Despite the fact that Olive Garden put 21,000 Never Ending Pasta Passes up for sale yesterday, 19,000 more than it offered last year, those passes sold out immediately. Demand remains, it seems, as there are already listings for the passes on eBay with asking prices up to $4,500.
A quick search on eBay results in a slew of Pasta Pass offers, including that $4,500 listing — which is pretty steep considering Pasta Pass holders used them to visit the chain an average of 28 times last year. Some people can eat more pasta than others, so who knows.
Whether anyone will attempt to buy those passes is anyone’s guess, but if you do decide to fork over your money for one on the black market, beware: in years past Olive Garden forbade the reselling of passes, which come marked with the original buyer’s name emblazoned on them to prevent reselling.
Some sellers have apparently thought ahead, with one listing noting:
“Name printed on card: ‘B’. (Will not change name, will be sent with name “B” on card).
Because this pass is for use only by the named passholder “B”, your attempt to use it is entirely at your risk. If you are unable to use the pass on one, more, or all attempts/occasions, you will not eligible to receive a refund. All sales are final.”
Another seller seems to think buyers will have no problem with pesky identity issues, writing, “I’ve sold these the past 3 years with my name on it without issue, however if you encounter an issue using it, I will gladly refund your money and pay for shipping back to me.”
There’s no warning of any kind on the $4,500 listing so you better think long and hard about how much pasta you could by with less money than that before you decide to bid or buy.
We’ve reached out to Olive Garden to clarify the company’s stance on the reselling of Pasta Passes, and will update this post when we hear back.
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