Character Warehouse I Drive - our experience today

[CosmicGirl]

Originally Posted by Tco200

We enjoy the character warehouses but not even sure I’ll bother going next week now, we don’t have a morning aside for it and it sounds like the shelves will be bare by the afternoons!

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It very much depends on what you're looking for. I've found great items at the I-drive one in the afternoon on multiple occasions. It's very hit or miss. But if you're after Banshees, Dooney's, adult dresses, spirit jerseys etc. then you may be out of luck, as is demonstrated in this thread.

[Tco200]

Originally Posted by CosmicGirl

It very much depends on what you're looking for. I've found great items at the I-drive one in the afternoon on multiple occasions. It's very hit or miss. But if you're after Banshees, Dooney's, adult dresses, spirit jerseys etc. then you may be out of luck, as is demonstrated in this thread.

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To be honest we tend to just get gifts and a few bits, I like some of the t shirts in at the moment so will probably still have a trip over to see if there’s anything in will just go with no expectations

[xXxSammi88xXx]

If the personal shoppers have orders to fulfil fair enough but i watch these videos and what really annoys me is when they say right i’m going to take all of these because i’m sure you guys will want them. Or there’s only these sizes left so i’m going to grab all these. For goodness sake give someone else a chance that doesn’t want to pay a personal shopper. Dont know why i watch these videos because they really wind me up

[RickT]

We witness what could only be discribed as mass bulk purchasing the other week.

They have ipads or notepads where they are ticking off stuff, usually in pairs while one picks and the other stands with the stock they are buying.

There's a mass profit in it for them hence doing it and the Disney staff aren't really fans of them.

[angelbabe]

I've just read an article from Dec 2018 about Disneyland revoking annual passes of people it identifies as merchandise resellers and personal shoppers who buy and then mark up the merchandise to sell on. I'm not sure why it's only Disneyland and not WDW. To me, a Personal Shopper should only shop for requested merchandise at the price it is in the store/outlet and not mark up the product but charge a fee for the service separately.

Maybe I'm being naive.

[CosmicGirl]

Originally Posted by RickT

We witness what could only be discribed as mass bulk purchasing the other week.

They have ipads or notepads where they are ticking off stuff, usually in pairs while one picks and the other stands with the stock they are buying.

There's a mass profit in it for them hence doing it and the Disney staff aren't really fans of them.

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If the staff aren't fans of them, then why do they sell them boxes of unopened merchandise without giving others a chance? The only way I could see this working is if the bulk buyers know what stock they received before the store opens, which is only possible with inside help. From the OP's post it sounds like the manager was reserving boxes for the resellers before the store opened.

Originally Posted by angelbabe

I've just read an article from Dec 2018 about Disneyland revoking annual passes of people it identifies as merchandise resellers and personal shoppers who buy and then mark up the merchandise to sell on. I'm not sure why it's only Disneyland and not WDW. To me, a Personal Shopper should only shop for requested merchandise at the price it is in the store/outlet and not mark up the product but charge a fee for the service separately.

Maybe I'm being naive.

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I read about this when it first came out and I believe the issue was that they were using their AP discount to buy merch in bulk and then resell it, which is against the terms of the AP. As long as they don't use the discount it doesn't appear to be an issue. And the CW doesn't have an AP discount so it wouldn't apply there.

[angelbabe]

Originally Posted by CosmicGirl

If the staff aren't fans of them, then why do they sell them boxes of unopened merchandise without giving others a chance? The only way I could see this working is if the bulk buyers know what stock they received before the store opens, which is only possible with inside help. From the OP's post it sounds like the manager was reserving boxes for the resellers before the store opened.


I read about this when it first came out and I believe the issue was that they were using their AP discount to buy merch in bulk and then resell it, which is against the terms of the AP. As long as they don't use the discount it doesn't appear to be an issue. And the CW doesn't have an AP discount so it wouldn't apply there.

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It certainly seems to be very unfair

[toonarmani]

Personal shoppers will buy items (sometimes in bulk) so they have them available, otherwise it’s pointless advertising them, they can’t say someone can have XYZ, but then if someone wants one later and it’s then OOS they can’t make the sale. It’s not a real-time offer so they can grab one when the buyer decides, so they’ll make sure they have what they are advertising.

However you dress it up, personal shoppers or eBay resellers are the same, they are buying items to sell on (eBay likely with more profit in mind), not out of the goodness of their hearts.

I think because this is Disney people are being a little naive and expect the whole shopping experience to be ‘magical’ and everyone get what they want for a reduced price. If this were somewhere else (say Adidas were selling trainers cheap and they didn’t have your size, I don’t think people would be as vocal, even when you see shoppers walking round with suitcases full of clothes etc, and they wouldn’t limit people to 1 pair per person).

As to staff being in cahoots with the shoppers, I find that hard to believe, more likely they’ve been asked if they have any more, to which they’ve brought out a box and they bought them all, rather than doing some dodgy dealings in front of everyone (I’ve asked before if they had something in stock which wasn’t on the shelf, which they’ve gone and looked and brought out a box full but I only needed one, so rest were added to the shelf). Similarly one trip my youngest wanted to buy a little something for her primary school class (30+) so we bought a box full of Disney pens (99c each), would that not be deemed ‘fair’, or it’s ok because I’m not making any money?

[CosmicGirl]

Originally Posted by toonarmani

Personal shoppers will buy items (sometimes in bulk) so they have them available, otherwise it’s pointless advertising them, they can’t say someone can have XYZ, but then if someone wants one later and it’s then OOS they can’t make the sale. It’s not a real-time offer so they can grab one when the buyer decides, so they’ll make sure they have what they are advertising.

However you dress it up, personal shoppers or eBay resellers are the same, they are buying items to sell on (eBay likely with more profit in mind), not out of the goodness of their hearts.

I think because this is Disney people are being a little naive and expect the whole shopping experience to be ‘magical’ and everyone get what they want for a reduced price. If this were somewhere else (say Adidas were selling trainers cheap and they didn’t have your size, I don’t think people would be as vocal, even when you see shoppers walking round with suitcases full of clothes etc, and they wouldn’t limit people to 1 pair per person).

As to staff being in cahoots with the shoppers, I find that hard to believe, more likely they’ve been asked if they have any more, to which they’ve brought out a box and they bought them all, rather than doing some dodgy dealings in front of everyone (I’ve asked before if they had something in stock which wasn’t on the shelf, which they’ve gone and looked and brought out a box full but I only needed one, so rest were added to the shelf). Similarly one trip my youngest wanted to buy a little something for her primary school class (30+) so we bought a box full of Disney pens (99c each), would that not be deemed ‘fair’, or it’s ok because I’m not making any money?

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99c pens are not the same as highly coveted items. And the one time I wanted to clear the shelf on something a few years ago (49c scrapbooking stickers with the previous year on them which no one else in the store was even remotely interested in) I was told I could only by 10, not the 11 they had on the rack. They specifically stated that no one can buy more than 10 of any item. Yet that rule now appears to be customised to resellers because they'll allow 10 per size per guest per day. If the resellers come in with two or three people that's 60 spirit jerseys, or even 80 dresses per person! Double that if they stake out at both stores. How is that reasonable in any way?

And one of the most popular CW shoppers has stated multiple times at the start of a video that she's at a particular store before opening because a little birdy told her this or that had come in. Where do you suggest this information comes from if not from the staff? Like I said before I enjoy watching the videos because I like keeping tabs on what's coming in and what the price level is but if there's one thing I've learned since I started watching them 2-3 years ago it's that "fair" went out the window a long time ago.

[debbiebee]

Cast members definitely knew the bulk buyers last week while we were in there. One family had an entire pull along cart full of merchandise. Bulk quantities of cuddlies had been placed behind the cash registers and were handed straight to them (items that were nowhere to be seen on the shop floor). The lady at the till made a huge fuss of the little girl with this family, and after it had all gone through she said see you all again soon. They definitely know it’s happening. It’s definitely bulk buying assisted by cast members. Definitely made us feel it wasn’t worth shopping there any more, which is a shame as I’ve picked up loads of lovely bits and pieces from the outlets on previous trips x