A Single Christmas Decoration that Resells for $150+

The Christmas season of 2021 would see the release of this blow mold, a two foot tall version of Mickey Mouse dressed as Santa, featuring LED lighting. The design would prove wildly popular, and stores quickly sold out of the mold. In the initial leadup to the holidays, resellers made significant profits selling the blow molds online. Retailers have yet to announce whether the product will be making a return, and aftermarket prices remain high.

Why do holiday decorations resell?

If you read our previous article about the viral Halloween decorations that resellers took advantage of last year, you're familiar with the emerging market for holiday decorations. In 2021, the average household spent $63 on holiday decorations alone, a $10 increase since 2015. This rise in spending can be seen as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, where families that have spent significant amounts of time isolated at home seek out additional ways to mark the holidays. One of these is putting up decorations, because nothing says Christmas like reindeer on the roof and fake snow on the lawn.

In addition to increased spending, social media and the prevalence on viral trends has an influence on which products sell out. YouTube is full of videos every holiday season recommending which products to buy, many of which attract tens of thousands of views. Furthermore, because these holidays are a seasonal event, manufacturers will generally underproduce products, rather than risk letting them sit on shelves.

So, when a product like these blow molds proves popular, and sells out, retailers are simply unable to keep up with demand. It won't be for another year that they will see delivery of additional shipments, so once an item begins to sell out, it makes it even more popular and desirable.

The Mickey Mouse blow mold

This phenomenon is exactly what happened in 2021, as the Mickey Mouse blow molds that retailed for $40 left shelves extremely quickly. Resellers who got in early were able to flip the molds for $100 or more very easily, and confident sellers that held their stock closer to the holiday could make $150-$200 off last-minute buyers.

Since the initial release, there has been no word from any retailer as to the future plans for these blow molds. There are still numerous listings on sites like Etsy, Mercari, and eBay for them, so it seems resellers are continuing to make a profit. If the manufacturer does decide to produce them for the 2022 holiday season, it's unclear if they will still be a good item to buy to resell, as this second production may be significantly larger, and harder to control.