Resellers Flip Mamdani's $50 World Cup Jerseys for $1,000

The New York-themed World Cup jerseys Mayor Zohran Mamdani sold for $50 each are showing up on Facebook Marketplace and eBay with price tags as high as $999.

Mamdani's office sold roughly 10,000 of the shirts through a limited drop last week. The jerseys, designed to promote the city's 2026 World Cup bid, sold out within hours. Within days, resellers listed them at 20 times the original price.

"We priced them so any New Yorker could afford one," Mamdani said in a statement. "Seeing them flipped for $1,000 is disappointing."

The resale listings include jerseys in sizes small through extra large. Some sellers posted photos of multiple shirts, suggesting they bought in bulk during the sale. One eBay listing for a size medium asked $999 with free shipping. A Facebook Marketplace post offered a size large for $750.

Mamdani's office said it has no plans for a second drop. The jerseys were a one-time run tied to the city's World Cup promotional push. The mayor's team is exploring options to prevent bulk purchases in future merchandise releases, a spokesperson said.

The markup mirrors a broader trend in limited-edition merchandise. Streetwear brands and concert promoters have struggled for years to keep products out of resellers' hands. Mamdani's jerseys, sold through a simple web store with no purchase limits, were an easy target.

"The system is set up for this," said James Park, a retail analyst at Consumer Edge Research. "Without quantity caps or bot protection, any hot item under $100 will get swept up by resellers."

Mamdani's office declined to say how many jerseys went to individual buyers versus resellers. The city's World Cup committee is scheduled to meet next month to discuss merchandise strategy for the 2026 tournament.