Fashion-savvy Roblox players are dishing out major real-world money to style their avatars. The new handbags, part of a collaboration with fashion line Gucci, are being sold by scalpers for thousands of dollars. These prices sometimes even exceed the asking price for the real-life purses.
Like many online communities, Roblox has a digital marketplace. Players can buy clothes, accessories, and hairstyles from others or as part of events. These can be purchased with Robux, the in-game currency. While there are ways of earning Robux, players can also opt to buy a set amount using cash. For example, 800 Robux costs USD$9.99. Roblox also has a sizeable black market of sorts, which gives players the opportunity to buy limited-time items they might have missed out on.
According to Polygon, one of those items is the Dionysus Gucci Bag with Bee from the Gucci Garden Experience collaboration. The purse was only sold for one hour on May 17. Initially, fans were quick to mock it and the event, but by the next day, it was the next must-have accessory. Scalpers began listing it for one million Robux - an absurd price, or so they assumed. However, people began shelling out the money. SharkBlox released a video on YouTube showing them paying over $4,000 for the bag.
The influx in buyers is strange, as the Gucci Garden Experience was met with derision upon announcement. Other items released during the event, like sunglasses or even another Dionysus bag, did not become a scalper's dream overnight. It's also unlikely that any of subsequent items sold during the event will have the same impact; players have learned their lesson about supply and demand, and the event is still ongoing until May 31st.
Still, it's bizarre to see how much people are willing to spend on their avatars. The real-life Dionysus GG Queen Bee bag launched at a price of $3,500. Even now, a smaller chain bag equivalent can be bought on the Gucci website for $1,350 - $228 more than the average price of $1,578 on Roblox. Of course, that price has since dropped, as the fad has blown over somewhat.
People are entitled to spend their money however they want. If they wish to spend it on accessorizing a video game character, that's a perfectly valid option. But there comes a point when the need for fashion goes too far. What may seem like a surefire investment is liable to blow over as nothing more than another flash-in-the-pan sensation. Roblox players might be trying to the "Gucci Gang," but it's not a crowd that will linger.
Source: Polygon, SharkBlox/YouTube
