LEGO Store Black Friday?

[natelite]

i'm just glad some section of the population still understands math. :D

[Edmond Dantes]

It's one box per $75 if I remember correctly. Is it better to buy now with the double VIP points or buy later to get the box?

This is a no brainer. Double vip point is at best 9.9% (yes, not even a full 10% - see my other post for the explanation). if you buy on nov 26, you get min of 10% and vip points and pab box above $75 purchase. That's total of 14.45% (not 14.5% since you only get to apply the 5% vip point in a future purchase) and a free pab box. Assuming you buy more than $75.

I don't get why ppl get so excited over double vip points. Guess that's why I'm not in marketing. :D. "Oh dbl vip pts! That's like 10% off! Better buy tons of lego!" On the other hand, the 22% deal I posted hardly get anyone excited. What I also don't get is normal vip gives you 5% already. So at best, the dbl vip offer is only 5% extra. Btw it's 4.95% not 5% because it applies only to future purchase.

To support that a bit more, its 4.950495 percent off because all the lego sets ends in $.99. This means when you buy a $99.99 set, you only get 99 points. You need to buy a $109.99 set to get 100 points so you can get a $5 gift card. Your points is valid on your next purchase. Honestly, the points thing is one of those marketing strategy that gets people to buy more.

Here in Canada, we have Zellers that offers points. They give you something like 100 points even for buying a $1.5-$2 bottle drink. Lots of points right? But to redeem a $10 gift card, you need 80 000 points. That works out to be something like $1200-$1600 that you must spend to get $10. This works out to be something like 0.83 of a percent off (not even 1%!). So lego is already being more than generous giving us 4.95% off compared to other retailers here.

Actually, although the points display this way, I believe they are correctly accumulated on a decimal basis.

Let me explain -

A $99.99 purchase would display as 99 points, but a $99.99 purchase plus a $99.99 purchase would result in 199 points (not 198). In actuality, you'd have 199.98 points, but for some reason the decimal is dropped and the result is rounded down - but then the decimal is taken into consideration on additional purchases.

I've noticed this is the case when adding up my points on S@H - the individual purchases (displayed points) added together are consistently less than the actual points available. Here is an example (I've removed the points redeemed column because I haven't redeemed any - and this is just a small sample, but it illustrates the point):

Order Date Order Number Product Description Points Earned Points Balance
Jun 29 2010 W1708720 7197 Venice Canal Chase V39 27 27
Jun 29 2010 W1708720 3221 LEGO® Truck V39 34 62
Jun 29 2010 W1708720 3221 LEGO® Truck V39 34 97

So, even though 27+34+34 = 95, I actually have 97 points, since it was really 27.99 + 34.99 + 34.99 = 97.97 (see my explanation above).

It's very odd, but at least it is consistent. You are getting credit for each penny of your purchase (before tax and shipping).

Oh, and I believe you meant to type $100.99, not $109.99.

Edit: When I said a small sample, I meant it's just a fraction of my purchases...I have over 1000 points available right now, but I didn't really want to display the entire list!

[castleyellow]

@edmond - Of course, the secret is now out on your Indiana Jones and the Toy Truck of Doom MOC...

[gabriellee11]

Suppose you buy $100 in legos,

With double VIP points you pay tax of $100 ($100 + tax).

While if you have a 10% coupon (from black friday for example), you pay tax of $90 ($90 + tax).

A little bit of saving with coupons...

I wonder if the free brick box is free after coupon or before coupon?

[Alyvin]

This is a no brainer. Double vip point is at best 9.9% (yes, not even a full 10% - see my other post for the explanation). if you buy on nov 26, you get min of 10% and vip points and pab box above $75 purchase. That's total of 14.45% (not 14.5% since you only get to apply the 5% vip point in a future purchase) and a free pab box. Assuming you buy more than $75.

I don't get why ppl get so excited over double vip points. Guess that's why I'm not in marketing. :D. "Oh dbl vip pts! That's like 10% off! Better buy tons of lego!" On the other hand, the 22% deal I posted hardly get anyone excited. What I also don't get is normal vip gives you 5% already. So at best, the dbl vip offer is only 5% extra. Btw it's 4.95% not 5% because it applies only to future purchase.

To support that a bit more, its 4.950495 percent off because all the lego sets ends in $.99. This means when you buy a $99.99 set, you only get 99 points. You need to buy a $109.99 set to get 100 points so you can get a $5 gift card. Your points is valid on your next purchase. Honestly, the points thing is one of those marketing strategy that gets people to buy more.

Here in Canada, we have Zellers that offers points. They give you something like 100 points even for buying a $1.5-$2 bottle drink. Lots of points right? But to redeem a $10 gift card, you need 80 000 points. That works out to be something like $1200-$1600 that you must spend to get $10. This works out to be something like 0.83 of a percent off (not even 1%!). So lego is already being more than generous giving us 4.95% off compared to other retailers here.

Actually, although the points display this way, I believe they are correctly accumulated on a decimal basis.

Let me explain -

A $99.99 purchase would display as 99 points, but a $99.99 purchase plus a $99.99 purchase would result in 199 points (not 198). In actuality, you'd have 199.98 points, but for some reason the decimal is dropped and the result is rounded down - but then the decimal is taken into consideration on additional purchases.

I've noticed this is the case when adding up my points on S@H - the individual purchases (displayed points) added together are consistently less than the actual points available. Here is an example (I've removed the points redeemed column because I haven't redeemed any - and this is just a small sample, but it illustrates the point):

Order Date Order Number Product Description Points Earned Points Balance
Jun 29 2010 W1708720 7197 Venice Canal Chase V39 27 27
Jun 29 2010 W1708720 3221 LEGO® Truck V39 34 62
Jun 29 2010 W1708720 3221 LEGO® Truck V39 34 97

So, even though 27+34+34 = 95, I actually have 97 points, since it was really 27.99 + 34.99 + 34.99 = 97.97 (see my explanation above).

It's very odd, but at least it is consistent. You are getting credit for each penny of your purchase (before tax and shipping).

Oh, and I believe you meant to type $100.99, not $109.99.

Edit: When I said a small sample, I meant it's just a fraction of my purchases...I have over 1000 points available right now, but I didn't really want to display the entire list!

Man you guys are so precise to the %. Guess their marketing efforts won't work on you guys.

[slacker]

Bottom line, go to the lego store on November 26 to maximize the best deal if you plan to buy there.

Why do people buy at Lego? Well for me, the Minifigs were $2. Only time you got a deal from TRU was during B2G1F. TRU by me does not have the larger sets and I rarely buy online. Now that doesn't mean I won't go to TRU or target on black friday. I believe TRU will also have two sets for $50 as they did last year.

Did Walmart have any Lego's on sale last year?

[legitimatealex]

Bottom line, go to the lego store on November 26 to maximize the best deal if you plan to buy there.

Why do people buy at Lego? Well for me, the Minifigs were $2. Only time you got a deal from TRU was during B2G1F. TRU by me does not have the larger sets and I rarely buy online. Now that doesn't mean I won't go to TRU or target on black friday. I believe TRU will also have two sets for $50 as they did last year.

Did Walmart have any Lego's on sale last year?

Not that I can remember. Kmart had a pretty good deal, buy 2 get 1 free. I passed up on it because my Kmart is a piece of trash but I remember others having pretty good finds.

[vman100]

ok math guys, what is better? I can get 10% off at Lego store anytime (thru a mall discount program). So do I go now and get 1o% plus the double VIP points (which would be off the reduced price), or wait until Black friday, and hope I get a 20% coupon on Black Friday? How much worse off am I if I end up getting the 10% BF (the mall discount does not work on top of other discounts, so I would be limited to whatever the BF discount is).

[natelite]

ok math guys, what is better? I can get 10% off at Lego store anytime (thru a mall discount program). So do I go now and get 1o% plus the double VIP points (which would be off the reduced price), or wait until Black friday, and hope I get a 20% coupon on Black Friday? How much worse off am I if I end up getting the 10% BF (the mall discount does not work on top of other discounts, so I would be limited to whatever the BF discount is).

again, double vip point is only "5%" off (it's not exactly 5% but for simplicity, let's assume 5). but the catch here is that your 10% doesn't work with explicit discount, which BF discount is.

so for your case, BF is just like any other day, while double vip is extra 5%. since we don't know the distribution of the 20% or 50% coupon, what is reliable is whether the 5% is higher than a pab box. let's assume you will collect $10 of value from your pab box. this means to match the bf value, your 5% has to be higher than $10, which means if you buy more than $200 of value you are better off getting it now.

[Asterios]

last year I had 15 PAB boxs I ended up filling them with basic stuff because their options at my LEGO store were ver lousy, the stores use the PAB give-a-way boxs to get rid of inventory before their new stock comes in.

[vman100]

ok math guys, what is better? I can get 10% off at Lego store anytime (thru a mall discount program). So do I go now and get 1o% plus the double VIP points (which would be off the reduced price), or wait until Black friday, and hope I get a 20% coupon on Black Friday? How much worse off am I if I end up getting the 10% BF (the mall discount does not work on top of other discounts, so I would be limited to whatever the BF discount is).

again, double vip point is only "5%" off (it's not exactly 5% but for simplicity, let's assume 5). but the catch here is that your 10% doesn't work with explicit discount, which BF discount is.

so for your case, BF is just like any other day, while double vip is extra 5%. since we don't know the distribution of the 20% or 50% coupon, what is reliable is whether the 5% is higher than a pab box. let's assume you will collect $10 of value from your pab box. this means to match the bf value, your 5% has to be higher than $10, which means if you buy more than $200 of value you are better off getting it now.

Thanks. More important to me is being able to go now, and not having to deal with the Black Friday crowds. Does anyone know what the general distribution of 20% off coupons is on BF? I know there are VERY few 50%, but are there very many 20% or is that pretty rare as well? The PAB box doesn't do much for me - we have so many loose legos in our basement there is little to nothing we can get at our PAB wall that we don't have plenty of already! But we will be buying a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff i bet (a couple big sets).

[BrickUpdate]

I was at the LEGO store today, and asked the manager about Black Friday. She confirmed they will be doing their usual coupons at the register. I asked how many coupons tend to be more than 10% and she just said that it's different every year. She said they are planning to open at 6am, but may actually open at 5am, they are still deciding.

[castleyellow]

15 PAB boxes times $75 purchase = Holy @#$%! :o)

As you have 3 months to fill the PAB boxes, we simply bring them with us whenever we visit a Lego store and if there are great pieces that week, then we go ahead and fillerup. Otherwise, we just wait for a better selection. And our store has always put out great pieces, such as the dogs, white picket fence, small and large plant leaf, small and large tree, white horse fence, leafy plants, kelp, large square grate, 1x6? pillars, etc. These PAB boxes are great and so much easier to pack than the standard cups. And if you choose the more expensive pieces and pack them right, these boxes can save you a lot of money.

Our Lego Store simply follows the Mall in regards to Black Friday hours. And if I'm not mistaken, the mall opened at Midnight last year.

[Asterios]

15 PAB boxes times $75 purchase = Holy @#$%! :o)

As you have 3 months to fill the PAB boxes, we simply bring them with us whenever we visit a Lego store and if there are great pieces that week, then we go ahead and fillerup. Otherwise, we just wait for a better selection. And our store has always put out great pieces, such as the dogs, white picket fence, small and large plant leaf, small and large tree, white horse fence, leafy plants, kelp, large square grate, 1x6? pillars, etc. These PAB boxes are great and so much easier to pack than the standard cups. And if you choose the more expensive pieces and pack them right, these boxes can save you a lot of money.

Our Lego Store simply follows the Mall in regards to Black Friday hours. And if I'm not mistaken, the mall opened at Midnight last year.

problem is I did get things like those, now I have tubs upon tubs full of items which are no longer scarce and probably won't have a use till I do a large field scene with. (what am I going to do with a few thousand dogs?).

also point of note got most of those PAB boxs from buying PAB cups and boxs($75. size box), so kind of full of PAB items and such.

[starwarsgeek]

Say if you scratch a 50% off card, would they let you go and grab some more lego for your purchase? Or is it one of those policies where the scratch card must be scratched at the checkout and you only get the discount on the legos that you plan on buying?