A surprising number of LEGO fans aren’t interested in a subscription service
A huge chunk of LEGO fans aren’t actually interested in a new subscription service, according to a poll of Brick Fanatics readers.
The LEGO Group is currently surveying VIP members on the viability of two separate subscription programs: one geared towards collecting and rebuilding official sets, and the other anchored around learning how to creatively use LEGO bricks. Both would come with a similar list of benefits, including free gifts with every purchase, access to limited-edition products and the ability to buy retired sets.
While that survey will run until January 7, 2022, we decided to take a snapshot of the gut reaction to the proposals through Twitter, asking our followers what they’d be prepared to pay for such a service. The main survey suggested a price of £4.99 per month, but we added responses for £6.99 and £9.99+, along with a fourth option for those who just aren’t interested in it at all.
The results are now in, and they’re pretty surprising: a huge 41.9% of respondents said they’re not interested in the subscription service. Given the potential benefits on offer – particularly the chance to buy sets from the archive – that wasn’t a result we were expecting.
Of those who would be keen to sign up for the program, 24.5% said they’d be happy to pay the LEGO Group’s mooted price point of £4.99 per month. Just 11.4% said they’d go up to £6.99, but an equally-eyebrow-raising 21.9% responded that a price of £9.99 or more per month would be acceptable.
Adding up those figures, the majority of fans have indeed indicated that they’d be willing to join a potential LEGO subscription service, but it’s a much tighter margin than we’d have otherwise anticipated. This was only a briefly-run poll that sampled a small number of fans, but if it’s any indication of the wider response, the LEGO Group’s marketing department may be equally surprised.
Of course, as our Twitter follower Brian Thorn put it, the amount anyone would be willing to pay for a subscription service would really depend on ‘what you’ll get in return’. You can find out more about the potential packages on offer through the two proposed subscription programs here.
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This really shouldn’t be so surprising. I wasn’t collecting when the infamous Black VIP card debacle happened but many will remember that and assume this will be similar. Much as I would like to believe that “sets from the archive” spans all sets back to at least the 1980s and they will manufacture to order the sets we each want, that seems highly unlikely. The reality will probably be the sets they couldn’t sell at the time which are now branded as “out of retirement for a limited time”. When I read “free gifts with every purchase” I took that to mean a boxed set, but it could be polybags or just posters, etc. Free shipping is hard not to achieve at Lego prices already so not an incentive. Limited editions sounds enticing but, again, it depends what they are. Lego’s current plan is probably to offer the minimum possible rather than what fans expect, so £4.99 probably isn’t worth it. If it worked as I would actually like it to then £9.99 a month is actually reasonable.
What I would prefer is a tiered VIP system. Everyone earns points but when you spend over £1000 you go up a level and earn better rewards, free sets, more points, etc. Then another tier at £2500, £5000, etc. Much like the airlines do. However, Lego want to treat everyone the same and not be elitist, but that is counter to the very point and nature of a VIP scheme.