The Best Places To Buy LEGO in the UK

1st November 2022

If you're new to buying and collecting LEGO, it can be difficult to know the best places to purchase your sets from. The obvious choice is LEGO.com, which offers the greatest selection, as all the sets LEGO currently make can be bought there. LEGO.com also offers some exclusive deals and promotional items that cannot be obtained from elsewhere.

However, it's not always the place to go for the cheapest prices, as LEGO products can be bought from third-party retailers who offer generous discounts from time to time. In this article we give an overview of the main LEGO retailers in the UK and their pros and cons.

LEGO

As mentioned previously, any set currently in production can be bought from LEGO.com. Some sets are only available to buy directly from LEGO's website, although this number is small. LEGO also has their own VIP Program, which allows members to earn points on their purchases that can be traded in for rewards, such as money off vouchers and entry into competitions. Occasionally, LEGO will have promotions where you can get free gifts with qualifying purchases, some of which can end up being very rare and sought after in the years that follow.

Pros

Largest catalogue of LEGO sets
Exclusive sets and promotions
Great customer service and delivery

Cons

Can be more expensive that other retailers
Products tend to sell out quicker than with other retailers

Shop LEGO at LEGO.com

Amazon

As it's the biggest retailer in the world Amazon needs no introduction. For most products Amazon is the cheapest and easiest place to buy them and the same can be said for LEGO. Amazon is rarely beaten on price and are quick to price match any discounts offered by other retailers. They don't stock every LEGO set but for the ones they do they're generally the best place to go.

Pros

Largest catalogue of LEGO sets
Generally speaking they can't be beaten on price
Good customer service
Quick and reliable delivery especially if you have Prime
Great discount on Black Friday and Prime days

Cons

Can be poorly packaged at times
Doesn't stock exclusive sets

Shop LEGO at Amazon

John Lewis

John Lewis is a brand of high-end department stores that has the largest selection of LEGO products of all the third-party retailers. They sell sets from all of LEGO's themes, with the exception of Monkie Kid. John Lewis.com often offers discounts of 20% on certain sets, and sometimes more. Their standard retail price on some sets can also be cheaper than the LEGO RRP. John Lewis are renowned for their customer service and their delivery is quick and reliable, with instances of damaged boxes being low, which is reassuring if you are a serious collector.

Pros

Large catalogue of LEGO sets
Frequently offer generous discounts (20% or more)
Good customer service
Reliable delivery and free on spends over £50

Cons

Doesn't sell certain themes and sets

Smyths

Smyths is a large chain retailer of toy and entertainment products. It has a slightly smaller LEGO selection than John Lewis, but it's still big and covers the vast majority of LEGO themes. However, it also doesn't sell Monkie Kid sets. Smyths also offers frequent discounts but these rarely exceed 20%, although they can be on different sets than those from other retailers. Smyths also occasionally offers exclusive gifts with LEGO purchases that are only available in stores. Delivery is free on purchases over £20 and is generally good, although box damage is more common than with John Lewis or LEGO.com.

Pros

Good selection of LEGO products
Frequent discounts of up to 20%

Cons

Slightly smaller discounts than John Lewis
Box damage and wear can sometimes occur with delivery

Argos

Argos is another large retailer of LEGO, selling a few hundred products. Again, this covers the large majority of themes, but not all. Argos also has frequent discounts on LEGO sets that can often exceed those offered by John Lewis and Smyths, but these tend to be on the medium and small-sized sets. Delivery can be a bit hit and miss as sets are sometimes delivered in only their product packaging, which leaves them vulnerable to damage. Stickers are also sometimes attached to the boxes that need to be carefully removed. Free home delivery is also not an option (£2.95 on all orders), but free store collection is available.

Pros

Frequent discounts that can be up to 33%
Good selection of LEGO products

Cons

No free home delivery
Unreliable delivery
Poor customer service
Strict order limits on collectible minifigures

Zavvi

Zavvi is an online retailer of entertainment products, which includes LEGO. It has a similar sized range to Argos and often has discounts on large LEGO sets, which can reach 20% or more. Deliveries tend to be well packaged, so box damage is not that common. However, unlike many retailers, they don't offer free home delivery (£2.99 on orders over £20) and there are no physical Zavvi stores were you can collect your orders for free,

Pros

Good selection of LEGO products
Frequently offer generous discounts (20% or more)

Cons

No free home delivery
Offers sell out quickly

The Entertainer

The Entertainer is a chain brand that sells toys and entertainment products. Its LEGO offering is also similar in size to Argos and encompasses the same range of themes. Discounts are less sizable and frequent than other retailers, however their standard retail price on many sets is cheaper than LEGO's RRP. Delivery is free on all orders of £40 or more.

Pros

Good selection of LEGO products

Cons

Fewer and smaller discounts than other retailers

Supermarkets

Many of the large supermarket chains in the UK sell a selection of small and medium sized LEGO sets, but it's much less extensive than other retailers. Sainsbury's tends to have the best discounts, although there are bargains to be had at the others. Supermarkets can be the best place to buy collectible minifigures as they are available on the shop floor, meaning you can feel the bags (while they're still plastic).

Pros

Best place to buy the Collectible Minifigure Series
Reduced to clear items can offer great discounts

Cons

Small selection of LEGO products
Less frequent discounts

Posted by Graham on 1st November 2022

Graham is a passionate LEGO collector, who has a penchant for the Castle, Pirates, and Western themes. You can usually find him monitoring the latest developments and giving his opinion on what's hot and not in the LEGO world.