The Ethics Behind LEGO Gift with Purchases
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Today I discuss The Ethics Behind LEGO Gift with Purchases - LEGO GWPs have been around for as long as I can remember but recently they have transitioned from gifts to sales drivers. In this video, I talk about this change and how the LEGO Group has responded to this transition. What are your thoughts?
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I'm still irked that the Vintage Taxi came out a month after the Bontique Hotel was released.
That was the poster example of Lego swinery!
Can’t believe they did that this year too with the moving truck. Smh.
Absolutely, and they did it again!
Expect that nonsense to be LEGO's "new normal". If they can get fans to fork out that much money TWICE, rather than ONCE, they're not going to stop doing it. Their motive as a company is to make as much profit as possible, so they aren't going to go out of their way to treat fans well, just because we think they should.
@alexH629 hey Alex!
all you need is patience + FOMO resistance, I'm gonna buy Lion Knights castle this summer and eldorado fortress right after that, simply waiting for good GWP promos or 2x vip points 👍no hurry
On the 11th they had double promos ($230 threshold) for blacktron & bionicle. Unfortunely since you typed this I assume you did not see it in time. The promos also lasted under a day, but yeah defo wait for a good opportunity to buy.
I have no problem with gwp but i wish that i could buy it by itself rather than buying it on the aftermarket
I agree! Especially for sets like the Bionicle GWP. That would be so nice to have the option to get it on its own.
What sucks is that I've never been in a position to really get any of the couple GWPs that really strike my fancy, like the Blacktron Cruiser or Forestman's Hideout. If I want it now, I have to go second-hand, and pay the 'purchase price' at the minimum.
I only learned that they existed this very year, and I find out that they're not something that can be directly bought. Strikes me as pretty mean and cruel to anyone who comes in late.
I'm in the same boat. As long as enough are created and out there (which should be true for both these rather popular sets) the price should be reasonable, somewhere between 20 and 40 dollars. If the set is further away though, like what we are looking at now, this can get quite expensive, you might be better off just piecing the set together, as they do not consist of many unique molds.
EDIT: I just checked both sets, you can still get the Blacktron Cruiser for somewhere between 20 and 30 Dollars (at least in my currency, which is about the same value) and the Forest Hideout set is more expensive outside of asian sellers, with 40 being a more commong price up into the 50's range. After checking the parts, I don't see anything on there except the minifigures and maybe the shield that I do not own already, the set barely uses unique parts, so is easy to part together if you have the patience.
Early bird gets the worm buttercup ☺️
GWP's to me I feel are for those big money spenders as a sort of thank you and to those who once in while will drop some big cash, for example during the May 4th celebration. I do find it crummy that they purposely release some giftds not with the set they intended it to be attached to and I feel they lose out on potential sales for a new set even more. I notice its not with all GWP's, it is a bit random. This year has actually been a tamed one in terms of theming and GWP's. Even then sometimes a GWP will be released along side another big set someone wants to it sort of works out for some
My opinion is that GWP fuels the after-market. A true "gift" would be offered to stimulate/celebrate certain seasons or releases. And it would be a nice gesture towards collectors to offer popular GWPs as a buyable product after some time.
Getting these from after market stores is not hard at all, though after a few years this can get increasingly more expensive.
Lego can do what they want. I just never buy on release day and wait for GWP's that I like and then buy the stuff I also want.
If Lego business practices start to annoy me then I'll do what I did back in 2003 when their business practices annoyed me - stop buying for 20 years.
That's what I do. I don't buy sets on release day - instead wait for until appropriate GWP comes out. For example, I held off buying Eldorado Fortress for about a few months until they offered GWP with a price threshold of 200. I have a couple of other sets I want to buy but holding off for the same reason. Also, don't buy LEGO for investments - they make terrible ones. Only buy sets you really like.
Cry harder 😭😭😭
Morally wrong? I'm trying to think of a single ethical framework that fits in with Capitalism in any way where a good argument could be made that LEGO has violated the framework in some way.
People forgetting that lego is corperation that will do anything to increase profits
That is true!
These are not used as gifts with purchases at all. As someone that would have loved the Forestmen's hideout to go with my Lion Knight's Castle, I am slightly annoyed they even offer these things at all, with no way to choose which one you get. The gift I got was mostly meaningless with 90% unusable parts in it as well. Now I don't mind completely ignoring the GWP at all and just buying what I want, when I want it, but it just feels like they use this way to entice consumers in the completely wrong way.
Having sets to go with certain themes that will interest consumers would be such an awesome way to get a little more value out of purchasing from LEGO itself. This non-consumer friendly way to try and generate more sales is actually pushing people into buying from other outlets that actually discount the products and just get the GWP's they actually want from the aftermarket instead.
Most of my friends that are into lego only buy stuff at a discount. They refuse to give into the incredibly harsh pricing that these products have and I don't blame them. Lego is too expensive, even at a discount, so taking any way to get things for a little cheaper is so much worth jumping through a few hoops for.
Some GWP are fine... like parts packs... which are a really nice GWP. Small things people can miss out on and like you said small little seasonal things... but the classic remakes is just sad to see... For those of us who want classic castle I would have wanted to buy several of the forest hide outs to build a little forest mock and tower/ keep for the forestmen, but they timed it to come out before the castle so I had to buy them on ebay... Which was not cool... and looks like they cater to the reseller who can buy 3rd rate sets for the GWP and make money selling them all. If they had made more sets available then it might not feel so bad, but the castle was released as a stand alone unit... maybe these super nice GWP should have option to buy OR get free with purchase... Now there are sets I want but I am holding off buying waiting for a good GWP because once I buy the set I want there wont be a big thing worth spending 150-200$ on to get the GWP... so as a customer I do not like this sales tactic... just release these smaller sets and put things on sale. I then wouldnt mind paying full price to get the sets I want at the time I want.
I refuse to collect gwps unless it’s for vintage LEGO like the forestmen or blacktron gwps #AFOOLsUnite
I feel in discussion of topics like this legality should be more or less ignored. Lego is legally allowed to do this but that doesn't matter because the discussion is not if they are doing something against the law but rather if they are doing something morally wrong and anti consumer which they definitely are in many ways.
In a conversation of ethics, legality is irrelevant
Its interesting how GWPs have existed for a while, and no one has seemed to complain about them unless to comment how boring they were. Now everyone is complaining because they made stand alone sets that people actually wanted. Not that I defend GWPs but I find it funny that people will complain when it's something that effects them. Speaking of which did you know that VIP members get to be in a raffle every month to win some exclusive merch? Like for instance you can win an autographed licensed set from a celebrity. Talk about FOMO.
I don't remember hearing about how boring GWPs were back in the day but to be fair I wasn't too tapped into the gift with purchase discussion until somewhat recently. You're right though, it's interesting to see how GWPs are now treated differently both by the company and fans.
@@OurToyWorld That sentiment was mostly only on lego forums (not reddit) & a few yt channels. It wasn't really mentioned too much tbh
@@OsirusIrdia Interesting, thanks for the info.
Id buy it for the amelia plane
I'd rather these larger "gwp" sets be made available for separate purchase...but, they won't ever be, because LEGO makes more money by locking them behind a $200+ paywall.
For folks not understanding what I mean: If the set is available for purchase for $50 and 100 people buy it, LEGO makes $5000. If you have to buy a $200 set to get it "free" and 100 people spend that much to get the "free" gift, LEGO makes $20,000. Don't expect them to ever stop doing this. It's like "printing money" for them.
As they should be, sorry sweetheart you pay for what you get. That’s like saying because you can’t afford an exotic car such as a lambo they should drop the price so that way everyone can have one. Nah level up and don’t be a little bitch. If you’re too broke to be able to afford a $200+ lego set you shouldn’t be spending your free time playing with legos..
Gwp’s are the nike shoes of lego
Lol, are you referencing the limited edition nature of certain shoes like Jordans?
@@OurToyWorld yea but also lego literally made a shoe gwp for adidas 🤣🤣🤣
Great video as always bro! Hyped for the next one!🔥
Appreciate it BrickMan 🤝
3 words - Garbage With Purchase. 😆 Both GWP’s & the VIP program are a marketing hustle. People think they are getting something for free with VIP points which is absolutely false. It’s the first marketing trick they teach you in college marketing courses. LEGO has already factored the costs into the pricing strategy. Yes consumers feel like they are getting something for free but it’s a ruse. Marketing 101. GWP’s are the same. Richie you know I have 30 years experience pulling those tricks for Fortune 500 brands 😆. Great video subject. 👍
It's wild to think people actually defend GWP because you get something for "free" when in reality it's just a carrot on a stick with a steep price to obtain it.
The most iritating was BIONICLE GWP. Bio fans are interested mostly in action figures and Technic sets, but to get Tahu you had to buy specific sets from lines like City, Monke Kid, Ninjago, Creator etc which have nothing to do with mentioned things when LEGO had in their offer buildable figures from Marvel. I've bought Jay's mech for my brother and had to get small 3 City sets to be able to reach minimum needed to get Tahu
Tbh Ninjago does have a lot in common with bionicle but yeah, I agree it was dumb not to include technic.
My guess if that Lego didn’t think that people who bought only licensed themes would want a GWP of an original theme. So they made that restriction so that ‘true’ Lego fans would get it instead. Unfortunately, most technic these days has licensed cars and other franchises in them.
To be fair we have only ourselves to blame.
We as adult collectors hold our purchases for GWPs. We hold our purchases for double points. And many collectors operate very much on FOMO. Lego is simply doing exactly what we should have expected. They are leveraging the GWP to get people to spend more than they intended. I can't pretend that it hasn't got me to buy things I didn't plan to. Except I have stopped doing that to a degree. I have come to realize I don't have to buy things on launch day. I don't run a UA-cam channel. I don't have any reason to buy everything Lego sells. So, I sit back and I wait and I watch. When a really good promo comes out then I buy the larger sets that I want. Otherwise, I mostly buy PAB cups and the occasional small sets.
Heck, I am more invested in the PAB wall right now anyway. The sets will be on shelves for at least a year or two. The PAB wall changes every couple of weeks.
Blame the consumers for being smart and patient with their money... ok. You are correct that Lego is pushing back about this type of purchasing (which is a perfectly reasonable way to buy legos), but the Lego company is still being an AH and punishing fans for being patient. As long as a set I want isn't immenently retiring, you darn well know I will wait months for the right opportunity to buy it! That is how I've operated with buying Lego since I was in high school.
@@OsirusIrdia Not for being smart and patient. For thinking they have to have everything.
@@koloth5139 We are looking at this from different angles then. Cost wise, it is better to wait for a good gwp/double points because you can sell it and effectively get a higher discount.
@@OsirusIrdia Yes we would be looking at it differently. I do not resale Lego. As such I am not looking at the monetary gain.
However, what I am seeing in these complaints is mostly people accusing Lego of being underhanded. But no one is being forced to buy anything. We can all just... wait, for whatever reason we want.
@@koloth5139I completely agree. The whole GWP thing is annoying since I’m pretty sure all of us would like the opportunity to just buy some of these directly, but I think it’s unfair to call it “immoral”
I feel that when the price is right and the thing your getting is also fair it makes sense. Like the current set a 12 in 1 for $80 makes kinda sense it’s different so it would be a bit more, those $50 bags of random pieces are also fair, however those houses of the world that are like $250 each are completely overpriced. Like they are worth maybe $15 but to spend $250 for it is insane; I believe if the item is maybe like coasters, a blanket, a bag, something strange and if it’s kinda high makes sense since it’s different but small sets and such should seem reasonable and make and to why your making so much not so much that it doesn’t fit right. Almost what May the 4th does where about each thing was around what it should be worth and what you were getting. Basically I feel if the thing your getting is kinda different it deserves to be kinda higher in terms what it is but if it’s just basically a lego set maybe off of what it is and what it’s known for it should be no more than $175. I also understand that lego sets these prices for high end collectors but by doing this I feel they are leaving those who just want the things abandoned so lego needs to think about how both sides can feel good about what they are getting without them feeling ripped off, and with that we could be buying more lego and me who buys lego like once a month ish would do it more.
Oh and this is just extra but does anyone else miss those lego calendars that told you when things were releasing and promos coming out?
I was holding off on buying the galaxy explorer until it got a discount. Then the blacktron set was announced and I decided to buy it then, unfortunately the galaxy explorer itself wasn't enough and I had to buy more things to qualify.
I will say, while I dislike this shift for more expensive GWPs limits, they seem to not do well in countries that don’t have many people who can buy Lego as a normal product. In my country, my local Lego stores still have GWPs like the black tron ship and the forest hide out since nobody buys the required sets to get them in the first place. Same with the Bionicle GWP, you can just buy anything you want now and you’ll get the GWP. I guess hardcore collectors and fans are rarer here to do such restrictions.
Catching up on videos. Banger one, bro. You hit the nail on the head.
Simple get your GWPs then return for gift card and get the set you really wanted
I'm pretty sure they "charge you" for the GWP then (meaning if you get a 100 dollar set with a GWP worth 10 bucks, they'd only give you 90 back when you return it). Could be wrong, but there's No free lunch!
@@OurToyWorld return without receipt you get a gift card for full value
it sucked they did this with the bionicle set, really cucked over bionicle fans considering theyd have to spend £100 on lego they dont particularly want to get a set that is just an homage to bionicle
Thanks for watching. I was going to talk about the Bionicle GWP a little bit but I already covered it in my “LEGO’s Last Laugh: The Bionicle GWP” video. Bringing back Bionicle as a system GWP was a mockery
Just strategize around them, I’m still gonna buy enough lego to meet the threshold but i can wait for a nice promo
That's a fair point. May as well adapt to the current situation if things won't change.
Ok
Yes
@@OurToyWorld i just trying to get on r/youngpeopleyoutube as a joke :/
great job !
Thank you Moments ❤️
Totally agree!
Thanks for the support Chilis.
So true
Thanks for watching Dusty.
This has nothing to do with ethics, this is just a rant
As if such things are mutually exclusive?