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In lugnet.dear-lego, Kevin Wilson wrote:
> Gordon Thomas wrote in message ...
> > So now my question is how did this individual get the be a lego retailer and if
> > they are able to become one why can’t I or anyone else?
>
> My experience (in Canada) is that LEGO doesn't necessarily come and check
> you out to see that you have a storefront. They rely on people's honor. Odd
> concept, eh.
Very odd as we all know some people have more scruples than others.
> The TLC purchase agreement terms specificaly prohibit breaking up sets and
> selling them as pieces (as well as selling online only), and also selling
> them outside you own country.
So someone can purchase sets from the following sources:
1.Retail outlets
2.Lego.com as an individual paying full retail price
3.Lego.com as one of their authorized retailers with a discount of around 30%
depending upon the product
4.Distributors who buy from lego, mark it up and sell it inside their own
country.
5.Auction sites and sites such as BrickLink
Case 1: www.theblockshop.com
They say they are “authorized” which implies that they buy from TLC as a
retailer, so they violate the terms by being an online venture only. If they
are misusing the term “authorized” and buy product from a distributor, how can
they price product at 15-20% off full retail and make money? The numbers would
not seem to add up to be profitable. This seems to suggest that they buy from
lego directly.
Case 2: Certain BrickLink shops
Selling 500 4496 tubs at 17.99 suggests that they are buying direct from lego
as a retailer otherwise the price breaks would not be there. This would
directly violate the purchase terms for parting out sets and selling
internationally, not to mention being online only.
I am surprised that BrickLink sellers are not overly concerned by these certain
shops as they would certainly take business from their stores. Maybe they are
not aware or don’t even care.
In both cases I think TLC needs to do some investigating into its “authorized
Lego retailers” as this would seem to directly threaten sales on lego.com,
especially with the new sets such as the 4496 and the new Knights sets. If TLC
is to be profitable and remain in business, people who take advantage of the
system need to be dealt with.
Gordon
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Message has 2 Replies:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Authorized Lego retailers
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| Gordon Thomas wrote in message ... (...) and if (...) My experience (in Canada) is that LEGO doesn't necessarily come and check you out to see that you have a storefront. They rely on people's honor. Odd concept, eh. (...) The wholesale price is (...) (20 years ago, 10-Aug-04, to lugnet.dear-lego)
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