Chinese New Years sets don't sell well

[ks6349]

Among all other themes, Chinese New Years sets are probably the sets that sell the worst.

A big toy shop here in which they never have the best prices for most Lego sets but they

obviously now want to clear the stock of 80106 and 80107, all other sets are sold for original

prices but 80106 is now $45 and 80107 is only $65. Crazy

I really don't understand. It is very obvious that those sets are overstock everywhere. Why

Lego still produces so much of these sets?

[Peppermint_M]

One shop situation is not scalable to the area or global market. While one store may struggle to shift stock, others can't keep the shelves full. 

It depends on the demographics of the area, the usual customers to the store and the pricing structure the shop applies. 

TLG want success in China, so they are creating products that will appeal to the market. 

Here in the UK, only official LEGO shop and the online shop stock the New Year and Monkie Kid sets. That is because they are not pushing to sell to UK consumers. 

Locally, shops compete with each other, so different sets get a variety of prices. In one branch of a supermarket, a mid-size store, sets were at clearance pricing to make shelf space. In another, much larger store, these sets were at standard price as the shelf space was greater. The prices and stock levels were no indication of popularity, it simply showed stock priority for individual locations.

[Lyichir]

To be honest this is the first time I'd heard anyone allege that those sets weren't selling well anywhere. Here in the U.S., it's seemed like the opposite—here they're only available from Lego.com and Lego stores, but at both they've sold out numerous times from what I've seen.

If the sets are on clearance now in your area, that honestly probably has more to do with the fact that they're seasonal sets whose "season" has passed—it's coming close to half a year now since the start of the Lunar New Year. It's possible that the sets might have been overproduced, but it's also possible that early shipments of the set sold out quickly and your local store overestimated future demand when restocking.

In any case, as a consumer rather than a seller, I certainly wouldn't complain about discounts that substantial on such nice sets! This year's Lunar New Year sets are very well designed and if they were discounted in my area I might even be tempted to pick up a second copy of the Spring Lantern Festival to expand the garden/park scene and maybe customize some of the lantern builds for future years!

[Darkdragon]

18 hours ago, ks6349 said:

I really don't understand. It is very obvious that those sets are overstock everywhere. Why

 

Not sure where this statement is coming from.  I obviously can't say what is happening everywhere but these sets are incredibly hard to get ahold of anywhere near me including ordering directly from Shop@Home.  Just because you see overstock in your store(s) means nothing, it means people in your area aren't interested.    These sets appear to be selling well in the USA and even the ones that were not available in the USA were selling well here

[CopperTablet]

It's interesting to see that the tastes of Lego consumers are different in ks6349's area.    What themes are most popular there?

In the US, a wide variety of sets- not just the CNY sets- go out of stock all the time.

Edited June 9, 2021 by CopperTablet

[Vindicare]

22 hours ago, ks6349 said:

Among all other themes, Chinese New Years sets are probably the sets that sell the worst.

A big toy shop here in which they never have the best prices for most Lego sets but they

obviously now want to clear the stock of 80106 and 80107, all other sets are sold for original

prices but 80106 is now $45 and 80107 is only $65. Crazy

I really don't understand. It is very obvious that those sets are overstock everywhere. Why

Lego still produces so much of these sets?

I know when I went to the LEGO store when they were released, there was quite a line. And a fair number of people have been waiting & watching for the sets, particularly Spring Lantern Festival, to be back in stock. Overstock could be an issue for some stores, then others can’t keep it in stock. 

I wish I could find those sets on sale. 

[Driver Brandon Grumman]

I see them selling here all the time in the states. I've even seen them at Lego stores. So I think they're doing just fine. I guess it depends on where you live though. I live where a lot of people like to scale model and do table towns. And given it's mostly infrastructure oriented, they would make great sets for that. 

Edited June 10, 2021 by Poodabricks

[jimmynick]

This is just one perspective from one place: for me in America last year, it was extremely hard to get hold of the Temple Fair, to the extent I almost imported one from the UK. But I finally found one in a LEGO shop.

[dr_spock]

You are lucky to find them with discount.  Maybe your retailer ordered more than they can sell?    

 

[ks6349]

In addition to the big toy shop here I mentioned before, there is a special section here in Toy r us that they put on sale for some sets because they want to clear the stock. Lego 80106 and 80107 are always on the sale but they are the oldest sets so this proves that these sets don't sell well compared to other sets

[TeriXeri]

I just recently got both those sets when they had a repeat of the Year of the Ox promo in Europe, it was sold out quick at release.

At that price the Nian set would be a great parts pack for sure (it's €80 here at LEGO.com), I just built it recently but it has good amount of grey wall bricks and larger white plates/wings.

I'm going to build the Spring Lantern set soon (it's €110 here at LEGO.com), and it has 1 and a half baseplate.

I can imagine the sets being more seasonal in Asia however, since the year of the Ox is only once every 12 year, and the spring lantern set has figures with 2021 on it, so maybe less popular after the celebrations are over but that's just my theory. (maybe a bit similar to how LEGO Advent Calendars go on discount after christmas as well)

 

 

Edited June 10, 2021 by TeriXeri

[Mylenium]

On 6/8/2021 at 10:06 PM, ks6349 said:

Among all other themes, Chinese New Years sets are probably the sets that sell the worst.

Well, if there is so much cheap surplus supply, then LEGO need to manage their resources better. Those sets are pretty popular here in Europe/ Germany, but can be a pain to even obtain. So I guess this may simply be a case of LEGO having a wrong concept of demand in certain regions and underestimating the regional competition from cheaper alternative manufacturers. I for one would have been glad if I could have bought the sets for those reduced prices. Since they are sold exclusively via LEGO stores in these parts prices never drop and chasing those sets is an expensive hobby...

Mylenium

[Johnny1360]

On 6/8/2021 at 4:06 PM, ks6349 said:

Among all other themes, Chinese New Years sets are probably the sets that sell the worst

I really don't understand. It is very obvious that those sets are overstock everywhere. Why

Lego still produces so much of these sets?

Hogwash, lol.

[jimmynick]

Incidentally, I made it to the Leicester Square shop yesterday and they had a couple of copies of the Story of Nian and the Lantern Festival. Nothing to suggest they're trying to get rid of them as hard as possible.