Frozen black market heats up: Dolls from popular Disney movie fetch $1,000 online after Australian stores sell out

Dis ney dolls sell for up to $1,000 on eBay after Australian stores sold out

Retailers reported shortages in toys after film's release on Boxing Day

Parents forced to spend hundreds of dollars importing from overseas



A shortage in Frozen merchandise has triggered an inflated online black market with desperate parents willing to shell out big money for the popular Disney toys after stores across Australia sold out.

Parents are now spending hundreds of dollars to import merchandise toys from the Disney film, with dolls being sold on eBay for as much as $1,000 and dress up costumes ranging from $174 to $530.

Retailers reported shortages in Frozen merchandise within days of the movie's release on Boxing Day and Disney Australia's marketing director Kate Kavanagh said all Frozen dolls and merchandise had now sold out nationally.

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Freeze on toys: Parents are paying hundreds of dollars trying to import merchandise from the Disney film Frozen after Australian stores ran out of stock

'The results have been extraordinary. When something like this is such a surprise hit and there's such demand for consumer products, it's rare we have enough,' Ms Kavanagh told the Daily Telegraph.

Disney has admitted to underestimating the popularity of the film, which has so far reaped $1.2 billion at the international box office.

The animated film is based on the story of two princess sisters, Elsa and Anna, with one of them having powers to create ice and snow.

Disney has admitted to underestimating the popularity of the film, which has so far reaped $1.2 billion at the international box office. Parents at this US Disney store lined up outside to try and buy Frozen merchandise

Sydney dad Michael Procter managed to get his daughters – Angalina, 6, and Aurora, 4 – two Elsa dolls in the US last week but the Disney store had limited purchases to one doll per person.

He had to ask a friend to buy the second doll.

Six-year-old Tahlia Crewe had to make her own merchandise with her mother's attempts to locate toys falling short.

'There's nothing left, nothing. Toys'R'Us and Target, I've continuously looked. I've looked at Amazon, and Google searched for official merchandise, and I can't find anything,' Jasmine Crewe told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Target has 18,000 Frozen dolls on order for July, according to a spokesman for the retailer.

Frozen-inspired dress up costumes for Elsa and Anna range from $174 to $530 on eBay



