Mini Labubu prices sink 24% from peak as speculative mania cools

The premium once commanded by Labubu collectibles is narrowing in secondary markets in China, signaling fading speculative demand as collectors grow cautious about the value of Asia’s most hyped designer toys.

Toymaker Pop Mart International Group Ltd.’s most-recent release — a blind-box of 14 mini Labubus — has seen resale premiums drop 24% from their pre-launch peak two weeks ago, according to data gleaned from reseller platforms. The set averaged 1,594 yuan ($223) over the past three days on Qiandao, a Chinese reselling and trading platform focused on pop toys, versus its original retail price of 1,106 yuan.

Data from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Xianyu, another secondary marketplace, shows 50% of consumers expect the mini Labubu prices to fall further, compared with just 38% who see value dropping for a slightly bigger version of the toy — suggesting waning confidence about the toy’s resale potential.

The decline in premium contrasts sharply with the feverish demand that has come to define Labubus, the rabbit-eared plush dolls sought by celebrities from BlackPink’s Lisa to David Beckham. Last month’s launch of a mini version of the toy saw fans across China, the US, Japan and South Korea snatch them up within minutes.

Resale prices of two hidden editions of this series also dropped, including on China’s largest gray market platform Dewu. 

Pop Mart attributed the price decline in the second-hand market in part to increased production, which a spokesperson said makes the company’s products more accessible to consumers.

“In the long term, this will be more conducive to the further development of the company’s performance,” the spokesperson said in response to a Bloomberg News query.

Pop Mart’s Hong Kong-listed shares were down 11% in the past three trading days. The fundamentals of Pop Mart appear to have weakened recently, Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a recent note, attributing it to possibly the lack of resale premium of the mini Labubu.

Beijing-based Pop Mart has emerged as the hottest Chinese consumer stock over the past year, riding on a wave of demand for its toothy plush toys. The shares have rallied about 200% this year, taking its market capitalization to HK$370 billion ($47.4 billion) as of Wednesday close and making its founder one of China’s youngest billionaires.

Prices of previous series Labubu dolls fell further following the release of the mini version. A hidden version from a series known as Labubu 3.0 that was priced at more than 4,000 yuan on Qiandao in June, is now available for 752 yuan, compared with the official retail price of 99 yuan.