eBay sells Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot toys for 10 times the retail price

Soft toys retailing at £3.99 are being sold for £36.99 on the popular bidding site

Aldi Kevin the Carrot series toys: Turkey, Hedgehog, Pilot Kevin, Grate Grandma and Grate Grandad (Aldi)

The return of Kevin the Carrot and family in this year’s Aldi Christmas advert has delighted fans of the cute root vegetable.

This year marks the fifth appearance of the animated carrot, who has starred in the German supermarket chain’s annual Christmas advert since 2016 and become a firm favourite with families around the country.

To accompany the festive campaign, a selection of themed merchandise has been launched, including mugs, pyjamas, soft toys and tree decorations.

Despite the products not officially being available for sale until Sunday, the plush toys are already being sold for up to 10 times their retail price on eBay.

The soft toys, which include Kevin the Pilot, Kevin’s Grate Grandparents and Harry the Hedgehog are marketed from just £3.99, but are being sold for up to £50 on the online bidding site.

The Independent found both of Kevin’s Grate Grandparents, who retail at just £3.99 each, on sale on the ecommerce site for £36.99.

Elsewhere, Harry the Hedgehog could be found for £24.99.

Fans can collect the whole set of related characters this year, including Wingman Turkey, Harry the Hedgehog, Grate Grandma and Grate Grandad.

There's also Kevin and Katie the Carrot and a family of Chantenay, Jasper and Baby and a giant Kevin available, plus themed Christmas pyjamas (£4.99-£9.99) and Kevin the Carrot Christmas tree decorations (£2.99 each).

Kevin the Carrot products on sale on eBay (eBay/Aldi/screenshot)

The Aldi plush toys start from £3.99 each or £19.95 for a bundle (online-only), Giant Kevin is £19.99. Cus

The demand for the cute Christmas characters is such that the supermarket has introduced a Glastonbury-style queuing system.

The Queue-It system was installed after the brand's Christmas advert dropped last week and became one of the top 50 viewed videos at the weekend – it got five million views on YouTube, plus a further 1.6 million views for the teaser advert, also starring Kevin’s fighter jet co-pilot Lieutenant Turkey.

“Aldi is anticipating such demand for its upcoming Christmas advert plush toys featuring Kevin the Carrot, that it has employed the same online queuing technology as Glastonbury to manage the clamour on its website when the toys are released,” said Aldi in a statement.

The Independent has approached Aldi for comment.