Chaos as Aldi cream sells out in three minute frenzy

Aldi’s Caviar face cream Special Buy is flying off shelves, with some customers reporting the cult-buy was gone within three minutes of one store opening it’s doors.

The discount shopping giant has won legions of fans with the $19 Caviar Illumination Day Cream and Night Cream which went on sale this morning, and is widely considered a high-quality dupe of La Prairie’s $700 luxury beauty cream, and well worth its weight in gold.

Though it has a reputation for turning mild-mannered shoppers into crazed predators, no one could have foreseen the queues outside shops this morning, or the multiple shops sold out of the products just one hour after shops officially opened.

Customers queuing outside stores

“The Caviar cream always sells out within seconds,” popular Instagram account Aldi Lovers AU told Yahoo Lifestyle.

“People go crazy for it!”

They have the snaps to prove it too, with the bargain hunting account sharing images from shoppers including some who were queuing before stores even opened.

Others showed crowds lined up, slipping under the opening roller door, and running full-pelt for the shelves.

One woman’s video showed throngs of people stocking up on the product, jostling for space.

The filmer, Mrs Nichols, told Yahoo Lifestyle that she never even got the cream, despite arriving before the doors had opened.

“This happens every time I go to Aldi early morning wanting to buy the cream,” she said.

“It’s a real struggle for mums with prams because the other customers are in a dog-eat-dog situation.”

She said she was ‘‘too scared to be near them” and saw people grabbing the product by the box-full.

Shoppers furious as product sells out

Not everyone was so lucky however, and many irate shoppers shared disappointing snaps of empty shelves, and even took to Aldi’s Facebook page to complain as shops sold out in minutes.

Others had a similar experience.

“Caviar skin care already sold out yet again, BS stock levels,” one woman complained.

“(You) know how popular it is, ridiculous!”

“You're never likely (to) get it,” another advised.

“It’s a special and always sells out minutes after opening.”

eBay bulk-buyers under fire

The fury was only exacerbated after Yahoo Lifestyle discovered the product was being resold on eBay for over four times the RRP, at $89.

Since this morning, eBay has exploded with brand new listings for the product, in part explained by the footage of shoppers grabbing whole boxes of the coveted cream.

While some listings are only for individual creams, others have the complete set of Day, Night and Serum going for a cool $120.

Aldi Lover’s Instagram page commented on the eBay trend publicly, slamming shoppers who bought in bulk.

“Don’t be a sh*t human and buy in bulk just to make a profit on eBay,” the site shared in an instagram story.

“Makes me so mad.”

The average asking price on second-hand sites is sitting at around double Aldi’s price tag on average.

An Aldi spokesperson told Yahoo Lifestyle they endeavour to include the cream in multiple Special Buys every year.

As for customers stocking up to resell them, they’re not in a rush to limit items.

“We are not in the practice of restricting the volume of items sold to our customers and our focus will remain on correctly balancing customer demand with stock availability.”

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