It may be a cute name, but the Bonds Wondersuit sale at ALDI this week wasn’t exactly sweet.
Parents swarmed the retailer’s social media to complain of queues, customers hoarding stock and items selling out.
The suits, which usually retail at $24.95, were selling at the bargain price of $11.99.
The range is notorious for its sell-on value with some suits selling for hundreds in secondary markets. One Strawberry ‘Zippy Wondersuit’ sold on eBay for more than $200 after 36 bids on Wednesday night.
The sale began when Aldi's doors opened on Wednesday morning, but many parents complained the suits had sold out only hours later.
"I went to four Aldi stores today (in four different towns) only to find that they had all sold out of Bonds Zippy suits before 9am," one user said.
"Very disappointed with my shopping experience at Aldi Minto today. Not only did they not have a single Bonds suit available when the special buys only started today, but your stock was mislabeled," another user said.
Watch: Some of the more 'interesting' baby names out there. (Post continues after video.)
One parent said she arrived early but was too afraid to return to her car in case it cost her spot.
"I didn't want to lose my place in line so I stood with my baby in the freezing cold for 45 minutes and waited. As time went on more people arrived also expecting the 8am opening," she said.
Other users complained they were left empty-handed after some shoppers began hoarding stock.
"Would like to recommend that future sales of items like Bonds Wondersuits have quantity limits imposed, as all three stores in my local area sold out within an hour due to a very small amount of people buying trolley fulls [sic]," one user said.
"So I walked into Aldi at Fairfield West at 9:15am to get some Bonds Zippys which just went on sale today and to my surprise there were none left as one lady had filled her trolley with all of them," another user said.
"[It's] not uncommon to see customers queuing before opening hours in anticipation of the Special Buys being released that day," a spokesperson for Bonds Australia told The Daily Mail.
"We recommend visiting Aldi as early as possible when new Special Buys go on sale, as these products are available only while stocks last."
Have you ever got your hands on a Zippy suit?
Featured image: Aldi
Top Comments
I have 5 of these....complete waste of money. The old terry towel type ones are the best....they are not worth the expensive price tag.
I live across from Aldi so decided to drop in before heading to the gym. Yes, there was a small lineup of Special Buys seekers so I just headed in after they did. There was definitely a swarm (8-10) people around the Bonds but no pushing. I figured I'd wait til they cleared to see if any were left. Plenty of women with 6-8+packs in their hands. My 8mo started to complain a bit so some of the mums around asked what I was after then proceeded to pass over some suits (either from their own stashes or from the stock they were rummaging through). Ended up with three suits and in/out of five minutes :)
I went in with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised with the generousity of the other mums and the knowledge of the power a pouty bub has on them.
Yes, I too think limits should be set on special buys. I also know that the same frenzy happens with the outdoor furniture stuff too! It's the nature of the Aldi Special Buys and if you shop there, you should already know that.