Lidl investigates after signature colour trainers are targeted by resellers

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Sep 27, 2021

Value-priced supermarket chain Lidl is to investigate why vast numbers of a quickly-sold-out line of £12.99 trainers ended up on re-sale websites at vastly inflated prices, angering some customers.

“We’re aware of this issue and it’s currently being investigated internally,” a Lidl spokesperson said.

The trainers (and accompanying matching socks) have been a major hit with shoppers after they first dropped a week ago, their brash colours feeding into the 1990s trend. But stocks swiftly sold out across all UK stores, according to Lidl's official Twitter account. It said there were no plans for a restock.

The shoes were part of a new fashion range ‘Lidl-by-Lidl’ that sold out in hours in some stores but then appeared on Depop, eBay and other websites where sellers have been offering them for prices that range from £35 to £500, right up to Buy-it-now prices of £1,000, The Guardian reported.

Some sellers have sold dozens of pairs at £35 each while others have put together “packages” of trainers, socks and board shorts within the clothing range.

Disgruntled consumers took to Twitter to complain about the situation directly to Lidl's GB account. Some visited multiple stores on the day the trainers went on sale but left empty-handed.

One seller, Alfie Hayward from the West Midlands, told The Guardian that he initially bought a couple of pairs of the trainers but went back and stocked up when he realised they would be popular.

“All the shoes sold out in about three days,” Hayward said. “I had about 30 pairs of trainers, so about 10 pairs a day sold. That’s not to mention the socks – which sold even quicker.”