Italian Collector Nearly Paid Double for Labubu Year of the Horse Series

An Italian collector nearly paid double for Pop Mart’s Labubu “Year of the Horse” series after overlooking U.S. stock availability, regional pricing differences and international shipping logistics, a comGateway first-person account reports. The account, published March 6, 2026, frames the near-miss as a sourcing lesson with three explicit causes: U.S. stock, regional price gaps and cross-border shipping costs.

Those supply-and-price dynamics show up in collectors’ pockets. Ethan Melillo, 32, of Rhode Island told Refinery29 he owns 26 Labubus and has “spent well over $500 on them,” tracing his first buy to a Coca-Cola Labubu on Pop Mart’s channel. Emmeline Roane, 30, of Philadelphia reports buying a first “legit” figure for $60 at San Francisco’s Japantown mall and a second for $45 from a Facebook seller in Philadelphia, illustrating how local retail and private sales can beat higher international markups. On the reseller side, Kelly, 32, from Macao built a queuing-and-online partnership: Kelly queues at pop-ups while a partner finds customers on Rednote, Xianyu and Carousel, and she says, “For the latest Labubu series, people are willing to pay more than double their cost.”

U.S. retail price points and resale premiums underline that gap. NBC published U.S. list prices of $27.99 for a single blind box and $167.94 for a six-pack, while noting resale prices “can more than double” on eBay. Pop Mart’s blind box mechanic and social-media buzz drive that exclusivity and luck element; Pop Mart describes Labubu as a small monster with “high, pointed ears and serrated teeth” who is “kind-hearted and always wants to help, but often accidentally achieves the opposite.”

The collector craze shows in auction results. NBC reported an auction sold all 48 lots for 3.73 million yuan, about $520,000, with nearly 1,000 collectors bidding either in person or online. Auction house Yongle called the bidding “intense” and said the turnout demonstrated the “growing momentum of pop art in the auction market,” adding by messaging app, “In a somewhat stagnant art auction market, this development is both stimulating and indicative.” Yongle told NBC it will start holding Labubu auctions regularly. NBC also published a correction on June 11, 2025 clarifying the retailer is Pop Mart.

Corporate scale helps explain the margins. Robb Report cited Pop Mart earnings showing first-half 2025 revenue of 13.88 billion yuan, The Monsters characters generating 4.81 billion yuan and net income of 4.57 billion yuan, with those Monsters accounting for 34.7 percent of revenue. Robb Report also notes Labubu joined Pop Mart’s blind box lineup in 2018 and that celebrities including Lisa, Rihanna, David Beckham and Marc Jacobs have helped fuel the craze; Instagram creator Jake (@whatsjakin) summed a fashion turn by saying, “I noticed that a Van Cleef Alhambra bracelet is the perfect necklace for a Labubu.” NBC added that Pop Mart founder Wang Ning grew wealthier by about $8 billion from 2024 to 2025, per Forbes.

The comGateway account leaves the practical takeaway blunt: check local U.S. stock, compare regional prices and factor in international shipping and customs before jumping to a reseller listing. That trio of mistakes — stock, price, logistics — is exactly what turned a straightforward blind-box hunt into a near-double payment for one Italian buyer.