Organised groups of shoplifters are feared to be targeting must-have Jellycat soft toys that are being resold online for up to £2,400.
The British brand has seen an exponential surge in sales over the last year with devoted collectors shedding armfuls of cash for the toys in store and online.
But it is thought the popularity of the toys, which have taken social media by storm, is behind a crime surge fueled by organised shoplifting gangs.
Many of the highly popular toys have been released as collectables or limited edition, with a number of older or ‘retired’ designs raking in hundreds – sometimes thousands – on secondhand retailers like Vinted and eBay.
MailOnline found some Jellycat toys on sale for as much as £2,400 on eBay, with many more being resold for several hundred pounds at a time.
By comparison, many of the toys retail at between just £12 and £60.
Toy shops across the nation have responded by tightening security measures, adding additional CCTV, security tags and even facial recognition software to flag up possible shoplifters, alongside automatic number plate recognition in the car park.
At Scotsdales garden centre in Great Shelford, Cambs staff saw an uptick in thefts in the run-up to Christmas with store manager Caroline Owen telling the Guardian around 60 toys had been stolen over the festive period.
The British brand of soft toys has seen an exponential surge in sales over the last year with devoted collectors shedding armfuls of cash for the toys in store and online
But their popularity has sparked a wave of shoplifting, including a woman (pictured) who stuffed Jellycat toys worth around £400 into a pram carrying her child on CCTV cameras
The toys have taken social media by storm and have become a target for shoplifting gangs
Jellycat toys are being resold on sites such as eBay and Vinted for as much as £2,400
She told the publication: ‘What we don’t know is whether the shoplifting is own-use, so stealing for yourself, or stealing to sell. I think there is both going on.’
She said that a number of her colleagues had also spotted shoplifters hunting down the valuable teddies.
‘I think some people have realised their shoplifters are not coming from their area. They’re actually travelling in,’ she said.
Meanwhile at Groves Nurseries in Bridport, Dorset, Charlie Groves watched in horror on CCTV as a woman swiped multiple toys from the shelves before concealing them in her child’s pram and swiftly exiting the centre.
Having identified the woman online, he also claimed to have tracked down her husband’s Vinted account, where he saw the toys on sale on a huge mark-up.
And last year a woman faced jail time after she used children as a cover to steal a total of £4,000 worth of Jellycat toys in a series of shoplifting raids.
Ruby Smith, 35, from Suffolk, was believed to have pocketed her haul of the best-selling toys to cash in on the huge demand for them and sell them cut price to collectors.
The Suffolk native plead guilty on seven charges of theft, which had been committed at multiple garden centres in the area, bringing with her a group of young children as a cover up for her crimes.
Fans of the soft toys have huge collections of Jellycats, which typically retail from £12 to £60
As well as traditional soft toys, the brand specialises in Amusables – including iconic designs such as croissant bags and avocado pillows
At Groves Nurseries in Bridport, Dorset, Charlie Groves (pictured) was able to decipher the pram woman’s identity by working out her vehicle’s personalised number plate and after tracking down the toys to her husband’s Vinted account
Beanie Babies may soon be dethroned as the world’s most collectible stuffed toy against the rise of the Jellycat. One TikTok user shows off her collection in a still from one of her posts above
A rare special edition Jellycat is on sale on eBay for a whopping £2,345
Other toys are being sold for hundreds of pounds at a time
The shoplifter used a pram to conceal items, stuffing armfuls of the expensive toys into while camouflaging her pilfering by taking children with her.
Smith stole toy Jellycat animals worth £1,600 from the store on July 20, followed by another haul worth £1,679 just weeks later and a third which netted her toys worth £512.
The Wroxham Barns gift shop at Hoveton, Norfolk, was also targeted twice, losing Jellycat toys worth £194 on August 6 and £136 on August 31.
Smith also stole Jellycat toys twice from the Thetford Garden Centre, stealing an unknown quantity of toys on September 9 and others worth £58 on September 23.
In a separate case, Robert Thornton, 42, was jailed for 21 months at Teeside Crown Court in August last year for a series of thefts including a raid on an independent art shop in Darlington when he smashed a window with a sledgehammer and escaped with nine Jellycat teddies.
Last December, the British Independent Retailers Association warned that there was growth of ‘industrial scale’ shop left, estimating that three in five items stolen from its members would end up being resold online.
Retailers have responded by increasing security around the plush toys – from individually tagging each to moving their entire collection of toys to a more secure location.
Old Barn Garden Centre at Dial Post, near Horsham in Sussex, has resorted to keeping its Jellycats locked behind glass.
Manager Ben Tate previously told Sussex Express how a rise in raids in the area is being attributed to criminal gangs.
‘These people come in and take everything in one go. It makes good sense for us not to put all the stock out – it just takes one gang,’ he said.
He added he believes that thefts across the region are linked: ‘It’s my belief that there is some undelying connection with these gangs. They are communicating with each other and stealing goods for a central person/persons.’
Tunbridge Wells Blue Diamond Garden Centre has also been forced to put its toys behind a display after losing so many Jellycats staff faced making cuts in other parts of the business.
Katy Bourne, Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, told the BBC: ‘It pretty much is organised crime and certainly the gangs behind this are shoplifting to order and it has been on the increase, but police forces like Sussex are very aware.
‘We are mapping these gangs. We have the intelligence and data so we can come after them.’
It is thought many of those stealing to order are passing the goods onto individuals who then sell the toys online.
Rare and discontinued Jellycats are being sold for as much as £2,400 on eBay, with dozens of toys on sale in excess of £1,000 at any one time.
