Dive Brief:
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Target is getting ready to launch its limited, special-edition Marimekko swimwear and home décor lines on April 17 and said that scarcity is the point, Forbes reports.
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Target faced a lot of disappointed (even angry) customers who didn’t get a chance to shop for its recent limited-edition Lilly Pulitzer beachwear line when it sold out in stores and the retailer's site crashed. But Target spokesperson Joshua Thomas told Forbes “We’re never going to apologize” for selling out.
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However, Forbes doesn’t mention that, in an effort to avoid fiascos like the Lilly Pulitzer mess, Target has banned resellers, limited quantities for purchase, and reserved the right to cancel massive online orders.
Dive Insight:
Marimekko doesn’t necessarily have mass appeal in the U.S., but the Finnish brand has enjoyed a cult following here for years. Even for those unfamiliar with Marimekko, the bold prints planned by Target for this limited edition line will likely be popular, as were the Missoni and Lilly Pulitzer lines before them.
That alone could help sell out the limited Marimekko home goods and apparel lines very quickly. But in the recent past, many people have scooped up limited edition designer lines at mass-market retailers in order to sell them online. Last year, for example, second-hand clothing site Tradesy, which has on offer many higher-end fashion items, told Retail Dive in an email that several of H&M’s Balmain items showed up on its site almost immediately after that limited launch.
The practice of scooping up a ton of merchandise at a retailer and reselling it on eBay is known as “retail arbitrage.” For the consumer, it’s a mixed bag. While it can be a way to acquire otherwise sold-out merchandise or items at a discount, savvy shoppers often find that an item on eBay listed at full price or higher can be found at the original retailer for less. And retailers face a backlash from shoppers who eagerly anticipated the line only to find empty shelves, with no other recourse than to check out the items at online marketplaces, offered at inflated prices.
The practice doesn’t always pan out for sellers, either, however. The reality, writes financial writer Ann Logue, is that many of those items didn’t sell because the markups were too high, and in fact there are still loads of Target Missoni and Lilly Pulitzer items for sale on eBay even today that don’t appear to be moving anywhere.