Viral Trader Joe's mini insulated tote is back — but there's a customer limit
Trader Joe’s viral mini insulated tote bags are back, with a limit on how many each customer can purchase.
Shoppers have revealed that they’ve spotted the mini coolers, which went viral last summer, in U.S. stores again. This time, the inexpensive bag is being sold in two colors, pink and lavender, as shown by the Trader Joe’s Obsessed account on Instagram. Along with a handle, each bag features a graphic of a Trader Joe’s store in Pasadena, California.
“My friend spotted this just now for $3.99 at Henderson, Las Vegas and it’s super cute. She also spotted the purple one but grabbed two pink,” Trader Joe’s Obsessed captioned their post.
The page also noted that at the Trader Joe’s in Henderson, each customer could only purchase two of the bags, which are perfect for either storing your lunch or keeping your drinks cold.
According to the fan account, there are also rumors that Trader Joe’s will launch more of these bags in different colors.
TikTok videos from fans all around the U.S. have confirmed that the mini totes are back. In one clip posted by a user named @daddy_hollywood, customers could be seen heading towards the display of mini insulated tote bags at a Trader Joe’s store in California.
The sign on the display indicated that there was a limit of two bags per customer. This limit also applies at a Trader Joe’s in San Francisco, California, as reported by SFGate, and a store in Reno, Nevada, according to The Reno Gazette.
The two-bags per-customer rule comes as no surprise. In July, there was the same limit on how many mini insulated totes — which were then sold in pink and blue — customers could buy.
A representative for Trader Joe’s confirmed to The Independent that the lavender and pink mini insulated totes are arriving in Trader Joe’s stores this week. They also noted that the availability of totes varies based on each store.
“Our mission is to bring customers the best quality products at the best prices. To do this, we have to manage our store space well. Some Trader Joe’s products are everyday products, and others are only available for a limited time,” the representative said. “The Trader Joe’s Insulated Mini Totes are a limited-time product. Each store determines its merchandising plan, and availability will differ from store to store.”
As fans rush to Trader Joe’s to get their hands on the mini totes, some are already being resold online for a much higher price tag. One eBay listing currently offers a pink and a lavender tote for a total of $34.75.
Over the years, Trader Joe’s has had great success with their popular accessories, including smaller versions of their best-selling canvas totes and full-size insulated bags in an array of colors – incentivizing customers to collect more as the company releases different versions.
In June, the $3 mini canvas tote bag — which features the Trader Joe’s logo — went viral. It became something of a status symbol on TikTok, with influencers sharing how they customized the mini bags with paint, buttons, and embroidery.
Like the mini coolers, the mini totes — offered in blue, red, green, and yellow — were later resold on platforms like eBay and Facebook Marketplace for three times the price. Third-party sellers were offering the bags from $20 for one to $999 for a set of four.
“Our Mini Canvas Tote Bags certainly sold more quickly than we anticipated,” Nakia Rohde, a spokesperson for Trader Joe’s, told the Associated Press at the time. “Before we had the opportunity to promote them in any way, customers across the country found them at their neighborhood Trader Joe’s.”
In September, the mini canvas tote made its return, with customers again swarming the aisles of Trader Joe’s stores, after waiting hours outside. Once the bags were eventually sold out, some buyers listed theirs for up to $500 on resale sites.
