Huge Price Increase for Pick A Brick Items!

[I Scream Clone]

Well i noticed a few elements had been removed like the lettuce/hair amongst others.

I had a PAB order in my cart last night $30 for 237 pieces, now searching for it all again, even with out the no longer available parts adds up to $70

CRAZY INSANE

So long PAB, if this is what TLC desires, they can watch their sales drop on PAB overnight!

Off to BL again.

[pesgores]

This is madness!

Madness? THIS. IS. THE WORST THUNG EVAAAAAAAAAR

C'mon, 0,27€ for a basic 2x4 brick?

OMG

An order I amde a month ago that costed about 50€ now costs 115€!!!

THIS MUST BE A JOKE

[CopMike]

Question posted to TLG, awating explanation.

CopMike

[spade450]

The new pricing is inconsistent. On the US S@H site, 1x2 bricks are .28, 2x2 bricks are .10, and 2x4 bricks are .16 (except for 2x4 red or white which are .41). Strange pricing scheme though maybe all of the increases have not gone through yet. Whatever is happening, though, is very bad news.

[Dadster]

I thought for sure, I'd check the PAB out today and it would be a hoax...

Not yet anyway.

[Shadows]

You know, CopMike has posed the question to TLG, let's just wait until he gets a reply before we gather the pitchforks and torches.

Don't get me wrong, these new prices will have me right there with you if it isn't some kind of mistake that they intend to correct, I just don't see the point in ranting before we hear some kind of official comment.

[Eilif]

The new prices suck but it doesn't really change anything for me, since PAB was already more expensive than Bricklink on almost everything, even before this. I only buy occasional specialty pieces from there.

I agree with you for the most part, but just for the minifig parts and specialty items, PAB was a great deal. I used to add a PAB order on to every one of my LEGO direct orders. In honesty, I may still add a piece or two now, but it's much less likely now.

Does anyone know if the Pick A Brick cups at LEGO Stores have gotten more expensive or smaller?

PAB cups have gone up about a buck IIRC. Still a good deal if you get the right pieces and pack the cup.

Perhaps Lego want to push buyers from PAB to Bricklink coz In Sweden PAB prices has increased from crazy to insane..

(and on top of that shipping cost on S@H isnt exactly modest.

That's kind of what I thought for a second. It's almost like they are trying to discourage casual buyers.

All I want to know is why don't they charge by weight like in the PAB in the shops?

In the US, it's all by volume, but I wonder why it's different in different countries

The new pricing is inconsistent. On the US S@H site, 1x2 bricks are .28, 2x2 bricks are .10, and 2x4 bricks are .16 (except for 2x4 red or white which are .41).

The prices are rediculous, but the inconsistencies from piece to piece may reflect LEGO's actual costs to produce. In a Brickworld presentation Jamie talked about how based on mold and capacity, price per piece for production is not necessarily based on size of the brick, even among basic brick types.

Edited April 2, 2009 by Eilif

[mrchris]

I always found bricklink expensive, ive never found say 2 or 3 sellers (postage!) who has enough of all the various pieces im after. maybe its because they are commonly used pieces which are usually in low quantity in sets. e.g. large grey plates, grey bricks etc.

Surely lego make more money selling direct than through a middleman who buys the sets in bulk when on sale to resell, so i dont see why they would want us to go via bricklink.

But they are giving us mixed messages, on one hand they are supporting PAB by the increased number of pieces, and on the other they are pricing it so that it could end up dieing which would take LDD with it.

[SuvieD]

The PaB seems to be in transition right now. I am wondering if they hiked the prices to slow orders down while they got everything loaded and fixed. I have done similar things on BL while I was changing inventory amounts.

If the prices are for real, and I can't see how they could be, then LEGO has lost it. I was waiting for a price drop on some of the smaller more common parts, to think anyone would pay more than double what it costs to buy parts in a set isn't insane, its stupid. Not even Star Wars parts generate such prices, at least not while they are in production.

Bricklink is expensive today. Four+ years ago it was not nearly as bad. Things started getting worse about the time all the SW collectors discovered BL. A lot of that has to do with the removal of the all time prices removed from the price guide. Since the prices are based on a rolling six month period it is easier to jack prices up, especially on rare or older items. Conversely, demand also has something to do with it. As the AFOL community grows, the desire for collecting or even hording certain parts begins causing the prices to rise. Not to mention the people who make a living or at least a second income off of resale, they want to increase profits and because they have so much more stock they justify a higher price because they know people would rather spend a little (or in some cases a lot) more to get everything they want from one store rather than a dozen.

I wouldn't worry too much about PaB prices. At the current prices, it is not likely they will sell much of anything. Money talks far louder than any email or letter you might send them. LEGO will soon realize that these prices are too high (if they even intend them to stay like this) and will begin adjusting. LEGO won't give up on PaB so easily, I mean they just added all sorts of new parts for a reason. They won't pursue parts replacement here either. PaB is designed for bulk sales not small amounts. The more someone buys the more money LEGO makes, I think they want to keep it that way.

I look forward to an official explination though.

[Asuka]

Factory and LDD was a very innovative and smart new division, and considered by TLC itself as a very important part of its business strategy

that should help to keep the company ahead of the game and ready for the future, at least like I read a few days ago in an interesting

article written by Jon Henley in The Guardian, originally posted by emilec here...

Its (TLC´s) ultimate goal, though, is somehow to integrate physical and virtual play. It is part of the way there: the website factory.lego.com allows you to download simple 3D design software, create a Lego toy online, then order the parts to build it;

But how should this work out with prices like that?

You know, CopMike has posed the question to TLG, let's just wait until he gets a reply before we gather the pitchforks and torches.

Don't get me wrong, these new prices will have me right there with you if it isn't some kind of mistake that they intend to correct, I just don't see the point in ranting before we hear some kind of official comment.

Well, a comment would be nice and interesting for sure, but if people´re going to place orders right now, and have to pay these new prices

right now, at which point in time do you think should they start to rant exactly?

I wont dig out the noose by now too, but as any other company TLC needs some feedback too, and which better place to get some serious

feedback would you propose if not our own EB, right here and right now indeed?

If everything turns out to be a mistake, fine... but we have to deal with the facts we know by now, ´cause that´s the time and world we´re living in.

[Algernon]

Good thing I never really use pick a brick.

[Johnnhiszippy3]

Here's my theory - and it's only a theory:

As everyone here knows, this is shapping up to be one of the BEST years ever for boxed sets in every theme and there are several new themes. I'm sure most of these sets were already in production before the economy took a dive, and now it's too late to hold off on some of those sets.

So I think they may be worried about falling sales on their boxed sets - and what do you do if you have lots of leftover boxed sets other than sell them at a discount? It's pretty difficult to resort the pieces.

My theory is that they are driving up Pick-a-Brick prices in hopes that people will buy more boxed sets this year and less pieces from PAB. It's much easier to put the brakes on PAB than a huge production line for sets, I imagine.

And for people who don't see how this will drive up prices on Bricklink, here's how it will: People who typically buy from PAB will now turn to Bricklink, increasing demand, thus increasing prices. A higher demand would also encourage Bricklink store-owners to buy more boxed sets, supporting my theory above.

[Joebot]

The prices are rediculous, but the inconsistencies from piece to piece may reflect LEGO's actual costs to produce. In a Brickworld presentation Jamie talked about how based on mold and capacity, price per piece for production is not necessarily based on size of the brick, even among basic brick types.

That's interesting, I've never heard that.

Unfortunately, that's all behind-the-scenes stuff that's invisible to the average user. For example, when I look at PAB now, I see that a 2x2 tile is still $.08 (no price increase). However, a 1x2 tile is now $.19. A piece that's HALF the size is over TWICE the price. Most people are going to see that and think: "What the hell??"

Raising prices in an economic recession is a bad move ...

[Front]

Here's my theory - and it's only a theory:

As everyone here knows, this is shapping up to be one of the BEST years ever for boxed sets in every theme and there are several new themes. I'm sure most of these sets were already in production before the economy took a dive, and now it's too late to hold off on some of those sets.

So I think they may be worried about falling sales on their boxed sets - and what do you do if you have lots of leftover boxed sets other than sell them at a discount? It's pretty difficult to resort the pieces.

My theory is that they are driving up Pick-a-Brick prices in hopes that people will buy more boxed sets this year and less pieces from PAB. It's much easier to put the brakes on PAB than a huge production line for sets, I imagine.

And for people who don't see how this will drive up prices on Bricklink, here's how it will: People who typically buy from PAB will now turn to Bricklink, increasing demand, thus increasing prices. A higher demand would also encourage Bricklink store-owners to buy more boxed sets, supporting my theory above.

First of all, the amount of sale on PAB (shop@home), and on bricklink for that matter, is a tiny fraction of what TLC sells to the average consumer who does not even know that shop@home, bricklink or anything else exsist. There may be AFOL buying bricks like mad, but try and compare that to the amount of bricks produced each second, 24/7, and you'll see that AFOL and other fans has close to zero affect on the global Lego sale.

Secondly, what is the correlation between the so called "economy dive" and the current selling of products ? A big question mark.

Regarding the prize jump, I think it's a mistake. If it's not, I think it is a reflection of the actual cost of the labour-heavy buisness that PAB is.

Edited April 2, 2009 by Front

[Cavannus]

Wrong, you have listed his legs twice. ;)

Fixed!

[Asuka]

First of all, the amount of sale on PAB (shop@home), and on bricklink for that matter, is a tiny fraction of what TLC sells to the average consumer who does not even know that shop@home, bricklink or anything else exsist. There may be AFOL buying bricks like mad, but try and compare that to the amount of bricks produced each second, 24/7, and you'll see that AFOL and other fans has close to zero affect on the global Lego sale.

I don´t know much about the gains and costs of PAB for TLC, but if I´m allowed to quote from Jon Henley´s The Guardian article once more:

Lego reckons it has maybe 250,000 Afols, or Adult Fans of Lego, around the globe.

Now I don´t want to glorify AFOLdom and its merits, but I have to say nevertheless that this sounds not bad to me... or that much unimportant too...

[Johnnhiszippy3]

First of all, the amount of sale on PAB (shop@home), and on bricklink for that matter, is a tiny fraction of what TLC sells to the average consumer who does not even know that shop@home, bricklink or anything else exsist. There may be AFOL buying bricks like mad, but try and compare that to the amount of bricks produced each second, 24/7, and you'll see that AFOL and other fans has close to zero affect on the global Lego sale.

Recently I read that Lego estimates there are 250,000 AFOLs worldwide. If each of those spend an anverage of 6000 DKK/year (about $1000/year) the revenue from AFOLs would be 1.4 Billion DKK ($250 million). Lego's total Revenue for 2008 was 9.5 billion DKK ($1.7 billion) Source. So the revenue from AFOLs is about 15% of the total revenue - assuming the average AFOL spends ONLY 6000 DKK/$1000. True, it isn't huge, but it isn't insignificant either. But it really comes down to how much people spend on PAB - a number that isn't available.

Secondly, what is the correlation between the so called "economy dive" and the current selling of products ? A big question mark.

As the econmy degrades people spend less money - thus Lego does not sell as many sets.

Regarding the prize jump, I think it's a mistake. If it's not, I think it is a reflection of the actual cost of the labour-heavy buisness that PAB is.

I hope it's a mistake, but I don't think it is. It could be a test to see how people react, but I don't think Lego would make such a broad mistake (plus, the prices in the newest catalog match the new online prices). But who knows? maybe the price for 10195 is a mistake too....

Edited April 2, 2009 by Johnnhiszippy3

[Etzel]

Excuse me, but 400DKK is not $1000. At current rate 400DKK would be $67.38. So I guess you have to recalculate those numbers ;)

Edited April 2, 2009 by Etzel

[natelite]

i think it's a glitch. just relax. there is some price hike but not as drastic as it looks currently.

i think what happened was they uploaded the new prices but unfortunately the software merged the old price with the new price causing it to more than doubled. for eg, in aus - a torso was around 0.96, it is now 2.41. i think the new price was supposed to be 1.45 but the merging process added the old price with the new price.

in any case, i think we will be seeing some price hikes of between 40-50%. be prepared for it. on a positive note, it is nice to see that PAB expanded. we now have 1496 parts vs 1000 previously. this begs the question of....will we be getting new lego factory sets? it might be cheaper just buying the pre-packed sets rather than use PAB.

[Johnnhiszippy3]

Excuse me, but 400DKK is not $1000. At current rate 400DKK would be $67.38. So I guess you have to recalculate those numbers ;)

Thanks for pointing out my error - I messed up the conversion factor.

[Holodoc]

Question posted to TLG, awating explanation.

CopMike

That´s what I wanted to read and I´m eagerly awaiting the response.

[Peppermint_M]

Ok not impressed. I just built a new car in the style of the Speed Racer cars (I used the instructions for part of the build..) to match the ones in the film a little. It will cost me £29.91 to buy the one car with one minifig. I got two for £14 in the Speed Racer sets! Thats Lisenced Lego too! With two minifigs unique to the set!!! Its very silly. I hope it is a glitch not a permenant increase in price.

[Eilif]

this begs the question of....will we be getting new lego factory sets? it might be cheaper just buying the pre-packed sets rather than use PAB.

You're in luck. Unless Factory sets undergo a 200% or so increase, they will continue to be radically less expensive than PAB online. Most factory sets have been in the area of $0.10 a piece or less, while the PAB Online averages much higher than that.

I'm hoping that the next factory set will be a good one, if only for a parts pack.

[Apache]

TLC just lost a customer if this is for real. .25 USD for legs to 1.00 USD...PLUST TAX AND SHIPPING!!!! FORGET THAT! Like the other one said before me, I used to add a $40-$60 PAB order on top of whatever I ordered from Lego.com...

I'm so appalled at this price hike that I don't even want to buy any LEGO BOXED SETS. Disgusted! It better be glich or they have a WAR coming.

Edited April 3, 2009 by Apache

[Joebot]

First of all, the amount of sale on PAB (shop@home), and on bricklink for that matter, is a tiny fraction of what TLC sells to the average consumer who does not even know that shop@home, bricklink or anything else exsist.

I'm just curious if you have some stats or a press release to back up your assertion. If so, please post a link! I'd really like to read that. Thanks!