It looks like Shop Disney is going to try a new system in an attempt to stop a lot of the merchandise from going to bots. They are now offering a “MerchPass System” to allow people to enter for a chance to buy merchandise. They are going to try it out with Disney Castle Arendelle Collection.

Here’s what it says:

“Entries Begin 7/13

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter Promotion between 7/13/20 at 7:00 AM PDT and 7/14/20 at 11:59 PM PDT. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. & D.C. who are 18+ at time of entry. Limit 1 entry per person per item offered in Promotion. Random drawing to be held on/about 7/16/20, with entrants notified via e-mail by 7/16/20 at 5:00 PM PDT if selected. If entry is selected, you have through 7/17/20 to purchase item at designated price. See Promotion Terms for full details on how to enter, eligibility requirements, odds of being selected and limitations. Void where prohibited.”

So you have from 7AM PDT on July 13th until 11:59 PM PDT on July 14th to enter for your item(s.)  Then they will have a random drawing and let you know if you are chosen on 7/16 at 5 PM PDT and you have until the end of 7/17 to complete your purchase.

I get why they are doing this. The bots are a HUGE issue, however, now the real collectors are still not necessarily going to be able to get the items they collect.

There is also a FAQ with more answers HERE.

Here is some of the info that I thought you might specifically want to know.

•  Limit of one (1) entry per person per product. If selected, only one (1) unit of each product can be purchased. 
• After submitting your entry, you will not be able to unselect a product or select another product. You can decide not to purchase the product if your entry is selected in the drawing and you have been given an early access purchase opportunity. 
• If your entry is not selected, you will not receive the early access purchase opportunity for the product. These products may be offered for sale at shopDisney.com and/or in the Disney store at a later date.
• Yes, Early Access Drawings are currently available for Guests shopping in the U.S. These products are eligible for shipment to U.S. addresses only.
• You may add other items from shopDisney.com to your Bag for purchase in the same transaction.   You may also enter promotion codes, which are subject to their promotion terms and will be applied to eligible purchases.

Right now it’s only for the Disney Castle collection, but I’m thinking we will see it with the Minnie Mouse: The Main Attraction Collection also.

I can see both sides of this one. I don’t know what else Disney can do to make it fair with the mass buying bots, but what I worry about is people like me collect multiple pieces of collections. At least before I could still get almost everything I wanted if not everything, even with the bots. It just took a lot of time and patience. Now I may get nothing or only part of it. Most people don’t have a Disney Store close by, so if they appear in stores, we would still have to spend a lot of money on sites like eBay.

We will see how it turns out.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!

Source: ShopDisney.com