Have you tried it at Starbucks?

These days, this is causing such a fuss, haha.

Starbucks new merchandise menu craze

They even do secondhand transactions, haha.

Starbucks new Harry Potter cake. Reporter Jung Ji-eun

 

Seoul Economy

 

Newly released Starbucks merchandise, created through a collaboration involving Harry Potter intellectual property (IP), is gaining popularity in celebration of the New Year.

 

Since the 6th of last month, Starbucks has collaborated with Warner Bros. to introduce Harry Potter-related collaboration products (MD). Most of the merchandise was sold out on the same day.

 

The merchandise released by Starbucks this time is themed around Hogwarts and the magical world, the background of Harry Potter. The main merchandise prices are: Hogwarts House Elma Tumbler 48,000 won, Harry Potter Zion Mug 35,000 won, Harry Potter Handle Glass 35,000 won, and Harry Potter Wand Muddler 25,000 won. It is available for a limited time and only at select stores.

 

In some stores, a rush to obtain merchandise caused a phenomenon known as an "open run." Starbucks also sold some items through the app store, but just before the sale, the number of app users surged, leading to a few minutes of waiting time.

 

The online store, like the offline store where goods are unavailable, faces a similar situation. As the number of merchandise buyers increases, Starbucks has imposed a limit of two items per product.

 

On the 6th, Starbucks notified some customers who purchased merchandise through their online store that refunds would be issued for certain orders due to stock shortages. It was explained that a surge in orders at the same time led to an excess of orders compared to available stock.

 

As a result, transactions on secondhand trading platforms sometimes occur at prices higher than the original price. With markups of two to three times the original product, some resellers are also enthusiastically purchasing goods.

 

New beverages and cakes have also been launched. The two new drinks are 'Hogwarts Golden Vanilla Latte' (6,500 won) and 'Slytherin Plum Green Tea' (6,300 won), along with desserts 'Happy Birthday Harry Cake' (12,900 won) and 'Platform 9¾ Cake' (7,900 won). All of these products are inspired by the movie 'Harry Potter' and will be available to customers until February 2nd.

 

Reporter Je Ji-eun (jean@sedaily.com)