i believed this all round up to economic of scale

if large market, then can sell cheap (US)
if small market (Mlysia) where many ppl not buy Lego n not into it,
then hv to sell higher price just to make profit

i might be wrong tho

This business model is not sustainable for Lego, the world is getting smaller. You can see it now that the Legoland is here and is just next to Singapore which has a significantly lower price.
They alienating many potential fans and push them to other brands. If they sell here at the US price points. I probably have every SW sets they released, I will still spend just as much but I will be more satisfied.

2 Gladiator + 1 Evil Dwarf = RM60 ?

This post has been edited by matchboxclub: Aug 8 2012, 05:19 PM

Yup

They better pray our income increase faster, or else to sustain profit price will increase and market will decrease and when market decreases price increases .......

Meaning, here in Malaysia, our price is "jack-up" by ALJ

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Added on August 8, 2012, 5:30 pmas lowyatben has extracted from the article

Finally, final pricing in the market place is obviously determined by retailers, which is something we cannot and will not influence.

This post has been edited by dilvin: Aug 8 2012, 05:30 PM

If retailers in Malaysia is jacking up prices of Lego toys by a large profit margin, how come during sales time in department stores only gives out 10% discount at most?

ALJ is the distributor <----- the real culprit

Retailers profit margin is 30% only, those you see LEGO sales back then is because ALJ warehouse got a lot of stocks.

You're right, ALJ is the distributor not retailer and they set the recommended retail price.
Looks like a revolution is brewing over the price of Bricks.

So, dun marah Aeon or parkson for giving only 10% discount, (TRU --> almost no discount )





This post has been edited by dilvin: Aug 8 2012, 05:43 PM

TRU hardly gives you discount. Now LEGO all no discount like that. See all like normal price. Need purposely buy the discounted set during this time when they give vouchers.

Already happened with Sideshow, Hot Toys, Hasbro... Marvel and DC Comics... our food and drinks... Everything keeps on increasing... Even when Ringgit was stronger, things still remain at higher price points with distributors and retailers citing "increasing freight charges" and all that. What goes up (and up) never comes down hor? Can only go higher. Sigh!

And I believe Lego prices in S'pore have gone up in the last few months... Gonna match M'sian prices soon?!

Funny thing is, I moved from Hasbro to Lego... And I'm spending... MORE. Scary leh...!



Want to know another funny thing? Apparently "SALES", i.e. how much discount to offer, is also determined by the real culprit!!!

Can we all boycott and stop buying Lego products for a day? A whole week? A month? Six months?

The real culprit knows our weaknesses.

That's why there's no mercy. Price increase! Less discount! People will still buy...

And continue to complain...

And buy some more...

To not eat into their profit margins yet give the impression to consumers that it's a good deal. I'm not surprised if their margins are above 50%. Even giving out a 10% doesn't really cost them much, yet because we've been trained to not expect any significant discounts, 10% still may seem like a good deal - even more so to regular buyers who aren't well versed with Lego prices.

The prices in Malaysia are actually okay compared to European countries (high VAT) and Australia (GST is killer) which both have pretty high labour costs due to very high minimum wage laws. Compare this to Malaysia where your average Jusco or Toys R Us drone is paid a measly, I don't know 7-8 bucks an hour? Labour costs in Malaysia are pretty much negligible.

The only huge problem is that we don't enjoy deep discounting that European and Australian countries enjoy because ALJ has pretty much monopolized the market - they have no competition so they have absolute power to dictate the prices of each set.

Also add to the fact that our currency is pretty weak diminishes our buying power, so we can't buy as much Lego in comparison to the salaries we earn than Aussies/Europeans - but that can be said about everything: clothes/gadgets/cars etc

tl;dr - ALJ has a monopoly on Lego and can do whatever the heck they want in regards to pricing.

CAN

Is very easy and practical actually

We just dun buy in this country

http://aljgroup.net/brands.htm

send them a message by only buying online Even purchasing sets on bricklink, after factoring in shipping will most of the time be better than buying at retail.

Like for me, I source sets from my friend overseas - he ships 'em over from the US, especially when Amazon discounts their sets or Toys 'R' Us has a Buy One Get One Free offer. Have not bought any Lego here except for minifigs and when people give me shopping vouchers.

On a somewhat related note, someone once said that even if we were to takeover Hasbro and sell Star Wars ourselves, we (in M'sia) still won't have the sales to compete with Singapore and other countries. Hasbro 3 3/4" in M'sia retails for RM42.90. In S'pore it's RM50 after conversion (but dollar to dollar and when you're earning Singapore dollar, it's definitely cheaper). In Thailand, it's RM75 after conversion.

Back to Lego, S'pore sales offer 20% discount. One shop even has 15% off all year round.

M'sia?

TRU gives vouchers. But for a set that cost more than RM250, like Jabba's Palace is RM800+, still only RM40 voucher.

Other retail stores 10% discount. But if you compare Jabba's Palace, in S'pore, it's only RM600+. Here it's over RM800. Does 10% (that is, if it's given at all) matter?

if no buy in Mlysia, then where?
dont talk about online, cos thats another alternative...
n some of us not have the convinced ie no credit card, broadband, etc..

go to SG?
with rate of S$ 1 = RM 2.51+_
makes me

go to Thailand?
more more expensive i heard..

Heh, TRU vouchers only give you a 5% 'discount'. It's not really a discount because you only get to claim the amount 'saved' on your next purchase. Jusco/Parkson and Brickboy would be your best bet, since the savings are immediate.

online is the cheapest form. Alucrix has BL many things before. I see ebay prices..fuiyo

I also slow down buying from local dept store di..unless got super discounts or need a fix that day or cant resist the plea from my boy while in TRU