A trip to Olive Garden no doubt always includes a heaping pile of salad and those buttery, wonderfully garlic-heavy breadsticks. But all-you-can-eat pasta? That's some next level sh*t, which is why we weren't surprised to read that—after offering the Never Ending Pasta Pass for the second year in a row—Olive Garden sold out of its exclusive noodle passes in less than one second. Literally.
Now, after Olive Garden fanatics freaked about missing out on the deal, cardholders are reselling their prized passes on eBay, where they're fetching more than $600 each. Money reports that the passes have become such a hot commodity among pasta lovers that a number of third-party sites are selling them. And the going rates are insane.
The passes originally went for $100 per person (or $300 for a cardholder and three guests) purchased directly from Olive Garden. Each one is valid from Oct. 5 to Nov. 22 and the Italian-inspired chain only sold 1,000 of them. Because of that limited number, we're now seeing them go for as much as $900 via eBay's "Buy It Now" option. But bidding is even worse, with family passes reaching $1,200. That's four times its original worth.
This is completely perplexing. Unless you and your family are eating spaghetti and penne at Olive Garden every day for those seven weeks, how could $1,200 be worth it? Sure, the passes are good for an unlimited number of visits (plus two take-out meals) per day, but does that justify the resell price tag?
Of course, Olive Garden has reacted to the outcry from customers who weren't able to snatch a pass in time by hosting a 250-word essay contest to give away a handful of passes. So if you don't want to cough up that much cash but still want to get your hands on endless plates of pasta, this is your chance. Of course, you have to follow the brand on social media to enter. But that's definitely better than a grand.
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