Limited-edition Disney toys reach outrageous second-hand market prices

LinaBell, Shanghai Disney Resort's superstar, has been in dire straits after increasing complaints about price gouging.

LinaBell made her debut at the resort on September 29 as the new fox friend of Duffy. Soon, the curious fox with a fluffy tail and a beautiful orchid tucked in her ear captured the hearts of many. However, soon afterward, the resort received a deluge of complaints.

It was blamed for turning a blind eye to scalpers clearing out LinaBell merchandise from shelves. The problem escalated Sunday night.

At 8pm, the resort opened online reservations for the purchase of the "Original LinaBell Plush," the "2021 Christmas LinaBell Plush," and the "2021 Christmas LinaBell Plush Keychain." Only people with advanced reservations are allowed to buy these products at the physical marketplace location within the World of Disney Store in Disneytown.

Some believed the system would deter scalpers. However, the panic buying caused a network breakdown. Though a lucky few were able to make the reservations, most said the web page failed to load, and when they were finally able to access the link about 30 minutes later, there were no more available reservations.

The resort attributed the problem to excess traffic. But some didn't buy this excuse.

On social media platforms, people criticized the resort for not preparing for the huge demand for the product. Some posted screenshots showing scalpers buying the product in advance in the resort after the reservation link was leaked.

Meanwhile, the products have appeared on second-hand e-commerce platforms with prices of up to 12,000 yuan (US$1,884) for a set of three items. Usually, in the resort, the same items are sold from 100 to 300 yuan each. Some have called for a boycott of scalpers.