Mini Totes are back and they are starting another mini trend at your local trader Joe store.
Trader Joe’s re-released new mini reusable tote bags are priced at an affordable $3 this week in pastel colours. Baby blue, pink, lavender and mint green pastel bags are part of the store’s latest spring drop. The bag was first made into a “essential item” last year. The store has released mini totes in Navy, yellow, red and forest green.
“Our customers have made themselves abundantly clear. The smaller the tote, the greater the sense,” Trader Joe said on the website.
In California, the tote frenzy has once again hit – sending resale prices to heart-wrenching heights.
If it all sounds very familiar, that’s because every few years Americans get hooked on new retail items. Remember Stanley’s 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 became Rooney to PlayStation 5 and Popeye Es Chicken Sandwich in 2019. If you’re old enough, cabbage patch dolls frenzy in the mid-80s, Elmo’s squeals in the mid-90s, and Pokemon trading cards and video games remember a few years later.
The latest trends include many people lined up for hours outside of various parts of the state and country just to buy bags.
One online user issued an alarm Tuesday about a line extending parking at a San Fernando Valley store.
“You don’t need that bad yogurt,” the user wrote in a post to the Private Granada Hills Facebook Group. Other neighbors commented that customers were about to buy a new tote, but that rose at resale prices.
On eBay, four mini tote bags cost up to $90, but taxes are not included. However, some resellers are gaining high demand as line wait times can last several hours due to the risk that stores may run out of stock. Due to high demand, some store employees say that some store locations have a limit of 2-3 bags per person.
One pink mini tote bag is currently listed online for $999.99. The extreme prices range from $300 per bag to a whopping $49,000.
“Our mini canvas tote bags were on sale faster than expected. Customers across the country found them before they had the opportunity to promote them in any way,” a spokesman for trader Joe told People Magazine. “Our customers are our focus in our stores. We do not support reselling our products anywhere.”
This is not the first time Joe has turned his head in a reusable bag. Last year, the store re-released the Mystery Tote package. The package carried three person totes inside, with designs based on different states and cities. The mystery was the first charm, and the price was invincible. The three-pack of Mystery was $3.99.
“Okay, so when I bought these I had a clue how big a deal they were!”, a Reddit user wrote. “I chose the last completely random pack before checking out. The first thing I pulled was the one from the orange chicken!! I also got Texas and Kentucky.”
Some resale mystery totes are as expensive as mini totes. A 35-pack mystery tote pack from the 2023 drop costs around $300 on eBay.
“I’ve never understood the obsession with these bags. It’s really weird,” wrote a Reddit user. “Otherwise, I can’t seem to explain how they’ll be there for hours, except they’re cute.”
