You Had Me at Amazon UK

Happy 4th of July to everyone Stateside, and happy Thursday to everyone else! I wanted to update my blog with an admittedly overdue post. Today, I wanted to point everyone's attention to a very interesting recent trend I have been following: the deals on Technic that have recently been posted on Amazon UK. I have actually taken advantage of two of the recent sales and I couldn't be happier. Yet, the more I've picked through Lego listings on Amazon UK, the more Technic deals appear to have popped up. In the past month, here are the sets, MSRP, and sales pricing we've seen on Technic sets alone:
These prices include shipping costs to the US

Set #/Name - MSRP US - Amazon UK pricing GBP/USD - % discount
9396 Rescue Helicopter - $120.00 - £46.61 / $69.92 - 42%
9398 4x4 Crawler - $200.00 - £88.28 / $132.42 - 34%
42006 Excavator - $79.99 - £36.62 / $54.93 - 31%
42007 Moto Cross Bike - $39.99 - £18.86 / $28.29 - 29%
9395 Tow Truck - $69.99 - £36.61 / $54.92 - 22%
9392 Quad Bike - $39.99 - £21.62 / $32.43 - 19%

Let's all marvel at the discounts on the top three items on this list: 42%, 34%, 31% and 29% are great discounts for North American buyers, yet across-the-board THEME discounts like this are nearly impossible to find. Frankly, the smaller sets would have great discounts as well if the £4.95 shipping cost didn't eat up so much of the discount.

This blog post is not intended to be an advertisement for AmazonUK. The real question is why do these awesome discounts exist? While I don't have a concrete answer, there are a few factors working in favor of the North American buyer:

1. VAT, or "Value Added Tax", the EU's version of sales tax, isn't charged to North American buyers. Yet, when you're surfing the AUK website, all of the list prices include VAT. According to BP member and Amazon UK afficionado ph4tb0i, VAT is 20% of the retail price.
2. Shipping is £4.95 to North America, regardless of the size of weight of the Lego set. That roughly $7.50, a pretty good price for large sets. If you order additional sets, the shipping price drops to £2 ($3) for each additional unit, a very reasonable price.
3. In the UK, MSRP prices for Technic sets are on par with, or in some instances better than, US prices. 42007 Moto Cross Bike is in fact cheaper for UK buyers: retail price is $37.49 (£24.99) in UK versus $39.99 in US. This goes against a LOT of what buyers have been conditioned to believe about Lego pricing, and in the end it helps North American buyer discounts on these sets.

So why the discounts? Honestly, I have no idea. Looking at the most recent new eBay sales on Brickpicker, it's amazing to me how many sales have been in the EU: of the 30 listings, 27 were from Europe! I assume it's because this set is significantly discounted on the Amazon Euro sites, but what's driving the price drop on Amazon Euro listings? Well, there's one primary reason for sustained, across the board discounts like these: either these sets aren't selling quickly, or Amazon ordered too many sets. I couldn't even fathom a guess why demand for these sets appears depressed, but they are.

Whatever the reason, North American buyers should add all Technic sets to their Amazon UK Wish Lists and CamelCamelCamel accounts to track their values.

A word of caution must be raised about past experiences with shipping damage to Amazon UK merchandise, it appears that Amazon UK has heard the complaints and have taken steps to fix the shipping problems. From my experience, echoed in the forums recently by other BP members, the boxes being used by Amazon UK now use thicker cardboard, providing much better protection. That said, damage can still occur, and if it does it's a pain to ship these sets back. Also, Amazon UK will not reimburse you for these shipping costs until they receive the package back so they can hold your shipping costs for a couple of weeks.

North American buyers, keep an eye peeled in the forum and on the Amazon UK website for future Technic deals. With some exciting sets on the horizon (I'm looking at you, 42009 Mobile Crane MKII), this just might be the place to grab a few at a discount!