You won't believe what women are paying for second-hand Lululemon gym clothes.

You’ll be surprised what people will do to get into these pants…

What’s the latest, expensive cult fitness item to own? Neon sneakers which mimic the gait of a woolly mammoth? A waterbottle that also functions as a mini arm weight? Or a pair of pre-owned Lululemon compression tights?

Believe it or not, online shoppers just can’t get enough of pre-owned Lululemon athleisure gear. Yes, “athleisure” is the latest portmanteau for “exercise clothes you wear while eating two chocolate croissants at the local café, so that people don’t judge you so hard”.

READ MORE: Gym-goers should be doing this once a week. We bet you haven’t even done it once.

And no, they’re not forking out a few bucks for the items (can you imagine the bacteria in those things?!), Racked reports that they’re forking out HUNDREDS of dollars.

TRY THIS: “Other women’s bums are ruining my time at the gym.”

A second-hand pair of running shorts are retailing for over $800 USD, which in retail terms, is a jillion-kazillion percent markup. Okay, in boring real numbers, the most expensive pair of shorts that I could find on the Lululemon Australia site was the “Varsity Short” for $75.00. As I said, it’s a jillion-kazillion percent markup.

So why on earth are people happy to pay for used items that other people have sweated out bodily fluids into?

Racked reports that it’s Lululemon’s genius merchandising strategy, described as “a scarcity model”, that’s pushing shoppers to purchase these (probably/definitely) stinky shorts.

RELATED: How not to be a d**khead at the gym.

Lululemon only manufactures a limited number of each design, so once it’s sold, it’s gone forever. You can’t ask Lululemon to order in more of those cute little bras you saw a week ago, because they are all sold out and there’s none left in the entire world. So, you must resort to buying your Lululemon bra online from some potential weirdo in a city you’ve never heard of. 

As one of those dorks who likes to wear their oldest, grossest clothes when they’re exercising (I’m talking my The White Stripes t-shirt from The Big Day Out 2005, and my husband’s old high school PE shorts from 10 years ago) I’m the first to admit that I am far from chic when working out, but at least the old clothes are mine.

One thing’s for certain, though: the athleisure trend isn’t going anywhere. So you can keep wearing your comfy leggings and flexible racerback singlets all you want, even if they have already been worn by a lady named Cashmere in north-west Sydney. You just may not be able to afford that second croissant.

This article was originally published on The Glow.