High-priced Trump merch is flooding Facebook Marketplace

Donald Trump shut down a Pennsylvania McDonald’s to shovel some fries. Now, those “authenticated” fries are listed on Facebook Marketplace for $10,000. 

Alongside the fries are dozens of high-priced, questionably sourced items linked to the Republican nominee. A cursory scroll of Facebook Marketplace reveals $1,000 Trump magazine covers, $5,000 Trump signatures, and $3,000 Trump monopoly. That ubiquity could even offer Trump an unexpected advantage in the election: Marketplace also happens to have some surprising pull with Gen Z, that much-coveted and elusive voting bloc.

Facebook Market’s Trump boom

Following Trump’s highly publicized McDonald’s stint in Pennsylvania earlier this month, resellers were quick to claim ownership of the fries he’d touched. One Marketplace ad assures that the fries have been “moved since with gloves to maintain quality.” The seller hails from Modena, New York (a three-hour drive from the Pennsylvania McDonald’s), and the asking price is $10,000. Even further is a seller from Mt. Olive, North Carolina, who is selling the fries for $550,000. 

Any item signed by Trump drives up its Facebook Marketplace valuation. One seller sent Trump a letter in 2019 for a school project; now they’re hawking his signature for $5,000. There’s a signed golf flag for $1,250 and a signed photo for $2,500. Trump’s photobook Our Journey Together was originally marketed at $74.99; now, you’ll have to cough up $574 for a signed copy. 

Vintage magazine covers featuring Trump have also skyrocketed in value on Facebook Marketplace. His March 1990 Playboy cover is selling for $3,000. (For reference, the May 1990 edition, which features Margaux Hemingway on the cover, is currently listed for $8.) A May 1980 issue of New York, which features Trump alongside of lineup of other New York power brokers, is listed at $1,100.

Artists selling their MAGA-fied works on Facebook Marketplace also demand high prices. An oil painting re-creating the infamous Evan Vucci photo of Trump, fist in air post-assassination attempt, is listed for $2,500. Facebook Marketplace shoppers can buy paintings of Trump’s “shit eating grin,” a cartoonishly blurred Trump, or even Trump as Jesus Christ. 

Facebook Market’s surprising reach with Gen Z

In recent years, Facebook Marketplace has taken on new meaning as a Gen Z hotspot. Many young people have left Facebook, opting for video-heavy TikTok and YouTube or photo-heavy Instagram. But they continue to descend upon Facebook Marketplace, looking for cheap furniture and secondhand deals. In their recent Gen Z-focused redesign, Facebook put an emphasis on its Marketplace feature. 

It’s odd, then, that such high-priced Trump merch would pop up in a Gen Z haven. According to a Data For Progress poll, Kamala Harris leads Trump among Gen Z voters at 58% to 39%. They also care about the tilt of their social media platforms: In the year following Elon Musk’s takeover of X, Gen Z usershare fell from 23% to 20%. 

But the algorithm’s bubbles are likely protecting the left-leaning Gen Z Facebook Marketplace shoppers. The Facebook algorithm decides just what goods will show in the feed of each Facebook user. This means that Gen Z can keep to their couch-hunting, while the older, more MAGA-leaning generations can consider a $10,000 carton of fries.

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