Pop Mart’s latest pop up store at Bugis+ has drawn massive crowds and scalpers looking to make a quick profit.
Following the global craze for Labubu, Pop Mart’s themed park POP LAND made its way from Beijing’s Chaoyang Park to Singapore, opening a 12 day pop up from October 15 to 26 selling limited edition MOKOKO series dolls, blind boxes and other merchandise.
The MOKOKO line differs slightly from Labubu. All dolls come in pink and are not available in local stores, making the event highly anticipated among collectors.
To avoid overcrowding, only customers with prior reservations were allowed entry. Registration opened on October 14, and visitors were required to verify their identity before entering. Each person could buy only four out of seven MOKOKO designs, with no duplicates allowed. Prices ranged from $25.90 to $115.90.
However, Shin Min Daily News reporters who visited Bugis+ on Monday October 20, which was Deepavali, saw a different kind of hustle with scalpers waiting outside the store for buyers.
The most popular design, “Fall into Spring” (also known as “Big Spring Day”), priced at $115.90, had already sold out by noon. Outside the store, some sellers were seen openly reselling dolls for several times the retail price, with the “Big Spring Day” going for $750, while the smaller “Little Spring Day,” originally $38.90, was resold for $450.
Some sellers even came prepared with suitcases full of dolls, claiming they were buying together with friends.
Earlier on social media, netizens had already shared posts offering to buy and resell dolls on the spot, with some online listings pricing the “Spring Day” dolls as high as $1,800.
One shopper without an entry ticket told reporters she had wanted to buy the “Big Spring Day” but gave up due to the high resale prices. In the end, she still paid more than $100 above retail for a small keychain that originally cost just over $20.
Ms Han, 25, an administrative executive who managed to enter the pop up store, said she bought four keychains as gifts.
She added, “The scalpers’ actions have affected the overall prices, but buying from them is a personal choice for collectors. It’s hard to stop such behaviour.”
