Yesterday morning, Target began selling clothes, accessories, and home furnishings from its new Missoni for Target collection. To say that Target’s collaboration with the Italian fashion house has been a hit is putting it mildly. Many stores were sold out by 9 a.m., and a surge of online shoppers caused Target’s website to crash. Inevitably, and with startling quickness, thousands of Missoni for Target items—which again, only became available for purchase yesterday—have already wound up on eBay, and they’re commanding much higher than their original retail prices.
By 1 p.m. yesterday, there were already nearly 1,500 Missoni for Target pieces on eBay. An hour later, the number of goods from the collection listed at eBay had more than doubled.
By late this morning, there were over 22,000 results for “Missoni for Target” at eBay. The vast majority of items (nearly 16,000) fall under the category of Clothing, Shoes, & Accessories. For example, this Missoni for Target cardigan, which sells for $49.99 at retail (when it’s not sold out, of course), was snatched up at an eBay auction this morning for $134.75.
(MORE: Target Launches Missoni Italian Fashion Line — Website Goes Boom)
Home furnishings, luggage, electronics, and other Missoni for Target goods are also showing up at eBay. A a sold-out toss pillow, originally available for $29.99, was selling on eBay at the “Buy It Now” price of $99.99. A $170 piece of rolling luggage was available at a “Buy It Now” price of $300.
The speed and chutzpah with which these entrepreneurial resellers have taken to eBay is reminiscent of the recent HP TouchPad craze, in which the discontinued tablets were sold through retailers for $100—and then promptly resold hours later to eBay buyers for $250 to $300.
Before heading to eBay to snag new Missoni for Target goods, try to think rationally rather than getting caught up in the must-have-it-now frenzy. The International Business Times reports that many Target stores will soon be restocked with items from the collection, likely within days.
Also, while this may seem obvious, here’s a little reminder: Check and see if the item is actually sold out at Target’s website. Plenty of pieces of the Missoni for Target collection can still be purchased online right now at the original retail price. This woman’s bicycle, for instance, is available at the Target website for $399.99.
(LIST: 10 U.S. Retailers Thriving During Tough Times)
Or, if you’d rather, you could purchase the same exact bike at eBay at the “Buy It Now” price of $950.
Brad Tuttle is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @bradrtuttle. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.
