Arby's "Keys to the Cheese" Keychains Are an Easy Flip

Mmm, slop

News

By RC Staff

27 January 2024

Key Points

Arby’s “Keys to the Cheese” keychains get you a year’s worth of free cheese sauce
They cost $2, and are now sold out
Resellers are flipping them for $20 to $30

Do you like Arby’s? For some people, it’s their fast food of choice. In fact, the company has built up a pretty dedicated fanbase over the years. One of their new pieces of merch is a keychain that gives the bearer unlimited access to free cheese sauce through all of 2024. The promotion proved so popular that all of the keychains sold out, and now resellers are flipping them for an easy profit. Let’s dig in.

What is the Arby's Keys to the Cheese Promotion?

It’s not our place to malign any particular restaurant. Different strokes and all that, and maybe there are a few Arby’s locations that actually make good food. Maybe we haven’t encountered any yet, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

Point being, there are people out there who enjoy Arby’s on a regular basis. Enough so that the idea of getting free cheese sauce frequently is downright titillating.

Last week, Arby’s announced a new promotion, “Keys to the Cheese“. If you don’t mind owning an ugly and extremely embarrassing piece of merchandise, this was an incredible opportunity.

Here’s how it works: if you bought one of these keychains for $2, you can present it at any participating Arby’s location to receive a free cup of cheddar cheese sauce. Well, you have to buy something else too, but for a dedicated Arby’s fan, this keychain is essentially an extra 500 calories of congealed cheese every day.

Like all good things, these keychains were in short supply. After announcing them on the 20th, Arby’s began selling them through their website. Customers were limited to two per order and they sold out fast.

Arby's Keys to the Cheese Keychains Resell

And of course this was a great opportunity for resellers. You might remember back in 2022 when Denny’s did a similar promotion. They sold shirts for $6 that had a QR code stitched on the sleeve. The wearers of the shirt were entitled to a free breakfast at the restaurant once a day for an entire year.

Denny’s appraised the shirt at a $2,000+ value, and only made 150 of them. These ended up reselling at a huge premium, and were a win for Denny’s marketing department. Arby’s new keychains are following a similar trajectory, although not quite as dramatic.

Right now, an Arby’s “Keys to the Cheese” Keychain is reselling for about $25 to $30 with solid volume. If you were quick on the draw and snagged two, this was an easy $50 or so in profit for about five minutes of work.

This isn’t the first we’ve featured Arby’s on our blog. Last year, the company produced an extremely limited set of dice, perfect for a fast food-themed D&D campaign. Check out our article here for the details.

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