Trader Joe's mini tote frenzy hits California. Resellers are cashing in with prices over $1,000
Trader Joe's re-released new mini reusable tote bags this week in pastel colors, priced at an affordable $3. The baby blue, pink, lavender and mint green pastel bags are part of the store's latest spring drop. The bags first became a "must-need item" last year — with the store releasing the mini totes in navy, yellow, red and forest green.
'Our customers have made themselves abundantly clear: the smaller the tote, the bigger the sensation,' Trader Joe's said on its website.
In California, the tote frenzy hit once again — sending resale prices to mind-boggling heights.
If it all sounds very familiar, that's because Americans go nuts for a new retail item every few years. Remember the Stanley commuter mug that caused a frenzy last year? In 2022, it was a plastic Disney popcorn bucket in the shape of a dragon. In 2020, people went loony for the PlayStation 5 and the Popeyes chicken sandwich in 2019. If you're old enough, you'll remember the Cabbage Patch doll frenzy in the mid-'80s, the Tickle Me Elmo craze in the mid-'90s and the Pokemon trading cards and video games a few years later.
Read more: In a Stanley cup daze? Woman wheels $2,500 in cups out of store without paying, police say
The latest craze has scores of people lined up outside various locations across the state and country for hours just to purchase a bag.
One online user sounded the alarm Tuesday about a line stretching through a store's parking lot in the San Fernando Valley.
'I don't need yogurt THAT bad,' the user wrote on a post to a private Granada Hills Facebook group. Other neighbors commented that customers were trying to purchase the new totes, which have since gone up in resale price.
On Ebay, four mini tote bags can cost up to $90 — not including taxes. But some resellers are cashing in on the high demand as line wait times can last several hours with the risk that the store may run out of inventory. Because of the high demand, some store locations are setting limits of two to three bags per person, according to store employees.
One pink mini tote bag is currently listed online at $999.99. The price extremes range from $300 to a whopping $49,000 for one bag.
'Our Mini Canvas Tote Bags certainly sold more quickly than we anticipated. Before we had the opportunity to promote them in any way, customers across the country found them,' a Trader Joe's spokesperson told People Magazine. 'Our customers, in our stores, are our focus; we do not endorse the re-sale of any of our products, anywhere.'
This is not the first time Trader Joe's has turned heads with its reusable bags. Last year, the store re-released its mystery tote packages, which carried three totes inside with designs based on different states and cities. The mystery was the initial appeal, and the price — unbeatable. A mystery three-pack was $3.99.
'Ok so when I bought these I had NOOOO clue how big of a deal they were!,' one Reddit user wrote. 'I picked a totally random pack last minute before checking out, and the first one I pulled was the orange chicken one!! I also got Texas and Kentucky.'
Some resale mystery totes are still as expensive as the mini totes. A 35 pack of mystery totes from a 2023 drop can cost about $300 on Ebay.
'I've never understood the obsession with these bags. It's really bizarre,' a Reddit user wrote. 'Other than that they're cute nobody can seem to explain why they will stand there for hours to get one.'
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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