Amazon - As said before, I absolutely love Amazon. They seem to have the lowest prices among all online retailers, except on a few LEGO exclusives. I have also found that they match other retailer’s online prices, such as Target, within 24 hours. The fact that they throw in free shipping over $35 makes them my preferred online retailer. After all, I never spend less than $40 at a time on LEGO so I usually get free shipping from Amazon.
Target - Target’s online store isn’t quite as nice as Amazon’s and can sometime be frustrating to navigate at peak travel times. I just don’t like the ease of use. Unless they offer free shipping, I rarely shop here. Besides that, my items have always arrived in great condition. There ship to store works great except for their disclaimers. I once got 79109 Colby City Showdown for $31.99 online and chose in store pick up. The next day I get an email saying I have to pick it up by the end of the day. The order slip said I had until the end of the week, so I wasn’t happy about that. Anyway, I ended up getting to my local store in time and I got the set. It was in perfect condition except for TWO stickers, one being a security seal? Anyway, I got them off fine and the box is in perfect condition.
Wal-Mart – Wal-Mart online is hit or miss with many sets. I have heard so many bad things about their shipping service concerning damaged boxes, so I always choose site to store. The shipping ends up being free and I get the item undamaged. I haven’t used this service regularly, so I can’t say how often items get damaged in transit. They rarely have many deals online but do stock a few exclusives.
ToysRUs – ToysRUs is one of the largest toy retailers in the United States. This may seem like the ideal place to shop for LEGO, a toy store. However, everything is never as it seems. ToysRUs will usually mark up almost all LEGO sets about 20% above MSRP. Due to this fact, they are usually not the primer choice when brick shopping. They will, however, run interesting specials that actually make the LEGO a good deal. Examples include spend $75 get $20 off or BOGO 50% off all sets. The main strategy with this e-tailer is to make sure you can get your purchase for below MSRP at the very least.
Shop@Home - Finally, we have Shop@Home, the official LEGO online shop. For obvious reasons discussed above, I tend not to shop too much at Shop@Home. The only items I get are exclusives like CUUSOO items that are the same price everywhere else and power functions that aren’t sold officially anywhere else. I always make sure I order more than $75 worth to get free shipping and usually wait until a month with a free offer such as an exclusive polybag. I got a kick out of the September 2013 VW Camper Van polybag. In addition, VIP points are only redeemable here. LEGOLAND offers a flat 10% discount just for mentioning the program since they are owned 70% by Merlin Entertainments Group. This helps offset the cost of full priced sets. The only thing that drives me up the wall is when I order 16 Collectible Minifigures for $47.84 and only get 32 VIP points. $2.99 = 2 points: See my point?
Our next installment will discuss in store shopping at The LEGO Store.