Those hard-to-find Trader Joe's bags listed on eBay for as much as $1,000 will be back in stores this summer

By Charles Passy

The $2.99 canvas totes have gotten plenty of attention on social media

Forget Stanley water bottles. The new "it" collectible is a supermarket shopping bag.

Trader Joe's mini canvas tote bags, sold in stores for $2.99 each and available with straps in an array of colors, have become a hot item among fans of the grocery chain, much as New Yorker magazine and public-radio bags, typically given away as subscriber premiums, have in recent years enjoyed a sort of vogue.

The Trader Joe's bags have apparently disappeared from store shelves and are now being offered on eBay (EBAY) for as much as $1,000, with buy-it-now listings also showing up early Thursday at the $34.99, $108 and $149.99 levels, among others.

"The hottest It-bag designer of the season? His name is Trader Joe," touts one eBay seller. "Get your hands on these," says another.

But if you're considering buying into the trend with the idea these bags could be worth even bigger bucks down the road, be forewarned: Trader Joe's says the totes will be making a return - meaning they might not be as rare and precious as some might think at the moment.

"We do have more Trader Joe's Mini Canvas Tote Bags coming," said Trader Joe's spokesperson Nakia Rohde. "Customers can expect to see them in our stores in late summer."

On top of that, collectibles experts cast doubt on the bags being worth much in the long run, despite the current supply-and-demand imbalance.

There's a vast difference between longer-established collectible categories, from art and antiques to baseball cards and comic books, and items that emerge as collectibles seemingly overnight, experts explain.

True collectibles are often items made with a degree of care and craftsmanship, such as certain brands of luxury watches. Or they have genuine rarity.

That Mickey Mantle 1952 rookie card in top condition that sold for $12.6 million? Its value stems from the fact that Mantle was not only one of the most iconic baseball players of all time, but also because so few of the cards can be found in such a nearly untouched state.

But with Trader Joe's bags, you're talking a standard commodity - and one that the company can indeed stock more of at any time.

In other words, don't expect to see asking prices for the totes to stay high for very long, experts warn.

"There's zero chance that in three years I'm going to be kicking myself for not taking advantage of this," said Stephen Fishler, chief executive of ComicConnect, a prominent online marketplace for vintage comics and other collectibles.

The mini bags became a sensation especially through social media, much like other items that have sees sudden demand spikes of late. People took to talking them online up as a cute must-have and also discussed their sudden scarcity.

It also doesn't hurt that Trader Joe's has such a loyal following - to the point that some refer to the chain's fans as a cult of sorts.

Add it up and people saw a simple canvas bag as a must-have. It's all about the FOMO - or fear of missing out - phenomenon. So says Rob Petrozzo, co-founder and chief products officer of Rally, a platform for buying shares in collectibles.

And when it comes to FOMO items, "that's usually a telltale sign of a short-term fad," said Petrozzo.

-Charles Passy

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03-16-24 1547ET

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