Torch for 750,000 yen…! Official Olympic goods are being resold at high prices on “Mercari”.
Memorabilia available only to those involved in the Olympics is being traded, while fake goods are also being sold.
The Tokyo Olympics were a medal rush. While the excitement of the Olympics is slowing down, there has been a series of high-priced resale of related goods.
On the major flea market app “Mercari”, backpacks distributed free of charge to the media were sold for over 20,000 yen, as well as memorabilia such as ballpoint pens, pin badges and T-shirts distributed free of charge to sponsors. There was even a torch sold for 750,000 yen by a runner who was unable to participate in the torch relay due to Corona.
We interviewed a man who actually bought some Olympic goods through “Mercari”.
He said, “My elderly father has always wanted to be a torchbearer, so I gave him a miniature torch as a memento. The item was an official product and was already sold out before the event. I looked around on various flea market apps and finally bought it for 4,000 yen, about double the regular price. That’s still on the low side, and now the price has risen to over 10,000 yen.
On the other hand, there is a rampant sale of counterfeit goods for resale at high prices. Another man said he was almost caught up in a scam-like problem.
He said, “A home run ball that Yuto Sakamoto hit in a preliminary league baseball game was sold for 200,000 yen. I believed it was completely authentic because it was uploaded together with a photo of me and Sakamoto, which was taken at Yokohama Stadium after the game. …… When I was hesitating to buy it, the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced that they were going to display Sakamoto’s home run ball, and I realized it was a fake.
There were also a number of other items of questionable authenticity, such as the home run ball hit by Munetaka Murakami in the final game, which was sold for 500,000 yen. I wonder if the organizing committee is aware of the current situation of high-priced resale. We sent a letter of inquiry to the committee’s Strategy and Public Relations Division, asking what measures they were taking, but did not receive a response by the deadline.
The resale rush is not likely to end.
“From the September 10, 2021 issue of FRIDAY
