Aldi shopper tries to sell $149 air fryers on Facebook for $279

A man has infuriated Aldi shoppers by trying to sell five of the supermarket’s popular air fryers on Facebook — but at almost double the cost.

A man on Facebook has been slammed by other Aldi customers for trying to sell five of the supermarket’s sought-after air fryers at an inflated price.

A screenshot shared in the Aldi Mums Facebook group showed the man was trying to sell the air fryers from the discount supermarket chain on an Aldi Buy, Swap and Sell page.

“Brand new in box un open (sic),” the description read. “5 available.”

His asking price for each fryer was $279, a whopping $130 more than the $149 price tag they had when they hit shelves in Aldi last Wednesday.

The 16-litre “multifunction” air fryer costs a fraction of the cost of other more expensive brands, with shoppers reporting huge queues for the items in Aldi stores across the country.

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The Facebook listing offered up five of the air fryers for a whopping $130 more than the price they were sold for in Aldi.

The man’s listing was blasted by those who had missed out, with one person calling him a “jerk” and labelling it the perfect example of why there should be buying limits for certain Special Buys.

“Special electronic buys should be restricted to one per customer. It’s a no-brainer,” one mum wrote.

“I hope he is stuck with them. can’t sell and can’t return. Will teach him a lesson in being greedy,” another said.

However others said they didn’t see an issue with the man’s offer, arguing that it meant those who really wanted a certain Special Buys item didn’t miss out.

“He’s paid for it. He has the right to do whatever he wants with it. If someone is silly enough to pay that much for it then nothing to get worked up about,” one person commented.

“I think what’s more tragic is people would buy it,” another mum wrote. “He wouldn’t keep on selling them if there was no demand.

“People need to be well informed as well to know that Aldi is not the only shop that sells this and there are options out there. It’s OK to miss out.”

In a statement, Aldi told news.com.au its Specials Buys had become “increasingly popular” and sometimes it experienced “higher than expected sell-through of our Special Buys”.

“It is never our intention to cause disappointment to our customers, and we will always strive to allocate optimal supplies for our stores to meet demand,” an Aldi spokeswoman said.

“We are not in the practice of restricting the volume of items sold to our customers and our focus will remain on correctly balancing customer demand with stock availability.”

RELATED: Shoppers divided as Aldi sells shopping baskets

The sought-after item saw huge queues in Aldi stores across Australia last week.

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AIR FRYER SPARKS ‘ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING’ FRENZY

Shoppers who lined up hoping to get their hands on the $149 air fryer last week reported chaotic scenes.

One woman wrote in the Aldi Mums Facebook group that she saw “absolutely disgusting behaviour” from a shopper desperate to get his hands on an air fryer.

She claimed claiming he “rammed the lady next to me with her trolley” because she was holding him up.

“That’s not OK,” she said. “What has happened to people? It’s very sad, all over a special buy.”

Another claimed there was “bloodshed” at her Aldi where more than 100 people had lined up for the appliance.

“I was first in line, with people pushing in, not following the line markers the staff put out,” she wrote.

“Some lady brought her kids and they all ran up the aisle grabbing everything first. Was a bit chaotic.”

This photo of a man buying up big on Special Buys items went viral on Facebook in May.

Aldi issued a statement on Facebook saying the air fryer and pastry maker had been available in “limited supply” due to the impact of coronavirus on delivery.

“We apologise in advance for any disappointment this might cause our customers, and remind everyone to shop with kindness in this challenging time,” the statement, shared on Facebook, read.

In all Victorian stores plus Albury and Lavington, the air fryer wasn’t in stock at all “to encourage customers to follow” state COVID-19 restrictions.

Aldi’s Special Buys have long been a unmissable event for shoppers keen to get their hands on a bargain, however, they have attracted criticism for not imposing buying limits.

While Aldi does not have a national policy on Special Buys restrictions it does allow individual stores to “reserve the right to limit purchases to one per customer when they anticipate unusually high demand”.
Shoppers have also expressed concern over customers not following social distancing rules in a bid to get their hands on a bargain, prompting some to suggest a ticketing or number system be used instead of queuing.