TLG I won't recommend lego to anyone i know in australia anymore

Comments

• bluemoose Member Posts: 1,716

  June 2011

  You might have more success if you tell LEGO themselves.
  Use the contact information here -
  http://shop.lego.com/TermsPolicies/contact_us.asp?
  - to let them know how you feel. I'd suggest keeping it polite & sticking to facts, but I would highly recommend you, and anyone else who feels the same, to contact them.

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• Eric Queensland, AustraliaMember Posts: 376

  June 2011

  You've got my support.
  

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• duilim Member Posts: 61

  June 2011

  You've got my support too.
  In fact, I've started recommending "the enemy" when people are buying for young kids.... lets face it, kids don't know the difference and they don't look after their blocks anyway.....
  It might seem vindictive I know, but the way I see it, the Lego group don't look after us Aussies, so I'm not going to be watching their back either.....

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• StuBoy New ZealandMember Posts: 623

  June 2011

  Don't forget us Kiwi's!!! We're in the same boat too! Actually, I've seen many threads on this topic and I think everyone except the US are in this predicament.

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• LEGO_Nabii Member Posts: 34

  June 2011

  All of us pay for: the product, plus the transport cost, plus local taxes, plus the shops overheads/profit, plus the exchange rate conversion back to the currency of the manufacturer and a surprisingly tiny percentage of all goods sold is the profit made.
  
  Transport. A huge amount of any companies costs are in transport. Unfortunately half a world away from the LEGO distribution centers (Czech Republic and Texas) you get screwed extra big by the rising oil price. Also with relatively low populations the buying power of your stores cannot leverage a discount to mitigate this (the USA’s huge advantage is its massive chain stores and large population).
  
  Are you paying similar differences for other imported goods from the US and Europe? (Try comparing Playmobil or… erm, I can’t think of anything still made in America, but you get the point.) If the prices are closer with other companies products (make sure you check where they are really made) then yes you might have a point and LEGO will have to respond, however if not I'm afraid that's just the economic reality.
  
  Feel free to bitch, but why should a manufacturing company make less (or no) money by covering the transport costs out of their percentage of the final price just to make it seem ‘fair’ to you when you compare currency exchange rates but nothing else? Why not ask your local retailers why they don’t take this out of their percentage instead and see how they respond?
  

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• duilim Member Posts: 61

  June 2011

  @Lego_Nabii - I'm guessing you live in the U.S. from your comments.
  You raise some very good points regarding cost of oil as well as the profit made by our retailers, but I'm afraid you argument falls down on one point. The fact that the Lego online shop prices aren't any cheaper than what we get in our retail stores here. In fact, it costs more because on top of what we pay, we then have to pay for shipping/postage as well, which should cover the cost of oil =). So there goes your oil/retailer(s) argument.
  
  What you need to understand is simply this - for a lot of sets, we pay double what the Americans pay. In fact, more since our dollar is stronger. We could live with it if it was 20%, 30%, even 50% more, but 100%??? That's ridiculous. I mean, how would you feel if you were the one paying double for the same thing? I'm pretty sure you'd be unhappy about it too.
  
  Having said that, you may be right in regards to other imported good from overseas. We do pay more than in the U.S, but it's not as ridiculous as difference as what the Lego group is charging.

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• LEGO_Nabii Member Posts: 34

  June 2011

  I live in Denmark, I do pay double what they do in the US.
  
  Of course shop at home is the same price as the retail stores, LEGO will not undercut the people they sell their product to (the toy stores), that would be a really bad way to conduct business.
  
  BTW is the Aussie dollar stronger in relation to the Danish Krona now then it was five years ago or weaker? Comparing any prices to the US is crazy, you are on the other side of the planet no where near a LEGO factory and in a much smaller market, try comparing yourself to South Africa or Brazil maybe - if you want a comparison that is fairer.

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• duilim Member Posts: 61

  June 2011

  Lego_Nabii - looks like I owe you an apology. I assumed that you were from the U.S. - as it turns out, incorrectly. I checked our prices against the Danish krona - it's about $1aud = 5.45 Krona - and it turns out that you pay exactly the same as we do in Australia. I guess what surprises me is your understanding towards TLG in this regard - I mean, you seem quite accepting of that fact that they charge you double with no signs of ill feeling at all - something that I must admit, I find hard to understand yet admire at the same time.
  
  Still, given that Lego is manufactured in eastern Europe, shouldn't priced actually be cheapest in Europe compared to the rest of the world, even the U.S.?

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• LEGO_Nabii Member Posts: 34

  June 2011

  The way I see it most of us pay about the same for LEGO where ever we live, except in the US, where their economy has collapsed leaving 10% of them without jobs and their currency worth a lot less then it was, in combination with the LEGO factory being inside the US dollar zone this makes it look like (from a LEGO fans point of view) it's a better deal to be in their country.
  
  Personally I'd rather have healthcare, a (fairly) good economy, not have my countries debts owned by China and pay twice as much for my LEGO.
  
  Of course, cards on the table, I do work for LEGO so I am quite understanding of the costs involved in various nations. My name is Mark Stafford, I'm a LEGO Designer - but I've been an AFOL for far longer, and the price difference between Europe and the US really pissed me off, that's why I took the time once I was inside to find out why the difference exists. Really, it's transport and the USA's massive buying power, annoying as hell I agree, but reality can be.

  

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• StuBoy New ZealandMember Posts: 623

  June 2011

  ^ That was another point I was going to raise that LEGO_Nabii just mentioned: the massive buying power of large US companies. It has been mentioned in other threads that the big companies screw TLG as much as they can because they have the largest market in the world. I'm used to it now and only buy LEGO when its on sale, and for some larger sets its cheaper to buy off Bricklink, even with the huge shipping cost included.

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• brickmatic Member Posts: 1,071

  June 2011 edited June 2011

  @LEGO_Nabii Thank you for your comments in this discussion. I didn't see them earlier because the topic was sunk, but getting confirmation of my hunch that there were valid reasons why LEGO products are cheaper in the US than in other places is appreciated. You can see in this discussion (starting about halfway down the page) some of the potential reasons I provided as to why the price difference exists and they line up pretty well with what you've said in this thread.

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