posades Posted April 9, 2009 I can't believe you guys are happy about an increase in price; I guess this is what LEGO had in mind all along, raise the prices really high and make it seem like the "corrected" prices were really a good deal when in fact at the end of the day it's still an increase. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
copperwonder Posted April 9, 2009 Some of their most commonly used bricks are still really out of whack. I was just loading an LDD item and had to remove most of the core bricks in order to get a fair price. Lego really needs to audit all 1400 plus bricks before releasing their "apology" statement to the public. I am going to stay away from LDD and pick a brick until they put some common sense into their order system. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shadows Posted April 9, 2009 I can't believe you guys are happy about an increase in price; I guess this is what LEGO had in mind all along, raise the prices really high and make it seem like the "corrected" prices were really a good deal when in fact at the end of the day it's still an increase. Every item I bought was cheaper than I could have bought them on Brickshelf, all from one place, all conveniently added to an order I wanted to make without increasing shipping. They were also items that had previously been unavailable from PaB, so they didn't go up in price. There are some bargains in there, there are some idiotic prices, it's like anything else, shop carefully and find the deal. On the other hand, that blasted Laat/c AT-OT whatever-it's-called is still vastly overpriced and won't be ordered by me until something changes. Some of their most commonly used bricks are still really out of whack. Agreed. 1x2, 1x4, 1x6, all the same price? That's the part they haven't fixed and the part that is crazy. I only order specialty parts and minifig stuff, so I don't care much, but I'd be annoyed trying to use LDD or order plain bricks at the current prices. That part is a confusing mess. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Asuka Posted April 9, 2009 You don't know that any more than we can honestly say it was a mistake. It was or it wasn't. Well, the price hike was a pretty big mistake for sure, but it was not an accidental one. Like we can see with TLC´s statement in Matija´s (thanks!) post, it was a business decision... but one that, strangely , didn´t work out like they thought it would... so they decided (again ) that it could be better to come down to earth... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Green Brick Giant Posted April 9, 2009 Well, the price hike was a pretty big mistake for sure, but it was not an accidental one. Perfectly said. This clearly was not a mistake, are their LEGO fans crazy enough not to read what they have said? They said it was a mistake, took it back, then said that this was a price increase, they claim the first ever, then took it back to say "Opps we increased it too much without any warning". This was not a mistake, if it were then LEGO would go "we are sorry and will repay anyone who bought at the mistake prices", they didn't say that. Instead we got a thing saying "We made the mistake of increasing them too much without warning'. That means they will just slowly rise to the prices we saw earlier. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shadows Posted April 9, 2009 This clearly was not a mistake, are their LEGO fans crazy enough not to read what they have said? Let's take it step by step. They say it was an increase. Everything goes up in price. Sets are more, parts are more. The materials to create those items cost more. The transport of those items costs more. A loaf of bread costs more. Somehow you've missed this experience elsewhere, but it's life, get used to it. Yes, prices will go up on everything. Again and again and again. They say it was a mistake. People make mistakes. If you mean to increase the price on something but accidentally double it when you didn't intend it to be that much, you've made a mistake. Clearly, both can happen together, as they did here. They clearly have a right to increase prices, just as we have a right not to buy if we don't like it. We also have a right to contact them to complain, which apparently happened with a rewarding result. Now what you want is a huge announcement that it happened, but honestly, that's silly. If affected a very small number of people for a very short period of time. Anyone with a brain just didn't order. If I walk in a store and buy something and later find out it should have been less, I contact them and they make it right. TLG has done this in the past, and I sincerely expect that anyone who was stupid enough to order during the massive increase could contact them for an adjustment. No company announces that kind of thing, but they do it when asked. The prices have mostly been fixed. Bricks are still oddly priced, and that could change, but it might not. I don't really care. Anyone who buys large quantities of ordinary parts from PaB is an idiot. The parts that matter to me came down to very reasonable prices, many are cheaper than Bricklink and I can get them all at once in unlimited quantity. Trust me people, there are bigger issues in the world. That Laat/c for one. Edited to add: I did a quick comparison of some of the things I bought before getting tired of looking it up. I'm very aware of Bricklink prices, however, so someone who isn't could choose items that aren't priced so well. It's also important to remember that you can't always get large quantities of a single part from a seller, and you can't find all of these in any single store, so you're stuck with multiple orders and extra shipping. I saved a small fortune, just on the portion of the order I calculated. I know it would have continued to add up as I went through windows and I don't even know if you can get that new space figure torso on BL yet. Bricklink price: $1.35-5.50 (8 @ 1.35 in Italy, 25 @ 1.50 in Germany, 198 @ 1.701 in the US) PaB Price: .28 Bricklink price: $1.00-2.95 (2 @ 1.00 in US, 4 @ 1.25 in DK) PaB Price: .17 Bricklink price: .81-3.00 (19 @ .81 in Italy, 30 @ .90 in Germany, 3 @ .90 in the US) PaB Price: .17 Bricklink price: 1.50-2.49 (44 @ 1.50 in Germany, 5 @ 1.92 in the US) PaB Price: .16 Bricklink price: 1.0296-3.00 (1 @ 1.0296 in the UK, 30 @ 1.25 in Germany, 9 @ 1.25 in the US) PaB Price: .31 Bricklink price: .28-1.50 (80 @ .28 in DK, 1 @ .39 in NL, 3 @ .40 in the US) PaB Price: .19 Bricklink price: .441-1.50 (34 @ .441 in the US, 1 @ .45 in NL) PaB Price: .31 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Hobbles Posted April 9, 2009 Well, there is some good news to come out of this at least. Of course nobody likes a price-hike, but sometimes it's inevitable. Today's economic climate is certainly making it more difficult for companies to do business. Now admitedly, the original price hike was unbelievably stupid (I can't fathom why LEGO decided to increase them by that much in the first place), but this news brings it back down to almost normal. It's still more expensive than it was, but at least it's not so bad. A model I had been planning to order within the next couple of weeks (My first LEGO factory one) was £210 three days ago, now it is £145. That is MUCH better. It's a modular house with three stories and 1115 pieces, so for the piece count, it's still relatively expensive, but that's the price you pay for the convenience of getting everything in one place rather than on BrickLink. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Green Brick Giant Posted April 9, 2009 They say it was a mistake. People make mistakes. Yes people make mistakes they forgot to take off $10 of an order and were very nice and called me back and took care of it. That was a mistake. If LEGO isn't giving people refunds if they ordered in the last week than it's not a mistake, it was a planned increase, it's very simple. That said the prices now are still fantastic. I use it mainly for minifgiure pieces and the section is awesome. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Asuka Posted April 9, 2009 Let's take it step by step.They say it was an increase. Everything goes up in price. Sets are more, parts are more. The materials to create those items cost more. The transport of those items costs more. A loaf of bread costs more. Somehow you've missed this experience elsewhere, but it's life, get used to it. (...) They clearly have a right to increase prices, just as we have a right not to buy if we don't like it. We also have a right to contact them to complain, which apparently happened with a rewarding result. LEGO is and was always expensive, but its price was relatively stable throughout the years. And, luckily for us all, they´re in the black again. But I guess TLC´s pricing policy isn´t resting upon charity. There´s a small borderline between a high quality toy and an unnecessary article of luxury, especially in times of an economic crisis. Advanced prices would lead to declining sales, causing a lot of long-term damage to the reputation of the brick... parents would simply refuse to buy LEGO for their children, no matter how big and impressive these (half-empty) boxes might be able to grow - there´re more important things to pay for, like food and rent... And if the price for a loaf of bread would suddenly rise up to 300 - 400% you would see a riot in the streets for sure. That´s life... I guess we AFOLs´re pretty nice and calm people indeed... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tacitus Posted April 9, 2009 (edited) So, on April 7th, I put in a $40 order for PAB, including the $1 clawdette wig, thinking that the high prices were just part of the typical inflation that's been going on. So, yeah, I sucked it up and clicked the "check-out" button. In reference to ImperialShadow's posted, I was one of those people without a brain! Then, LEGO made the announcement that was posted here. You can imagine that I was very annoyed. I emailed LEGO today, and explained that I wasn't at all pleased, felt kind of ripped off, etc., and requested a refund for the price reduction difference. Not two hours later, they emailed me back and gave me a near 50% refund, which I really wasn't expecting. So, while the brief price rollercoaster wasn't very fun, LEGO really came through in the end. Their customer service really can be pretty fantastic. Tacitus Edited April 9, 2009 by Tacitus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rriggs Posted April 10, 2009 They say it was an increase. Everything goes up in price. Sets are more, parts are more. The materials to create those items cost more. The transport of those items costs more. A loaf of bread costs more. Somehow you've missed this experience elsewhere, but it's life, get used to it. Yes, prices will go up on everything. Again and again and again. I don't think that anyone on here disputes that Lego have the right to increase prices or that any of wouldn't expect that to happen from time to time; we're all (supposed to be) AFOLs on these forums and we know how the world works. The issue with all of this has been the extent of the price hike initially not the fact that the prices went up. Other retailers are experiencing low inflation and low interest rates but falling consumer spending and the general action that retailers are taking is special offers, discounts, sales promotions and so on. They realise that even some sales with a low or zero margin are better than no sales at all. Lego appear to have taken a different view... Cheers Rog Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shadows Posted April 10, 2009 I emailed LEGO today, and explained that I wasn't at all pleased, felt kind of ripped off, etc., and requested a refund for the price reduction difference. Not two hours later, they emailed me back and gave me a near 50% refund, which I really wasn't expecting. So, while the brief price rollercoaster wasn't very fun, LEGO really came through in the end. Their customer service really can be pretty fantastic. Thank you for sharing your experience, it pretty much confirms what I believed they would do and what most businesses do in that situation, respond to specific requests and adjust accordingly. The issue with all of this has been the extent of the price hike initially not the fact that the prices went up. Believe me, if those prices had stayed, I would have been here screaming as loudly as anyone. The point, to me, is that they corrected it (I still question some of the plain brick prices, I'll admit). In the past, they've made pricing mistakes, they've just typically gone the other way with things added to the site at a lower price than intended. From what I have read, they've mostly honoured those prices. That earns them a little bit of leniency in my book when it comes to making a mistake in the other direction, as long as it's corrected, which it has been. I can tell you first hand that stores don't always react well to mistakes. I've literally taken an item to a register only to be told that they wouldn't sell it for the marked price, walked the manager to the display where there were 20 of the same thing marked at the same price with a huge sign over it and still had them refuse to honour their own price. I walked out and didn't return. I've had online retailers who just decided they didn't like the going rate after the order was placed and been told to either pay more or forget it. I forgot it. I think TLG did the right thing here and I'm happy with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xenologer Posted April 25, 2009 (edited) Sorry if this is thread ressurection, If this should be a new thread MOD please fix. A few weeks after feeling so much great relief that the insane prices have been retracted... Does anyone else also still feel that things cost too much? I mean even before the insanity I felt prices were a little high, but the possibility of choice picking bricks for your special creation made up for it, sometimes. And even though boxed sets were cheaper, if it was only a few specific parts you'd have wanted per boxed set, then paying more for just those via PaB was a fair tradeoff. But now, I'm just not sure its worth it. Sure, prices are back down from the 1 week insanity, but they are not back as they used to be. If in the past I thought the price was just on the edge of being worthwhile, then now they're a bit less than worthwhile. I used to be OK with building myself a remake of a Classic Space impuse set that once cost 3$, and buying it off LDD for 5$. But today it would have to be 7 or 8$... suddenly not as appealing... How is everyone else feeling? Now that the shock and relief of the price change is over with, and you've had some time to just look at the current prices for what they're worth? Buying anything lately? Edited April 25, 2009 by xenologer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
I Scream Clone Posted April 25, 2009 Sorry if this is thread ressurection, If this should be a new thread MOD please fix.A few weeks after feeling so much great relief that the insane prices have been retracted... Does anyone else also still feel that things cost too much? snip How is everyone else feeling? Now that the shock and relief of the price change is over with, and you've had some time to just look at the current prices for what they're worth? Buying anything lately? Well I have gotten some of the newer pieces. I just emailed S@H about the ridiculous pricing for normal bricks 3004, 3008, 3009, 3010 etc as they are nearly 50c Australian each! No one is going to buy two plain bricks for $1 that's nuts. Guess I will see how S@H responds. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eilif Posted April 25, 2009 I'm feeling fine about the new prices. Sure, basic brick is pretty expensive and most things are more than BL, but all LEGO prices went up a bit, so the current PAB prices are understandable. Also, the fact that alot of special pieces are cheaper than anywhere else, and can be had in quantity is awesome. PAB has always been a source for special and rare elements for me, never for basic brick. I just picked up a bunch of 1x4x6 door frames from LEGO Retail Store PAB, and I'm probably going to order the window inserts from PAB online soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slimninj4 Posted April 29, 2009 I just noticed they added a ton of new pieces. They now have ice cream for .31c. woohoo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Armendariz Posted April 29, 2009 Did anyone see the new 8x16 Tile on PAB??!? I think it may be useful. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Johnnhiszippy3 Posted April 29, 2009 I agree - I think the prices are still too high. I bought a significant amount using LDD before the major price increase, and haven't bought anything since. I may buy small quantities eventually, but nothing like before. I didn't now about Bricklink until fairly recently, so I will probably resort to using it too, although I find it much more cumbersome than Lego's PAB. Did anyone see the new 8x16 Tile on PAB??!?I think it may be useful. This piece has been available for awhile in sets, like the City harbor set from last year: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=48288 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
