These days, there doesn't appear to be a limit on what's considered a collectible item. Anything from coins and cards to plugs and purses can emerge as the latest collectable trend. Yet, one that we didn't see coming was the Trader Joe's tote bags.
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The $3 bags are retailing for eyewatering money elsewhere in the world, as people are going crazy for the cute tote in countries where Trader Joe's doesn't operate. In fact, some of the rarer limited edition totes have been retailing as high as $50,000 in online listings.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the reusable bags have a growing market among collectors, with cities such as London, Melbourne and even Tokyo all emerging as a seller's market.
"They represent a limitation," Yale School of the Environment lecturer Michelle Gabriel told The Wall Street Journal. "Trader Joe's aren't in every city and aren't on every corner. That already imparts a scarcity that... can be used in service of status."
Trader Joe's is location-specific. The company only operates within the United States. Therefore, any branded merchandise can be classified as a "location-specific collectable" among non-US residents. And with that, the pricing of those items can increase exponentially.
A Trader Joe's Tote Bag Recently Sold for $3890
To test this theory, we fired up a VPN, set the location to London, England, and loaded up the "sold" listings on eBay. The filters were set to the most recent sales and sorted by highest cost first. That's when our eyes popped out of our heads.
A limited-edition Halloween Canva Tote Bag with yellow handles, a purple base, a black body, and an orange Trader Joe's logo sold for £2,902, which is approximately $3,890. A single tote bag, likely costing under $5, sold for almost $4,000. So yeah, it's true, people are loving the latest collectable fad, and it doesn't show any sign of ending.
However, it's worth noting that the everyday tote bag is selling for much less, with the average sale price at approximately $20. And while that's four times what US residents are getting them for, the cost of international shipping is a turn-off.
Still, this new craze is proof that scarcity creates desire. It will be fun to see what the next "location-specific" collectible emerges.
