| |
In lugnet.lego, Jake McKee wrote:
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To clarify, this set will be available through Shop At Home in both Europe
and North America.
|
grumblegrumbleofcoursenotAustraliagrumblegrumble
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> grumblegrumbleofcoursenotAustraliagrumblegrumble
I see no reason why it cant be made available to australia and new zealand
given that stuff we get comes from the exact same warehouse that people in
europe get their shop @ home items.
Jake, can you look into why this isnt listed on shop.lego.com for australia
and kick someone into gear to get it listed so us aussies can buy our (up
to) 5 sets just like the rest of the world?
I only want one myself but I am sure there are other aussies who want 1,2
or even the full 5 :)
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|
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In lugnet.lego, Jonathan Wilson wrote:
> > grumblegrumbleofcoursenotAustraliagrumblegrumble
> I see no reason why it cant be made available to australia and new zealand
> given that stuff we get comes from the exact same warehouse that people in
> europe get their shop @ home items.
>
> Jake, can you look into why this isnt listed on shop.lego.com for australia
> and kick someone into gear to get it listed so us aussies can buy our (up
> to) 5 sets just like the rest of the world?
As of a few min ago, it wasn't listed on the US site yet (happy to be proven
wrong, mind you!) so it may just have been an omission on Jake's part to not
mention Australia (and etc)...
That's just speculation on my part but I hope it's helpful
++Lar
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In lugnet.lego, Jonathan Wilson wrote:
> > grumblegrumbleofcoursenotAustraliagrumblegrumble
> I see no reason why it cant be made available to australia and new zealand
> given that stuff we get comes from the exact same warehouse that people in
> europe get their shop @ home items.
>
> Jake, can you look into why this isnt listed on shop.lego.com for australia
> and kick someone into gear to get it listed so us aussies can buy our (up
> to) 5 sets just like the rest of the world?
>
> I only want one myself but I am sure there are other aussies who want 1,2
> or even the full 5 :)
I should have been more clear about this. All Shope At Home items (minus a few
exceptions) that are available in Europe are also available to Australia and New
Zealand. The 10152 is available to you as well, but the product isn't loaded on
the http://www.legoshop.com site yet. Should be later today.
Jake
---
Jake McKee
Community Liaison
LEGO Community Development
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|
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In lugnet.lego, Jake McKee wrote:
> The 10152 is available to you as well, but the product isn't loaded on
> the http://www.legoshop.com site yet. Should be later today.
>
> Jake
> ---
> Jake McKee
> Community Liaison
> LEGO Community Development
Well, I'm going to press "REFRESH" a lot today!
/\/\ark "still no 10152 on the dutch site" de Kock
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In lugnet.lego, Jake McKee wrote:
> I should have been more clear about this. All Shope At Home items (minus a few
> exceptions) that are available in Europe are also available to Australia and New
> Zealand. The 10152 is available to you as well, but the product isn't loaded on
> the http://www.legoshop.com site yet. Should be later today.
>
> Jake
> ---
> Jake McKee
> Community Liaison
> LEGO Community Development
Cool. I retract my grumbling.
Any Briburnians care to go in for a joint order? Hang on, we'll still only be
able to get a max. of 5 even on a joint order won't we? I only want one, but I
don't think it'd take much to exceed the maximum.
A
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> I should have been more clear about this. All Shope At Home items (minus a few
> exceptions) that are available in Europe are also available to Australia and New
A few exceptions? What exceptions?
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In lugnet.lego, Jake McKee wrote:
> In lugnet.lego, Jonathan Wilson wrote:
> > > grumblegrumbleofcoursenotAustraliagrumblegrumble
> > I see no reason why it cant be made available to australia and new zealand
> > given that stuff we get comes from the exact same warehouse that people in
> > europe get their shop @ home items.
> >
> > Jake, can you look into why this isnt listed on shop.lego.com for australia
> > and kick someone into gear to get it listed so us aussies can buy our (up
> > to) 5 sets just like the rest of the world?
> >
> > I only want one myself but I am sure there are other aussies who want 1,2
> > or even the full 5 :)
>
> I should have been more clear about this. All Shope At Home items (minus a few
> exceptions) that are available in Europe are also available to Australia and New
> Zealand. The 10152 is available to you as well, but the product isn't loaded on
> the http://www.legoshop.com site yet. Should be later today.
>
> Jake
> ---
> Jake McKee
> Community Liaison
> LEGO Community Development
I was wondeing...how do LEGO work out their prices?
By my calculation, 10152 is being sold at the following:
$74.99 US is roughly $105 AUS
£54.99 is roughly $140 Aus
EURO 79,99 is roughly $136 AUS
$144.95 AUS
(About 30% higher outside North America)
Similarly, 10030:
$299 US is roughly $420 AUS
£249.99 is roughly $640 Aus
EURO 369,99 is roughly $635 AUS
$569.95 Aus
(About 50% higher outside North America)
Similarly, 10123:
$99.99 US is roughly $140 AUS
£69.99 is roughly $180 Aus
EURO 109,99 is roughly $190 AUS
$199 Aus
(About 30% higher outside North America)
Similarly, 4750:
$7.99 US is roughly $11 AUS
£5.99 is roughly $15 Aus
EURO 9,99 is roughly $17 AUS
$14 Aus
(About 30% higher outside North America)
Now, seeing as the sets are being produced in Europe, WHY are those buying them
there having to pay so much more? After all, Wouldn't it seem logical that those
buying from the source should be getting it CHEAPER than those who have to get
it shipped from the source to an overseas (literally) S@H centre, and then
forwarded from there?
I COULD be wrong, but it seems to me that the rest of the world is SUBSIDISING
the LEGO being sold in North America so that they can keep getting the cheaper
prices.[1]
Is there any truth in this theory...I guess that's up to LEGO to either confirm,
or to try and explain the pricing discrepencies.
[1] I probably shouldn't be surprised...after all, the only way we hear from
LEGO is via North American LEGO company sources, and in general LEGO (produced
in Europe) arrives on sale in North America before it does in Europe...Maybe
they don't even realise that those who don't live in North America buy LEGO?
Benjamin Whytcross
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In lugnet.general, Benjamin Whytcross wrote:
>
> [1] I probably shouldn't be surprised...after all, the only way we hear from
> LEGO is via North American LEGO company sources, and in general LEGO (produced
> in Europe) arrives on sale in North America before it does in Europe...Maybe
> they don't even realise that those who don't live in North America buy LEGO?
Well I have actually noticed that although new products may show up on NA S@H
first, often they start shipping to Europe before NA, as was the case with the
Maersk ship. Still doesn't explain the price discrepancies though.
ROSCO
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In lugnet.lego, Ross Crawford wrote:
> In lugnet.general, Benjamin Whytcross wrote:
> >
> > [1] I probably shouldn't be surprised...after all, the only way we hear from
> > LEGO is via North American LEGO company sources, and in general LEGO (produced
> > in Europe) arrives on sale in North America before it does in Europe...Maybe
> > they don't even realise that those who don't live in North America buy LEGO?
>
> Well I have actually noticed that although new products may show up on NA S@H
> first, often they start shipping to Europe before NA, as was the case with the
> Maersk ship. Still doesn't explain the price discrepancies though.
>
> ROSCO
What I was actually referring to was more along the lines of 200x sets arriving
in stores in the US in November 200x-1 while to the rest of the world it is a
200x release date.
[Out of curiosity:
1) is it now officially a 200x-1 set as it was released in 200x-1 in certain
restricted markets, or is it a 200x set as it was released in its source region
then?
2) how does the copyright on the instructions work, as they are generally (c)
200x...could MEGA-Blocks (for example) copy them, and release them as (c)200x-1,
and then accuse LEGO of copying their instructions? [And does this mean that the
instructions are able to be scanned and posted in 200x-1 when copyright
(presumably) does not apply, but must be taken down on the arrival of 200x]
]
Then again, your point is valid...why does the North American market get so much
advance warning as opposed to the source region, Europe?
Benjamin Whytcross
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<snip>
>
> I was wondeing...how do LEGO work out their prices?
>
> By my calculation, 10152 is being sold at the following:
> $74.99 US is roughly $105 AUS
> £54.99 is roughly $140 Aus
> EURO 79,99 is roughly $136 AUS
> $144.95 AUS
> (About 30% higher outside North America)
>
>
> Now, seeing as the sets are being produced in Europe, WHY are those buying them
> there having to pay so much more? After all, Wouldn't it seem logical that those
> buying from the source should be getting it CHEAPER than those who have to get
> it shipped from the source to an overseas (literally) S@H centre, and then
> forwarded from there?
>
> I COULD be wrong, but it seems to me that the rest of the world is SUBSIDISING
> the LEGO being sold in North America so that they can keep getting the cheaper
> prices.[1]
>
> Is there any truth in this theory...I guess that's up to LEGO to either confirm,
> or to try and explain the pricing discrepencies.
>
> [1] I probably shouldn't be surprised...after all, the only way we hear from
> LEGO is via North American LEGO company sources, and in general LEGO (produced
> in Europe) arrives on sale in North America before it does in Europe...Maybe
> they don't even realise that those who don't live in North America buy LEGO?
>
> Benjamin Whytcross
Benjamin, I believe that the answer is (at least) twofold:
1. LEGO's way of setting prices for different markets is very complex (I believe
that Jake has stated this before), and the price only partially depends on what
the given market will put up with. For example, in North America I think LEGO
has much more competition from lower priced Canadian MegaBlocks than in Europe.
2. TAXES
In europe the Value Added Tax (VAT) is built into the price of the items on the
shelves and Shop@Home. A quick Google search revealed that the VAT is 15% to
25% in various EU countries. In North America, the taxes are added on top of
the purchase price (this helps maintain the illusion that you're paying less).
In the state of Connecticut (LEGO north america is located in Enfield), you'll
pay 6% tax on top of the 75 USD. In other states, the sales tax is different. In
Ontario, Canada, we get the GST and PST for a total of 15%, or the 15% HST in
the Maritime provinces.
While in Poland last spring, I found that prices in an official LEGO store were
about 20% to 30% more expensive when converted into Canadian (or US) dollars. I
think the VAT is about 22%.
I comfirmed this by pricing the 10152 Maersk through different countries on
Shop@Home, including inputting fake addresses in order to get to the final cost
page for each country:
- canadian order from Ontario - 15% tax added
- US order from Connecticut - 6% tax added
- US order from Washington state - 0% tax added
- German order - 0% tax (VAT is built in)
- Australia - 0% tax added
If you buy from a bricks and mortar store in Washington state, or Illinois, or
whatever, you will have to pay the state sales tax. But if you buy from
Washinton state from Shop@Home, there is no sales tax. Go figure!
But in terms timing, I have noticed quite the opposite, ie. stuff appears on the
shelves in Europe much sooner than in North America:
The http://guide.lugnet.com/set/8453 and http://guide.lugnet.com/set/8451
mini technic sets were in stores in Germany in early April last year, whereas in
Canada, they didn't show up until the end of June.
This year, the 5 Ferrari sets have been available from Shop@Home Germany
since mid-April, but in North America, only the large Technic 1:10 scale ferrari
is available (for 2 weeks now I think).
I've gone through some of this research last year, when I discovered that the
prices in Poland and Germany were quite high compared to north american prices.
Hope this helps...
play well
John
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John Guerquin wrote:
> I've gone through some of this research last year, when I discovered that the
> prices in Poland and Germany were quite high compared to north american prices.
Add Czech Republic to the list.
I wrote a small script to recompute the czech MSRP (price / 1.19 / 27 )
= 19% is the tax, 27 Kc per 1 US dollar.
Then I divided czech price by US MSRP price and got:
1.00-1.20x = Orient Expedition, Belvile, World City, Bionicle, Inventor,
Sports, Technic, Island Extreme, Discovery, Racers
1.20-1.50x = Jack Stone, Duplo, Designer, SW, Spiderman, Harry Potter,
Spybotics
1.50-2.00x on basic tubs, Duplo
6-8x lower buying power here than on the West. I can't understand them.
Their usual point is they can't make it cheaper here because German
hordes ;) would buy it all here and their businessmen would die starving
(not that I care).
BTW: Shelves are full of Megablocks here.
--
Jindroush <jindroush@nospam.seznam.nospam.cz>
Remove both 'nospam's from the address to reply.
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> 2. TAXES
And all this doesn't take into account other taxes Americans pay yearly.
* personal property tax
* vehicle tax
* sin tax (cigs, alcohol, and other "non-necessary things)
* gasoline tax (30-40 cents per gallon?)
* Medicaire (not a tax)
* Social Security (not a tax)
* Federal Income Tax (don't get me started!!!)
* State Income Tax
Health care options and prices in America suck in my opinion.
Social Security benifits may not be around when I reach age 65 (or older).
Federal income tax was a "temporary" supplimental way to fund WW2.
Apparently the US goverment forgot that that war has been over for 60 years.
Do other countries have such a large number of required things they must
pay?
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In lugnet.lego, Rob Hendrix wrote:
> > 2. TAXES
>
> And all this doesn't take into account other taxes Americans pay yearly.
> * personal property tax
> * vehicle tax
> * sin tax (cigs, alcohol, and other "non-necessary things)
> * gasoline tax (30-40 cents per gallon?)
> * Medicaire (not a tax)
> * Social Security (not a tax)
> * Federal Income Tax (don't get me started!!!)
> * State Income Tax
>
> Health care options and prices in America suck in my opinion.
> Social Security benifits may not be around when I reach age 65 (or older).
> Federal income tax was a "temporary" supplimental way to fund WW2.
> Apparently the US goverment forgot that that war has been over for 60 years.
>
> Do other countries have such a large number of required things they must
> pay?
I'd encourage this subthread to migrate away from the current groups and into
off-topic.debate if it goes too much further into comparative analysis of
countries... I XFUT there already.
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Larry Pieniazek wrote:
> > And all this doesn't take into account other taxes Americans pay yearly.
> > * personal property tax
> > * vehicle tax
> > * sin tax (cigs, alcohol, and other "non-necessary things)
> > * gasoline tax (30-40 cents per gallon?)
> > * Medicaire (not a tax)
> > * Social Security (not a tax)
> > * Federal Income Tax (don't get me started!!!)
> > * State Income Tax
> > Do other countries have such a large number of required things they must
> > pay?
Builtin taxes: gasoline, other fuels, alcohol, cigarettes (at least). I
think about 90% of gasoline price is various taxes.
health security (in fact a tax)
social security (in fact a tax)
tax from immobilities (is it 'personal property tax'?)
income tax, progressive from 15% to 40%
I work till July only for our _damned_ socialistic goverment.
--
Jindroush <jindroush@nospam.seznam.nospam.cz>
Remove both 'nospam's from the address to reply.
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> > > Do other countries have such a large number of required things they must
> > > pay?
Yup, the UK's pretty bad too - VAT at 17.5% on most goods (included in the
price though), the fuel tax is incredibly high (about 86%) plus you have to pay
road tax just to have your vehicle on the road. Alcohol and Tobacco taxes are
high as well (Tobacco being a lot higher - but hey, it's to pay for the national
health service (well, 10% of it does... Dunno where the other 90% goes.)) .
Then there's national insurance (about 11%), which covers the National Health
Service, State Pension and Unemployment Benefit.
And finally income tax, which ranges from 10-40%, although most people will
be paying 22%.
Steve
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In lugnet.lego, Benjamin Whytcross wrote:
| |
I was wondeing...how do LEGO work out their prices?
By my calculation, 10152 is being sold at the following:
$74.99 US is roughly $105 AUS
£54.99 is roughly $140 Aus
EURO 79,99 is roughly $136 AUS
$144.95 AUS
(About 30% higher outside North America)
|
Well, I know of two theories:
1. The Whinging Australian(s) Theory
One or more Australians whinge about the Lego company in Australia, the product
availability in Australia or even the price in Australia. The Lego company does
not like this whinging at all, and resolves to punish all Australians by
charging Australians more for Lego.
2. The Whinging American Theory
Many Americans whinge about something Lego does, say, changing the colours
slightly. Many, many don’t know what to do, but know that they’ll be buying less
of the product in future. Lego gets worried, and decides to placate the American
masses by charging them less.
Of course, neither properly accounts for the non-Australian/US price difference,
so probably should be taken with a grain (or perhaps a large truckload) of salt.
;-)
Cheers
Richie Dulin
|
|
| |
In lugnet.lego, John Guerquin wrote:
> <snip>
> >
> > I was wondeing...how do LEGO work out their prices?
> >
> > By my calculation, 10152 is being sold at the following:
> > $74.99 US is roughly $105 AUS
> > £54.99 is roughly $140 Aus
> > EURO 79,99 is roughly $136 AUS
> > $144.95 AUS
> > (About 30% higher outside North America)
> >
> >
> > Now, seeing as the sets are being produced in Europe, WHY are those buying them
> > there having to pay so much more? After all, Wouldn't it seem logical that those
> > buying from the source should be getting it CHEAPER than those who have to get
> > it shipped from the source to an overseas (literally) S@H centre, and then
> > forwarded from there?
> >
> > I COULD be wrong, but it seems to me that the rest of the world is SUBSIDISING
> > the LEGO being sold in North America so that they can keep getting the cheaper
> > prices.[1]
> >
> > Is there any truth in this theory...I guess that's up to LEGO to either confirm,
> > or to try and explain the pricing discrepencies.
> >
> > [1] I probably shouldn't be surprised...after all, the only way we hear from
> > LEGO is via North American LEGO company sources, and in general LEGO (produced
> > in Europe) arrives on sale in North America before it does in Europe...Maybe
> > they don't even realise that those who don't live in North America buy LEGO?
> >
> > Benjamin Whytcross
>
> Benjamin, I believe that the answer is (at least) twofold:
> 1. LEGO's way of setting prices for different markets is very complex (I believe
> that Jake has stated this before), and the price only partially depends on what
> the given market will put up with. For example, in North America I think LEGO
> has much more competition from lower priced Canadian MegaBlocks than in Europe.
Well, I still don't see why they shouldn't equalize the playing field...If they
can afford to be selling the sets at $X in North America, then why don't they
try and INCREASE sales by selling sets at this price EVERYWHERE. After all,
Megabloks seem to do reasonably well down here in Australia. (In fact, you can
buy a decent sized mega-blok set for roughly HALF (or even LESS) the price of a
comparable LEGO set...and get a much better parts selection and more
playability. Therefore, I would argue that LEGO would need to begin dropping
their prices here as well.[1] (The only exception is the Teenage Turtle sets,
and power rangers, which like Harry potter and Starwars are overpriced to cover
licensing.)
In addition, BestLock have some quite good sets available down here at VERY good
prices...
I assume that in Europe there is a similar problem...
I'd also LOVE to know what OTHER considerations are involved in setting the
prices. (subsidies for North America perhaps...)
> 2. TAXES
>
> In europe the Value Added Tax (VAT) is built into the price of the items on the
> shelves and Shop@Home. A quick Google search revealed that the VAT is 15% to
> 25% in various EU countries. In North America, the taxes are added on top of
> the purchase price (this helps maintain the illusion that you're paying less).
> In the state of Connecticut (LEGO north america is located in Enfield), you'll
> pay 6% tax on top of the 75 USD. In other states, the sales tax is different. In
> Ontario, Canada, we get the GST and PST for a total of 15%, or the 15% HST in
> the Maritime provinces.
>
> While in Poland last spring, I found that prices in an official LEGO store were
> about 20% to 30% more expensive when converted into Canadian (or US) dollars. I
> think the VAT is about 22%.
>
> I comfirmed this by pricing the 10152 Maersk through different countries on
> Shop@Home, including inputting fake addresses in order to get to the final cost
> page for each country:
> - canadian order from Ontario - 15% tax added
> - US order from Connecticut - 6% tax added
> - US order from Washington state - 0% tax added
> - German order - 0% tax (VAT is built in)
> - Australia - 0% tax added
Yep...we have a 10% GST that adds 10% to the price before it is listed in
$AUS...therefore dividing the price by 11 gives you the tax paid.
SO, without GST:
$74.99 US is roughly $105 AUS
$144.95 AUS => $131 plus $13 GST
(STILL nearly 30% higher outside North America)
Similarly, 10030:
$299 US is roughly $420 AUS
$569.95 Aus => $518 plus $51.80 GST
(About 20% higher outside North America)
Similarly, 10123:
$99.99 US is roughly $140 AUS
$199 Aus => $180 + $18 GST
(STILL About 30% higher outside North America)
Similarly, 4750:
$7.99 US is roughly $11 AUS
$14 Aus => $12.70 + $1.27 GST
(About 20% higher outside North America)
SO obviously TAX is NOT the reason for the higher prices...
It still looks like North America is expecting the rest of the world to support
its prices. After all, why else do they allow such a large discrepency in
pricing to occur?
It seems to me that LEGO should either be selling to ALL markets at the same
base price (before taxes are added) or they should admit that they are milking
the rest of the world to support a market where they are unable to compete on
the merits of their product without subsidies from other markets. (The only
reason I don't recomment MegaBloks to other shoppers when I'm in the
"Construction brick" isle of a shop is that they still need a little work on the
quality control...otherwise they could quite easily become a better product.
<<SNIP>>
> I've gone through some of this research last year, when I discovered that the
> prices in Poland and Germany were quite high compared to north american prices.
> Hope this helps...
>
> play well
>
> John
Quite interesting, but still misses the important bit...WHY can't LEGO get all
prices to an equal level? All I would like is an explanation from someone as to
why LEGO don't seem to want to equalise the pricing...
Benjamin Whytcross
[1] When the soccer sets came out in 2000 they were pictured in the Australian
catalogue but didn't show on shelves. Then, after many aussies contacted LEGO
Australia they changed their minds and decided to import them into Australia.
However, instead of giving them a high mark-up, they sold them at a very
reasonable price, and in almost all stores they seemed to have sold out of these
sets in about a month. This has shown that if LEGO will sell at a lower margin,
they will obviously sell more product, and will probably end up further in front
as they will be selling a lot more product.
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In lugnet.loc.au, Richie Dulin wrote:
| |
In lugnet.lego, Benjamin Whytcross wrote:
| |
I was wondeing...how do LEGO work out their prices?
By my calculation, 10152 is being sold at the following:
$74.99 US is roughly $105 AUS
£54.99 is roughly $140 Aus
EURO 79,99 is roughly $136 AUS
$144.95 AUS
(About 30% higher outside North America)
|
Well, I know of two theories:
1. The Whinging Australian(s) Theory
One or more Australians whinge about the Lego company in Australia, the
product availability in Australia or even the price in Australia. The Lego
company does not like this whinging at all, and resolves to punish all
Australians by charging Australians more for Lego.
2. The Whinging American Theory
Many Americans whinge about something Lego does, say, changing the colours
slightly. Many, many don’t know what to do, but know that they’ll be buying
less of the product in future. Lego gets worried, and decides to placate the
American masses by charging them less.
Of course, neither properly accounts for the non-Australian/US price
difference, so probably should be taken with a grain (or perhaps a large
truckload) of salt.
;-)
Cheers
Richie Dulin
|
You fogot the really important one...
3. The WMD theory
If you don’t give us what we want we’ll accuse you of having WMD’s and invade.
After all, how else do you explain the colour of your mini-figs.
Of course, this may not be correct either :)
Benjamin Whytcross
|
|
| |
In lugnet.lego, Benjamin Whytcross wrote:
> It still looks like North America is expecting the rest of the world to support
> its prices. After all, why else do they allow such a large discrepency in
> pricing to occur?
Oh, boy, don't I wish I had something to say about Lego's pricing!
Mark (North American)
P.S. I feel your pain, really, I do! :-)
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Rob Hendrix wrote:
> And all this doesn't take into account other taxes Americans pay yearly.
> * personal property tax
> * vehicle tax
> * sin tax (cigs, alcohol, and other "non-necessary things)
> * gasoline tax (30-40 cents per gallon?)
> * Medicaire (not a tax)
> * Social Security (not a tax)
> * Federal Income Tax (don't get me started!!!)
> * State Income Tax
> Health care options and prices in America suck in my opinion.
> Social Security benifits may not be around when I reach age 65 (or older).
> Federal income tax was a "temporary" supplimental way to fund WW2.
> Apparently the US goverment forgot that that war has been over for 60 years.
> Do other countries have such a large number of required things they must
> pay?
Well, your list matches mine here in Germany, with two notable exceptions:
We pay about EUR1.20 (US$1.44) per liter gasoline, of which EUR0.90 to
0.95 are taxes. With 4.55 liter being a gallon, and the Euro at about
US$1.20 we pay roughly US$5 taxes per gallon (no, this is no mistake!).
On top of our Income Tax we have a fat add-on to subsidize the eastern
half of Germany. This was originally planned for a few years after the
reunion to bring the former GDR up to par, and has now been extended to
2020 and beyond, IIRC. So much for "Joys of Reunion"...
We've got some very historic-exotic taxes, too, e.g. on salt or on
lightbulbs(!) ;-)
BTW, about 60% of all secondary literature on taxes and evading them
world wide is written in German - go figure :-(
On the other hand, our Sales Tax is "only" 16%. Nonetheless, Lego prices
are roughly 1.6-1.8 times the American ones, although we are Denmarks
next-door neighbours, and there are no transatlantic transport costs to
cover.
Yours, Christian (who just wanted to set some points right)
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By my calculation, 10152 is being sold at the following:
$74.99 US is roughly $105 AUS
£54.99 is roughly $140 Aus
EURO 79,99 is roughly $136 AUS
$144.95 AUS
(About 30% higher outside North America)
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I think Lego Australia should review there pricing policy, as competition here
in Australia is growing with respect to brick sales. Lately, over the past 6
months I have noticed in Kmart and Big W stores the gradual reduction in the
amount of Lego Shelf space and the opposite growth in the MEGABLOCK shelf space.
Some stores even now have the two products side by side, so shoppers can easily
compare the two. Many a time I have heard parents say, “Why don’t you get this
one” as the parent is holding a rather large MEGABLOCK box, and the child is
looking at the rather small Lego box with for the same price. At my local shops
the only time there is a rush on LEGO is when the sales are on, else things tend
to sit on the shelves. I have not gone to the dark side yet, but I find the lure
more and more tempting, I just wonder if resistance is futile.
Just an observation
Gary
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> I have not gone to the dark side yet, but I find the lure
> more and more tempting, I just wonder if resistance is futile.
Having flirted with the Dark Side on occasion, I would have to say that MB
is never as good as Lego, but I have found its Pro-Builder sets to be
acceptable and its Castle sets awful in terms of brick interconnecting. I
also used to find their grey and tan colours useful for some "bio-diversity"
so that historical buildings aren't just one flat colour, but now it seems
Lego is providing me with that same "bio-diversity".
I have flirted with Shifty Brick, and the quality there is definitely
shifty, and most sets are a bit of a random mix of OK parts and parts so bad
you have to throw them away. However, if you are after parts that just
aren't in the current Lego retail range, then you may find them in Shifty
sets, just understand that the colour of the parts on the box art may not be
the same as the colours of the bricks inside. However, I have found some
useful OK-quality parts like castle parts and flowers and trees (which
generally are more or less the colour you might expect) in Shifty sets. It
is best to treat Shifty sets as a lucky dip, spend a few dollars, and either
get some useful parts or get a story to moan about on LUGnet for years to
come :-)
Kerry
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FUT: lugnet.off-topic.debate
"Christian Treczoks" <ct@braehler.com> wrote in message
news:HyExHu.GGK@lugnet.com...
>
> We pay about EUR1.20 (US$1.44) per liter gasoline, of which EUR0.90 to
> 0.95 are taxes. With 4.55 liter being a gallon, and the Euro at about
> US$1.20 we pay roughly US$5 taxes per gallon (no, this is no mistake!).
Actually there is a mistake. 1 gallon = 3.8 liters, not 4.55 liters.
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An Imperial Gallon is 4.55L.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=1+imperial+gallon+in+liters&btnG=Google+Search
Though Christian probably should have converted to US gal in this particular
case.
Neb Okla wrote:
> FUT: lugnet.off-topic.debate
>
> "Christian Treczoks" <ct@braehler.com> wrote in message
> news:HyExHu.GGK@lugnet.com...
> >
> > We pay about EUR1.20 (US$1.44) per liter gasoline, of which EUR0.90 to
> > 0.95 are taxes. With 4.55 liter being a gallon, and the Euro at about
> > US$1.20 we pay roughly US$5 taxes per gallon (no, this is no mistake!).
>
> Actually there is a mistake. 1 gallon = 3.8 liters, not 4.55 liters.
--
Tom Stangl
*http://www.vfaq.com/
*DSM Visual FAQ home
*http://www.vfaq.net/
*Prius Visual FAQ Home
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n_okla@hotmail.com (Neb Okla) wrote in <HyFsM8.vAx@lugnet.com>:
> FUT: lugnet.off-topic.debate
>
> "Christian Treczoks" <ct@braehler.com> wrote in message
> news:HyExHu.GGK@lugnet.com...
> >
> > We pay about EUR1.20 (US$1.44) per liter gasoline, of which EUR0.90 to
> > 0.95 are taxes. With 4.55 liter being a gallon, and the Euro at about
> > US$1.20 we pay roughly US$5 taxes per gallon (no, this is no mistake!).
>
> Actually there is a mistake. 1 gallon = 3.8 liters, not 4.55 liters.
Actually, both are correct. 1 US gallon is 3.785 litres, 1 UK gallon is
4.545 litres. One more reason to go metric.
--
Harro de Jong
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Harro de Jong wrote:
> n_okla@hotmail.com (Neb Okla) wrote in <HyFsM8.vAx@lugnet.com>:
>
> > FUT: lugnet.off-topic.debate
> >
> > "Christian Treczoks" <ct@braehler.com> wrote in message
> > news:HyExHu.GGK@lugnet.com...
> > >
> > > We pay about EUR1.20 (US$1.44) per liter gasoline, of which EUR0.90 to
> > > 0.95 are taxes. With 4.55 liter being a gallon, and the Euro at about
> > > US$1.20 we pay roughly US$5 taxes per gallon (no, this is no mistake!).
> >
> > Actually there is a mistake. 1 gallon = 3.8 liters, not 4.55 liters.
>
> Actually, both are correct. 1 US gallon is 3.785 litres, 1 UK gallon is
> 4.545 litres. One more reason to go metric.
Now I know why 10 gallon hats are so small. ;)
Scott A (Who thought {everything} was bigger in the USA)
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