Lululemon Bans Customers from Reselling Yoga Clothing Online

From the “What were you thinking?” files, which Lululemon pretty much owns nowadays, we have yet another oopsy daisy from the mega yoga clothing retailer. You see, when you purchase Lululemon clothing it’s yours, FOR LIFE. It’s been reported that the company has been actively blocking people from reselling their stuff.

There’s a really popular site online where people can buy things, sell things, bid on things and have been for many years. Of course we’re talking about eBay, and everybody and their Aunt Tillie uses it to sell their random wares or buy rusty metal things or what have you. People also buy and sell clothing, whether used or NWT, but Lululemon representatives have been out to put a stop to these such activities – which are completely legal, by the way. Customers have been personally contacted by lululemmings to discontinue the practice of reselling goods they purchased with their hard-earned money, likely for full price because Lululemon doesn’t believe in routine sales and discounts.

Some customers have even been banned from purchasing anything from the actual Lululemon site because they’ve been flagged as disobedient of lululaw, which apparently says you must live with your groove pants forever and ever and ever. According to reports, certain targeted customers have been reselling the lulu stuff for more than the original retail price, which is really neither Lululemon’s concern nor eBay’s problem, but an indication of how ridiculous and loose in the wallets some people can get for such tight pants. (Truly — one woman who was banned from reselling her lulu stuff online claims to have spent somewhere around $20,000 at the store in recent years.)

And yet, lulu is working behind the scenes to put the kibosh on the whole thing, while simultaneously annoying and driving away their precious customer base, yet again. Their FAQ page was recently updated to reflect their stance on the issue:

“We do not support the re-sale of new product, especially if it is at an elevated price point,” it says. (Side note: an apology has been issued that says they may ave “gone too far” in hounding their customers, but the policy remains.)

If you ask us, they ought to worry about pants being sold far below the retail price. This over-protectiveness and the reactionary tactics reek of the exclusivity and cultiness that Lululemon, as a company and culture, has come to be known for.

Now we’ve all seen shysters trying to squeeze us for extra bucks by selling counterfeit knockoffs (lulu has been battling their own war with that, too), but with a policy that only allows returns of unworn merchandise within a two-week window, it sure makes a perfect case for why you would go ahead and sell your stuff online. Maybe they should go all Willy Wonka on us and only sell their yoga pants to people with golden tickets.

Then there’s that thing about Lululemon “inadvertently” selling see-through pants again, which really has us wanting to rename the popular groove pants “the gaffe pants.”  It has a nice ring to it, no? And then there’s that thing about not buying Lululemon clothing at all, which seems to be a simple solution to avoid the whole dang situation. Or then there’s this other thing, where a secret wealthy benefactor buys up ALL the Lululemon pants in the world and gives them out to needy yogis and children for a hug and a handful of chia seeds.

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Earlier…

• Chip Wilson Resigns as Lululemon Chairman, New CEO Announced
• Why These Yoga Teachers are Lululemon ‘Ambassadors No More’
• Sheer Madness: The Definitive Lululemon Yoga Pants Controversy Roundup Featuring Stephen Colbert and the ‘Worst Apology Ever’
• Lululemon ‘Brahmacharya’ Shopping Bags Depict Junk Food, Needles, Condoms and Alcohol to Promote ‘Moderation’