DVC Gear

[katiemely]

I know that you can get special DVC pins at the park. . . but is there a place/website that you can get special DVC gear like hats/shirts etc . . we are itching for more DVC stuff but can't find any info . .

 

[Micca]

Katie your itch is shared by many here on the Dis. DVC merch seems to be scarce, and what you will see is stuff that has been around for a long time(years). Nothing wrong with that if you like it, but we'd all like some new/fresh merch. We haven't been since earlier this year, but from what I've seen posted here, there isn't anything new. Many of us are puzzled at Disney missing out on the chance to sell *anything*. Maybe if we each offered to purchase in bulk--say, 10,000 mugs--we could get them to create new merch

 

[Nonsuch]

. . . but is there a place/website that you can get special DVC gear like hats/shirts etc . .

Check eBay. Many DVC promo items are listed
I don't know why Disney does not market more DVC items, maybe they want to keep DVC a secret

Some eBay Items:

 

[cdmickey]

It's a little weird; as the DVC has grown (especially in the last couple/five years) there is less and less merchandise available.

 

[disneynutz]

I know that you can get special DVC pins at the park. . . but is there a place/website that you can get special DVC gear like hats/shirts etc . . we are itching for more DVC stuff but can't find any info . .

Check the resort store at the DVC resorts.

Bill

 

[katiemely]

Thanks for all the info . . i will def check when we are there in dec and will check the ebay stuff too . . appreciate the feedback . . it does seem like disney would want to make some more money by marketing all this stuff . .

 

[disneynutz]

Thanks for all the info . . i will def check when we are there in dec and will check the ebay stuff too . . appreciate the feedback . . it does seem like disney would want to make some more money by marketing all this stuff . .

There doesn't appear to be enough profit in the DVC stuff. Many of the items on ebay are give aways by the DVD marketing department.

Bill

 

[Maleficent's Dad]

Check the resort store at the DVC resorts.

Bill

Bill and the OP,
While the DVC resorts have *some* DVC merchandise, I can tell you that I found the selection (and quality) to be rather lame at OKW, BCV, SSR, and BWV all within this past month.
The selection is extremely limited, regardless of quality or style.
It's my chief complaint to the management every trip as well as on those resort surveys.

 

[tjkraz]

Like Bill said, historically the merchandise isn't a big money maker. The resort shops give shelf space to the stuff people want--and it typically isn't DVC merchandise.

DVC members may be frequent guests but folks aren't going to buy stuff year-after-year. Speaking from my own POV, I bought a couple shirts and a DVC hat in our first couple years of ownership. Since then--nothing to speak of. It's not for lack of interest in their designs...I just don't have any real desire to buy more DVC stuff.

Doesn't really matter that membership continues to grow because the more veteran members aren't going to buy that stuff.

One of the other complaints is that the stuff they do make is too generic. Problem there is if they go with more eclectic designs, the items don't have much mass appeal. Better to try and appeal to the widest tastes possible by making fairly plain stuff rather than creating items in which many members have little interest.

 

[Nonsuch]

...Many of the items on ebay are give aways by the DVD marketing department.

I agree, many (or most) of the eBay items were "giveaways"
Some of the items have cool designs, much better than what I've seen at my home resort VGC

 

[Micca]

You gotta wonder where the price point is for Disney. Some of the merch they sell must move in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. Those t-shirts with the year and some characters on them? They must sell millions of those reducing the price to pennies per shirt. I guess the DVC people just can't generate those kinds of numbers. There's probably a guide for merchandise production that a minimum # of pieces must be sold to make it cost effective. Thing is, I would think that DVC merch could be produced and sold at a premium to make up the difference in volume. What normally would be a $25 shirt might be a $40 DVC shirt.

 

[tjkraz]

You gotta wonder where the price point is for Disney. Some of the merch they sell must move in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. Those t-shirts with the year and some characters on them? They must sell millions of those reducing the price to pennies per shirt. I guess the DVC people just can't generate those kinds of numbers. There's probably a guide for merchandise production that a minimum # of pieces must be sold to make it cost effective. Thing is, I would think that DVC merch could be produced and sold at a premium to make up the difference in volume. What normally would be a $25 shirt might be a $40 DVC shirt.

It's not just production costs. There is a cost associated with the design work--Disney has to spend the same amount of money on artwork and other design-related issues whether it's for a 2012 shirt that will sell a million or a BWV shirt that will sell 100.

There's handling cost, storage costs. And the big one is shelf space. All of the resort gift shops have limited space and apparently those godawful 2012 shirts do actually outsell a tasteful DVC villa shirt.

Too bad Disney and Hanes can't figure out a way to expand the custom shirt printing business in this direction. They must have decades worth of vintage shirt designs--including resorts & DVC--which could potentially be leveraged into something that would print on demand. Yeah, it would have to be priced higher than the generic Chinese mass-produced WDW shirt du jour but at least it would solve some of the other inventory-related problems.

 

[Micca]

Points well taken TJ Why isn't there an option to handle DVC on a custom made basis(no shelf space required--execept at a warehouse)? I gues Disney would still require s staff of people to adminstrate this. While I would like to purchase DVC merch, I guess I'm cool with keeping my money for other things.