Pop Mart's LABUBU mini-fridge launch fails to capture market enthusiasm this time.

When Wang Ning announced at the earnings conference that Pop Mart would enter the small home appliance sector, it left both the trendy toy community and the home appliance industry bewildered.

While the small appliance sector is still engaged in low-price competition, Pop Mart's mini-fridge is priced as high as 5,999 yuan, with a limited release of 1,998 units. Interestingly, on the evening of April 30th, the resale price on secondary markets surged to 20,000 yuan, only to plummet the next day. It is noted that even before shipping began, many screenshots of order transfers on secondary platforms showed prices close to the original retail price. This gives the impression of a self-orchestrated farce, and a minor one at that.

This mini-fridge is the first product in Pop Mart's IP home appliance series, continuing the "scarcity strategy" with two series each limited to 999 units. On the evening of April 30th, the number of reservations on the JD.com platform kept rising. By the launch time, the total reservations on Pop Mart's JD platform had exceeded 70,000 (39,000 for the red version and 31,000 for the white version). With 70,000 reservations, the 1,998 units were clearly insufficient, naturally leading to premium pricing on secondary platforms.

However, merely one day after the sale, the resale price of this fridge on secondary platforms returned to its original level, resembling a rollercoaster ride. Eight days later, on May 8th, Pop Mart officially announced, "More channels will be available at 22:00 tonight," but by then, the fridge had already faded from public discussion.

This evidently was not a successful "scarcity marketing" campaign, as the market has become all too familiar with Pop Mart's tactics.

Perhaps scalpers and loyal Pop Mart fans believed anything Pop Mart does would be a hit, overlooking a fundamental fact: a refrigerator is unlikely to become a luxury item.

After all, returning to the product itself, it is just a refrigerator. Some domestic appliance manufacturers have increased prices by redesigning the exterior, such as the MiniJ 120L PRO, which bears a striking resemblance to this Pop Mart fridge. It is priced around 2,000 yuan, 4,000 yuan cheaper than Pop Mart's version. Even so, it is often criticized by netizens as an overpriced网红家电 (internet-famous appliance).

Perhaps anticipating that Pop Mart would follow the path of网红小家电 (internet-famous small appliances), or perhaps already foreseeing its limited intrinsic value: what scarcity can a home appliance truly offer? Pop Mart seems to have run out of new stories to tell. Following the earnings conference, the capital market reacted swiftly. On March 25th, while small appliance concept stocks generally rose, Pop Mart's stock fell by 22.51%...

At least two industry insiders from the small appliance sector have indicated that no matter how outrageous Pop Mart's pricing is, there will always be buyers. After all, THE MONSTERS IP is the first domestic IP to achieve a revenue scale of 10 billion yuan. In 2025, LABUBU's revenue reached 14.16 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 365.7%. However, this playbook is no longer surprising to us.

The 5,999 yuan fridge: A 4,000 yuan premium for the LABUBU IP Priced at 5,999 yuan, with two series each limited to 999 units. Analysts likely did not expect Pop Mart to launch such a product with such pricing. Previously, a Guosen Securities analyst had suggested a reference price range of 1,000-1,300 yuan. That estimate now seems conservative.

If we break down this refrigerator, in terms of appearance and parameters, it is nearly identical to the MiniJ 121L Pro retro mini-fridge: a rounded exterior, 121L capacity, direct cooling, first-tier energy efficiency, standard power consumption, and low noise at 36+ db.

Regarding specific functional parameters, Pop Mart's version has minor adjustments. For example, its freezing capability ranges from -18°C to 0°C, which is less effective than MiniJ's range of -23°C to -9°C. However, its operational noise is 3 db lower at 33 db. Additionally, Pop Mart's model adds a touch-sensitive temperature control function for the refrigerated compartment, compared to MiniJ's manual button adjustment, aligning better with the trendy preferences of Pop Mart's user base. Overall, while there are slight differences in size, freezer and refrigerator compartment allocation, and exterior design, as a refrigerator, they are quite similar.

The MiniJ retro fridge was released in 2017, priced around 2,000 yuan. Another retro fridge with a similar appearance but different internal design, the HCK Husky, is also priced around 2,000 yuan. They are really too similar.

An industry insider revealed that, based on the product's appearance and functionality, MiniJ might be one of the OEM manufacturers for this Pop Mart refrigerator, though this is not yet confirmed. According to Lanjing News, the core OEM for small appliances is Xibaolong, collaborating on kitchen appliances (electric kettles, coffee makers) and personal care appliances (electric toothbrushes, hair dryers).

Beyond that, Pop Mart's product features a four-layer套印工艺 (overprint process) and "the original charm and texture from artist Long Jiasheng," which constitutes the visible exterior design. Each fridge has a unique limited-edition serial number from 001 to 999, and the purchase includes a collector's card and envelope.

Creating scarcity, from MOLLY to LABUBU, has always been Pop Mart's forte. Therefore, Pop Mart's small appliance strategy in the short term is not about volume but targeting the mid-to-high-end market, with elevated prices and limited supply.

Simultaneously, it was noted that on the Xiaohongshu platform, users are comparing this fridge to the SMEG brand, which costs tens of thousands of yuan. This might be spontaneous user promotion, or perhaps part of Pop Mart's marketing strategy: comparing its own fridge to SMEG's—lower priced, yet enhanced with the LABUBU IP and artist collaboration.

Clearly, Pop Mart's small appliance strategy aims at SMEG's high-end home appliance audience, differentiating itself from cost-effective manufacturers like Bear Electric Appliance.

However, a rational consumer might calculate: buying a MiniJ or Husky fridge for less than 2,000 yuan and using UV printing to replicate LABUBU stickers would save 4,000 yuan. "This is just a better-looking refrigerator," a small appliance manufacturer commented.

Yet, whether it's Pop Mart or MiniJ, both have strayed from the intrinsic value of a refrigerator itself.

In comparison, the small appliance industry remains too conservative Pop Mart's entry into small appliances coincides with overall market saturation in the sector. Leading brands have stable market shares, and competition has intensified into a red ocean. Consumers already know what these products are, so Pop Mart only needs to employ its most proficient strategy: "IP design + limited scarcity + high premium."

First, the categories Pop Mart plans to enter—refrigerators, electric kettles, coffee makers, electric toothbrushes, hair dryers...—have mature supply chains in China.

For kitchen small appliances like electric kettles and coffee makers, traditional giants like Midea, as well as small appliance manufacturers such as Xibaolong, Bear Electric Appliance, Beiding Co., Ltd., Supor, and Joyoung, have already achieved high maturity. Xibaolong's coffee makers are even a typical example of Chinese supply chain going global, accounting for 40% of exported coffee makers. Top brands on e-commerce platforms often originate from Xibaolong's factories, such as百胜图 (Barsetto) semi-automatic,马克西姆马赛 (Maxim) semi-automatic,东菱滴漏 (Donlim drip)...

The electric toothbrush market is also dominated by domestic brands. For instance,罗曼 (LuoMan) acquired by Bear Electric Appliance, the top网红品牌 (internet-famous brand) usmile,欧可林 (Oclean), and深圳厂商徕芬 (Shenzhen manufacturer Lefan), which gained fame with high-speed hair dryers, are also producing electric toothbrushes...

As for high-speed hair dryers, domestic manufacturers like Lefan and追觅 (Dreame) have driven prices down to the 150-300 yuan range, comparable to Dyson's 3,000 yuan models.

These categories have reached peak technological maturity with functional homogenization, leaving little room for innovation or new growth. Competition now revolves around specifications, price, and adding features like AI to electric toothbrushes or making折叠款 (foldable) high-speed hair dryers.

Pop Mart's business strategy is to collaborate with OEMs on mature products from established supply chains, focusing its own efforts on product design and brand operations. More resources are allocated to IP design, brand management, and channel sales.

Thus, an IP company like Pop Mart avoids heavy investment in manufacturing, needing only to find the most suitable product, apply some IP-based外观设计 (exterior design) and storytelling包装 (packaging), to quickly bring products to market. This is Pop Mart's most adept model.

This is a lucrative opportunity with substantial gross margins. An analyst from Huaxin Securities stated that traditional small appliance enterprises have long relied on functionality and cost-effectiveness as core competitive factors, with industry gross margins typically stable around 25%. In contrast, Pop Mart's advantage lies in the emotional value and aesthetic premium carried by its IP. If co-branded small appliances are successfully launched, their gross margin could theoretically reach 66.8%, significantly higher than that of traditional small appliance companies.

Of course, given Pop Mart's current strategy of combining scarcity with doubled selling prices, this analyst's gross margin prediction may be conservative. Using high-speed hair dryers as an analogy, Pop Mart could take a product with a factory price of a few dozen yuan and a retail price of 300 yuan, enhance it with IP and redesign the外观 (appearance), and sell it for 600-800 yuan—a 90% gross margin.

This is the real purpose behind Pop Mart's move into small appliances: to capture high-margin profits and test the luxury定价权 (pricing power) of its IP. This has always been the path Wang Ning wanted to take.

Unfortunately, Pop Mart chose the wrong product category, as these two goals are fundamentally contradictory. Trendy toys can be luxury items; collectibles don't need to be practical. But the essence of small appliances is durability, used for at least two to three years, often seven or eight. Quality control and after-sales service are unavoidable. Any failure would directly erode brand trust.

Pop Mart is clearly aware of the risks. Limiting production to 1,998 units is not just about the scarcity strategy but also a cautious test of the合作供应链 (cooperative supply chain) and售后能力 (after-sales capabilities). Selling 2,000 units first as a trial, then gradually increasing volume if after-sales support holds up. However, what cannot be concealed is that when scalpers and fans drove the price to 20,000 yuan one day only to see it quickly return to the original price for resale the next, Pop Mart's attempt to apply its trendy toy limited-edition playbook to small appliances has become a farce seen through by everyone.