"People Lined Up Before Opening"... Resale Price Plummets from 170,000 Won to 20,000 Won, Is the 'Labubu' Craze Over?

Sharp Drop in Search Volume and Resale Prices... Waning Interest
Limits of SNS-Driven Trends and Counterfeit Controversies Hit Directly

The fever surrounding the Chinese character doll 'Labubu,' which enjoyed immense global popularity this past summer, is rapidly fading. There was a time when people lined up outside stores before opening and prices soared in the resale market, but recently, both consumer interest and transaction prices have plummeted, signaling a reversal in the trend.

Blackpink's Ros? and Lisa posted a photo taken with Labubu on their social networking service (SNS). Ros?, Lisa Instagram

According to Naver Data Lab, over the past six months (from June 17 to December 16), search volume for Labubu peaked at 100 in July and has been steadily declining since. As of December 16, search volume had dropped to just 3 compared to its highest point, indicating a significant decrease in consumer interest. This is a stark contrast to the explosive demand Labubu enjoyed as a must-have item during the summer.

This shift is even more pronounced in the limited edition trading market. According to the limited edition trading platform Kream, the representative product, the 'Labubu Highlight Series Random Box' single item, was trading at 26,000 won as of the 18th. While this is slightly above the original price (21,000 won before the price increase), it is a steep drop from the peak price of 170,000 won seen in the past.

Labubu is Pop Mart's flagship character, and its explosive short-term popularity was fueled by the 'random box' sales method-where buyers do not know which figure they will get until opening the keyring box-and the trend of sharing on social networking services (SNS). In particular, when celebrities and influencers such as Blackpink's Lisa and Ros? and pop star Rihanna posted photos with the character's keyrings and figures, demand surged rapidly.

Fatigue from Viral Hype Accumulates... Counterfeit and Quality Controversies Add to the Decline

Image of the 'Labubu' doll sold at Pop Mart. Pop Mart Korea

During this period, some limited edition products were traded at dozens of times their original price in the resale market, even fueling speculative demand. In China, human-sized Labubu figures were sold at auction for hundreds of millions of won, attracting significant attention. However, this fever did not last long.

A change in atmosphere is also evident on the official Pop Mart Korea website. Whereas products used to sell out immediately upon restocking, now major items can be purchased relatively easily.

Experts cite the structural limitations of SNS-driven trend products as the reason for Labubu's waning popularity. Because interest was concentrated in a short period through viral posts on Instagram and YouTube, repeated exposure to related content led to growing consumer fatigue.

Additionally, controversies over counterfeits and quality control issues have further dampened demand. As popularity soared, sophisticated counterfeits flooded the market, and there were increasing cases of consumers discovering that expensive purchases were in fact fakes, undermining trust. Discrepancies in quality between manufacturing plants, resulting in variations in the dolls' facial shapes and finishing-so-called 'blind box luck'-also fueled dissatisfaction.