Chinese “Disney merchandise resellers” rush to stores on the day new merchandise goes on sale and buy it in droves…Close-up interview with a Chinese “Disney merchandise reseller”!
The scoop on the horrifying reality! Even if the price is raised over 2,000 yen per piece, they still sell like hotcakes!
A group of five people walking at breakneck speed with large plastic bags slung over their shoulders. They paid no attention to the popular attractions where couples and families were waiting in line. Even though it was still mid-morning, shortly after the opening, they reversed the crowd and headed furiously for the exit. ……
In early April, a few days before the 40th anniversary of the Tokyo Disney Resort (TDR), an unusual group of people were seen at DisneySea. After leaving the park, they headed for the adjacent parking lot, opened the trunk of a parked minivan, and loaded the contents of plastic bags one after another into the vehicle. The contents were a number of new limited edition goods that had just gone on sale at the park that day.
When I approached them in the parking lot, Ms. Liu (a pseudonym), who seemed to be the leader of the “Chinese Disney resellers,” who had been informed of their presence in the park, readily agreed to interview them. She then said matter-of-factly, “I spent about one million yen for this.
We’ve spent about one million yen. But there’s still a long way to go.
There has been a lot of criticism of the organized resale of Disney goods and other items, but it seems that the women in question have not the slightest sense of guilt. When I asked them for a close-up interview, they readily agreed.
After loading the merchandise into their car, they re-entered the park with empty plastic bags in their hands. Once again, they pushed their way through the crowds. Their goal was to go to the merchandise store in the park. They were looking for the newly released limited-edition merchandise.
After about 15 minutes, he came out of the store after purchasing a large amount of goods. But soon after that, he went back inside the store. After repeatedly entering and exiting the store four times, their plastic bags were again overstuffed. Mr. Liu reveals the reason why they repeatedly entered and exited the store.
We can only buy three items of the same product per ticket for the new limited edition merchandise. Different colors and other items are treated as different products, but one ticket is not enough to purchase enough, so everyone in our group buys four tickets each. When the limit is reached, we leave the store and re-enter using another ticket. This way, each person can buy up to 12 items of the same merchandise.
After each purchase of merchandise at one store, they exit the gate and go to the parking lot. When they finished loading their “merchandise” into their cars, they would re-enter and “buy up” at another dealer again, repeating the process five times.
It was after 7:00 p.m. when their business finally came to an end. At last, the minivan in the parking lot was filled to the brim with merchandise. According to one of the members,
“Today’s purchases totaled about 4.5 million yen.
The pedometer app showed that the total purchase price for the day was about 4.5 million yen.
According to my pedometer application, I had walked more than 14 kilometers in close proximity to them. Incidentally, the members of the group “purchase” limited-edition goods almost every month on the day they go on sale.
After taking the goods to a warehouse in Tokyo, they put them up for sale on a website called “Xiaohongsho,” which is like the Chinese version of Mercari. A stuffed toy with a list price of 2,600 yen was listed for about 4,000 yen, excluding shipping, and was selling like hotcakes.
According to the aforementioned Mr. Liu, there are so many similar Chinese groups that “I don’t know how many there are. Is there any legal problem with their resale activities? Hirotaro Kato, an attorney at Kato & Asakawa Law Office, asked.
According to TDR’s terms and conditions, the purchase of goods for the purpose of resale is prohibited, and violators can be denied entry or asked to leave the park. However, it is currently difficult to impose criminal or civil penalties. However, if resale behavior becomes the norm in the future, it is conceivable that TDR will move to file a claim for damages on the grounds that the brand image has been damaged.”
We should avoid a situation where merchandise is not delivered to the hands of people who love Disney.
From the May 12 and 19, 2023 issue of FRIDAY
Reporting and writing： Writer, Yuuki Okukubo
