Disney has a new way to buy merch in the parks, but it has some passholders worried UPDATED 12/21

[Travisma 1,317]

Not many Disney shops doing this yet.

 

The mobile self-checkout is currently available at Epcot's MouseGear, Everything POP at the Pop Century Resort, and the World of Disney at Downtown Disney in the Disneyland Resort. More stores are expected to be added in the coming weeks.

 

Most of our Sams Stores have had this feature for about 2 years.

 

From automation to working from home, the pandemic has sped up many trends that were already underway before this year, and like many companies, Disney is using the current shift in consumer behavior as a way to roll out programs it has planned for years.

Nearly 90 percent of all payments within Disney parks are now cashless, and mobile ordering has increased more than ninefold. The shift comes as Disney parks heavily push their mobile apps, creating Quibi-style video series and offering various exclusive games accessible while exclusively within the corresponding lands.
 

 

Now Disney has rolled out another feature of the app that is sure to be a hit with many park-goers. When entering select gift shops, guests can pick up clear bags, do their shopping, and scan items via their phones before placing them into the bag. Then when they’re ready to leave, they can check out via the app, skipping the checkout line. The shopping app applies all applicable discounts, and keeps virtual receipts if anything needs to be returned. When leaving, guests show an attendant near the door their phone with the checkout QR code. Nearby a small kiosk has boxes and wrapping paper available.

It’s not surprising that the option was rolled out during the pandemic, now that physical distancing is paramount to safety. Numerous other retailers have begun featuring similar scan-and-go programs, many of which are proving far more popular than similar efforts just a few years prior.

Disney’s move comes as the company tries to slow the pandemic-fueled losses. Since the pandemic has begun, the Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products division, which accounts for nearly 70 percent of all employees at the company, has lost billions of dollars in revenue. Mobile-based self-checkout will likely decrease the demand for cashiers, helping the company eliminate some positions while not negatively impacting the guest experience.

That isn’t enough to stop one group of frequent guests from worrying about the introduction of mobile checkout. Privately, Disney resellers, known within the Disney fan community as "eBay pirates," have expressed concern regarding the shift to mobile checkout.

In recent years, these "pirates" have become a common sighting across Disney parks, where they sometimes help create hours-long lines and cause limited-edition merchandise to be sold out in a matter of minutes. Fans frequently take to social media asking Disney to crack down on the resellers, who can be spotted carrying trash bags full of new merchandise.

Disney tries to limit merchandise reselling with purchase limits, typically 10 per item though lower for some more popular items, and has gone so far as revoking the annual passes of some resellers. Annual pass, Disney Vacation Club, and other discounts are to be used by the person the pass or club membership is linked to, though resellers frequently use these discounts. Annual passes are for personal use only, with all forms of commercial activity explicitly banned. This includes not only using the pass to access the parks and their exclusive merchandise in order to purchase items to resell, but also commercial photography, including that of influencers, and holding unofficial events within the parks.

While Walt Disney World has been known to mostly look the other way regarding such activities on the West Coast, there are occasional annual passholder purges where multiple eBay pirates have their passes revoked.

Some resellers visit multiple locations to get around the limits. There are also occasional reports of some store managers holding back items for resellers they know will be visiting. This symbiotic relationship between managers and resellers help keep sales at those locations up, as resellers seek out these managers who are more likely to let them skirt the rules.

As more of the shopping experience becomes automated via the app, these loopholes may become less exploitable.

This wouldn’t be the first group that Disney has gone after in recent years. Changes to how Disney Vacation Club members can resell their points all but eliminated much of the independent resell market. Disney also cracked down on many private concierge tour companies that were abusing disability pass access after a 2013 New York Post story went viral. In 2014, Disney also began cracking down on vacation planners who used copyrighted terms in advertising Disney vacation planner services.

With new leadership in place across Disney parks, it’s still too early to tell how they will respond to the various third-party industries that ignore Disney rules. One thing is clear: The use of technology, especially via mobile devices, within Disney parks will only continue to expand. So next time you plan to visit a Disney park, remember to take that phone charger with you; you’ll probably going to need it.
 

[Travisma 1,317]

The World of Resellers: Disney Fights Back Against eBay Flippers

Picture this: you’re visiting your favorite Disney Park, meandering a gift shop, when you glance over at the register and spot a Guest purchasing several of the same items. Or maybe you are walking from one area of the park to another and you spot another Guest carrying large bags full of merchandise. Maybe even you spot a group of people purchasing as many seasonal popcorn buckets as they are allowed to.

Chances are, you’ve seen several Disney resellers during your time at the Disney Parks. And, once you know what a reseller is, they become that much easier to spot.

Resellers are, quite simply, people who resell items. Often, when it comes to Disney Parks merchandise, resellers (AKA “flippers”) will purchase limited edition or highly coveted merchandise items and with the intention of reselling on websites like eBay for a much higher price in an effort to turn a profit. For example, an eBay reseller may purchase a popcorn bucket for around $20 at a theme park and resell it online for upwards of $100. Another person may buy bags and bags of merchandise from an attraction that will soon be closing forever; they will, in turn, attempt to resell all of the items for hundreds or even thousands of dollars online.

So, what’s the problem?

One of the issues with this is a moral one. Often, it can be disheartening to see Disney Guests buying up several items with the intention of reselling them, therefore taking away another Guest’s ability to purchase the item. There are Disney fans who will wait for hours to purchase the latest limited edition item, like a tiki mug from the Disneyland Hotel that will later be listed for hundreds on eBay. Those who purchase items they have no intention of collecting are taking away the opportunity from those huge Disney fanatics who just want to get a new item for their collection. And that can sting.

This tweet is sponsored by my anger that I’m not able to get the Walt funko pop unless I wanna spend $2000 on eBay

 

But the other issue is perhaps a lot simpler: if you are an Annual Passholder using your AP discount to purchase merchandise with the intent to resell it, then you are violating your AP contract.

The Annual Passholder programs at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort have specific rules in place against reselling. The Annual Passholder agreement states that “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.”

But, all too often, the APs who become resellers don’t read the fine print…or just don’t care. Why? Reselling is lucrative — and it’s pretty easy. A person can head to Disney World — or a reservation-only Disneyland shopping event — to purchase the latest in limited-edition merchandise. They, they can almost immediately list the items for sale on eBay — sometimes before even leaving the theme parks. Those who cannot get to the theme parks or resorts themselves can find the items significantly marked up online, and there are collectors who are willing to shell out the big bucks to get the most highly coveted items, even if it will cost them a pretty penny. And if someone is willing to pay that much money for something, isn’t that the buyer’s decision, anyway?

Still, if you have a Disney discount and you are using that discount to purchase items that you intend to resell online, you are in violation of the contract. And Disney is no stranger to cracking down.

We have reported previous instances of Disney cracking down on resellers in the past. During the 2018 holiday season, we shared an article on “flippers” — resellers who attempt to purchase several of the same item with the intention of marking up the price to make a profit. And earlier this year, when Guests flocked to Magic Kingdom to purchase as much Splash Mountain merchandise as they could, we shared an article reminding resellers that they were putting the validity of their APs at risk.

Splash Mountain merch going fast! 🤣 pic.twitter.com/wZnKvAGRuo

— Mickey Views (@MickeyViews) July 9, 2020

 

When the theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort and Downtown Disney at Disneyland Resort reopened in July amid the ongoing pandemic, reselling was still alive and well. But now, as the Disney Parks continue to adapt to this new era, they have implemented a new shopping tool — one that may have thrown a wrench in resellers’ plans.

Within the past few weeks, Disney Parks and Resorts have introduced a mobile checkout feature that allows Guests to shop for items in person and check out using their mobile device. Currently, the My Disney Experience app for Walt Disney World is testing the mobile checking shopping feature at two locations: Mouse Gear in EPCOT and Everything POP at Disney’s Pop Century Resort. Over on the west coast, the Disneyland app is testing mobile checkout at World of Disney at Downtown Disney.

The feature is beneficial for many: it allows more and more people to use a method of contactless purchasing, therefore reducing the number of people you may come in contact with when visiting a public place like Disney World or Disneyland during an ongoing pandemic. As long as your Annual Pass is linked to your app, you can apply the discount to your purchase. But since purchasing limitations are in place for certain items, resellers won’t be very successful with obtaining merchandise items using mobile checkout.

Orlando Weekly points out that, while resellers have been able to work around the rules when shopping in person, mobile checkout would put limitations on how much they are able to purchase. The site reports that some resellers are frequent visitors to the parks and have regular locations where they have been able to skirt the rules without getting in trouble. However, with automated shopping with Disney apps, this may not be possible in the future.

Some resellers visit multiple locations to get around the limits. There are also occasional reports of some store managers holding back items for resellers they know will be visiting. This symbiotic relationship between managers and resellers help keep sales at those locations up, as resellers seek out these managers who are more likely to let them skirt the rules.

As more of the shopping experience becomes automated via the app, these loopholes may become less exploitable.

As long as there is limited edition merchandise, there will be eBay flippers looking to turn a profit. It may become more and more difficult for resellers to purchase items over time, their Annual Passes may be revoked if they are caught, and they may be the punchlines of jokes (or fall victim to dirty looks and snide comments when bulk purchasing in the theme parks). But as long as Disney continues to be the iconic brand it is — and continues to create highly desired, limited-edition merchandise — there will be people who will want to buy these limited-edition items, even if it means they have to wait to find them on eBay.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Wonder how Disney can be sure all the merchandise in the bag was scanned?

[Travisma 1,317]

45 minutes ago, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

Wonder how Disney can be sure all the merchandise in the bag was scanned?

I think they are going to have checkers at the exits like SAMS/COSTCO.