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

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.