off this AM! Ahhh, might be pulling the trigger.

Shouldaville

dougts said:

^ no kidding, I want that set, but have been waiting for under-$60 at least, which is 25% off.

70705 $59.99 Amazon now

Stormsworder

I usually have to pace myself with Lego sets. I am hoping to get the Palace Cinema, that new castle and that large house during the year. I sometimes am tempted into buying Lego I hadn't been intending to get if I see it on sale in the shops (for example, I recently got that "Small Cottage" which I saw on sale in a local garden centre).