Bag Charms - Gothic Bag Accessories

If you're on any social media platform you are bound to have noticed celebrities, influencers or just people you know have started to accessorize their handbags with cutesy plush charms. People are going crazy for these evil looking teddy bears, why?

And why is this a recession indicator?

Firstly, the bag charm trend became popular in South Korea due to K-Pop idols such as Lisa from BlackPink expressing an interest in collecting them. At first these dolls were popping up on my socials occasionally, with groups buying the blind boxes as a day out. I'm not too proud to admit I just ordered a SkullPanda Winter Symphony blind-box myself haha (As you can see from the picture I got Rhapsody!)

Then it got out of hand, scalpers started bulk buying and charging double the price for a specific colourway due to the rarity. This only crossed my mind how uncontrollable the situation was getting when PopMart announced they were 'temporarily' pausing the sale of The Monsters collection in their UK stores and vending machine locations.

The only deduction I could make as to why people are willing to pay exorbitant prices, is completionism. Each collection is marketed as a group of six on average with an secret doll design not mentioned on the box. So in theory, you have a 1/7 chance of getting a different type of doll. It's almost the same as the Gacha game mechanic, the more you spend, the more likely you are to get a 'rare' character. Consider someone with an addictive personality, you get a dopamine hit when you purchase a blind box as there is a 'chance' to win big. As soon as they realise they didn't get the character they wanted, they'll buy more. It's an endless cycle until they get the full set.

This is where scalpers come into play. Fighting compulsions is no easy feat. Picture your collection missing one doll, and you see someone on Vinted is selling it for three times the market value compared to if you got it 'by chance'. Could you justify it? Scalpers know this, and prey on this fixation.

A sense of false scarcity has been created due to outrageous demand. If the buyers were to sit down and evaluate the actual value of these toys, I can imagine they would think twice before bidding £100 on Ebay for a fleeting trend. This will only be fuelled by PopMart's decision to suspend sales.

Interestingly, the above is not the most thought provoking of this topic.

Several creators have noted the popularity of these gothic bag accessories and it's similarity to the 'lipstick effect' - where consumers are more likely to buy small luxuries to indulge instead of larger delicacies during an economic downturn. Similar to the 'sweet treat' mindset, purchasing something small but still brings you joy satisfies as a distraction from the current economic and political nightmare we are living in today.

Comment below if you'll be purchasing one :)