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acciobrick2021-10-11 01:29 pm
gingerwitch.livejournal.com) wrote in acciobrick2021-10-11 01:29 pm
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To buy or not to buy, that is the question...
From midnight this morning onwards for a week you can get double VIP points at the lego store. (Registering as a VIP is free and gets you a cute keychain, too. 😉 Even if you never use the points, you might, so it's worth a shot either way.) They changed the VIP system a while back making it non-trivially more complicated, but I checked it at the time and calculated the standard VIP rebate for the leading currencies all as upwards of five percent of what you spend now off your next purchase (so double means upwards of 10%), but it can be difficult to follow the base maths so 1) I'll spare you and 2) I'm not revisiting that determination regularly; exchange rates are a pain in my backside. Additionally, these rebate systems are always a little problematic. They're designed to keep you coming back, there's always a minimum amount to get that rebate, the points eventually expire... Yada yada. As systems go, lego's is far from the worst, but a straight forward discount would obviously be better. For someone who used to buy the Creator Modular sets and / or the Winter Village sets every year, it still worked out advantageously for me, and it's certainly proved even more worthwhile since the rekindling of the HP series. 😃 Mileage varies obviously.
So what should you do about the double points promotion? Ordinarily I'd say wait until closer to Christmas to snag the (thus far) inevitable (but not guaranteed) GWP along with the double VIP bonus, sell the GWP on ebay and recoup some of the cost. (Lego arbitrage ftw!) This year they're warning internationally about shortages and delivery issues for all kinds of things (the US in particular seems badly hit), so it isn't as clear if that's the way to go. (Risk attaches! 😐) As far as the GWPs go, I'm quietly confident they'll offer a chance to pick them up again at a later point if they aren't able to do the promotion as intended (the MBM resurfaced, for instance), I also can handle disappointment Christmas morning. That might not be true for all of your households, so more conservative planning might have its perks.
NOTE: Bricks and Pieces purchases unfortunately will not count towards the GWPs. 😕
What's going on now: anything you spend from the 11th to the 17th at the (physical and online) lego store as a VIP gets you double points. And if you spend upwards of $40, depending on what you buy, you may be eligible for either the Friends flower cart or the deep sea diver freebie polybags.
Next week from the 18th to the 24th, VIP purchases upwards of $120 will get you a freebie flying car and, if in the applicable themes, the flower cart or deep sea diver as well.
The week after is the beginning of a two week long HP lego promotion from the 25th through the 07th of November. 😃 HP lego purchases above $85 get the Gryffindor dorm room GWP; in person purchases at the physical lego stores above $40 also get the Hermione's desk polybag for free. If you are planning on buying HP lego (except for sets like Diagon Alley or the nanoscale castle), you probably want to wait until this promotion. The bigger sets will probably be a better bet if purchased with double VIP points, and better yet if you wait for a promotion that combines both. Hogwarts Icons is almost definitely above the break even point for the GWP's resale value vs. extra points so get it during the GWP promotion; bear in mind it's only 5% (ish) difference between regular and double VIP points. (Some maths after all! 5% (ish)) of $250 is $12.50 (ish) difference between regular and double VIP points; the GWP will definitely net you more on resale, or save you more if you'd otherwise purchase it from the after market.)
Worth a consideration: the HP minifig accessory sets 40500 and (if it's still available where you are) 40419 both are slated to retire by the end of the year. They pretty much always sell for more on ebay than they do to purchase them directly from lego. (Caveat: check your individual market first.) You could theoretically buy $85 worth of the accessory set to qualify for the GWP and then resell all of the sets but the GWP and actually make a profit in the process. (If I had things other than ABS plastic on my mind, I'd make an excellent evil genius, just saying... 😉)
In other news: Target is offering the Harry and Hermione bundled maxifigure set for half price, and I'm positively green with envy. 😢 If you're in the US and these were on your shopping radar, I'd say get them now.
So what should you do about the double points promotion? Ordinarily I'd say wait until closer to Christmas to snag the (thus far) inevitable (but not guaranteed) GWP along with the double VIP bonus, sell the GWP on ebay and recoup some of the cost. (Lego arbitrage ftw!) This year they're warning internationally about shortages and delivery issues for all kinds of things (the US in particular seems badly hit), so it isn't as clear if that's the way to go. (Risk attaches! 😐) As far as the GWPs go, I'm quietly confident they'll offer a chance to pick them up again at a later point if they aren't able to do the promotion as intended (the MBM resurfaced, for instance), I also can handle disappointment Christmas morning. That might not be true for all of your households, so more conservative planning might have its perks.
NOTE: Bricks and Pieces purchases unfortunately will not count towards the GWPs. 😕
What's going on now: anything you spend from the 11th to the 17th at the (physical and online) lego store as a VIP gets you double points. And if you spend upwards of $40, depending on what you buy, you may be eligible for either the Friends flower cart or the deep sea diver freebie polybags.
Next week from the 18th to the 24th, VIP purchases upwards of $120 will get you a freebie flying car and, if in the applicable themes, the flower cart or deep sea diver as well.
The week after is the beginning of a two week long HP lego promotion from the 25th through the 07th of November. 😃 HP lego purchases above $85 get the Gryffindor dorm room GWP; in person purchases at the physical lego stores above $40 also get the Hermione's desk polybag for free. If you are planning on buying HP lego (except for sets like Diagon Alley or the nanoscale castle), you probably want to wait until this promotion. The bigger sets will probably be a better bet if purchased with double VIP points, and better yet if you wait for a promotion that combines both. Hogwarts Icons is almost definitely above the break even point for the GWP's resale value vs. extra points so get it during the GWP promotion; bear in mind it's only 5% (ish) difference between regular and double VIP points. (Some maths after all! 5% (ish)) of $250 is $12.50 (ish) difference between regular and double VIP points; the GWP will definitely net you more on resale, or save you more if you'd otherwise purchase it from the after market.)
Worth a consideration: the HP minifig accessory sets 40500 and (if it's still available where you are) 40419 both are slated to retire by the end of the year. They pretty much always sell for more on ebay than they do to purchase them directly from lego. (Caveat: check your individual market first.) You could theoretically buy $85 worth of the accessory set to qualify for the GWP and then resell all of the sets but the GWP and actually make a profit in the process. (If I had things other than ABS plastic on my mind, I'd make an excellent evil genius, just saying... 😉)
In other news: Target is offering the Harry and Hermione bundled maxifigure set for half price, and I'm positively green with envy. 😢 If you're in the US and these were on your shopping radar, I'd say get them now.