Behind Labubu’s success is the combined effect of star effect, plush design and global marketing. However, Labubu’s popularity has also spawned a series of peripheral businesses, from second-hand trading to baby clothing customization, to cross-border e-commerce, and young people are profiting from this IP in various ways. This article will provide an in-depth analysis of Labubu’s explosive logic, as well as the business ecology and money-making opportunities surrounding this IP.
“Last year, on the spur of the moment, I spent more than 300 to buy labubu, but now I look at 20,008.”
Perhaps no one expected that the day when Labubu would become a new generation of “wealth management products” would come so quickly.
In April this year, Bubble Mart launched the third-generation labubu enamel plush product “Forward High Energy” series, which was sold out as soon as it was released, and on the Qiandao platform, the average price of labubu with the original price of 99 yuan was more than 300 yuan, and the price of the hidden “self” was speculated to 3,700 yuan. But this is not the price ceiling of labubu – the original price of 599 yuan for the Vans co-branded model reached 27,000 yuan; At an auction not long ago, the world’s only mint-colored LABUBU was sold for 1.08 million yuan.
Whether it is an online detonation of social media topics, or an offline out-of-stock wave, or foreigners fighting for a rush to buy, Labubu’s fire is concrete enough, but what may be more intuitive may be Bubble Mart’s revenue figures.
According to its financial report, in 2024, the group’s total revenue will reach 13.038 billion yuan, of which THE MONSTERS series where labubu is located will contribute 3.041 billion yuan, an increase of more than 726% compared with 2023, and the proportion of revenue has exceeded that of Bubble Mart’s previous head Huadan molly and SP series. Not long ago, Wang Ning, the founder of Bubble Mart, became the new richest man in Henan with a net worth of more than $20.3 billion.
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“If you rub it on labubu, you can get on fire.” Under this consensus, in the second-hand accident, the surrounding industries of labubu gradually rose along the infringement boundary. Yiwu, which took over the first fire, produced the “motherland version” lafufu, and on Xiaohongshu, baby clothes customization and baby modification are also in full swing, and based on the popularity of labubu abroad, some people have begun to research cross-border e-commerce on Amazon.
When labubu evolves into a consumer symbol, is its peripheral business good?
01 When Labubu becomes a consumption symbol
Labubu was born from Hong Kong illustrator Lung Ka-shing’s picture book “The Mysterious Bukka”, a doll with erected pointed ears and nine exposed teeth, inspired by the Norse forest elves. In 2018, Bubble Mart signed THE MONSTERS, an IP matrix under Long Jiasheng, and soon operated labubu as an independent IP.
Although it has high popularity among Bubble Mart IPs, the popularity of labubu at that time was limited to trendy players. The reason why it can be “upgraded” from trendy toys to fashion items, Cass believes that one relies on plush and the other is the star effect.
In October 2022, Bubble Mart launched the labubu “Time to chill” series of plush, and the design of “enamel + plush” quickly attracted many players to enter the pit. Compared with labubu’s previous main blind box ornaments, the plush series has obvious advantages: the “healing” and “easy to display” characteristics of the plush category can not only adapt to various wearing and matching scenarios – the most popular combination is to use labubu as a backpack ornament, and there is also more space for DIY, so it is more in line with the consumer needs of young women.
At the level of star effect, after going to Thailand for a year, Bubble Mart quickly ushered in its chosen “spokesperson”. In April 2024, Lisa, a member of the top girl group BLACKPINK, showed off her Labubu ornaments on ins, which quickly triggered a rush to buy in Southeast Asia, and the labubu she posted on social media was once speculated to 16,000 baht, equivalent to more than 3,500 yuan.
In the European and American markets, stars such as Rihanna and Beckham’s daughter have driven the breaking of the circle, and with Bubble Mart’s TikTok overseas strategy, by April the new product is released, and the sales of Labubu in the US market have increased by about 8 times year-on-year. At the same time, the binding with top stars quickly made labubu quickly labeled as a “fashion item”, and the matching formula of “labubu + luxury bags” went viral on social platforms.
Google Trends data shows that labubu’s search popularity has grown exponentially over the past year, surpassing Hello Kitty in May 2025, with South America and Southeast Asia growing the fastest. According to JPMorgan Chase, the sales of labubu’s THE MONSTERS series are expected to grow from 3 billion yuan in 2024 to 14 billion yuan in 2027, which is already another super IP after the Sanrio family.
Labubu’s fire shows a global trend: the Tourism Authority of Thailand awarded Labubu the title of “Magical Thailand Experience Officer” and invited his dolls to tour Thailand, and Southeast Asian scalpers rushed to buy labubu across borders; Later, in Osaka and the UK stores, foreigners fought to snap up labubu, and Bubble Mart announced the removal of labubu series products in the region for safety risks, which triggered a new round of hunger marketing; In Milan, the Bubble Mart pop-up store has not yet opened, and the queue has turned from the street to the end of the alley, holding the “number plate of love” in their hands; Even the leader of Thai telecom fraud was arrested, and there was a plush version of labubu in the stolen goods.
But for ordinary people, the fire of labubu may be reflected in: the white female boss who was holding a group meeting suddenly took out her labubu and began to show off, and was pulled out of a 60-dollar knife at the Mexican airport to buy her labubu; Simply hang the labubu on your bag and walk around the streets of London, only to be almost stolen.
Source: Xiaohongshu
As a result, Labubu’s hidden functions have been rapidly developed, which can not only act as a social currency and become a sharp tool for picking up passers-by, but also become a hard currency for commercial gifts, decorating the sophistication of migrant workers.
In Xiaohongshu, @水濑名雪 shared her experience: the foreign headquarters docking person helped her an important favor, she decided to give the other party a gift, and after some screening, she chose labubu, and sent it home in the same city, and the other party was really surprised to receive the gift after arriving at the headquarters. This note has received more than a thousand likes on Xiaohongshu, and there are not a few related “gift-giving” notes on Xiaohongshu.
Source: Xiaohongshu
On social platforms, topics related to labubu are constantly being renovated, and hot topics include making labubu their own “bag partner” to travel together, making various outfits for labubu, “how can life be the same with anyone”, and even some bloggers have customized exquisite phoenix crowns for labubu, or let him wear gold and silver.
Source: Xiaohongshu
In May this year, @雪莉攻好可爱 took Labubu to the Pupu hairpin and sent her grandmother’s hairpin process to Xiaohongshu, which brought her 82,000 likes. Some users commented, “At this time, this mother-in-law does not know the seriousness of the matter, and in the next few days, countless people will look for her to hairpin for labubu.” ”
However, even if there is a clear logic of popularity, “Why is labubu so popular?” It is still a lingering question in the minds of many consumers. There are not a few consumers who previously felt that labubu was ugly, and then insisted on looking at this image pleasing to the eye in many matching posts.
The more popular statement points to emotional value. Labubu looks mischievous and rebellious, but is kind and brave at heart, because the background story is not involved when “going to sea”, the “hollow” doll character is more convenient for young people to fill with their own experiences, so as to gain emotional recognition and emotional comfort.
On the other hand, in addition to the demand for collection and play, the demand for identity tags has also become the driving force for young people to consume labubu.
In the view of the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard, the essence of consumption is the possession of symbols, and symbolic goods or symbolic values attached to commodities begin to be continuously manufactured and sold under the exaggeration of mass media. When labubu becomes a consumption symbol, it also has the function of expressing the individuality, taste and identity of consumers. While people consume labubu, they also consume the meaning and connotation it symbolizes and represents—whether it is identity belonging or emotional identity, which further catalyzes the “labubu fever”.
At the same time, when labubu is so hot, even dozens of times premium, it is easy to be questioned that it is a new generation of “tulip fever”, and it is also easy to remind people of the deserted market after the bubble burst. I don’t speculate on the future direction of IP to Cass, but in this price shock, many people also see business opportunities.
02 Labubu appreciated, and the surrounding business was shaken
Labubu’s price fluctuated, and the first circle affected was second-hand trading.
Xiaohongshu is flooded with such stories – Labubu, who placed an order out of interest earlier, has doubled in value when he comes to his senses, and finally sells it at a premium dozens of times, once again verifying that “choice is more important than hard work”. If there is “luck”, there is “regret”: hate yourself for selling too early, hate yourself for changing your baby early, hate yourself for buying and refunding, or open the box when you get it, resulting in a depreciation of value.
However, according to Cass, when the labubu premium is so high, “there is a price without a market” has become the norm. On the trading platform Qiandao, although many hidden models with high prices have a lot of “wants”, the specific price fluctuations are obvious, and most people are still waiting and seeing.
Source: Thousand Islands
In addition to the second-hand business, the surrounding business around labubu began to grow. The current situation of “one la is hard to find” has also driven the sales of the “motherland version” lafufu and lababa to rise, and young people who can’t buy genuine bubble marts have turned to the arms of piracy. Yiwu took the lead in taking action, and also transformed imitations such as Lagogo on the basis of its original – high-quality imitations at about half the price of the original – and even as Labubu continued to be popular, counterfeit factories also faced the problem of insufficient production capacity.
According to Hebei Traffic Broadcasting, the entire market is out of stock, and only a certain amount of spot can be sent every day, and the price is relatively high. “It takes three days for 1,000 LABUBU to be issued.” Among them, foreign trade orders account for a large proportion.
However, this business is essentially an infringement, not long ago, a post called “Yiwu Market LABUBU was removed from the shelves overnight” appeared on the hot search, under the supervision of the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, the risk of piracy has been greatly increased, and at the same time, it has also prompted some merchants to turn to another relatively stable business – baby clothes.
According to Yi Video news, Gu Huijie, the owner of Labubu baby clothes, expanded 3 stores in 3 months after moving to Yiwu International Trade Mall. Her baby clothes factory has six or seven hundred people, and it can produce 20,000 or 30,000 sets of baby clothes every day, which is still in short supply. Searching for the keyword “labubu” on the Xiaohongshu platform, the notes that appear frequently are also various baby clothes.
“Baby clothes” were originally mainly aimed at fans such as cotton dolls and BJD dolls, and trendy toys were later entrants. The birth of baby clothes comes from the user’s need to change clothes for their “cubs”, so the design emphasizes character attributes and aesthetic personalization.
On Taobao, a set of baby clothes with slightly more complex workmanship from labubu is about 7 or 80 yuan, and the simpler ones range from about 30 yuan or 20 yuan. This type of baby clothes is often composed of multiple small parts, the workmanship is relatively simple, and the profit margin is actually considerable.
On Xiaohongshu, #labubu Wayi related topics have been viewed 30.88 million times and discussed 250,000. “I found the most suitable clothes for small grievances”, “I chased my sister for seven streets to get to this labubu baby clothes link”, “One hundred baby clothes from labubu cola”…… A group of baby clothes bloggers have risen from Xiaohongshu, or purchased from 1688, or original designs to meet users’ aesthetics and imagination of labubu outfits.
Source: Xiaohongshu
For example, Xiaohongshu blogger @Bubu Doll Studio has been updating labubu’s baby clothes-related notes since March this year, and her “labubu999 baby clothes” series has been updated to 134 pieces. One of the most liked notes is the macaron suspender suit, which is priced at 49.9 yuan and has sold more than 3,900 pieces. Similar bloggers also @PINKY STORE, which opened a new series after the update of 100 baby clothes, and the price of baby clothes in its store was mostly 39.9 yuan, and the best-selling bow baby clothes sold 11,000 pieces at a unit price of 29.9 yuan.
“The start-up capital is 1,000, and the return is 5W in 3 months.” On Xiaohongshu, @青夏与茶 shared her “baby clothes resale” strategy: a set of labubu baby clothes priced at 89 yuan and sold more than 3,000 orders sold for less than six yuan on 1688. Through 1688 distribution, and with the baby clothes copywriting generated by DS, you can make money by taking advantage of the information gap.
Source: Xiaohongshu
The considerable profit margin of baby clothes has gradually attracted more bloggers to enter the game, and there is no shortage of help posts on Xiaohongshu asking if it is feasible to be a full-time baby clothes blogger. In this regard, some people analyzed, “It may have been a good business before August last year, but not now.” ”
On the one hand, the track tends to be involuted and has a high degree of homogeneity. Although the baby clothes themselves have a large number of SKUs, the trading is similar to ordinary clothing, and they still rely heavily on popular models; On the other hand, although baby clothes avoid some infringement risks, there are still gray areas in image display. After glimpsing the business opportunities of foreign labubu, some people tried to do cross-border e-commerce of baby clothes on Amazon, but it was soon removed from the shelves because of the infringement caused by the use of labubu’s image.
According to Tianyancha’s intellectual property information, Beijing Bubble Mart Cultural and Creative Co., Ltd. has applied for the registration of more than 80 “Labubu” and “Labubu” related trademarks, which are internationally classified as education and entertainment, office supplies, clothing, shoes and hats, etc., and some trademarks have been successfully registered. This means that Bubble Mart also wants to seize the business opportunities around IP and inject new vitality into the IP itself with the derivative value of IP.
But for baby clothing merchants, the tuyere is the tuyere, although the dividend period may be short, but seizing the traffic is victory. It is foreseeable that this gust of wind belonging to labubu will pass sooner or later, but the market will always wait for the next super IP and the next emotional product.
