A TikTok Trend That Resells Before Christmas
The Dyson AirWrap became a household name, and a very popular Christmas gift.
Key Points
- The Dyson Airwrap gained viral recognition in the months leading up to Christmas 2021, and began selling out everywhere.
- Retailing for $550, it was possible to resell Airwraps for upwards of $750 at peak interest. It was also possible to get sizable discounts by taking advantage of store programs.
- Airwraps are still quite popular, but much easier to acquire now. They remain a great example of how sudden demand of a mainstream product can create a good flip.
Originally released in 2018, the Dyson Airwrap is a combination straightener, styler and hair dryer. The product grew in popularity over the years until exploding on TikTok in 2021. After going viral on social media, stocks of the product rapidly sold out.
The Airwrap blew up just before Christmas, and it was clear that many people were buying it as a gift. After resellers caught wind of the product, they began buying up supplies and reselling Airwraps for incredible profit. Every year, we see a handful of items go viral and become the standout gifts of the season. For 2021, the Airwrap was one of these.
What is the Dyson Airwrap?
The Dyson Airwrap is a combination of a straightener, curler, and hair dryer. The Airwrap Complete is the highest tier package, and includes all the extra attachments usually sold separately, and was the most popular version sold through 2021. The Airwrap Complete sold for $550.
By combining multiple styling appliances into one, the Dyson Airwrap is quite attractive to anyone looking to reduce clutter. It's also ideal for travel, and makes an ideal gift for students, newlyweds or anyone upgrading their living situation.
First released in 2018, the Airwrap was written about favorably by style magazines, but was often criticized for its notably high price of $550. While somewhat understandable as a combination of multiple devices, $550 still struck people as too expensive for a styler.
While a higher price may dissuade some people from buying, others may be attracted to the perceived luxury of an inflated price tag. This is especially true when buying it as a gift, where people are more likely to spend over what they'd buy for themselves.
Why did the Airwrap become popular?
After a few years on the market, the Airwrap had become well known as a high quality product. Despite this, it had yet to catch on in a major way, and remained more or less a luxury item. However, this all changed in late 2020.
In December of 2020, influencer Nichole Ciotti posted this TikTok. With more than 12 million views, and 600,000 favorites, the TikTok massively boosted the popularity of the Airwrap going into 2021 and the product went from being nice-to-have to a must-have.
As the year went on, other creators produced their own Airwrap videos to take advantage of the trend. Nichole Ciotti actually received a sponsorship from Dyson, and now includes a purchase link in her social media. Since her initial Airwrap video, she has released countless others, with a 2022 video reaching nearly 3 million views.
The explosion in popularity for Airwraps would build over the year. During 2021, it was normal for the Dyson Airwrap to be sold out, especially the Airwrap Complete. While it was still possible to catch a restock if you were alert, things would change towards the end of the year.
Why did the Dyson Airwrap resell?
As the holidays grew near, the Dyson Airwrap began to trend again, this time as a gift idea. TikToks like these started going viral, likely sponsored and promoted by Dyson to boost sales. One popular term thrown around was "the PS5 for girls" which may help illustrate just how popular these stylers became.
Just like consoles were perenially sold out and resold for the last four years, the Dyson Airwrap vanished from shelves after Thanksgiving, and started to resell for significantly over retail.
Retailing for $550, people could resell Airwraps for upwards of $700, often nearing $800, even $900 towards the end of the season. While early buyers were more likely to find a better deal, those who waited until the last minute were desperate, and willing to pay a significantly higher price to a reseller.
Additionally, resellers found they could take advantage of store programs for major discounts. Members of either BestBuy's TotalTech program or the now-defunct Elite membership could get up to $110 off their purchases for Dyson Airwraps. Even without one of these memberships, it was sometimes possible to contact BestBuy support and request a price match, although this didn't always work.
Buying Airwraps at $550 and reselling for $700 was a profit of $150, and this was more or less the low end expected out of buying and selling Airwraps. Resellers could expect to make about double this if they took advantage of price matching, and sold locally to avoid shipping costs.
Every year, we see something like the Dyson Airwrap Complete make a splash on the aftermarket. Usually these products gain their notoriety early in the year, as lifestyle bloggers and TikTokers blow up a product into viral fame. When this happens, resellers should keep a careful eye on the product as the holiday season nears.
Reselling hair stylers is just one way to profit from buying and selling items. There's plenty more items out there, and ever year we'll see something new.
If you missed out on these, maybe it's time to connect with other resellers, and join a group dedicated to reselling for profit. For other tips on finding the best items to resell, check out our other articles.
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