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

Dec 23, 2022 in "Creations Shop"

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Posted: Friday December 23, 2022 7:25am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Tokyo Disney is taking steps to prevent guests from buying merchandise with the intent to resell.

Guests at EPCOT buying merchandise at Creations Shop

In an updated Theme Park Terms of Use document on the official website, Tokyo Disney lists "Purchase of merchandise or souvenir goods for resale purposes" as an example of prohibited conduct.

It isn't immediately clear how Tokyo Disney plans to either identify or respond to guests buying merchandise for resale. Still, its inclusion in the prohibited conduct listing gives the resort flexibility to take action if circumstances require it.

Theme park merchandise reselling has become big business, with individuals and companies offering limited edition, launch day, and general merchandise for resale. The asking price is typically significantly higher than Disney's, but fans desperate for the merchandise are prepared to pay big.

The Figment popcorn bucket generated unprecedented demand and a massive eBay reseller market

At Walt Disney World, buying merchandise for resale has become a significant inconvenience for regular park guests, as resellers line up hours before the items go on sale, purchase large quantities of products, and leave the casual park guest out of luck.

Guests queued for more than five hours to buy a $0 Figment popcorn bucket

This past year saw an 8-hour wait on the first day of the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts to purchase a Figment popcorn bucket, with many of them quickly appearing on eBay for prices ranging from $300 to more than $1000.

Figment Popcorn Buckets selling for over $1000 as of January 15 2022

In recent times, Disney World has introduced various policies to try to maintain merchandise availability. Quantity limits per SKU have been used, along with Mobile Order in My Disney Experience, to control who is eligible to buy items and in what quantities.

Disney World has recently used My Disney Experience and Virtual Queues to manage merchandise releases

Despite the mechanisms put in place to restrict bulk buying, resellers typically find workarounds, including taking multiple family members to bypass per-person purchasing and visiting on consecutive days to avoid "per day" limits.

So far, Walt Disney World has not explicitly identified resellers as a reason for imposing quantity limits. And it seems that for now, at least, Walt Disney World does not have an issue with resellers and personal shoppers operating in the parks.

Discuss on the Forums

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JoeCamelDec 24, 2022

Apply for auto insurance online and see what they can do with very little info, it is already out there

Smiley/OCDDec 24, 2022

No, because all it’s matching is the sku to the quantity…license is held for a 24 hour period. Don’t you think Disney has all your personal info already? It’s not like they’re asking for your SSN.

donsullivanDec 24, 2022

Doing that would require them to store your DL to validate use which is a very bad idea.

Smiley/OCDDec 24, 2022

The same way people were hoarding TP and K95 masks during the pandemic?

Tha RealestDec 24, 2022

I don’t know that they need to prove anything, but surely buying a large volume of a single item is usually indicative of reselling?

KaliSplashDec 24, 2022

Don't know how disney can prove the intent of any buyer.

GhostHost1000Dec 24, 2022

All they’d have to do is scan someone’s ticket or magic band at purchase to keep track of how many things they’ve got

larryzDec 24, 2022

Serial numbering items sold. Tracking who bought them with credit cards. Random surveys of eBay and Craigslist sales.

John park hopperDec 24, 2022

Disney knows exactly what they are doing by creating limited editions of something they produce a set amount and sell every one making hugh profits and no leftover inventory. Like popcorn buckets they have an endless supply of potential limited edition merchandize. They will never limit sales

WorldExplorerDec 24, 2022

All I'm getting from this news is that I'm going to need to actually fly to Tokyo if I want any Oswald the Lucky Rabbit merchandise now.

JoeCamelDec 24, 2022

They make the same bank either way

Tha RealestDec 23, 2022

This all assumes they want to do something about this. I think they’ll gladly take the “lost” sales in exchange for the marketing / FOMO pop and an assurance of not having to send anything to the outlet stores.

PanchoDec 23, 2022

if they are gonna limit items per person, tie it to the ticket. one admission, one item. kids 2 and under are the exceptions, but one item per child. still room for some abuse. but a lot less.

tancDec 23, 2022

The resellers ruined the splash merch. I was pretty sad that park reservations screwed me over getting the last merch drop in August 2020. I'm not sure if one item a person will matter much, but I don't know if it will do much. Does this apply to a person or a party? Like it'd be weird if you can only buy one shirt or something. I am not sure if it's possible to fully stop reselling. Although you should have to show an ID for limited items and put on a list for ineligible to repurchase. That's the best way to combat this garbage.