Difference in prices between Usa and Europe

Shinigami · 2013-12-29T06:12:38.000Z

Hi all. I am new to this forum and just came out of my dark years. For the last 3 months I've tried to grab all the sets I could before they were discontinued, (at the cost of makin' my wife mad, but that's another topic :D ).Considering I am Italian (and I work for an Italian company, so I earn euros) but I live in Japan, I could partially benefit of the huge rise of the european currency compared to the yen (currently the euro-yen exchange is more or less 1:144,5). Anyway. I noticed from the start that lego in Usa are considerably cheaper that in the rest of the world. Still, Lego seemed to somehow fix prices according to the different currencies, at least to a certain extent. A set costing 9,99 euros in Europe was 11 or 12 dollars in the Usa (still cheaper in the Usa, but you get the point). This pattern seems to have gone with the new 2014 sets. The Lego Movie sets, for example. "Super Cycle chase" costs 49,99 dollars in the USa and 49,99 euros in Italy and the rest of the euro area. Same goes for all the new 2014 sets. Did anybody else notice that? This really makes a HUGE difference in price compared to the Usa. We are speaking of a 35% difference (or more) in the retail price, and that goes without considering the HUGE discounts that people seem to be able to enjoy in the Us. Now, did anybody else notice this sudden rise to a 1:1 retail prices ratio in Usa and Europe? Or am I wrong? Has it happened before? Thanks for the replies, for this very informative community and forgive my poor English