Zhu Zhu Mania: Robotic Hamster Package for $7,000 on eBay

By Brad Tuttle | @bradrtuttle | November 27, 2009 | +

The most searched items on eBay this week are iPods and Zhu Zhu Pets—the latter solidifying its status as the season’s must-have, can’t-find toy. The robot Zhu Zhu hamsters are sold out at toy stores around the country, allowing sellers on eBay to demand a premium from parents who don’t want to hear their kids crying on Christmas morning.

While many eBay sellers are hawking Zhu Zhu hamsters for $40 or $50 at the “Buy Now” rate, the wildest price listed is a whopping $7,000 for 25 sets, each of which includes four hamsters and eight activity accessories like a skateboard and an adventure ball. That breaks down to $280 per set for what Jimmy Kimmel describes as a “Matchbox car with hair on it.”

FYI: A single Zhu Zhu hamster, if you could find one available at a toy store, sells for $9 or $10. And a kit with a cage, exercise wheel, and food for a real hamster can be had for $29.99 at PetCo, with the actual hamster going for $5 or $15 more.

Related Topics: eBay, families & children, hamsters, pets, Zhu Zhu, Zhu Zhu Pets, Saving & Spending

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http://money.blogs.time.com/2009/12/03/ebay-over-a-million-zhu-zhu-searches-last-weekend/ eBay: Over a Million Zhu Zhu Searches Last Weekend – It's Your Money – TIME.com

[...] of a new shipment coming in, and also leading certain entrepreneurial types to ask as much as $7,000 for a mammoth set of Zhu Zhus on [...]
http://money.blogs.time.com/2009/12/10/trade-ya-my-cockatiel-for-your-zhu-zhu-pet/ Zhu Zhu Craze Gets Crazier: eBay’s Zhu Zhu Sales-Tracking Heat Map and Wacky Zhu Zhu Bartering – It's Your Money – TIME.com

[...] Zhu Zhu digital heat map. The cute toy hamsters, described by late night's Jimmy Kimmel as a "Matchbox car with hair on it," appear on a map of the U.S. in bigger size and denser clusters in the parts of the country that [...]