The £5 eco designer bag that's going for £175 on eBay
Eco-friendly £5 shopping bags created by a top designer for an environmental campaign are being sold on eBay for up to £175.
The limited-edition canvas bag was designed by "Queen of Bagland" Anya Hindmarch to publicise excessive use of plastic carriers.
It does not officially go on sale until next week but already dozens of the much-coveted accessory, emblazoned with the motto "I'm not a plastic bag," have found their way on to the internet auction site.
The auctions have infuriated the campaign group behind the bags, We Are What We Do.
The non-profit making group has put a notice on eBay under the banner "Don't pay over the odds" to warn off potential buyers.
Nonetheless, many fans of Hindmarch are still bidding fiercely for the bags.
Kenn Jordan, a consultant to We Are What We Do, said: "We contacted some of the sellers by email saying: "Would you buy Comic Relief red noses, sell them and keep the profit?" We did manage to get a couple of people to remove listings but some said: "Well, we're just meeting demand."
"Our main objection is the people who claim on their listing that it has already sold out and that the only way you can get it is by paying over the odds. Their buyers are being ripped off.
"People who say it has already sold out are at best being misleading and at worst telling downright lies."
There are currently around 20 of the bags for sale on eBay, with most priced around £40 to £50. The highest price paid so far is £175.
One seller, who goes under the name 2005tanyaf, claims on her eBay page: "These bags have sold out everywhere and are really hard to get a hold of.
"It has been featured in lots of magazines (and) seems to be a celebrity craze as well."
However, only a few hundred are in circulation, mainly given out to journalists and celebrities who attended last month's Oscar night Vanity Fair party, where they were used as the goodie-bag.
The official launch date is Tuesday next week, when 10,000 go on sale at Hindmarch's three London shops, Dover Street market and Paris fashion store Colette.
They are expected to sell out within hours - possibly even minutes - of going on sale.
A second batch of 20,000 will be available at 201 as yet unidentified Sainsbury's stores around Britain on 25 April.
They will be sold on a first-comefirst- served basis and are expected to be snapped up quickly.
Hindmarch says she was persuaded to get involved in the project when We Are What We Do told her that the average Briton uses 167 plastic bags a year, a total of 10 million bags.