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Vaders_son

EU pricing and import from overseas

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Hey there fellow Eurobrick members,

after a longer absence I'm back *classic* .

What didn't change is my opinion on TLCs Europe-pricing - that's crap and most of all expensive *hmpf_bad*

Now that I'm thinking about buying some Star Wars sets in the spring/early summer time I wonder about how to get it at least somewhat cheaper.

Ebay isn't too good in prices, at least in Germany I believe, and Bricklink isn't that much better.

As I'm following the USpricing, too, I came to think that it might be a good idea to import the sets from the United States.

Unfortunately I have no idea where to order or if it is possible that someone here can buy the sets in the States and send them to me or however...

I would be happy if you could help me with my little problem or maybe everyone could just post how and where he or she gets his or her sets *classic*

Best Regards, Benny

PS: Sorry if I start an old topic again, but I couldn't find a topic that deals with the problem anywhere *classic*

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I'm with you, brother, when it comes to the high price of some (or all) sets... even in the US! So what I do is wait for some sets to go on sale (usually at 25-33% off retail) or eventually, a coupon or out-of-the-blue discounting in one (or more) of the local stores I frequent. There is a catch though, one has to be early to take advantage of such as there are other collectors waiting, just like myself. Or, the store may not have enough stock for everyone.

The bottomline is - are you trusting enough to send money to that someone to get you the set(s) and then mail it out to you in Germany (I suppose where you live)? I'm not saying people here in the forum are not to be trusted with such an endevour but as we all know, there are always a few bad apples in any club or organization. What I'm saying is, just be careful with whom you are going to ask a favor/deal with, so you won't come out empty handed. It would be nice if everyone is trustworthy and willing to help fellow AFOLs...

No offense, people... just my personal thoughts.

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I´ve got news for you: *click*

Imports are getting an interesting alternative in Germany, because the amount of what can be declared as a "gift" is going to be risen in december.

From that point on you may have sent a parcel that is worth 150€.

Sorry, I don´t know if this is relevant for anyone outside Germany...

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I'm with you! Legos are overpriced!

For example, one battle pack with taxes in Canada is 15$ ! And the republic gunship will be something like 165$ !

I already sent two emails to Lego and the two times they answered me the same thing :

Dear /!\ CENSORED /!\

Thank you for your email regarding the prices of LEGO® products.

Due to differences in economics around the world, product prices are

established globally for each specific country or market area. There may be

many variables including taxes, exchange rates and country laws which can affect

the market value.

Suggested retail prices for our product assortment are determined well in

advance. We rely on professional studies of the dollar fluctuations over a

multi year horizon to determine the suggested retail price which will not change

during the product assortment year. The suggested retail price of our products

has historically not fluctuated every time the value of the dollar rises or

falls to maintain an annual harmonized price. Our website and our catalogue

reflect the set suggested retail prices.

However, comments from our consumers are extremely important to us and please be

assured that I have forwarded your remarks to Management.

Please do not hesitate to contact us again if we can be of further assistance.

We wish you many more happy hours of creative building with LEGO brand toys in

the years to come.

Helene

LEGO Direct Consumer Services

If you wish to reply to this message, use the "Reply" button on your e-mail

program. Please do not make any changes to the subject line, as this may lead to

a long delay in responding to you.

We would like to invite you to tell us about your online experience with our

Customer Service site. The following link will take you to a short survey that

will provide us with information on what you thought about our service. We

would love to hear from you!

http://www.lego.com/eng/service/ContactUsSurvey.asp

If you wish to e-mail us again on another matter, please use our webform here -

http://www.lego.com/service/contactus.asp

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I´ve got news for you: *click*

Imports are getting an interesting alternative in Germany, because the amount of what can be declared as a "gift" is going to be risen in december.

From that point on you may have sent a parcel that is worth 150€.

Sorry, I don´t know if this is relevant for anyone outside Germany...

Just to add to this information... as of May 2007, all packages going international from the US are being sent Airmail (the US Postal Service has discontinued Surface Mail). Please take into consideration the cost of postage if ever any of you want to go this route. For larger boxes like the Green Grocer (for example), might tack in extra cost for 'oversized package' on top of the regular postage.

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Legos are to expensive in Europe!!

Especaly in Croatia!!

Like the Clone battle pack i bought costed me 120

(24USD)!!!!

If lego keeps on like this,I maybe even stop buying SW sets.

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Thanks you for your answers so far, I am looking forward to some more opinions on that topic *classic*

I'm with you, brother, when it comes to the high price of some (or all) sets... even in the US! So what I do is wait for some sets to go on sale (usually at 25-33% off retail) or eventually, a coupon or out-of-the-blue discounting in one (or more) of the local stores I frequent. There is a catch though, one has to be early to take advantage of such as there are other collectors waiting, just like myself. Or, the store may not have enough stock for everyone.

The bottomline is - are you trusting enough to send money to that someone to get you the set(s) and then mail it out to you in Germany (I suppose where you live)? I'm not saying people here in the forum are not to be trusted with such an endevour but as we all know, there are always a few bad apples in any club or organization. What I'm saying is, just be careful with whom you are going to ask a favor/deal with, so you won't come out empty handed. It would be nice if everyone is trustworthy and willing to help fellow AFOLs...

No offense, people... just my personal thoughts.

Yes you're perfectly right - finding good sales might be the best option there is. Unfortunately there aren't to many shops that sell LEGO near my place (around Kaiserslauter /K'Town) and I'm mostly limited to Internet sellers so far.

Trust is of course a very important thing in my idea of having some kind fellow sending LEGO to me.

I have found the EB trusted seller list in the meantime and I believe I had read in some topic last time I was here (that's more than a year ago I think *I'm ashamed, yes *sadnew*

) where some members wrote just about this shipping from fellow to fellow. Obviously at least some members do or have done it in the past. Maybe they could post how they worked it out...

I´ve got news for you: *click*

Imports are getting an interesting alternative in Germany, because the amount of what can be declared as a "gift" is going to be risen in december.

From that point on you may have sent a parcel that is worth 150€.

Sorry, I don´t know if this is relevant for anyone outside Germany...

Hey thanks for the news that's quite interesting. Some 150 Euro is about 240 dollars at the moment!! But not before december *cry_sad*

Anyway - that's going to be an awesome christmas *devil*

Legos are to expensive in Europe!!

Especaly in Croatia!!

Like the Clone battle pack i bought costed me 120

(24USD)!!!!

If lego keeps on like this,I maybe even stop buying SW sets.

Yes indeed!!

I think the pricing on the battle packs is the worst thing about it. I'd love to start some army-building but it's so expensive over here *thumbdown*

A battle pack for 10-12 $ would be nice though *thumbup* *thumbup* *thumbup*

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well, do you have any relatives in the US? i think thats the least expensive way to get it, and if not, maybe you could get some sets if you ever come to america for whatever reason. but a warning: after christmas, no more shipments come in for the year, so once their gone, thats it (not sure if thats the case everywhere, and im not sure if BPs still come in) hope i helped! *blush*

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Anyway - that's going to be an awesome christmas *devil*

Yes, you´re absolutely right - I´ve got relatives (around 4 corners) in the US. *grin*

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I'm glad I live in CUS of CA (US of A) it's ok in CUSCA,,,, but Europe is,,,,,,,, *hmpf_bad* . In CUSCA prices are like sometimes OK but its expensive sometimes. *sadnew*

( Note CUSCA means Confederate United States of Confederate America)

Long live CUSCA!!!!

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That's great that you live there - but how dare you complain about US- LEGO prices?! *hmpf_bad* *tongue*

But you're right Europe-pricing is *sick*

Where do you get your sets from?

Best regards, Benny

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Alot of the time I get my sets at Wal mart or Lego Shop and only sometimes the prices aren't good and Europe prices are *hmpf_bad*

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LEGO shop = S@H or do you have a local LEGO shop near you?

Do you just order for normal price or especially when there are any good deals to make?

Benny

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I get my LEGO from shops here (UK), eBay.co.uk eBay.com and BrickLink (US sellers). On BrickLink, The Nerd Shop has great prices *cry_happy* *thumbup*

Edited by chris_austin

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Australia also has some excruciatingly high prices on sets, so much so that I've had to skip the majority of which, and cannot become a collector.

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I get my LEGO from shops here (UK), eBay.co.uk eBay.com and BrickLink (US sellers). On BrickLink, The Nerd Shop has great prices *cry_happy* *thumbup*

Hey chris_austin, that's another good idea you mention here - buying from US-ebay-sellers.

But I wonder about the shipping...Do you save your money and then order a whole bunch of sets from one seller? Or is shipping not that expensive that even buying 2 oder 3 sets (say up to 100$) is a good deal?

Anyone else going that way?

Best regards, Benny

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Hey chris_austin, that's another good idea you mention here - buying from US-ebay-sellers.

But I wonder about the shipping...Do you save your money and then order a whole bunch of sets from one seller? Or is shipping not that expensive that even buying 2 oder 3 sets (say up to 100$) is a good deal?

Anyone else going that way?

Best regards, Benny

Sorry for the very late reply to this!

When I buy from eBay US (auctions, not buy-it-now) I don't usually get the option to combine shipping costs but all purchases work out to be cheaper. I won't get into a bidding war for anything :thumbdown:

When buying from bricklink, the sellers are usually experienced enough to work out the cheapest shipping. Above a certain weight the costs go up steeply so splitting the order is actually cheaper :wink:

One bargain I got in February was a 6759 Imperial Landing Craft for about $16 (not new)

:wacko:

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