Limited time souvenir offerings have been part of the Disney theme park shopping experience for years. Whether it be a commemorative t-shirt for a park anniversary, or the somewhat more common special event-exclusive merchandise, the concept of only having limited quantities of such items available for sale is not new. The rise of social media, and the internet and mobile apps in general however, have made it even easier for Disney fans to view and purchase said items without setting foot in the parks.
Though this exchange is occasionally done through honest guests who no longer care to have an item they purchased (and are therefore selling it) the more frequent exchange goes through Disney merchandise resellers or personal shoppers. But is this practice an ethical way of both buying the merchandise and selling it? Not only is it ethical, but is it legal?
Editor’s Note: Brittany’s opinions in no way reflect those of Theme Park Tourist or its staff.
The curse of “limited time” advertising
Image: Disney
The very phrases “limited time” or “while supplies last” are marketing terms that can put consumers in a panic. Outside of the Disney theme parks, this phrasing in reference to a product you want means one of two things: You are either going to get on the retailers website or hop in the car and get to the store asap to purchase the item while it is still available. In theory, this marketing scheme should have the same effect with Disney park merchandise. In reality however, most Disney fans are not able to simply hop in their cars and arrive at the parks in any reasonable manner.
The next best option? For some it’s eBay. The online auction/re-sale site has been a staple in getting limited edition items out to consumers since the company’s debut. There are a few major problems with planning to purchase your limited edition Disney merchandise through eBay. One as you may imagine through any reselling arrangement is that with an item coming from an individual rather than a legitimate company the condition and authenticity may be something to question. This is the primary reason why some Disney fans caution others against purchasing pins from eBay—it may seem like a good deal to order a lot of 25+, but you won’t know until they arrive in the mail how many of the pins are authentic Disney pins.
Image: Disney
For the purposes of this article, the most worrisome problem in purchasing limited edition park merchandise through eBay is the price. Something that was purchased in the park during a special event for $10 can end up going for $200 or more on eBay. Some fans see this as a trade-off: $200 for item x is cheaper than a trip to Walt Disney World from wherever home may be. Others, myself included, view this practice as extremely problematic.
Individual vs. business reselling
Image: Disney
There is nothing illegal (or immoral) about an individual guest purchasing merchandise and then eventually deciding that he or she would prefer to sell it. We’d all be lying to ourselves if we could not come up with one thing in our closets that we sought after at one point in time, but would gladly sell depending on its value. The issue with individuals doing this comes in when guests purchase multiples of the same items for the sole purpose of reselling them.
They may not run into any legal issues, but it may not be a very ethical thing to do. One person who happens to be in the parks during the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival for instance, may decide to stock up on the limited edition pins that are only sold during the event with the intention of reselling them online. Whether or not this is legal for an individual to do is a grey area. It might sound like they are running a business in a sense, but there are (at least for now) no real legal repercussions for this kind of behavior.
From a moral standpoint, this behavior is making one guest a potentially very large profit for reselling the items, while leaving other guests who are actually in the parks and looking to purchase them out in the cold. Another classic instance of this behavior is often seen with any of the annual passholder merchandise sold during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. All too often, annual passholders visit the shops selling these items halfway through the event only to find that they are all out—which can happen quickly when guests essentially buy these items in bulk.
Is it legal?
Image: Disney
Making an official “business” out of reselling Disney theme park merchandise is even more of a legal grey area. And while it is rather unclear what the legalities of this practice are, it does not take a lawyer to determine that running this as a business may indeed have some kind of legal consequence.
A person running a business of reselling Disney theme park merchandise may run into tax issues down the line. Legitimate businesses pay legitimate taxes, but whether or not a person running a reselling business via a social media page is paying legitimate taxes is a bit unclear. A business would need a state tax ID number, meaning that an individual who is reselling as a business may run into problems if this number was never acquired. (I personally would feel rather odd going to file my taxes and telling my accountant that reselling Disney merchandise was my career, but to each his own).
Image: Disney
Another issue with reselling is the fact that it would void warranties. Technically speaking, warranties do not transfer when items are resold. Presumably in the case of an item like a Dooney and Bourke bag, the reseller would include the original receipt and warranty information, and while this would work if the purchaser needed to act on the warranty it is technically illegal. Also illegal would be transferring warranties, meaning that if the person reselling the item already registered the warranty in his or her name, the person buying the product would be without a warranty.
As with any business, trademark, logos, and image permissions can be a cause for concern as well. A reselling business with a Facebook cover photo using a Disney copyrighted logo without permission can technically encounter legal consequences. While I think we can all agree that Disney probably has more important things to do than crack down on logo usage on social media, this is not something I would personally risk and attach my name and business to.
Lastly, there is the issue of the fine print for some products literally stating “not for resale.” This may be far and few between in Disney theme park merchandise, but it likely exists on at least some items that are resold through “businesses.”
But is it right?
Image: Brittany DiCologero
There is no definitive answer to whether or not reselling Disney theme park merchandise is morally right. After having researched the topic in depth (both while working in merchandise at Walt Disney World, and through conversations with said “business” owners) I will offer my opinion on the topic.
Ethically speaking, I think that this entire practice is extremely wrong, and Disney should be doing more to prevent guests from doing this. I’m sure from a company standpoint, the bottom line doesn’t matter because the company is making the same amount of money regardless of which guests purchase which items. In a sense however, the company is getting ripped off.
Image: Disney
Consider the Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Rose Tumbler Cups that took the parks and the internet by storm during the spring of 2017. Purchasing the cups in person at the parks would have cost you $15. Purchasing them from a reseller during the height of this frenzy would have cost $60 or more. If one person or “business” were to buy 5 cups and resell them, they would be making a profit of $225. This $225 profit would only be the outcome of a one-time 5-cup purchase. Someone doing this for “work” would certainly be selling much more than this one time deal, and would in some cases end up with absolutely tremendous profits—all from guests who were not able to purchase them for the reasonable price of $15 in the parks. Sure, Disney is not losing money, but is it really fair that there are people out there running businesses out of this kind of behavior?
While speaking to owners of some of these businesses (who will not be named in this article) I attempted to ask genuine questions from a consumer standpoint, because I honestly have a difficult time understanding how this business works from both ends. I don’t understand how the “business” owner can condone what is essentially a scam, and I definitely don’t understand why guests are willing to pay such ridiculous prices. (I can sympathize with wanting certain items while you are unable to be at the parks, but a line needs to be drawn somewhere. A 400% markup for the Rose Tumbler Cups? I would have to pass on that out of principle alone).
Image: Disney
In one such instance, I decided to open the Shop Disney Parks app on my smartphone to see if any of the items being resold by “businesses” on the internet would be available for purchase there, through Disney directly. As it turns out, a number of the items guests request in personal shopping and reselling groups on social media are available directly from Disney FOR A CHEAPER PRICE. This finding prompted me to contact a couple of “shop owners” to ask, “Can you please explain to me why I would purchase x item from you when I could purchase it directly from Disney using their official app for a smaller cost?”
Unfortunately, I was never given a satisfactory answer. Many of the owners were quite rude, and while I was obviously frustrated I took a step back multiple times and explained that as a potential customer I simply wanted to know what the reasoning was. Even more unfortunate than the answers being unsatisfactory, many of them made so little sense at all—further convincing me that this whole practice is simply a scam. One woman told me that people liked to purchase from her and support her livelihood. Apparently I was being rude, but I honestly don’t care to support a random person’s livelihood when the company who makes the product will sell the items to me for less money.
Image: Disney
Another unsatisfactory answer was that the prices seem inflated but are adjusted to make up for the “work” of the shop owner having to go into the park to purchase the item. One of the items in question was a blanket (which was also available on the Shop Disney Parks app) and which I know is available in multiple stores at Walt Disney World. The reseller business advertised the item on its Facebook page with an additional $10 cost. I really cannot imagine this being just me, but I still do not understand why I would pay an extra $10 to apparently “support the livelihood” of a random person, when I could have the blanket mailed to me through Disney’s official app for less. If I’m shopping for Disney merchandise, then I am doing just that. I’m supporting a company whose products I enjoy. I am NOT supporting another guest being able to pay to spend time in the parks.
What should Disney do?
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Technically speaking, Disney does have the right to refuse to sell items to guests. In theory if a guest tries to purchase multiples of a limited edition item, or come through the line multiple times, have family members purchase extras, etc, Disney does have the right to refuse the sale. Some limited edition items do have limits per transactions on them as it is, but this does not stop guests from visiting multiple stores, going to different registers, or doing any of the aforementioned ways around this.
Random refusals to sell based on cast member judgement could understandably run into problems. Having worked as a merchandise cast member myself, I know that I would not want to be the person to refuse a sale without concrete evidence to back it up. Even letting some guests know that they could not use a family member or friend’s discount could be problematic, so not selling the items altogether would no doubt be worse.
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A probable solution in my opinion would be to track these purchases using park tickets, the same way pharmacies sometimes record license numbers to make sure customers aren’t buying suspicious quantities of certain drugs. If one person exceeds his or her allowed number of purchases for a limited edition item, the transaction would be refused and the cast member would have an official explanation as to why. Of course, resellers would probably still find ways around this, and I would never recommend that Disney impose limited on non-limited items, like the blankets I mentioned before, but it would be a starting point.
What should you do?
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My recommendation is to avoid supporting reseller businesses. These “businesses” may not even be properly registered as official businesses in the first place, making their activity illegal. They are scamming you, the consumer, by charging upwards of 50% markups with the profits going right into their pockets. And they are keeping guests who are actually in the parks from being able to purchase items direct from Disney for the actual retail prices.
During my conversations with resellers, I was repeatedly told that these owners are just trying to make a living and support themselves. I am 100% supportive of small businesses, and I would always choose to purchase from a small business over a large chain entity when given a chance. But there is a stark difference between purchasing envelopes from my town’s local stationary store instead of Hallmark and spending more money for a reseller to profit off of me from an item that Disney sells for less.
Image: Disney
I know that certain items can be tempting to purchase when you are not local to the parks, and sometimes getting them from illegitimate sources online may be your only option. If you absolutely must have the item, I would suggest doing some research into the seller. Even if overpriced, if the seller appears to be a genuine individual who purchased something they no longer want, this would be a better option than going through a business. Joining a Facebook group run by a reselling company in my opinion, would be supporting scam artists, and essentially would be throwing your hard earned money away—while also encouraging this behavior to continue, making these items less available for guests in the parks.
What would you do? Do you have experience purchasing items from resellers? Would you do it in the future? Let us know what you think in the comments!
