John Lewis Runs Out Of Bear and Hare Gifts

John Lewis Bear and Hare goods are up for auction on eBay for as much as twice the price after selling out in store with a month still to go until Christmas.

Much of merchandise linked to the retail chain's £7m Christmas advert, including the alarm clock, the cuddly toys and the bear onesie, has sold out and will not be available again.

The campaign was largely targeted at children and in several stores the toy bear and hare sold out in the first weekend.

The toys, now marked as out of stock on the department store website, are now selling for more than £35 on eBay, significantly more than the original £12 price.

Bids on eBay for a Bear and Hare alarm clock - the focal point of the advert - which originally cost £12 have also topped £35.

A John Lewis spokeswoman said: "Following the response from customers to our previous Christmas TV adverts, this year we decided to stock a small number of products themed around the Bear and Hare characters from our TV advert.

"They have proved very popular with customers visiting our stores and shopping online, and while we have some products still available, we expect the remaining products to sell quickly as we get closer to Christmas."

The Christmas advert, which cost the company £7m to make, tells the story of a hare determined to make sure his bear friend does not miss Christmas.

The cartoon, which is set to a Lily Allen version of Keane's Somewhere Only We Know - now number one in the charts - has been viewed nearly nine million times on YouTube.

Initial figures showed that the advert, first aired on November 9, had been a success and the department store reported taking £101m in the week after it was shown.

It is the earliest John Lewis has exceeded a weekly £100m take in the Christmas run-up.

Retail analysts said that the department store could have been testing the market by selling merchandising linked to a Christmas advert.

They said that John Lewis would not have wanted to buy in too much and ended up with stock on its shelves.

Merchandising sales can be difficult to gauge and while the Olympics was a hugely successful event, sales of mascot toys linked to the games were not as high as had been hoped.

Isabel Cavill, a senior analyst with Planet Retail, said: "They were testing the market and some new ideas, and on the basis of what they have learnt this year if they repeat it next year it will be all go.

"What they really don’t want is to have unsold stock they then have to discount. Next (Frankfurt: NXG.F - news) year they might make sure they can order more at short notice."

Patrick O'Brien, lead retail analyst at Verdict Research, said: "The fact the merchandising has sold out so quickly I don’t think is a negative thing but shows they have got the marketing right."