I was at TRU and Target today. Wow, TRU prices are 25% higher then target prices. I was looking for TFer and Thundercats.

Deluxes: $12 target vs $15 TRU
Voyagers: $20 target vs $25 TRU
6 inch Thundercats Classics: $15 target vs $20 TRU
SW light saber: $30 target vs $40 TRU

Really nuts. I wonder what's going on with TRU.

 

"Hasbro sets MSRP's how did they..."

"Make them cost more? Toys R Us prices have always been higher."

 

TRU has always had a markup. When deluxes were 11 bucks at Target, they were 14 bucks at TRU for instance. DOTM deluxes are still just 14 bucks, and it's only Prime deluxes that are 15 at my two closest TRU locations.

 

Id rather pay $25 for a voyager than the $50 we have to pay here.
Stop complaining about prices. Its Australians (and other countries) That have a price problem. we pay $28 for a deluxe!!!
And there is very little diferrence between us and aus dollars
 

 

Yeah, but in this case even non hasbro stuff was 25% higher.

 

Where have you been? This has been going on for a while.

 

TRU always has worse prices. Try being a Lego collector. Lego sets, especially Star Wars ones, have always been significantly more expensive than anywhere else. Even the TRU exclusive sets are more expensive than on Lego's website or in its brand stores.

 

TRU tax has always been a menace.

 

To be fair though, doesn't TRU get some sets half a month early?

 

Yep. Usually at least two months early with the winter sets.

 

Weirdly enough, I stopped into both tonight and it was the opposite.

DotM Deluxes: $10.99 at TRU vs $14.99 at Target
Voyagers: $19.99 at TRU vs $21.99 at Target (not a big difference, but)

 

Gogdog said it quite well here-

 

My local TRU had the Prime Voyagers at $29.99... WTF?

and the Deluxes were at $16.49....

 

its sort of similar here in the toy store juguenton and Walmart
30 for legion in walmart, 50 in juguenton
i forgot the commander toys price
149 for action set in Walmart, around 190 in juguenton
99 for HA Basic in Walmart, 120 in Juguenton
120 for Deluxe in Walmart, 150 in Jugueton
220 for Voyager in Walmart, 299 in Juguenton
500 for Leader in Walmart, 600 in Juguenton

 

@ Robowarrior: That looks to be only a few cents cheaper than the canadian tru, so maybe they're trying to streamline shit by raising the lower price instead of raising the higher one, who knows.

At any rate though, I think we're forgetting that even if they have higher regular prices (in the states anyway), they also have the most focused supply chain for this sort of thing, and that's why they can get exclusives & generally be very up to date on things. Along with that, they also tend to have a lot of sales, as well as a website that actually lists the shit we're looking for.

 

Ummmm...... where have you been???  

This has been the norm for several years, if not more.

 

Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price.

Also, Toys R' Us buys in smaller quantities overall (in comparison to Walmart and Target of course), which brings wholesale price per unit up (more you buy, more you save). And Toys R' Us needs higher profit margins just to stay alive.

One more thing too, and I've mentioned this in past threads on the subject. If you go into a Toys R' Us, you're obviously going in there to look for a toy. Walmart and Target try to catch you with toys since the everyday consumer is in there looking for bedsheets, a floormat, new dvds/blu-rays, what have you. Walmart and Target don't always need the profit from toys because they can mark up other items in the store to make up for it.

Grocery stores do the same thing all the time. Sale on spaghetti sauce! But add $0.50 to ground beef, spaghetti noodles, and grated Parmesan cheese. They willingly take a loss on an item knowing they'll make it back elsewhere.

 

Yeah, TRU knows they've got us without even needing to dangle the bait hahah

 

Target and Walmart sell at much smaller margins, or even at a LOSS quite often, sometimes just to hurt competitors and sometimes because they make their money in other areas of the store so toys can be used as a loss leader, and often are. The fact is that US customers are SPOILED when it comes to pricing...deluxes have been at $9.99 almost constantly since Beast Wars debuted...hard to name ANYTHING else that has been at the same price for 15 years!

 

Yeah, I can't remember the last time I bought a "5 cent candy" for 5 cents...