News Buying merchandise with the intent to resell to be banned at Tokyo Disney, could Walt Disney World follow?

[wdwmagic]

Buying merchandise with the intent to resell to be banned at Tokyo Disney, could Walt Disney World follow?

Buying merchandise with the intent to resell to be banned at Tokyo Disney, could Walt Disney World follow?

www.wdwmagic.com

 

[FerretAfros]

It boggles the mind that Disney encourages this type of behavior by only manufacturing limited quantities of merchandise. People want what Disney is selling, but there just isn't enough of it to go around. And given that most of it is essentially mass-produced cheap crap (looking at you, popcorn buckets and spirit jerseys!), there's no reason they couldn't just make more. It's not like these are high-end items where being part of a limited edition is part of the appeal; by their very nature, they're intended for mass consumption by large audiences.

This problem is especially frustrating (and frequent) at runDisney events, where they know the exact number of participants and their shirt sizes 6+ months in advance, yet still manage to sell out of items within minutes of opening. If it happened every now and then, it would be excusable, but it's part of the process now and only serves to encourage people to show up earlier and earlier, and buy extra merchandise to resell at a profit.

Disney loves to sell things to their visitors; they practically force it upon you when exiting through the gift shop at countless attractions and invented a whole app to sell park features that were previously included in your admission ticket. And yet they manage to consistently leave money on the table by simply not having enough product to sell.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

While I appreciate the attempt that Disney is trying to implement, let’s face it, it’s a clear attempt at CYA. They speak out about trespassing park policy violators and we all know what empty threats those amount to.
The best way to curtail the “scalping” is to just limit the quantity of an item at checkout. Until Disney does that and ENFORCES that policy, it’s an empty threat.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Buying merchandise with the intent to resell to be banned at Tokyo Disney, could Walt Disney World follow?

Buying merchandise with the intent to resell to be banned at Tokyo Disney, could Walt Disney World follow?

www.wdwmagic.com

I think it is impossible for Disney to know exactly who is buying what when. You can limit how many people can buy which is being done with no success. I’ve seen them limit one per person then heard of people bringing 10 friends into the parks to buy one. It’s just impossible. Maybe harsher wording on the site claiming..” if they find out who is selling online they will be banned and AP revoked”. I know that’s a reach but maybe it stops some of the sales?
I think this is just one of those bad situations that cannot be stopped. Maybe controlled a little but that’s it.

 

[JoeCamel]

It boggles the mind that Disney encourages this type of behavior by only manufacturing limited quantities of merchandise. People want what Disney is selling, but there just isn't enough of it to go around. And given that most of it is essentially mass-produced cheap crap (looking at you, popcorn buckets and spirit jerseys!), there's no reason they couldn't just make more. It's not like these are high-end items where being part of a limited edition is part of the appeal; by their very nature, they're intended for mass consumption by large audiences.

This problem is especially frustrating (and frequent) at runDisney events, where they know the exact number of participants and their shirt sizes 6+ months in advance, yet still manage to sell out of items within minutes of opening. If it happened every now and then, it would be excusable, but it's part of the process now and only serves to encourage people to show up earlier and earlier, and buy extra merchandise to resell at a profit.

Disney loves to sell things to their visitors; they practically force it upon you when exiting through the gift shop at countless attractions and invented a whole app to sell park features that were previously included in your admission ticket. And yet they manage to consistently leave money on the table by simply not having enough product to sell.

They are masters at manufacturing scarcity both in merch and in park capacity, must have been in the marketing 101 course the interns took.

 

[Nottamus]

“Your bid of $1485.00 for the Wall-E Pez dispenser has been received and will shortly enter Disney’s Right Of Refusal process. You will be emailed if it passes”

 

[GhostHost1000]

Interesting. Wouldn’t be a bad thing for WDW. They create so many problems themselves sometimes it’s mind boggling

 

[_caleb]

It boggles the mind that Disney encourages this type of behavior by only manufacturing limited quantities of merchandise. People want what Disney is selling, but there just isn't enough of it to go around. And given that most of it is essentially mass-produced cheap crap (looking at you, popcorn buckets and spirit jerseys!), there's no reason they couldn't just make more. It's not like these are high-end items where being part of a limited edition is part of the appeal; by their very nature, they're intended for mass consumption by large audiences.

This problem is especially frustrating (and frequent) at runDisney events, where they know the exact number of participants and their shirt sizes 6+ months in advance, yet still manage to sell out of items within minutes of opening. If it happened every now and then, it would be excusable, but it's part of the process now and only serves to encourage people to show up earlier and earlier, and buy extra merchandise to resell at a profit.

Disney loves to sell things to their visitors; they practically force it upon you when exiting through the gift shop at countless attractions and invented a whole app to sell park features that were previously included in your admission ticket. And yet they manage to consistently leave money on the table by simply not having enough product to sell.

I get that it can be frustrating. But don’t you think that limited quantities justifies higher prices and increases demand?

I imagine the value of a RunDisney shirt from 2017 falls drastically immediately after the event.

 

[wendysue]

I must be missing something.. The very few things I purchased long ago didn't last very long. (Except maybe some T-shirts that I still have.). Why does anyone get themselves so worked up over the cheaply made souvenirs that are sold?

 

[Goofyernmost]

The only way that can be done is to severely limit the quantities sold to any single individual and have the ability to show what people are repeating. It is a very complex system needed to do that. Disney probably has that ability but don't know how to use it. Plus unless it is linked by name many people have multiple credit cards available to buy merch.

It was a lot like in the paper admission tickets back in the day. Just a standard date stamp to keep track of how many times it was used but no way of knowing if it is the same person or not. It was big business back then. Route 192 was awash with small booths where tickets were bought and sold based on the number of days remaining on the ticket. I used them a number of times myself. If I only wanted a 1 or 2 day ticket, I could go to them and buy one at a very discounted price or if I had a 4 day only used 2 and knew that I wasn't going to use the other two days for awhile, I could sell my remaining 2 days to them and have some extra cash back in those cash strapped days of yore.

In this case though it is hard to understand the motivation. With tickets if someone sold an unused ticket Disney lost the sale of a ticket completely. With this they have a number of items to sell and they won't lose or gain money either way. They sell the stock to whomever wants them, in the quantities they want and when they run out they either restock or end it. Either way they have sold everyone of them and they have been paid at the selling price and if others decide to sell them, that is up to those individuals. Disney takes no risk. The people that bought them might make extra money but they are the ones taking the risk of people losing interest. Disney just takes their profits to the bank.

 

[monothingie]

If they do this the way the limit alcohol sales at EPCOT fe$tivals to obviously intoxicated guests, then it should work out swimmingly.

 

[JTH781]

I dont see how they can really crack down on this.

 

[_caleb]

I dont see how they can really crack down on this.

“One item per customer.”

 

[JIMINYCR]

Even limiting purchases to possibly 2 per guest they won’t stop reselling. Many resellers pay friends to get in lines and purchase items for them at the same time when there is a limit. Their number of purchased items will get done despite a limit in place. Dis should have items in stock to meet demands and have items available online for sale. They set up the eBay selling which lines the pockets of those sellers instead of seeing the profits they could be making from those of us who can’t get to a park when something we would like comes out.

 

[mysto]

Disney Tokyo intends to determine the intent of the buyer! "with intent to resell" That will require some serious magic. I have trouble determining my own intent half the time.

I wonder if they're going to try and track individuals? Match an ebay account with MDE somehow and use face recognition to deny purchases? But still the poor CM has to enforce this decree from on high. Buyer waits 8 hours for a bucket and is told no, buyer says "aw cmon look at my crying kid" and the CM says OK just this once. For what the CMs are paid will they fight for this? I don't think this policy has any teeth.

I've seen the "aw cmon" method get groups of teens into the FP/LL without a pass. Works great.

 

[JoeCamel]

I must be missing something.. The very few things I purchased long ago didn't last very long. (Except maybe some T-shirts that I still have.). Why does anyone get themselves so worked up over the cheaply made souvenirs that are sold?

FOMO

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Or…just…make…more. Voila!

 

[monothingie]

Or…just…make…more. Voila!

Which does nothing to solve the problem.

You can have an inventory of 100x the current size, but if you can’t distribute it quickly, you run into the same issue of scarcity.

They also have no incentive to do so. They make more money selling fewer at a higher margin than a lot at a lower margin.

 

[JoeCamel]

Which does nothing to solve the problem.

You can have an inventory of 100x the current size, but if you can’t distribute it quickly, you run into the same issue of scarcity.

They also have no incentive to do so. They make more money selling fewer at a higher margin than a lot at a lower margin.

Ties up less in inventory too

 

[Lilofan]

While I appreciate the attempt that Disney is trying to implement, let’s face it, it’s a clear attempt at CYA. They speak out about trespassing park policy violators and we all know what empty threats those amount to.
The best way to curtail the “scalping” is to just limit the quantity of an item at checkout. Until Disney does that and ENFORCES that policy, it’s an empty threat.

Knew some folks from Brazil that frequently visited Orlando ( Orlando shopping outlets, FL mall etc ) and bought in bulk , clothes , shoes, electronics , no limit in quantities only to resell in Brazil to many willing buyers. Theme parks are not the only rodeo in town.