Is $120 too expensive for a tote bag? This designer doesn’t think so
The trusty tote is typically reserved for hauling groceries, carrying work or assimilating in Bushwick — but how much would you shell out for a beater bag made of canvas?
While many would tap out at $15 for the famous Trader Joe’s sack or $35 at most for the LL Bean carryall, influencer Emily Mariko is asking for a whopping $120 for her highly anticipated farmers market tote, which she launched this week.
Many of her devout followers, of which she boasts more than 13 million across platforms, scrutinized the astronomical price tag — akin to reusable bags from the high-end LA grocer Erewhon — calling it “insane and ridiculous” for a minimalist tote that “looks so cheap.”
“I’m so sorry Emily Mariko but it’s giving free gift with $75 purchase,” snarked one TikTok commenter upon seeing the asking price.
“If I ever pay $120 for a $2 Trader Joe’s tote bag, somebody shoot me,” griped another, likening the creator’s plain bag to the grocer’s cult favorite.
“Yes girl! Give us nothing!!” quipped someone else.
“Girl I would buy it for $12 not $120,” wrote one person, with someone else adding that it “looks so cheap.”
“I’m now an Emily Mariko hater after seeing the price for this SHEIN bag,” declared another viewer.
“$120 in THIS economy???!!!!” added another.
But a few TikTokers are defending Mariko, whose claim to TikTok fame was her salmon and rice recipe, arguing that “if you don’t have the money to buy a bag, don’t buy it.”
One content creator, who goes only by Viki, compared users’ woes to walking into a Hermès boutique and complaining about the prices of luxury items.
In short, those who could spare $120 for the cotton tote did — both colors, strawberry milk and eucalyptus, are already sold out.
“You are not the target audience for the store or product,” Viki explained online.
“I think a lot of people really have a hard time accepting this.”
