If you have been involved in the LEGO hobby for some time you are well aware of how important it is to have a LEGO shopping strategy. LEGO is not cheap, and both the LEGO Company as well as retailers are taking advantage of the popularity of the brand by keeping prices as high as they can. This is an unfortunate occurrence, especially in the current economy. Ultimately the strategy may backfire both for LEGO and retailers, but that is another topic, and whatever they do, we can still develop our own LEGO shopping strategies to get the best deals. 
One of the places people often shop for LEGO is Toys’R'Us. It is pretty much the only toy-shop chain left in the USA, and people naturally think of visiting them first when shopping for LEGO or other toys. One thing they are often not aware of however is how much Toys’R'Us jacks up prices on LEGO sets (and probably everything else too). A $5-$10-$20 mark-up from regular retail price is very common.
Worse is when Toys’R'Us advertises sales around holidays. You will see 40% Off and BOGO 50% (Buy-One-Get-One-50%-Off) sales on LEGO advertised on the Toys’R'Us website and at their retail stores. However that 40% or 50% off is NOT what you think it is! In fact you often end up worse then buying the same LEGO set at an Official LEGO Store, or some generic retailer like Wal-Mart. In the following video Jason from BrickShow.com will show you how Toys’R'Us is cooking the numbers and what you really end up with when you bite the hook on a Toys’R'Us LEGO sale.
Eye-opening, isn’t it? The point is that if you want to get LEGO for the best prices, you really have to do your math. LEGO shopping could actually be quite fun if you take finding the best prices as a challenge. And it doesn’t have to be a long and tedious endeavor. Just have the latest LEGO Catalog or visit the Online LEGO Shop to check regular retail prices (I like the Catalog because I can take it with me to the store I’m planning to shop at). Then have a calculator handy to decode all the pricing voodoo retailers use to lure us into buying from them. 
Again, the most notorious offender is Toys’R'Us. Other retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, Barnes & Noble and of course Official LEGO Stores almost always use the regular retail price, and when they have LEGO sales they to be decent, even excellent (like the 50% off regular retail price on some of the best LEGO sets at Wal-Mart last December). They may not sounds as fancy as Toys’R'Us as BOGO smoke-and-mirrors LEGO sales, but you don’t have to do complex calculations just to figure out if you are actually getting a deal.
Also, Jason’s point about the LEGO VIP program is enlightening. If you are close to a LEGO store, or if you shop at the Online LEGO Shop, make sure you take advantage of this program. Especially when you can combine it with LEGO’s free shipping and double VIP point offers (like currently), you can really get an excellent deal as these offers are stackable. I also like Jason’s strategy of going right back to the store and getting a free set with the just acquired VIP points. How is that for an instant saving? 
So what do you think? Did you learn something from the video? Have you ever fallen for the Toys’R'Us advertisements? Do you have your own LEGO shopping tips you would like to share? What is your shopping strategy for this holiday season? Feel free to discuss in the comment section below!
You may also like to check out the LEGO Shopping Tips section for more LEGO shopping ideas and strategies or select from the following posts:
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow. As Jefferson said, if you buy something because its on sale, it will be expesive to you.
WHEN IS THE SALE?
One thing to note is that, at least where I live, TRU used to have some pretty good sales that were unadvertized. I was once able to pick up two Muaka & Kane-ra sets (MSRP 80$) for a total of $40. There was a tiny designer set (I think less than $7 originally) I got for less than a dollar. The best deal I got was Doc Ock’s Hideout (MSRP 50$), that was going for $5 each. I still regret only getting two of them. However, most of this was 2004-2005 era, when LEGO experienced a slight depression.
I would still recommend TRU for people wanting to find sets that are more than a ear old/ recently discontinued. Because they don’t put items on “sale” anymore, you can find some inventory that has been long since gone from LEGO and other retailers (earlier this year, my TRU still had some BIONICLE stars sets that were released in 2009). TRU mark up is (usually) less than secondary market mark up. Still, it is better to buy it when other retails in general.
Agreed. While I almost never buy anything from Toys R Us, it is worth stopping in from time to time. Sometimes you will find an off the wall set at an unheard of discount. My last major score there was a couple years ago. I got the large Kingdoms Castle for $25. The store is right by my work, so I can hit it when I pick up lunch. Don’t waste gas if it’s too far.
I got one of teh old Pirate Ships from the 2nd wave back in 2002 for $50 at TRU, that was my biggest TRU score to date. I agree though, they do keep discontinued sets for a long time.
Which one???
Jacob, that is actually a really good point about TRU carrying long discontinued sets. I have seen that at my TRU as well. Sometimes those can work out in your favor because even with inflated prices you could probably get them cheaper then on the secondary market. At least if TRU is close to you – as you never know what and when they pull out something from an old forgotten stock-room.
Yeah I was there yesterday and saw a Prince of Persia set, which was from two years ago.
I noticed that. It’s the same up here in Canada as well with TRU keeping old sets. I think they still have discontinued Harry Potter sets. Although, once in the year I managed to get my hands on a Prince of Persia set (race against time to be exact) at Walmart. Despite that, I dislike shopping there even though they are the closest store to me where I can get Lego. They usually take an EXTREMELY long time to get new sets, and I go mad when I walk up that Lego aisle and see no new sets whatsoever.
I think it very much depends on store management. I have two Walmarts within a one mile radius from me. The smaller one consistently carries the latest LEGO sets and has a large selection. The larger one is a Super Walmart and it has much smaller selection even though they have a lot more space. I think that the smaller Walmart has a LEGO fan manager.
I just bought stuff from Toys R US yesterday
Let’s see… earlier this year I bought two Mill Village Attacks and yes, they were slightly cheaper and came out to about $60 each, but that’s because they were the same price. I also got a King’s Castle and another Mill Village and there was not much savings there, but I just pretended I bought the King;s Castle at $110, and it was to sell it. I only bought them because they were the last sets in Yuma of that kind, I already owned them and I know that in the next two years they will pulling 1 1/2 to 2 Xs my initial investment. But I would NEVER buy form TRU for my own purposes. I was able to get two Thor and the Cosmic Cube Polybags two months ago for FREE at TRU, so that was cool. Oops, I forgot I did buy the Atlantis temple at TRU earlier this year too, but I got like a $5 off regular retail (not TRU price) on it.
I think TRU started doing these huge mark-ups since they instituted their buyer rewards program, so there is really no reward
The coupons you get from TRU Rewards expire real fast. I think its about two weeks or so.
Yep. Found that out the hard way the first time I earned any. And that was the last time I tried to earn any.
I only go to TRU if I have a gift card, but good thing that’s the only time!
Really, if you ever want to buy LEGO cheap, Bricklink will likely be the best deal. But talk about math
Seems like it will cost about $170, so it is a very little bit better than buying it a year or so ago. Still, I would’nt advise it, I would rather just buy the set for $10 more dollars.
I like the Imperial Flagship, so I’m checking how much it would take to buy it piece by piece from Bricklink. It’s much cheaper than buying it for $300, but it takes an awful lot of time and math
But they sell some sets all together about half price on Bricklink, so that’s pretty good.
Agreed, but I just got one for my birthday. Oh well, it’s $25 so maybe, just maybe I can snag a polybag! LOL
TRU is really expensive for most toys. I knew they were expensive for LEGO but didn’t do the math to the point Brickshow did, I buy most my sets from LEGO for the VIP points. I was hoping TRU would have a good sale for their Bricktober event but so far no big sale on what I want. And with a double point month. I’ll stick to LEGO store.
Plus just got a LEGO Catalog with a 10% in store coupon. It’s only good on one item.
I’m really hoping to get that 10% coupon this month. I want to use it on the Town Hall, and get the double VIP points!
Where did you get the 10% coupon? I just got the holiday catalog, and it didn’t have one.
I hope Chris will clarify, but as far as I know you only get those cupons included in your catalog when you live near a LEGO store. I never get them either as I’m 2 hours away from the closest LEGO store, but my friends in Orlando do get them.
I do live close to a LEGO store, and I’ve gotten the 10% coupon with almost every catalog.
Hm… then maybe you want to call them. You should have gotten a cupon.
I like the point he made about buying something then turning around and getting some thing else with point right then. I didn’t know the point were good that fast.
Anyone that’s been to a LEGO event, do they have sales at the event or is it retail prices. I’m going to one in November and wonder if I should hold off purchases till then or get double points now.
Chris, I just recently talked with someone who said that that the deals LEGO has at fan events are not so special. However sometimes they do have decent sales, especially sets that are about to get discontinued. So it is worth checking them out. As always, have a price-list so you know what you are getting into. But at least LEGO is not going to sell stuff for more than the regular price.
At KidsFest, there were some good deals. The Y-Wing was only $35, and the Hoth base was $65.
TRU gets things a few weeks sooner than other stores. even before the lego shop it self. Also, why is it that the people that work for lego can’t give us(THE CUSTOMER) a heads up on when things come out. so, we know when we can hit the stores.(oh, I don’t buy the “I don’t know anything about that item “). that’s not always true. It also gives us a chance to save for those exspensive items. WHERE IS THE CUSTOMER LOYELTY?
They normally don’t tell employee’s more than a week in advance when stuff will officially come out, especially since there has been a few instances where my LEGO store had all but one of a product on its shelf (which was normally a store exclusive they didn’t get in until a month later). This is a problem with LEGO corporate, not LEGO store employees.
Strange, I had a talktive employe tell me about the second wave of LOTR just after the first ones came out!
I meant to say where is the loyelty to the customer. The family that started the business were very poor and around the time when people were struggling to just get by. I hope that lego hasn’t gotten so big that they have forgotten the passed.
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