HUGE price hike on Town Plan, Green Grocer, Others?

[brickzone]

On S@H for Ireland, prices for both Town Plan and Green Grocer jumped today from €129.99 to €179.99, a price increase of FIFTY EURO!!!

Any other countries affected or other sets?

[simonwillems]

Yes!

The Netherlands got infected with this increase as well, although not as steap as the Irish so it seems (CC went from 139,99 to 149,99 and Town Plan went from 139,99 to 159,99).

This is not something to be too cheerfull about

[The Cobra]

Current prices for Italy are 149,99 (TP) and 159,99 (GG) too.

I think they both used to be chepaer.

[emilec]

UK prices still £88.09 (TP) and £97.85 (GG) no change yet!

[eti]

Which means that getting new sets from the UK is starting to be an option despite shipping costs (and I mean not from Lego.com but webshops or Bricklink of course)

[simonwillems]

There is a way to get around this increase:

Just select a country where the price is still the same (or at least lower than in your own country, for example Germany instead of Ireland) fill in you adress (write your country behind your city).

Lego will phone you saying that you filled in the wrong country (duh...) and then you say that you had meant to fill in the country you live in and you ask: "will there be any difference in prize now?". They say: "No, of course not!"

Well, it worked for me once...

[Skinny Boy]

Sorry, I was just wiping my face clean of vomit. €50? Thats just too many profanities in one.

Simon, seriously? Interesting. But sort of unreliable.

[Brickthing]

Hate to break this to you guys, but in New Zealand the prices seem to have gone down heaps. Town Plan is now NZD $200 from $270, and Cafe Corner is only $150!

[MetroiD]

Just checked the prices on Amazon.de. Wow, was I in for a surprise...

Cafe Corner and Green Grocer prices have not been altered, but Town Plan has been reduced by 40 EUR to the amazing price of 109 EUR! Bargain of the month!!! I'm pretty sure they ship to the UK as well, so if anyone wants to get that set, make sure you order it straight from amazon.de while they still have it at THAT price!!! Such a pity that Amazon won't ship LEGO to Bulgaria I just can't be arsed into paying 230 EUR for it at the local prices (that is, IF they've still got it at the local distributor's warehouse...)

Edit: As brickzone has pointed out, unfortunately amazon.de doesn't ship to Ireland either :(

Edited April 4, 2009 by Asya & Bobby Otters

[Bricks]

That's really sad

In Germany, too.

Green Grocer: 159€

'Bricks'

[Dfenz]

On S@H for Ireland, prices for both Town Plan and Green Grocer jumped today from €129.99 to €179.99, a price increase of FIFTY EURO!!!

Any other countries affected or other sets?

I've sent a complaint to Lego Customer services. Following the hike for minifig PAB I'm hoping this is an error. It will simply cause serious LS@H Ireland sales to dry up as shoppers find delivery addresses in Northern Ireland, as I have done for my two most recent deliveries. In the current economic climate such increases are totally unacceptable. Luckily I have both of the above sets already but I was thinking of acquiring a second Green Grocer.

David

[Skinny Boy]

I've sent a complaint to Lego Customer services. Following the hike for minifig PAB I'm hoping this is an error. It will simply cause serious LS@H Ireland sales to dry up as shoppers find delivery addresses in Northern Ireland, as I have done for my two most recent deliveries. In the current economic climate such increases are totally unacceptable. Luckily I have both of the above sets already but I was thinking of acquiring a second Green Grocer.

David

Nice one Dave. Maybe Tuesday's budget will have: "TLC Advertising: €4m". They're gonna need every cent!

[simonwillems]

Hate to break this to you guys, but in New Zealand the prices seem to have gone down heaps. Town Plan is now NZD $200 from $270, and Cafe Corner is only $150!

Noo, you lucky New Zealanders

Live rates at 2009.04.04 22:44:22 UTC

150.00 NZD

=

65.2463 EUR

New Zealand Dollars Euro

1 NZD = 0.434976 EUR 1 EUR = 2.29898 NZD

Edited April 4, 2009 by simonwillems

[brickzone]

Just checked the prices on Amazon.de. Wow, was I in for a surprise...

Cafe Corner and Green Grocer prices have not been altered, but Town Plan has been reduced by 40 EUR to the amazing price of 109 EUR! Bargain of the month!!! I'm pretty sure they ship to the UK & Ireland as well, so if anyone wants to get that set, make sure you order it straight from amazon.de while they still have it at THAT price!!! Such a pity that Amazon won't ship LEGO to Bulgaria I just can't be arsed into paying 230 EUR for it at the local prices (that is, IF they've still got it at the local distributor's warehouse...)

From Amazon.de:

Spielwaren können nur in folgende Länder versandt werden: Belgien, Dänemark, Deutschland, Finnland, Frankreich, Griechenland, Großbritannien, Italien, Luxemburg, Niederlande, Österreich, Portugal, Schweden und Spanien. Allerdings werden Brettspiele & Puzzles in alle Länder versandt, in die wir auch Bücher liefern.

Translation:

Toys can be dispatched only to the following countries: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Sweden and Spain. However board plays & puzzles are dispatched to all countries, to which we supply also books.

No go for Ireland :(

Amazon.co.uk also no longer ship toys to Ireland, they allege that it's because of the WEEE (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipement) recycling scheme here. Strange that every other company manages it - such a lame excuse. If true anyway it is just gross ineptitude and laziness on their part!

[MetroiD]

Sorry for misleading you mate :(

[mrchris]

another attack on AFOL

[Zorbas]

I just can't be arsed into paying 230 EUR for it at the local prices (that is, IF they've still got it at the local distributor's warehouse...)

This is like me talking... A MUST have on one hand, a rip-off on the other.

[Dfenz]

I received the following response from Lego Shop at Home in connection with the recent increases for certain exclusive items such as Cafe Corner

"Thank you for your email from 04/04/09 regarding the prices of LEGO® products.

There has been a general price adjustment for Shop at Home in Europe which means that some prices have gone up slightly whereas others have stayed the same.

We understand that some of the changes have increased prices of certain models significantly such as the one you mention in your email but this measure has been taken to ensure that prices are aligned with the market prices in all the EU countries SAH ships to.

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

Thank you again for contacting us. We wish your family many happy hours of creative building with LEGO brand toys in the years to come."

While I appreciate that I have received a response, quite frankly its a load of cobblers. On any comparison with eurozone countries the recent increases for Irish customers are excessive and are way above what the market will bear, especially given todays income tax increases which will eat into disposable income (no stimulus package here). A euro50 increase is not a 'slight' increase. This will simply send purchasers to the UK (or away from Lego altogether). Even postage to the UK is substantially cheaper even though parts of the UK are further from the distribution centre than most Irish addresses. In fact another AFOL calculated that to get the Millenium Falcon it would be possible to fly to Heathrow, get a taxi to Legoland Windsor, spend the day in the park and return with the set back to Dublin. I haven't done the maths myself but differences on this scale throughout Europe risks importing the historical US/Europe pricing divide more widely into the European market place.

David

Edited April 8, 2009 by Dfenz