Lego bulk order form

[anothergol]

That form that allows you to buy parts in 200+ quantities, it looks like the link to it is now gone, even though the form is still there: https://www.lego.com/r/www/r/service/-/.../lego_large_parts_order_form_en.docx

First question, has anyone ever used it?

Second question, I had placed a B&P order for the new 35787 triangle tiles, they're above 20cts on B&P. Haven't even received my order yet, so meanwhile I got them from Bricklink, where they went for as low as 10cts as soon as they appeared. They all appeared at once & in large quantities, thus not from sets, they were quite obviously bought in bulk. But if a BL seller can sell them at 10cts & still make a profit, does that mean that buying in bulk gets you the parts THAT cheaper?

Last question, I read in some forum that the bulk orders weren't processed by the same warehouse. Does that mean that there is a chance to get parts that you can't get by phone?
More precisely, I'm looking for as many 29119/29120 pairs in LBG as I can get. To get ONE FRIGGING PAIR, I'd have to shell out like 400eur for that Boba & Han Brickheadz exclusive. Lego's support doesn't even seem to have that set listed, on the phone they tell you they can't sell the part because it hasn't been released yet. Perhaps they only produced a small batch for that Brickheadz exclusive, but I doubt it, as it's now quite a generic part that will be in future sets (the question being when, since I haven't spotted it in any of the anounced sets).

I wish Lego went into the monthly box business. Which MOCer wouldn't subscribe to a box with a good amount of all the new parts in it?

 

[fred67]

Your link to the form is invalid.

I hear you, though - I've discussed this a lot here.  I think they should release bulk packs of bricks in single or like colors.  I wish I could order certain bricks in certain colors in bulk rather than trying to find them on BL.  I have nothing against BL, but if I need 2000 of something, it's not going to be easy to find, and whatever price reduction you get buying from BL vs S@h is eaten up by multiple shipping.

I think the bottom line is they simply don't want to make it easy for your average person to get a lot of what they want - they'd prefer you buy multiple sets with a lot of things you don't need.

I even think people will "abuse" the intent of bricks and pieces for TLG to clamp down on it, removing it as an option for a lot of parts.

[anothergol]

On 10/04/2018 at 11:04 PM, fred67 said:

Your link to the form is invalid.

I hear you, though - I've discussed this a lot here.  I think they should release bulk packs of bricks in single or like colors.  I wish I could order certain bricks in certain colors in bulk rather than trying to find them on BL.  I have nothing against BL, but if I need 2000 of something, it's not going to be easy to find, and whatever price reduction you get buying from BL vs S@h is eaten up by multiple shipping.

I think the bottom line is they simply don't want to make it easy for your average person to get a lot of what they want - they'd prefer you buy multiple sets with a lot of things you don't need.

I even think people will "abuse" the intent of bricks and pieces for TLG to clamp down on it, removing it as an option for a lot of parts.

Indeed they've removed the document as well now, I guess it's definitely gone now.

But that option was there, and it's exactly what you were looking for, it was made to buy in bulk. It even made the news when Lego refused to sell parts for political reasons, after which they stopped requiring you to tell what you were planning to do with the parts. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/apr/28/lego-sell-bricks-chinese-artist-ai-weiwei-mistake

 

When you order by phone, they don't sound like they don't wanna sell you in bulk, and I doubt that Lego would expect you to buy 50x the same set if you want 50x one of its parts. To me it sounds more like it's a too neglectable part of their market for them to care.

The intent of B&P is to sell parts, though - not to replace missing parts. The question is how do you abuse it, by ordering too small lots, or too big lots? We don't even know, as Lego is unclear as for what it's designed for. With Bricklink it's pretty clear, you abuse sellers by ordering too many small lots (but they have ways around that if they don't like it). But what is Lego afraid of? I think they don't like people buying parts to resell them, thus, bulk orders.

Besides, closing B&P would open a large door to Chinese clones. I'm really ready to buy clones of parts that Lego has produced & refuses to produce again - I don't wanna shell up to 10eur for a little 32123 bush in black, while that part normally costs like 1 cent to buy & most likely nearly nothing to produce. But I'd buy a pack of clones, if only the chinese stopped cloning common parts while you can buy the real ones for cheap.

Edited April 12, 2018 by anothergol

[Artanis I]

Another possible reason they don't like to do it: they can't just pull thousands of a certain part in a certain colour out of a hat on demand

[anothergol]

Why not?

I believe that Lego works like this: they produce "common" parts in very large batches, not just in quantities made for just one or two upcoming sets. And perhaps designers are even told to favor those new batches of "trending parts" in future sets (perhaps by the estimated price of such parts in target cost of the set).

I also assume that licensed/printed/more unique parts are produced in quantities calculated for the set they're made for, with only a slight extra amount for replacements, mistakes, etc. Otherwise it's quite obvious that 1x2 plates in most colors always exist in Lego's warehouses regardless of sets that are produced, & I doubt that B&P would put a dent in those large stocks.
 

[MAB]

On 08/04/2018 at 9:06 PM, anothergol said:

More precisely, I'm looking for as many 29119/29120 pairs in LBG as I can get. To get ONE FRIGGING PAIR, I'd have to shell out like 400eur for that Boba & Han Brickheadz exclusive. Lego's support doesn't even seem to have that set listed, on the phone they tell you they can't sell the part because it hasn't been released yet. Perhaps they only produced a small batch for that Brickheadz exclusive, but I doubt it, as it's now quite a generic part that will be in future sets (the question being when, since I haven't spotted it in any of the anounced sets).

 

1

Even though it has appeared in one exclusive set and they may well have stocks for future use, they don't have "for sale" stock yet. If it will appear in future sets, they are likely to hold stocks until those sets are produced. There is no reason to add it to B+P yet, as nobody is likely to be missing it. They may even class it as a licensed part, since it only appears in that colour in a licensed set. In reality, they probably know if they add them at a price similar to the other colours, people will just buy up all stock and sell at a large mark-up on BL.

 

[anothergol]

17 hours ago, MAB said:

In reality, they probably know if they add them at a price similar to the other colours, people will just buy up all stock and sell at a large mark-up on BL

& what would the problem be?

Those same parts, in all othe other colors, appeared immediately on B&P (when they were still only to be found in the Speed Champions series), only they were 13x the price they are now, I remember.

So yeah, you could buy a 29119 in black a few months ago, only it wasn't 10cents, it was 1.3 buck. If Lego wanna sell me that part in LBG right now for 1.3 buck, I'll buy it. But which BL seller would stock it? No one would take the risk.

[sander1992]

On ‎8‎-‎4‎-‎2018 at 10:06 PM, anothergol said:

Second question, I had placed a B&P order for the new 35787 triangle tiles, they're above 20cts on B&P. Haven't even received my order yet, so meanwhile I got them from Bricklink, where they went for as low as 10cts as soon as they appeared. They all appeared at once & in large quantities, thus not from sets, they were quite obviously bought in bulk. But if a BL seller can sell them at 10cts & still make a profit, does that mean that buying in bulk gets you the parts THAT cheaper?

 

The Triangle tiles are available in the Factory in LEGOLAND Germany.

I do not know if there also sold in other LEGOLAND parks.

That would explain the low price on Bricklink.

[MAB]

7 hours ago, anothergol said:

& what would the problem be?

Those same parts, in all othe other colors, appeared immediately on B&P (when they were still only to be found in the Speed Champions series), only they were 13x the price they are now, I remember.

So yeah, you could buy a 29119 in black a few months ago, only it wasn't 10cents, it was 1.3 buck. If Lego wanna sell me that part in LBG right now for 1.3 buck, I'll buy it. But which BL seller would stock it? No one would take the risk.

I wasn't aware of that one. Most new parts don't change price so dramatically. Many new parts come in at one price and stay the same price, at least until updates when most parts change in price.

 

[anothergol]

1 hour ago, sander1992 said:

The Triangle tiles are available in the Factory in LEGOLAND Germany.

I do not know if there also sold in other LEGOLAND parks.

That would explain the low price on Bricklink.

Ah, totally!

I see Lego Fabrik indeed offers those (& some other interesting ones). At 9eur for 100g, that makes those tiles at around 2 cents, quite a bargain, considering Lego is still sitting on my 1-month old order in which I paid 22 cents each.
At the same time, they got to pay their ticket, and were limited to 100g..

 

[sander1992]

True @anothergol, but a lot of people pay for a year ticket or a Merlin ticket (10% off Lego).

After multiple visits with 100 grams, that gives nice stocks at multiple BL shops.

[anothergol]

About that 29119 I've been waiting to see in LBG again, me happy! (well, in a month)

 

Even stranger that this is one set that could have used the existing DBG cut slope instead, while an LBG one would have spiced up several other sets that have been announced.

[ShaydDeGrai]

On April 10, 2018 at 5:04 PM, fred67 said:

I hear you, though - I've discussed this a lot here.  I think they should release bulk packs of bricks in single or like colors.  I wish I could order certain bricks in certain colors in bulk rather than trying to find them on BL.  I have nothing against BL, but if I need 2000 of something, it's not going to be easy to find, and whatever price reduction you get buying from BL vs S@h is eaten up by multiple shipping.

I would love it even if they'd budge as little bit.  For example, look at the 21050 Architecture Studio.  The book that it comes with is lovely, but for the price I'd  happily trade it for a few dozen more bricks (and sell the book separately, like people are doing aftermarket anyway).  Now you'd have a lovely tub of white bricks, tiles and plates with a handful of trans-clear to go along with it - a bit like a monochromatic Creator tub for adults.

Now make it available in other color schemes, like Sand Yellow (tan) with Light Trans blue, Light Bluish Gray with Trans-yellow, and Black with Trans-red - throw in a few Earth Green and Earth Blue plates in every kit as "landscaping" and you've got a useful, AFOL-friendly parts pack; All color variations are "mature and neutral" enough to justify being "expansions" of the Architecture Studio, but genuinely useful generic colors and shapes to buy in bulk.

I'm not holding my breath for them to ever take me up on this idea though.  As it is, the 21050 is too expensive to be a viable parts pack and too open-ended/undirected to be a real "Architecture Kit".  While marketing the book separately and either lowering the price or upping the piece count could address this, it's another thing I just don't see happening.

I remember the days when you could buy something like the 635 Extra Bricks in White, a polybag of Red Roof Tiles or a Castle Expander pack (gray arches, etc), but I fear as TLG embraced more and more licensed themes to claw its way back to profitability 20 years ago, actively marketing raw brick for original creations kind of fell off their radar.

[Alpinemaps]

I might be speaking out of turn - I don't have a lot of experience with LUGs, but, from listening into a conversation when I was considering joining one, I understand that some LUGs are allowed to order bulk parts from LEGO.  It's my understanding that you're not allowed to sell the parts you get in bulk when you're part of a LUG, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happens regularly.  

So I'm sure some LUG'r got 1000s of parts from LEGO cheap, and can resell it and still make a profit.

[davidwilsonwong]

so where to buy bulk lego parts cheaper?