Barnes & Noble are one of the few big U.S. online stores that ship LEGO® to Australia. With the recent info about the Australian RRP for the upcoming LEGO® Pirates of the Caribbean theme, and the high Aussie dollar, it is certainly tempting to get some of these sets at U.S. prices. B&N are currently offering 10% off this theme if you pre-order for shipping on 1st May.
I have totally nerded out and done quite a bit of calculations to figure out the potential savings for y’all!
Shipping is often the big hidden cost with buying overseas, but B&N’s shipping to Australia is very reasonable. After a bit of experimenting, I discovered it is a flat rate per item, no matter the size. So, to ship to Sydney 2000, it is US$12.98 whether you buy the smallest (4191 The Captain’s Cabin) or the biggest set (4195 Queen Anne's Revenge). I’ve added a list of the flat shipping costs as the number of items increases at the bottom of this post.
Here’s the full list of sets they have available, with a rough conversion to Australian dollars*. Click the set name to go to B&N. I’ve applied the shipping for one item only, which means the biggest savings are on the big sets. These savings improve with the more sets you buy.
| Set | Aus RRP | B&N Price | incl Shipping** | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4181 Isla de Muerta | $39.99 | $17.10 | $29.44 | $10.55 (26%) |
| 4182 The Cannibal Escape | $59.99 | $25.66 | $38.00 | $21.99 (37%) |
| 4183 The Mill | $79.99 | $34.22 | $46.56 | $33.43 (42%) |
| 4191 The Captain’s Cabin | $24.99 | $10.26 | $22.60 | $2.39 (10%) |
| 4192 Fountain of Youth | $39.99 | $17.10 | $29.44 | $10.55 (26%) |
| 4193 The London Escape | $99.99 | $42.77 | $55.11 | $44.88 (45%) |
| 4194 Whitecap Bay | $139.99 | $68.44 | $80.78 | $59.21 (42%) |
| 4195 Queen Anne's Revenge | $199.99 | $102.67 | $115.01 | $84.98 (42%) |
| TOTALS: | $684.92 | $318.22 | $416.94 | $267.98 (39%) |
Those are some hefty discounts on the large sets that we won’t likely see until these sets end up in the bargain bin at Big W, if ever. Much as I love to support our local LEGO retailers, it’s damn hard to resist prices like that. What do you think?
Shipping costs per item regardless of weight/size to Sydney 2000
| No of Items | Airmail 1-3 weeks |
Priority Airmail 4-14 days |
Express 1-4 days |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | AUD* | USD | AUD* | USD | AUD* | |
| 1 | $12.98 | $12.34 | $15.98 | $15.19 | $35.98 | $34.21 |
| 2 | $18.47 | $17.56 | $21.97 | $20.89 | $41.97 | $39.90 |
| 3 | $23.96 | $22.78 | $27.96 | $26.58 | $47.96 | $45.60 |
| 4 | $29.45 | $28.00 | $33.95 | $32.28 | $53.95 | $51.29 |
| 5 | $34.94 | $33.22 | $39.94 | $37.97 | $59.94 | $56.99 |
| 6 | $40.43 | $38.44 | $45.93 | $43.67 | $65.93 | $62.68 |
| 7 | $45.92 | $43.66 | $51.92 | $49.36 | $71.92 | $68.38 |
| 8 | $51.41 | $48.88 | $57.91 | $55.06 | $77.91 | $74.07 |
Thanks to Toys N Bricks for the tip about the 10% off pre-order, and D for the tip about Express shipping.
* Currency conversion via Google on 20 April 2011. Provided for information only.
** Shipping based on single item, International Airmail to Sydney 2000
If you are ordering from B&N I would highly recommend using International Express Shipping. No matter how many different sets you buy it only adds about $US30 to your shipping total and is akin to using DHL Express shipping from Shop @ Home. If you use regular shipping from B&N it can take 2-3 weeks for ships to arrive. It’s well worth paying the extra $30 to have the sets in a few working days. Seriously speedy.
Anyway, play around with the shipping costs in your cart and work out what’s best for you.
The only problem with B&N is that their pre-order dates don’t always translate into release dates (as anyone who pre-ordered Pharaoh’s Quest probably knows)
Aha, very interesting, I didn’t look at the Express. Great tip, I will add to the post.
I have been trying to place an order and it keeps telling me that I am not elegible for free shipping and to select an appropriate shipping method. Has anyone else had this problem and could therefore point me in the right direction to solve it?
Dean
It’s insane that we’re saving almost $100 by importing the largest set.
Surely somebody at Lego realises how absurd that fact is.
After seeing a review on Euro Bricks it seems that there are some discrepancy’s in whats in 4181 Isla de Muerta with the coins, in asia they seem to be the original Gold plated coins and in the U.S they seem to be a pearl gold and look IMO ugly, i have seen on YouTube a video review from the states that confirms the ugly coins in the U.S, so be mindful when ordering from B&N as they will be from the Mexico plant where as our sets normally come from Europe, time will tell if we get Gold plated coin on our shores, but with those kind of savings a quick Bricklink order would fix that issue, let us know what you get if ordering from B&N
Great post, with eye-opening price comparisons!
Just like to add that yes, Barnes & Noble is great as a US source for LEGO (usually cheaper than Bricklink for new sets) and that not only that, they have a healthy range of discount coupons available at any given time.
You can often buy electronic gift cards from places such as cardpool.com which have a face value of say, $50, but you actually pay 11% less than that. B&N allows you to use up to three of these cards as part of your payment. With the current preorder deal, 10% + 11% is quite a nice discount off already much lower US prices.
Other options for ordering from the US include freight forwarders, such as http://www.priceusa.com.au, comgateway.com, and a number of others, which would then let you take advantage of the current (USA) Toys R Us promotion of Buy One Get One Half Price (effectively 25% off two equally priced items).
It’s very sad that LEGO Australia is virtually forcing local AFOLs to import their sets from overseas.
Thanks for the rundown.
“Barnes & Noble are one of the few big U.S. online stores that ship LEGO® to Australia”
Who are the other big US retailers who ship to Australia?
Just put in my order for Queen Ann’s Revenge.
However, for those just reading, be warned that I got this message once I placed my order: “Your credit card will be charged when your order ships.”
So we really are betting on the dollar staying near its current value.
Brilliant article and so nice to finally, finally get a decent USA site to ship ego to us. Infuriates me no end we have to pay these rip off prices and companies like Amazon just block us out. Thanks for writing and sharing.
The B&N legos that i have purchased before were very well packaged. Each came in a box with air padding. The lego boxes arrived without any damage at all. However, normally i had to wait up to 4 weeks for it to arrive.
Their customer service is known to be very poor. Twice i had to call them in the US and both times, their answer was basically ‘let’s wait and see’. I had one order cancelled through their fault, yet 6 months later, it is still ‘pending’ in my Paypal account.
i gave up trying to get them to offically remove it from Paypal, each time they said they will but nothing happened. Anyway, it is set to automatically expire in few month’s time. So just left it. it would be quite annoying if somehow the pending transaction processed for what ever reason.
so in short, will i buy from them again? if everything goes well, you will be happy if you can put up with the wait. if things go wrong, i have read it is quite tiresome to deal with them.
I’ve had a few not-great experiences with B&N – some boxes have been very slow or have arrived damaged – but everything I’ve ordered Express has come in 3 working days and in excellent condition. With POTC sets it would be well worth the extra 30 bucks for speed and peace of mind if you’re buying all 8. You’re saving $100s, it’s a small offset against the bigger saving.
Hi guys, this may be slightly off-topic.
I’ve place an order With BN for 6 different PoTC sets on the 24/04 then today I got an email to ring their Sales Audit Dept in the US. Apparently they have this procedure to check whether I’m really making this purchase before processing this order. Even though it may be a slight hassle to call the US but it’s a good procedure nonetheless to confirm the order to prevent fraud.
Just to add to D’s comment, the extra charge to add for the International Express is US$25.5
And the PoTC’s BN prices listed are slightly higher than what Emilyjem’s listed. BN only took 10% off their RRP for their pre-order.
Thankyou
Just made an order, AUD$89, that would have cost $165 locally!
They just cancelled my order for 4195 with the 10% discount. Very, very poor.
Same here – order cancelled. No discount, no sets in the store now, and the dollar has dropped.
My order was cancelled too. They’ve obviously not got the shipment in yet as the sets are now showing as not for sale.
I think my gall at the Aussie prices will see me wait. Even without a 10% discount it’s a hell of a bargain.
Same here…they cancelled my QAR.
My order was cancelled as well (same product). No explanation.
Is it because we live in Australia? My order was cancelled as well and so I when to Amazon to purchase the sets and it would not let me purchase them as I live in a geographic area that they can not deliver the sets to.
Just posted this on the other POTC ToysRus link but yep, mine got cancelled too.
Mine was cancelled too today. On 1 May, BN said it will be delayed, now cancelled. Very disappointed!!!!
Noooooooo! That is terrible news. Just when I thought we’d finally found a reliable overseas source of Lego.
Cancelled as well. Worst part is i ordered some HP sets and Lego Star Wars alarm clocks as they were cheap shipping on top of the PotC (I ordered all PotC sets) but was charged double for the shipping of those few items as I had no chance to cancel my order as they sent them prior to the other items being cancelled (eventhough I selected ship as one package). I even queried them prior to the cancellation and they said I would not be charged extra. Big complaint just logged to them. See what they say.
also canceled very disappointed
Yup, cancelled. Although I find Lambringo’s comment interesting, it sounds like they are still shipping lego, just not PotC. Has anyone else ordered non-PotC lego with them? Are they just sold out because of the 10% pre-order special? None of the PotC sets are on their website at the moment.
Same here regarding ordering other stuff to save on postage. I threw in a Harry Potter train and Architecture Empire State Building because I was combining postage. Wouldn’t have ordered any of them if I knew they would be split up. I didn’t nominate to split them up, I said I would wait for them all. I was sent the Empire State set first around the time they sent an email saying there was a delay. After receiving an email cancelling Pirate Ship, they immediately sent HP train. I sent a complaint. Will keep people informed if anything good comes from it. Not holding breath.
Got response from bn.com ‘service’ people. I think they think it is a book OR I am just getting a templated response!
“Despite our efforts, we are unable to obtain a copy of LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean Queen Anne. Therefore, we have canceled this title from your order, and you will not be charged.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and we encourage you to visit our Used and Out of Print section for alternatives.
Thank you for your understanding. “
Cancelled also.
But angry customer feedback survey complete,
so it will be interesting see what they say.
If everyone here sends an angry email hopefully they will offer it to us at the same reduced price with a contrived sorry letter.
It seems a bit stupid to offer something for preorder (which you’d expect they’d have stock ordered) and then cancel it sometime later asking us to shop at B&N again after our initial disappointment.
Angry emails people, get onto it.
Has anyone had to pay additional shipping costs by using B&N?
I ordered 3 lego sets asked them to send everything at the same time, however i received separate invoices with extra shipping charges per set.
Has anyone come across that? I email B&N and have yet to get a reply… help!
Maybe its just an invoicing thing and its not actually a charge? There was no mention in the email for me to pay it/or link to paypal to pay etc
Turns out i have to pay additional shipping charges for the lego sets i ordered, average extra charge is AUD12 per set (ordered The Burrows and Hagrid Hut, Space undercover cruiser).
Just something to consider when ordering from B&N…
@Kay: I assume you chose express shipping?? I ordered 3 sets before from BN and chose an express Int shipping. But only one set (the largest & the most expensive) set was sent express with tracking no and arrived 1 wk later, the other 2 sets came a month later.
Yes they did average the shipping fee by 3 sets & invoiced them separately. Even though I chose ship together, they were still all shipped separately.
I would suggest not to choose express int if ship more than 1 set as it’s not worth it from $$$ calculation the way they separate the shipment. Just to be more patient in waiting.
I chose the slowest method (international airmail) since i thought express was too pricey. I’ll have to wait and see how long it takes for me to get them, they’ve told me the sets have been shipped ( 2 sets together and 1 shipped separately)