Online Pick-A-Brick?

[snot_fan]

How cool would that be? To order almost any part still in production online direct from Lego SAH. Well, it would suck for Bricklink- but maybe at that point the used and new brick market would be a little better defined.

I'm sure this idea has ever come up before, but why did a more complex project- Digital Designer- happen and not an online PAB? They'd certainly sell more bricks from an online PAB than they do through Digital Designer...

Or maybe it's fear that no one would buy sets anymore? But if they're making money off PAB, where's the issue?

[xenologer]

My guess:

It costs too much to have someone pick out the bricks you want, count them, and package them.

We can see this pattern with the Designer software, the original let you buy any combination of bricks you wanted.

The new version limits you to specified brick palletes; essentially your brick selection is identical to the actual Designer Sets that you could just buy off the shelves in stores.

You don't even get a printed copy of your instructions, all you're really buying is a custom box. Packing it is a lot easier tho, they just have to decide what bag of bricks to toss in there.

So.... as nice as it would be, based on Lego's current development of Designer software, I don't think they would be interested in pursuing that idea.

[gylman]

This service exists.

It's called Bricklink.

And I doubt that there is any way that TLC can do it better for profit than many thousands of AFOLs who mostly do it because it helps finance their Lego adiction and keep their spouses off their backs about all the money they spend.

-------------------------

"look honey, I bought 10 copies of that set for 450$, got out the 30 parts I really wanted, and sold the rest on Bricklink for $400. It's not a waste of money!"

"well dear, how much could you have earned at a real job, or even delivering newspapers, during the time you spent driving to the store, buying the sets, bringing them home, opening every one, cataloging them, uploading the data, answering emails about the Lego parts, packaging everything you sold, and driving it to the postal station."

..... <dead silence>

[snot_fan]

...but I still can't find mass amounts of Sand Red 1x2s!

[gylman]

...but I still can't find mass amounts of Sand Red 1x2s!

Yep! good luck finding that one.

[snefroe]

what people don't seem to understand is that Lego and BL aren't the same type of economic activity. Lego produces toys, BL is a market for finished products. They don't produce Lego. If lego were to join BL, they'd probably loose the fight, because of simple economic factors, for instance:

they'd have to pay official salaries for all people involved, and for lego, there would be lots of those - most BL shops are "after hour activities" there's no real time spent on a daily basis. it's just a sort of hobby combined with making a buck

lego economics doesn't work like BL economics. price based on production cost, wages,... is not the same as a price driven by an extremely active and flexible market. I'm not even sure if lego would be able to compete in terms of actual prices per part. take set 3457, 100 2 x 2 red bricks. That costs 7.49

[gylman]

Like I said. Lego can't complete with Bricklink. Nor should they try to.

However, perhaps there is a case to be made that if some lunatic is willing to pay $1 per 1x2 sand red brick, and buy at least 500 of them, maybe Lego could make enough money off that to make it worthwhile. But there would have to be an awful lot of lunatics to make it worth their while to even set up the capability. Can't see how it would ever be economically feasable.

Gyl

p.s. God knows right now I would pay a lot of money for 2x2 green corner bricks. *wacko*

[Hobbes]

-------------------------

"look honey, I bought 10 copies of that set for 450$, got out the 30 parts I really wanted, and sold the rest on Bricklink for $400. It's not a waste of money!"

"well dear, how much could you have earned at a real job, or even delivering newspapers, during the time you spent driving to the store, buying the sets, bringing them home, opening every one, cataloging them, uploading the data, answering emails about the Lego parts, packaging everything you sold, and driving it to the postal station."

..... <dead silence>

ROFL :-D :-D

I dare say that one's "based on a true story"

[SuvieD]

I dare say that one's "based on a true story"

Yes it is! :-D

For me not to that extreme but for others it is even worse. :ohmy:

Still it is nice at the end of the day to say that all of your LEGO was free. If only once in a great while.

[prateek]

This service exists.

It's called Bricklink.

but thats not an official LEGO site

[Starwars4J]

This service exists.

It's called Bricklink.

but thats not an official LEGO site

Which is why it's cheap, efficient, and hassle-free :-P