Increasing your revenue means you need the most product that you can get. And the only way to get more product is to purchase it, right? Well, sort of. The best way to get more product is to get it for free, and the way to do that is to pay attention to the specials that the LEGO stores run all the time to buy a product (or spend a certain amount) and get another product for free – the LEGO gift with purchase approach.

What it Is

LEGO gift with purchase means that when you spend a set amount, say $50 or $100, you get a free item for your purchase. At Easter there are often specially themed packs that go along with a certain spend amount. Almost all year around there are special Harry Potter bonus sets that you can get if you spend a certain amount on other Harry Potter products.

For example, the Harry Potter Monster Book of Monsters is available with a $75 Harry Potter LEGO purchase. So, if you buy at least $75 worth of Harry Potter LEGO’s you’ll get the Monster Book of Monsters for free. There are frequently offerings like this at the LEGO store (and sometimes at retail stores as well).

Why Do You Need It?

The reason you need this is because it’s going to help you get more money in return for the money you spent. Your goal in buying and selling LEGO is to buy products as inexpensively as you can and then sell them for as much profit as you can. If you purchase a product that has a good resale value and you can get something extra to sell along with it you’ve just increased your potential profits even more.

How to Do It Right

Now, let’s say you really want the Monster Book of Monsters. You need to spend at least $75 in Harry Potter LEGO’s in order to get it. You could buy absolutely any Harry Potter LEGO set (or sets) that you want. So, you could buy as many of the keychains as you want or as many of the minifigure accessory sets, or a combination of small sets. You could also buy the Hogwarts Castle or Diagon Alley sets, which are currently the most expensive options.

The right way to do it, however, is to purchase the least amount possible to get the free LEGO gift. That means, if you need to spend $75 to get the free gift you want to spend barely over $75. Or, in some cases, you may be able to spend $74.99 or somewhere close to get the gift (but for that you’d need to ask the staff). If you spend the minimum you need to for that gift you will have the best opportunity for profit.

Where this gets even better is if there are multiple offers that you can stack on top of each other. For example, sometimes stores will offer free gifts with a set price amount with no specific sets required. So, let’s say there’s a separate offer for a free item if you spend $100 in LEGO products. This offer doesn’t require you to buy a specific type of set, just any LEGO products. In that case, you may be able to stack the offers (this is another one you’ll need to talk with the store staff about to be sure).

Let’s say you are able to stack the offers. Now, if you purchase $100 of LEGO products ($75 of which has to be Harry Potter) you’re going to get two free “LEGO gift for your purchase” items. You’ve now increased your potential revenue because you’ve maximized the return on your investment.

Breaking the Rules

Okay, now, as in everything there are situations where you’re going to break the rules, right? So, the only caveat to the rule is if you can get a set that’s hard to find or that has a much higher resale value. So, if you can buy an $80 set and get the free item but it’s one that’s only a modest profit or you could buy one for $100 and get a much larger return because the item is hard to find or in high demand then you may want to spend a little bit more (but not too much) to get that item.

Additional Notes

Be careful about the sets you’re buying at the LEGO store. In most cases sets are available at a cheaper price at other retailers. For example, Target, Walmart, and Amazon often have LEGO sets for up to 20% (or more) off the retail price that you would pay at the LEGO store. However, you often don’t get the free LEGO gift with purchase at those retailers. So, you want to make sure you’re looking at which sets to buy and choosing carefully.

First, make sure it’s not a set you can easily find at another retailer for a lower price. If you can then you’re cutting into your profits by buying it at regular retail even if you get a free item along with it.

Second, make sure it’s a set that has good resale value or that you believe will have big resale value. Sets that are going to retire soon are generally a good investment and some that are rare, more unique, or even some random sets are high profit options.

Third, keep in mind that you may have to store the item for a while. If it’s currently somewhat popular and selling for a little over retail then hold onto it. Chances are the price is going to continue to go up as that item retires and gets harder to find.

Fourth, remember that you will need to ship the item. When you look at the current retail price (or whatever price you can buy it for) and the current selling price think about how much you’ll need to pay to ship it to someone and factor that into your profit (or potential profit).

Finally, if you have to choose, opt for box gifts rather than poly bags. While poly bag free items can sell to collectors, box items look like full sets on their own and therefore can be easier to sell to just about anyone.

The free LEGO gift with purchase may not seem like a big thing, especially since many of them look so small, but they can be a huge increase to your revenue and your profit margins, so don’t underestimate them.