The Annoying Reason Trader Joe's Shoppers Struggle To Find Popular Products

Have you ever seen a Trader Joe's product on social media and wanted to run to the store immediately to get your hands on it? But often, you get to the store, only to find that it's already sold out of the brand new item, even though you only just heard about it. While this is an obviously frustrating experience, it turns out that there is one annoying reason that you might have trouble finding those extra viral or popular products on your next Trader Joe's run.

Remember those Trader Joe's viral mini tote bags? Well, they (and their large tote counterparts) are actually a great case study to examine the issue at hand: resellers. Essentially, individuals will go into the stores and buy as many of one product as they can, and then resell it at a higher price to customers online. On one Reddit thread, customers replied to a reseller's question about why the chain gets angry with customers trying to buy large numbers of products by writing, "this post is obnoxious" and "BLOCKED." Clearly, resellers are one of the things customers don't like about shopping at Trader Joe's. 

It's not just bags being resold but food products too, though for the bags specifically, social media has allowed their popularity to spread uncontrollably, and resellers are making a pretty penny by selling them abroad to customers who don't have Trader Joe's in their countries. The bags, especially the limited-edition versions, have price tags of almost $60,000 on reselling sites like eBay and almost $900 on Depop. 

While the issue may have become more prominent recently due to social media, Trader Joe's has been battling resellers for ages. In a statement back in 2021, the chain said it's aware of individuals buying and listing its products at ridiculous prices, saying, " ... We neither condone nor support the reselling of our products and do all we can to stop the practice" (via Trader Joe's). So what has the company been doing to try to stop this?

In 2013, Trader Joe's engaged in a legal battle against a Canadian entity called Pirate Joe's. Essentially, Pirate Joe's was taking Trader Joe's hidden gems to Vancouver and selling them at significantly hiked prices to customers who couldn't get their hands on them (for context, there are no Trader Joe's locations in Canada). Trader Joe's sued Pirate Joe's, claiming it was harming its brand. Unfortunately, the U.S. district court dismissed the suit. But the chain appealed the decision, and in 2016, a judge ruled in its favor. While the owner of Pirate Joe's pushed back against this, saying to NPR, "People in Canada just want their stuff," the reselling shop shut its doors in 2017.

Beyond taking legal action, Trader Joe's often imposes purchasing limits on those extra popular items (like tote bags) to try to curb the activity of resellers. And, the chain has a broad policy of not allowing large-quantity orders by customers.