In BriefPosted:12:02 PM PST February 22, 2025The pain of discontinued items, and the thrill of finding them onlineWeve all been there. A favorite item is suddenly unavailable for purchase. Couldnt the manufacturer have given you advance warning?Whether owing to low sales, changing habits, production costs, or even because something is a little wrong with your favorite product (shh), discontinued items are part of life. In a weekend piece, the New York Times delves into the not-so-dark underbelly of online places where shoppers find these items, share tips and yes, find emotional support.The story highlights a padded laptop bag made by Filson that a super fan now hunts down everywhere to snag as many as possible before everyone figures out how great they are. It points to Discontinued Beauty, a site whose offerings are old to visitors but new to the site. Among its latest products: an essential protein restructurizer by Redkin priced at an eye-popping $169.95. (The newest version of the product costs shoppers $32.)Could it be dangerous to use these discontinued products? Who cares, suggests one creative director, who tells the Times about a lip pencil the beauty company NARS no longer sells and she has found elsewhere. Now, do I know the proper way to store this for optimal conditions? No, she says. Theyre under my sink.Topics