Shoppers were paying double the price for 'Excitable Edgar' merchandise on eBay as stocks of the cuddly soft toy dragon were in short supply.
New stocks of the cuddly toy Edgar, the star of the new John Lewis and Waitrose Christmas ad, were being delivered to John Lewis in Norwich after running out over the weekend. Meanwhile many items were also out of stock online.
A John Lewis spokeswoman told this newspaper: "We've seen really strong demand for Excitable Edgar across John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners shops. The team has confirmed that new stock is being delivered to our Norwich shop shortly."
MORE: WATCH: What do you think of the new John Lewis and Waitrose Christmas advert?
As a result, sellers on eBay were cashing in with the soft toy, priced £15 with John Lewis and Waitrose, for sale today for as much as £50.
People were buying them for double - with one seller having just one of the soft toys left, priced £29.94, having sold four others. The book of the story, priced £9.99 in Waitrose and John Lewis, was being touted for sale on eBay for as much as £34.99.
MORE: Mum-of-three bucks retail trend by opening third high street store
For shoppers, getting hold of the merchandise brought out in conjunction with the ad, which got its first TV airing on Saturday night, was proving tricky. The Edgar soft toy, wellie boots sizes 6,7 and 8 as well as all junior slippers, most ages of the glow in the dark pyjamas and the book of the story were out of stock to buy online at John Lewis today.
On the John Lewis website, even the Waitrose Christmas pudding was only available to buy in-store. It was a different story, however, on the Waitrose website which had most items including additional products such as an Edgar chocolate gift pack and a gingerbread biscuit available to purchase online today.
The ad, a collaboration between the two retailers for the first time, was available to view on social media from Thursday and ever since, has seen a run on the merchandise.
None of the soft toys were available to buy in Norwich's John Lewis on Sunday morning with a sign saying they'd run out. Waitrose in Eaton did have a new delivery on Sunday morning when 20 of the soft toys were available.
Meanwhile, people were taking to twitter praising the ad. One tweeted: 'Cannot get over how proud he (Edgar) looks after, it melts me inside and out every single time I watch it.'
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here