The LEGO Insiders program (formerly known as LEGO VIP) is a free program where you earn points when you buy products directly from LEGO. You earn points when you buy items on LEGO.com, and you also earn points when you shop in brick-and-mortar LEGO stores.

In the United States, you earn 6.5 LEGO Insiders points for every dollar spent before taxes and shipping. Points can be converted into discount codes that can be used on LEGO.com. Note that there is no reduced cost for larger discount codes: a $100 discount costs 13,000 points, and a $5 discount costs 650 points. Either way, you’re spending 130 points per $1 discount.

With a little arithmetic, it’s easy to see that the LEGO Insider program is, in the long run, effectively just a 5% discount, as long as you don’t let the points expire between purchases (LEGO’s grace period is reasonable).

But, there’s a kink in this system: You can also earn LEGO Insider points by buying LEGOs at Target. Upload a picture of your Target receipt to LEGO’s website, and earn 1 point for every dollar spent on LEGOs. That’s a far cry from the 6.5 points earned per dollar spent at LEGO stores, but it’s enough to make this arbitrage work.

Target also offers a rewards card, in the form of its RedCard. This is a normal Mastercard debit card, except you get a 5% discount on all retail purchases at Target; remember to read the fine print - there are exceptions, but LEGO is not one of them. Also remember that that 5% discount is identical to the one you would have gotten through LEGO’s Insiders program.

Here’s how the arbitrage works:

  1. Open a Target RedCard MasterCard.
  2. Buy LEGOs at Target. Make sure you only buy at MSRP. Save 5% by using your RedCard, equalling the discount you would have gotten by buying direct through LEGO.
  3. Upload receipts to LEGO.com.
  4. Watch your LEGO Insiders account slowly gain points, even though you’re getting the same discount you would have gotten by buying direct from LEGO.
  5. Re-sell the LEGOs purchased from Target at 5% discount from MSRP. There’s already a reputable exchange for individuals to sell LEGOs online: BrickLink.
  6. Profit! (in the form of free Insider Points)

That’s all. Please don’t actually do this. The amount of time you’ll spend packaging the LEGO sets and taking them to the post office is more than the free points are worth.