Trader's Joe's Everything But the Bagel Sesame Seasoning is having a moment and that's set reseller opportunists on Amazon and elsewhere in motion.
Amazon's third-party sellers, which represent half of its online retail business, haven't stopped with the popular seasoning that Trader Joe's launched in 2017.
There are pages and pages of Trader Joe's branded items on Amazon from cookie butter and toasted coconut pancake mix to face wash made with tea tree oil. The items are sold by the online giant's huge network of independent sellers and fulfilled by Amazon.
But Trader Joe's isn't one of them and the California-based specialty grocer has something to say about it.
"We do not authorize the reselling of our products and cannot stand behind the quality, safety or value of any Trader Joe's product sold outside of our store," Kenya Friend-Daniel, Trader Joe's spokeswoman, said in an emailed response.
Trader Joe's doesn't sell groceries online and this year it stopped making deliveries in New York City saying it was too expensive. It's opting out of offering the service to city dwellers without cars in order help keep its prices down, the company told Business Insider in January.
"The store is our brand and our products work best when they're sold as part of the overall customer experience within the store," said Friend-Daniel. "Part of that experience is the value we are committed to providing customers, each and every time they shop our stores _ great products of the highest quality at great prices."
Many of the Trader Joe's items are eligible for Amazon Prime same-day delivery, but the 200 percent, 300 percent and 400 percent mark-ups are worth the drive to the nearest Trader Joe's.
Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats (2 pack) is $20.31 on Amazon and there were "only four left in stock" at that price on Monday morning. Likewise, for Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Snaps for $13.95.
Trader Joe's has almost 500 stores in 41 states plus Washington D.C., but it's gravitated to big urban markets and their suburbs.
