Do sets go on sale at LEGO Shop at Home before being sold out?

[DD]

Hello,

I have noticed that when researching a product by entering the set number on LEGO Shop at Home (Canada), if the product is sold out/retired, it often shows a discounted price.  That would suggest that when it was last available it got a reduced price before finally being sold out / retired. 

So my question is do many sets get a price reduction at LEGO Shop at Home when it's about to be sold out?  Since finding Lego with a nice discount at retail stores is not as frequent as I would like in my neck of the woods, I was wondering whether, for sets I'm interested in, I should just keep my eye open for it to go on sale on LEGO Shop at Home before it sells out.  Now, I understand that there are no golden rules on this and that not one scenario applies to all sets, but is it frequent enough to see sets eventually get a discounted price towards its end of life on LEGO Shop at Home?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

DD

[Zelgazra]

For the majority of the year, I think it purely depends on Lego's stock levels in relation to its selling frequency. A popular set with tons of stock might never get reduced before going EoL. An unpopular set with very little stock might never get reduced before going EoL. Generally the sets that do show up under the "Sales and Deals" tab on LEGO Shop at Home are the relatively unpopular sets with lots of stock. 40110 Coin Bank is a good current example. Been reduced greatly for weeks now, and still available. 

All that said, Lego will do short Sales like Black Friday weekend, or the end of year clearance markdowns that apparently (only seen one season myself) usually arrive Boxing Day or shortly thereafter. 

And then there's Double VIP. This traditionally happens twice per year, in the Spring and Fall. Our first event for 2016 is just around the corner, scheduled to kick off March 7th (and I'm going to hazard a guess it'll go live at 12am EST). This is a great opportunity to pick up some several sets over a 2 week period and earn bonus credits for future sets. Occasionally you'll get very lucky, and the Double VIP bonus will coincide with a great free Promo item, like the Holiday Train and Gingerbread House last Fall. Coordinating your purchases with these events are usually one of the better ways to get "discounts" on sets you can't find at anything but RRP. 

[Val-E]

Last year they used the BF/CM sales in North America to clear out a number of retiring soon sets. In Europe, we got a summer flash sale that got rid of Hobbit and a few other poor sellers that seemed to have early retirement e.g 75050 B Wing and Lego Movie. We also got the New Year sale which started at 30% off and is now at 50% for the few remaining items that haven´t been sold.

Generally, Exclusives are not included in these sales, however they sometimes appear sold out and marked down. If some returns were received and the item came back into stock you might get F5 lucky and snag one reduced - happened with Santa´s Workshop this year.

[Phil B]

And at least on one occasion I have seen LEGO discount items when placed into the shopping cart (so discount not shown before), so be weary of that phenomenon as well. Example was 70147 Sir Fangar's Ice Fortress - was on sale (heck, it's Chima) for 30% off, then went temporarily to 75% off  - sold out within minutes.

So be aware of the fact that WHEN something goes on sale AND either the sale reduction is large OR the item is very much in demand, you need to be there quickly otherwise it's gone.

[DD]

Thank you for the comments.  Ironically enough, days after I asked the question several sets went on sale at LEGO Shop at Home.  Let's hope this means those sets are on their way out.  If so, some of them will not have been around that long (Big Bang, Changing seasons).