In recent months, Disney has moved to combat hoarding by merchandise resellers in the parks, and it seems that the company may have begun taking stronger measures.
Resellers at Walt Disney World are reportedly having their annual passes revoked and being trespassed from the parks. Reselling items with the annual pass discount is a violation of the program’s terms and conditions, which read:
Such benefits and discounts are for personal use only and may not be used for any commercial purpose including, without limitation, to obtain or purchase items or services with the intent to resell such items or services.
Back in August, most purchases of merchandise around the resort were limited to two per item per guest per day. With many resellers finding ways around these limits, such as using multiple passholders or buying the same item in multiple shops, it seems that Disney may finally be attempting to get rid of them once and for all by kicking them out of the parks, though no official statement has been made.
Do you think this is a better way to ensure more guests can get the merchandise they want, or is this more hurtful for fans who can’t get this stuff any other way? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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Good riddance.
Good. BE GONE!
Good. Then they can complain that APs don’t spend enough money even more.
Nevermind the person I saw in the park the other day with a grocery cart full of Disney bags “conveniently” buy 2 of almost everything “limited”.
I don’t understand why Disney doesn’t offer merchandise directly online through ShopDisney.com.
This would put an end to most online resellers and at the same time provide merchandise to people who, seemingly, are OK getting ripped off for the convenience of not having to visit the stores inside of the Disney parks and resorts. Give those people access to merchandise and I don’t think they’ll buy from resellers. I think it’s as simple as that outside of collector’s items.
Because if they do that people who are coming from around the world can’t purchase these since the Disney shop is only for USA only.
How are people who live in other states suppose to get our merchandise if they don’t sell it on shop Disney. I rely on Disney shoppers.
It’s seems like a simple solution. They want to control inventory, cut out the middle man, then everyone just knows they’ll raise their online prices. I like handbags and want a certain placement and I don’t live nearby. I’ll be paying even more if I ask someone to pick one up because they don’t do that for free and why should they? I guess I’ll just save my money for a Louis Vuitton instead of buying multiple bags throughout the year. It’s my one splurge. I don’t wear fancy clothes, I don’t drink, I don’t get my nails done – but I do like handbags.
While I agree they should, you clearly have never bought online before. This would not help at all just look at consoles and sports cards. People would use bots like crazy. Just look at something like wishables 12 days of Christmas, sold out and resellers are selling them on ebay. Until ebay and disney crack down on resellers by suing them or jail time nothing will help.
If Disney did that, it would no longer be “exclusive,” and then no one would want it. Disney (and other companies with “collectibles”) make much more money this way.
There are a lot of items sold in the parks that are sold on shopdisney but it’s not everything. Even online items get sold out from the resellers and regular customers buying it. It has gotten really bad with the 50th anniversary merchandise. After it is sold out online, there is no other place to buy from except from resellers on Mercari.
On one hand, I agree as someone several states away. On the other, having park exclusives is a major reason people would buy items while at the parks. People wouldn’t buy anything in the multitude of souvenir stores if they could just get it online.
Having been a pass holder for several years, it would never have occurred to me to buy something with my discount then resell it on Ebay or any other site. It’s dishonest and prevents others, at times, from being able to purchase the merchandise when they visit the parks. I understand the problem is worsening and so far haven’t thought of a really good idea to help prevent this. I wonder how many of the guests at Disney World on October 1 were visiting for the sole purpose of buying unique, October 1, 2021, items to turn around and sell them. I am not looking forward to an answer.
I bet over 50%. Just look at the wait times for rides that day, they were nothing. People were waiting hours for popcorn buckets and stores, so you could tell where a vast majority of peoples priority were that day.
Its just a smoke show. As long as that merch is leaving the shelf and not going to the outlet mall, Disney will not enforce its own “tougher rules”
The failure in this logic, IMO, is that empty shelves prevent purchases by other patrons, including non-AP or DVC members who won’t get that discount, ultimately preventing the opportunity for more revenue. There is incentive here, including guest satisfaction.
Disney has been cutting cost left and right. I will be missing the magical express and now pay for fast passes witch was free before. How is revoking passes to people that resell going to help bring in revenue. The way I see it less people will buy stuff and they will find a way to make me pay for money they will be losing.
Guest staying in the resorts have been unable to purchase popular merch because the resalers bring large groups and buy it all up.
Actual guest will purchase said merchandise if it is available, those guests have been complaining and sharing pics of her.
Yes please! Everyone deserves the chance to buy with the retail price!
Simple fix. Dont use your annual pass discount and maybe block out your identifying nail polish when you’re selling things 2x the asking price on eBay!
What a great idea!!!!
Yes it’s ridiculous as a pass holder myself I have seen them clear shelves having their kids or family members buying everything and being rude to other guests in the process. Disney can prevent this as I’m sure their security and pass holder system can be used to stop this. I have seen items that sell out at the parks and online listed for 10x what they paid for them with or without the discount which is unbelievable and a ripoff. Either Disney needs to provide more stock or stop this.
If Disney had the stock you can bet it would be out in the shelves.
It’s about time.
Finally!
I think that when using your annual pass for a discount then it should be scanned that way Disney knows exactly what you bought and where you bought it so you can’t jump store to store or cone back another day and buy more and if you are caught reselling it because you used multiple annual pass there will be proof and you can get banned.
If all AP holders are using their pass to buy discounted merchandise and resell, then yes they should have their passes revoked. But if they are NOT using their discount to buy for others, then it should not matter. I have seen items on eBay stating “Order Confirmed” and the item hasn’t been shipped yet. People without AP’s are buying their limit and selling on eBay, so it is not just AP holders.
When you try to buy limited items online, you don’t always get them. I was lucky enough to get the Main Attraction Minnie Tiki Room Pin & Plush. I had the bag in my cart, but it was sold out by the time I went to checkout. Less than 3 minutes and it was sold out. I tried for the Haunted Mansion one and didn’t get a ticket to be able to purchase anything. I gave up on ever getting anything that is limited. My daughter has the Stitch Crashes Disney pins on order for my granddaughter. One person actually was able to get her the Lion King Plush. The reseller does not use her AP discount to purchase items.
With the cost of resorts and tickets continually going up, it is doubtful we will be able to afford the one trip we truly wanted to do; Christmas at Wilderness Lodge and our anniversary in one trip. Even with a split stay WL & POFQ) it is well over $11K for 4 of us. 2023 would be our 30th anniversary and would have been a great time. Not going to happen.
Finally. After saving up to make a trip to Food and Wine, we found too many items were sold out. A $30. Pie plate could be found all over E*** for $75+.
Knowing I wish to go back for 50th anniversary, I’d like to be able to purchase Anniversary items. DISNEY, please sell specialty items on SHOP
DISNEY.
Thank you for cutting down the scalpers who were shopping with baby strollers chalk full of multiple duplicate tems.
A contract is a contract. Pull those abusive Annual Pass holders
Passes
If you collect Disney items and cannot get to a park because of other constraints, including not living close, your only option is Shop Disney. BUT Shop Disney does not offer everything available at the park. What’s a person to do. Disney can’t have its cake and eat it too!
I think this is a good idea! There are items from the 50th Anniversary that I wanted to purchase and many have not been available. You then check on-line and they appear being sold for more money than what Disney sells them for.
I visited during the week of October 25th , after the anniversary and there were no ears to be found, Christmas Tree ornaments, and even the Pandora charms were sold out . These items were for the 50th Anniversary items. It’s sad that as an Annual Passholder I cannot purchase the items that I want while others, who were probably there on or before Oct 1st , grabbed as much of these items as they wanted to resell at a higher price and I refuse to pay the increased price so I will not be able to have that wanted item!
I have used personal shoppers in the past. Sometimes we rely on them when we can’t get items on shopDisney. I know for a fact that the people I use are not using their discounts. I also know that at times shopDisney’s prices are higher than in the parks. When you pay a personal shopper they charge a fee and shipping. After all it is their time. But I know not everyone follows the same rules. But I guess just like everything else it’s the people who take advantage of things that ruin it for everyone else.
I’m not sure how I feel about this. I have depended on a certain reseller to get items that I can’t get because I don’t live in Florida and don’t get to Disney that much. As well, a perfect example is this…I have waited for the new earidescent clothing to drop. Checked the website DAILY!!! It finally did…I went to purchase my tshirt before 10am and it was completely sold out during the time I put it in my cart and went to check out! So in this situation I’m thankful for a reseller that isn’t marking up at an outrageous amount. Now finding a reseller like that…those are hard to find!! I refuse to pay an outrageous amount of money and there are plenty being greedy with the whole system. There are just some of us that LOVE all things Disney and don’t get to get there as often as we would like and Disney isn’t putting everything on their website.
Finally something is done. And there are plenty official Disney resellers that have the license and can legally sell Disney merch to those that can’t go to the parks. All these people did was force people to buy merch 2-3x the original amount because they buy them all
Yes, WDW needs to put a stop to it. The pass holders doing this are very rude in the store & have caused fights in the Emporium. I’ve heard it has caused Cast Members to loss some of their employment perks by taking away their discounts on certain lines of merchandise.
They don’t carry enough online and so many people would like items that they don’t sell online, so if they cut resellers how can we get anything? I’m not going to buy airplane tickets of $1000+ just to fly in and shop. They closed most stores and Targets selection will be a joke. This is just a way for Disney to control all inventory and then raise the prices themselves instead of letting a middleman get any of the profit. What about placement in handbags? What about items they don’t put online? Nobody likes high prices but Disney isn’t known for low prices or even good values nowadays. Remember the entire “you may get chosen randomly to have a chance to buy a popular online item” that totally blew? If demand is this high for their products, they should make more and put more online. Disney is so full of it! I like Mickey, but the corporate attitudes have to stop.
I heard of this happening to one reseller, but is it more?
YES!!! My niece wanted a special Starbucks 50th Anniversary Tumbler. Sold out everywhere. Sadly you can find them.on line being sold for over 100 dollars along with other special items. Glad Disney is is taking notice
It’s about time they did something!
I wish Disney would scan the AP at the register,and if that merchandise hasn’t been bought already, allow it to be sold. They track everything else. Why don’t they track our purchases?
APs should be required to scan their passes to prevent buying at different shops or from different terminals in the same shop. Not sure how to get around people using their kids’ passes.
I think someone already commented below, but it’d be nice if they kept the restrictions on the APs/resellers, but at the same time made everything available on ShopDisney. Even if they had to delay for a bit so it was “unique” to the park for a while. I’m lucky in that I have friends who go to the park quite often and can grab the one-off items for me, others don’t have that luxury.
We were there recently and the shelves (what few they had) were pretty empty, especially for 50th merch. I’m not an AP, but would’ve spent a LOT more money because I had a list from friends/family that couldn’t go this year. If they could by the stuff online, I’m pretty sure it’d sell since I heard a lot of comments in the park asking “Will it ever be available online?”
If you want the resellers to stop, take away their profit incentive and make it available to everyone.
I’m torn on this. I completely dislike the idea of reselling and think it’s not fair on other guests. However it’s pretty much the only way I’m able to buy any interesting Disney pins living here in the U.K. Disney put very few pins on their U.K. shopdisney site, and those that are on there aren’t generally very interesting or limited edition ones. And Disney currently won’t ship to U.K. or EU at all from the .com website, so the only option is ebay.
Restricting people to 2 items makes a stupid plastic cup worth more on ebay. Disney is creating scarcity. The only way to stop it is for Disney to sell the items directly. You can get some items from WDW over the phone and sent to your home. That includes items not online at shopdisney. I purchased a Haunted Mansion spirit jersey from Disneyland over the phone. WDW refuses to sell special popcorn buckets to the public over the phone. Resellers know what Disney exclusively sells in parks and no where else. My sister collects special popcorn buckets. I have to go through a reseller every Christmas. I would love to buy it from Disney because I would be saving money. Disney needs to sell these items direct; it is the only thing that will put an end to reselling.
I a some friends who are personal shoppers and greatly appreciate their services. I do agree that there are far too many who over charge and buy far too many items. But hating an entire group of people just because some are greasy and selfish is ridiculous.
When I can not find items I wanted to buy and I get through other means than Disney the people selling is mostly cast member’s …. I also seen magic kingdom’s soft reopening after cov-aids with a cast member day …. who was it cued up outside the splash mountain shop after the announcement splash mountain was changing ? 1 guess it was not general public leaving their with arm loads of merch!
As an annual pass holder, I agree with this policy. I don’t think it’s right to use your discount to buy exclusive merchandise and then sell it for outrageous prices–especially right now with the supply-chain issues we are having. Disney is doing the right thing here.
Stop the hoarding and selfishness. BE KIND.
I was there on Oct 1. I had to make my reservation at EPCOT because I wasn’t as forward thinking as the money grubbing Passholders, I guess. I park-hopped right at 2pm. I really wanted the blue backpack with gold trim. GONE. People were hoarding around waiting and shoving for the purple coffee shop cups. Absolutely ridiculous. I can see why Cast members don’t care for Passholders. The shelves were mostly empty and people were just acting crazy. So, yes, BAN THEM. I did walk on almost every ride that day, because I didn’t go solely for the merch, just wanted to be there on it’s b-day.
I saw one female (not acting like a lady) get irate and yell at the tired-looking cast member at the popcorn cart because she swore they put popcorn in the balloon popcorn bucket. She was ANGRY. The cast member opened the bucket to show it empty. I was just floored how badly behaved that person was. She didn’t even apologize, though I shouldn’t be surprised. Guess you can’t resell a popcorn bucket if it smells like popcorn. And that was last week.
I’ve been a passholder for almost 16 years and live an hour away. I don’t want them to sell everything on ShopDisney. It takes away the “exclusiveness” of being able to purchase some things. But, they do put quite a bit of the 50th merch on there. You just have to be quick to purchase it. They sell out fast.
And how does one know the merch they are second-hand buying wasn’t purchased using a Passholder discount?