Shoppers have figured out that Fashion’s Night Out in New York is a great time to scoop up freebies, like tshirts, prizes and free champagne. But in a recessionary move, this year retailers are making attendees pay a price if they wanted the privilege of attending their promotions and getting celebrity autographs. At Dolce & Gabbana, kids were told that they could buy a $35 tube of lipgloss to get Justin Bieber’s autograph, but then he only popped down the stairs to sing one cover song. Then he sped back upstairs without signing anything.

In order to stand in an area of the store where Bieber was going to appear, visitors had to buy one of the $35 tubes of lipgloss.

“The lady said buy lipstick and you could get Justin Bieber’s autograph,” one highschooler told The Daily Beast. But she was a disappointed. A Daily Beast reporter themself spent three hours in the line and only managed to catch a flash of Bieber’s purple jacket as he dashed away to his purple cloud castle.

“We’re going to return it because we didn’t meet Justin Bieber,” the highschooler said.

Somehow I don’t think that will work, even with a receipt.

The Best of Fashion’s Night Out [The Daily Beast via Mlive]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.