Fashion fanatics who missed out on designer Stella McCartney items, which sold out at some Target stores within minutes of going on sale today, have blamed eBay for their misery.

A web forum discussion devoted to the 42-piece Stella for Target range has attracted more than 160 comments from people who got caught up in the frenzy as the items were launched in almost 100 stores across Australia.

More than 400 people queued outside Target's premier Victorian store in Chadstone in Melbourne's south-east before the doors opened at 10am today.

In less than a minute the entire rack of McCartney's $199.99 trench coat had been cleared; just 6000 of the coats were available Australia-wide.

Now shoppers who left empty-handed have vented their anger on fashion forums, blaming both the eBay phenomenon and Target management for the chaotic scenes. Many people reported seeing customers grabbing handfuls of the same item, seemingly oblivious to sizing.

One Southland shopper told theage.com.au she had witnessed "absolute madness".

"One particular type of dress was gone within 10 seconds. A lady was almost pushed into the empty racks and many people were fighting and screaming over the last scarves.

"Some people just took anything, even if the sizes were five times bigger or smaller than themselves. I saw a lady with a trolley full of Stella's clothes. It must be worth over $2000."

Contributors to a Vogue.com.au forum on the Stella range have appealed to others to boycott internet auction site eBay should items from the limited, Australia-only range begin appearing.

"I'm definitely boycotting eBay sales for this," wrote one. "It's so unfair that some people practically grabbed everything in sight. It should have been handled better by Target. Only one style item per person. Or maximum 10 items or something like that."

Other forum contributors pointed the finger at men they had seen buying up the Stella range, raging at "eBay leeches" and rallying to a call of "WE DON'T WANT YOUR EBAY STELLAS".

But by 3.10pm (AEST), none of the 'Stella for Target' range had appeared for sale at ebay.com.au and Target's corporate affairs manager Deb Johnson said she did not have any regrets about the sale.

She said a limit on the number of McCartney items people could buy had never been considered.

"Whatever happens on eBay is what happens on eBay," Ms Johnson told theage.com.au. "That's up to individual people to do whatever they chose."

"I did not see anyone buying armfulls of trenches," Ms Johnson added. "It did not appear that there were huge quantities of any particular item (being bought)."

She said pointing the finger at male customers was unfair.

"There were probably some people who sent their husbands in because they were working. I think just because it's a man it doesn't mean they were there to profiteer."

Ms Johnson said the pace at which McCartney stock had sold was unbelievable.

"Whether it's jeans, silk tops, dresses, jackets - they've all sold really well," she said.

Ms Johnson said it was too early to know whether any particular items had sold out completely around Australia, but estimated that 50 per cent of the Stella McCartney range had disappeared from stores by midday.

She said Target would attempt to appease customers who had missed out by advertising the whereabouts of leftover stock.

"We're going to have a look at the end of the day, find out what's there (and) work out what we can possibly do. We might bring together the (remaining) stock that's in 10 stores and put it in two and then we'll let people know.

"If any particular item has sold-out across the board that will go on the website (designersfortarget.com.au)," she said.

theage.com.au