Trader Joe’s mini tote frenzy hits California. Resellers are cashing in with prices over $1,000

Los Angeles Times ^ | April 10, 2025 3 AM PT | Jasmine Mendez April 10, 2025 3 AM P

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The mini totes are back, and they are starting another mini craze at your neighborhood Trader Joe’s store.

Trader Joe’s re-released new mini reusable tote bags this week in pastel colors, priced at an affordable $3. The baby blue, pink, lavender and mint green pastel bags are part of the store’s latest spring drop. The bags first became a “must-need item” last year — with the store releasing the mini totes in navy, yellow, red and forest green.

“Our customers have made themselves abundantly clear: the smaller the tote, the bigger the sensation,” Trader Joe’s said on its website.

In California, the tote frenzy hit once again — sending resale prices to mind-boggling heights.

If it all sounds very familiar, that’s because Americans go nuts for a new retail item every few years. Remember the Stanley 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 went loony for the PlayStation 5 and the Popeyes chicken sandwich in 2019. If you’re old enough, you’ll remember the Cabbage Patch doll frenzy in the mid-’80s, the Tickle Me Elmo craze in the mid-’90s and the Pokemon trading cards and video games a few years later.

The latest craze has scores of people lined up outside various locations across the state and country for hours just to purchase a bag.

One online user sounded the alarm Tuesday about a line stretching through a store’s parking lot in the San Fernando Valley.

“I don’t need yogurt THAT bad,” the user wrote on a post to a private Granada Hills Facebook group. Other neighbors commented that customers were trying..

[E. Pluribus Unum]

All righty, then.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Humans are weird.

And starting to worry me a bit.

[Libloather]

And that’s for the mini bag. When is maxi bag season?

[wally_bert]

My wife has a set of four spares I put up on Ebay.

I set them at the recommended defaults.

What some people will spend their money on amazes me a lot.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Don’t sell them to new buyers. They’ll cancel the sale and return something else to you. Only sell to people who have a few hundred eBay purchases.

[Billthedrill]

They’re asking $15 for one on Ebay at the moment. Shipped directly from China. I’m in the wrong business.

[mairdie]

I had a pet rock. Enjoyed it greatly. Less upkeep problems than my two pups, though not as affectionate. Bags look fun.

[wally_bert]

I rarely sell on EBay anymore, too much of a hassle. Once in a while I buy something.

In my many years there, I can think of two or three people who had a problem with anything I sold.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Libs love "tote bags". NPR, PBS, DNC, etc. etc.

[martin_fierro]

[goodnesswins]

Would these people line up to vote?

[FlingWingFlyer]

But they piss and moan because the price of eggs is too high. Idiots.

[null and void]

And that’s for the mini bag. When is maxi bag season?

There's no limit...

[null and void]

The safety pin is backwards...

[Drew68]

I like Trader Joe’s.

Also, having a Trader Joe’s and/or a Whole Foods in your neighborhood is an indicator that you likely live in a good neighborhood.

[Drew68]

But they piss and moan because the price of eggs is too high. Idiots.

You didn't like paying $14 for a carton of eggs?

[Gil4]

I guess they aren’t very good at virtue-signaling.

[ansel12]

Can you imagine the shame if you bought a knock off and someone spotted it as a fake Trader Joe’s tote, don’t risk it, even if you save a couple of hundred.

[skr]

I still have mine. His name is Peter (I know, not very creative). He’s not the size as the ones that were sold in boxes, but he was freeish (my parents did pay for the property) and flattish which was good for hop-scotch. He’s not spoiled; he lives in a small box with other small rocks who remain nameless. They were just interesting to look at with no value at all for hop-scotch.

The bags are cute. I’m sure they can also be useful, especially to small children.

[DAC21]

Morons