Brickdoctor Posted December 26, 2010 Posted December 26, 2010 Those of you who haven't felt like picking up Home One before, should probably do it now, it's a cool set. No one will buy that UCS Jedi fghter, not even at 50% off Isn't it 25% off? If it was 50% off, it would be a good value, under the 10:1 parts per dollar ratio.
The Soup Nazi Posted December 27, 2010 Posted December 27, 2010 If any of you live near a LEGO store, the sale applies there. That means you can get all of the goodies! ;)
fred67 Posted December 27, 2010 Posted December 27, 2010 And I'm sure most people know the purpose of a sale. Most people, who buy LEGO, also know that sets don't last forever. It's good to know what's going to be gone for good right? I guess I was more amazed at all the people who complained that it was a fake sale, or that there were bait and switch tactics being used. Really, a giant company in this day and age is gonna try to pull that? As for those of you without a LEGO store, I can see some of your frustration. I still don't think you're getting. Too much rum in the eggnog? It's not that people missed a set - they have no right to complain, they've all been on sale long enough (advent calendars notwithstanding), it's not that items are getting sold out - we all understand that's the point of the sale, to clear away stock; it's that many (most of the more desirable ones) were sold out BEFORE the "sale" even started. It is BOGUS announcing a sale on an item that is no longer available. If something sells out during the sale, that's a different story. I even suggested it wasn't on purpose, that some computer just switched a list of items to be on sale at some point in time without regard to availability... it's ANNOYING. No longer available items should just drop off that list.
BrickArtist Posted December 27, 2010 Posted December 27, 2010 Lego may list them as on sale on shop at home to notify that that's the price they will be in stores. They plan ahead and decide what these sets will be worth on sale advance, and probably made the format of the page in advance as well. Is it really worth griping about? The fact that you saw a sold out set at sale prices?
Oky Posted December 27, 2010 Posted December 27, 2010 I just came back from my local store and can verify that yes, they have the same prices in-store. HOWEVER, they had even less in stock than S@H. They don't even have the new Star Wars sets yet. I came home empty handed.
fred67 Posted December 27, 2010 Posted December 27, 2010 Lego may list them as on sale on shop at home to notify that that's the price they will be in stores. They plan ahead and decide what these sets will be worth on sale advance, and probably made the format of the page in advance as well. Is it really worth griping about? The fact that you saw a sold out set at sale prices? What you say is true, but they could say that (other stores do it... "not available online" or "available at the LEGO Store!"). Considering how many people are worthwhile-ly close to LEGO B&M stores in the U.S. (i.e. a tiny fraction of the population... depending on what you're getting, even 25 miles may not be worth it), it's incredibly annoying.
Buckshot Posted December 27, 2010 Posted December 27, 2010 Lego may list them as on sale on shop at home to notify that that's the price they will be in stores. They plan ahead and decide what these sets will be worth on sale advance, and probably made the format of the page in advance as well. Is it really worth griping about? The fact that you saw a sold out set at sale prices? Is it worth griping about? Absolutely. Will I lose sleep over it, write an angry letter to TLG, and switch to Megablocks? Absolutely not. Eurobricks is a community of Lego fans who come here to share our hobby; if we can't share our disappointments than we're not being honest. When I got on Lego's website earlier, there were 120 on sale and I got excited. Probably 70 of those were listed as sold out. And I was no longer excited. Best guess is that Lego had the same format for all or most other countries, and many of those countries were not sold out. Is it a big deal? Not really. Am I going to be happy about it? Not really.
MAH4546 Posted December 27, 2010 Posted December 27, 2010 (edited) I just came back from my local store and can verify that yes, they have the same prices in-store. HOWEVER, they had even less in stock than S@H. They don't even have the new Star Wars sets yet. I came home empty handed. It depends on the store. I was at the LEGO store in Miami Sunday morning. Not only did they have most of what was on sale on Shop at Home (except Taj Mahal, Green Grocer and the Carousel), they had even more. I picked up the Lamborgini Polizia and Technic Container truck for 50% off, and they are both full price online. What you say is true, but they could say that (other stores do it... "not available online" or "available at the LEGO Store!"). Considering how many people are worthwhile-ly close to LEGO B&M stores in the U.S. (i.e. a tiny fraction of the population... depending on what you're getting, even 25 miles may not be worth it), it's incredibly annoying. A tiny fraction? New York, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Dallas, D.C. and Houston all have a LEGO store or two or three. Those cities account for about 25% of the country's population, and there are still another two dozen plus LEGO stores outside of them. Edited December 27, 2010 by MAH4546
BrickArtist Posted December 27, 2010 Posted December 27, 2010 Is it worth griping about? Absolutely. Will I lose sleep over it, write an angry letter to TLG, and switch to Megablocks? Absolutely not. Eurobricks is a community of Lego fans who come here to share our hobby; if we can't share our disappointments than we're not being honest. When I got on Lego's website earlier, there were 120 on sale and I got excited. Probably 70 of those were listed as sold out. And I was no longer excited. Best guess is that Lego had the same format for all or most other countries, and many of those countries were not sold out. Is it a big deal? Not really. Am I going to be happy about it? Not really. I think you guys dont understand my point. They probably prepared this page in advance. I'm guessing they will address this problem in the future. It's not that big of a deal, just a discount price, and a sold out sign. You didn't lose your lego's, you simply saw lego's at a cheaper price that you had no access to.
Brickdoctor Posted December 28, 2010 Posted December 28, 2010 I think you guys dont understand my point. They probably prepared this page in advance. I'm guessing they will address this problem in the future. It's not that big of a deal, just a discount price, and a sold out sign. You didn't lose your lego's, you simply saw lego's at a cheaper price that you had no access to. Agreed. They don't update these on the fly; they program the site to list certain sets at a certain price at a certain time. Apparently they just didn't program the site to also check if the sets were sold out.
kermit Posted December 28, 2010 Posted December 28, 2010 Actually when i checked last week Wednesday the sale was up and although some of the sets were sold out despite being put in this section the majority were available and i bought mine christmas eve and it was a clever ploy by lego as they thought that most people wont be buying on christmas eve night. I myself bought 4 sets for $107 with each 1/2 or even more off and i saved $70. I bought gateway of the squid, wind turbine transport, city house and pig farm and tractor and i narrowly missed out on one of the space sets.
Locutis Posted December 28, 2010 Posted December 28, 2010 (edited) Well, I don't know about other people, but I placed a fairly substantial online order for sale items, then called to inquire about the "Sold out" items. I was directed to call the online customer service, which I did. After waiting a minute, I spoke with an agent, and explained that I just placed an online order for sale items, and wondered about some of the "sold out" items. He asks me for the order number, and the item numbers of the items I am inquiring about. After a few minutes, he comes back and says that even though they were marked as "sold out" online, I could have them added to my order. He further explains that when their warehouse hits a certain level of remaining inventory, they mark the website as "Sold out" to allow for some of the orders to process and catch up, with people having the items in their carts, etc. I was able to order several quantities of each of the pirates sets that were on sale, and they had been marked as "sold out". I later received an email from Lego S@H confirming my order, and the added items were listed below my original order in a separate section of the email. Edit: Further to my comment above, when I was speaking with the agent, he mentioned that the "Sold out" was a function of their shopping cart system, and effectively as soon as the sale started many items would have been switched to "Sold out" immediately as people placed the items into their shopping carts. The system reserves their items in carts for a set period of time or activity, and then when the customer is inactive for a period of time, the item is reclaimed back into the system. So an item can be switched from "Available" to "Sold Out" and back to "Available" as people add to their shopping cart, it sells out, then people abandon their carts, and the items are returned back into the system for other customers to order, and then more people add to their cart when it's "Available" again, and so on. At least that was his explanation for the Pirates Sets switching back and forth while I ordered. Edited December 28, 2010 by Locutis
fred67 Posted December 28, 2010 Posted December 28, 2010 A tiny fraction? New York, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Dallas, D.C. and Houston all have a LEGO store or two or three. Those cities account for about 25% of the country's population, and there are still another two dozen plus LEGO stores outside of them. Yes, a tiny fraction. I don't think you understand what it means to have a LEGO Store in NYC (I used to live near there) or Chicago, Miami, LA... do you realize how large these cities are? There's a LEGO Store in the Atlanta area, for example. If you happen to live near it, great. If you happen to live on the other side of Atlanta, you're looking at 100 mile round trip. If you're going to save $50 or $75, it's not worth it. NYC and LA are probably a bit better - instead of driving, you'd take the subway and it wouldn't cost so much - if you don't value your time, that is. And your estimation of the population is WAY off, even if you expand your definition of, for example, Philadelphia to include a large metro area, and the stores in those areas, as I've pointed out, don't "service" people who live more than about 25 miles away (that's a 50 mile round trip). For those people it's only worth it when they "happen" to be in the area. So yes... a couple dozen LEGO stores, with how the U.S. is spread out, and even with how major metropolitan areas are spread out, only "service" a tiny fraction of the population. But it depends what you mean by "service." If trekking 50+ miles round trip is "service," then we'll have to agree to disagree.
Donut Posted December 28, 2010 Author Posted December 28, 2010 My intent was to inform everyone of a large sale, not to create a small bickering. It's already been a couple days since the start of the sale and everyone who wanted to voice their opinion has already done so. Isn't it time to stop arguing over this? Let's all just get back to the hobby we love and have a great new year.
Henchmen4Hire Posted December 28, 2010 Posted December 28, 2010 But the internet is fueled by bickering, if we stop arguing it will explode!
Locutis Posted December 28, 2010 Posted December 28, 2010 My intent was to inform everyone of a large sale, not to create a small bickering. It's already been a couple days since the start of the sale and everyone who wanted to voice their opinion has already done so. Isn't it time to stop arguing over this? Let's all just get back to the hobby we love and have a great new year. I agree!
Gryphon Ink Posted December 28, 2010 Posted December 28, 2010 Agreed, no bickering, although I also agree that the Internet will probably implode if we ever totally stop bickering altogether. Personally, I'm just hoping the Lego stores do have some of the cool sets left, because I will be hitting the New York store on Wednesday! But honestly I'll be happy if they have anything that I can't find at Target. Yes, it is my first time at a Lego store, why do you ask?
MAH4546 Posted December 28, 2010 Posted December 28, 2010 (edited) And your estimation of the population is WAY off, even if you expand your definition of, for example, Philadelphia to include a large metro area, and the stores in those areas, as I've pointed out, don't "service" people who live more than about 25 miles away (that's a 50 mile round trip). For those people it's only worth it when they "happen" to be in the area. No, my estimation is dead accurate, because I count metropolitan area, as it should. 50 miles round-trip is nothing in America. That's 30 minutes each way, if even. If driving 30 minutes to the mall isn't worth the savings, well, then I just find such an assertion hysterical. To each his own. Edited December 28, 2010 by MAH4546
KimT Posted December 28, 2010 Posted December 28, 2010 My intent was to inform everyone of a large sale, not to create a small bickering. It's already been a couple days since the start of the sale and everyone who wanted to voice their opinion has already done so. Isn't it time to stop arguing over this? Let's all just get back to the hobby we love and have a great new year. Agreed. Enough is enough.
Recommended Posts