Pin trading question

[KristyBDJ]

Mods feel free to move this if you see fit.
I'm wondering how many pins I should start my kids with for trading. This will be the first time we have done pin trading so unsure of how many to purchase. Thanks!

[sweetdana]

Mine started at 3.5 with 6 pins, we add about 1 or so every trip, she has about 10 -12 now.

[t_catt11]

Totally depends on you. I believe that we let ours have 4 per day the past trip (we bought a big lot from eBay).

[nilla]

5-10. My advice would be to buy a cheap set from eBay with characters your kids may not like or recognize, otherwise they may end up not wanting to trade them at all :) Just make sure they're official Disney Pin Trading pins.

[Absolutely Disney]

I have been doing this since I was four and every year I get a starter set of pins to trade. Make sure you buy your kids something they don't really like, or they won't want to trade. :goodvibes

[KristyBDJ]

Ok, so I'm bringing my thread back to life with another question. My kids still want to start pin trading this trip. We leave in less than 2 weeks. What's the best way to get them at a bargain price? I found the thread with good and bad EBay sellers but it recommends buying individual pins. That seems like a lot of work and expense when I need to buy 30-40 pins. I don't want to get them a starter set when we get there if it's going to be full of pins they won't want to trade...ie Princess or Pirates. I don't know...I guess I'm just looking for tips. Anything can help.

[nicki.momof3]

We jsut returned for a 8 night trip with 3 children (ages 5,6,7) and they LOVE trading. We bought 100 pins in a lot on ebay and they worked perfect.

I would never buy them individually for trading. We have bought in lots 3 times always from the same trader and never a fake or issue.

Have fun.

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I would recommend purchasing them a starter lanyard kit because it already comes with 4 pins.

[liz827]

I just bought a lot of 30 on E-bay for $23. This is our first time with pins also!

[luvmy2boyzz]

This will be our 5th Disney trip and each time I did not seem to have enough pins! (both boys collected the alphabet last time, 26 pins each!) I bought a lot of 100 form ebay and already told the boys it better be enough ;) We have tons of fun pin trading and my "shy" boys have learned to come out of their shells a little and even made friends with many CM's.

[michelle06]

Can someone explain to me this amazement with pin trading? This is new to me. Anything I collect, I buy as I add to my collection. Why would one buy pins just to trade them? Seems like you would just buy the ones you want.

[auntfrannie]

Can someone explain to me this amazement with pin trading? This is new to me. Anything I collect, I buy as I add to my collection. Why would one buy pins just to trade them? Seems like you would just buy the ones you want.

I think the deal with buying a grab bag from eBay is you get them much, much cheaper than buying individual pins. On eBay I bought a lot of 30 pins for $27. So less than $1 each; buying in the park would cost you at least $6 per pin. When the kids trade with CMs they can get something they want and get rid of the pins they don't want.

[tallen429]

I think the deal with buying a grab bag from eBay is you get them much, much cheaper than buying individual pins. On eBay I bought a lot of 30 pins for $27. So less than $1 each; buying in the park would cost you at least $6 per pin. When the kids trade with CMs they can get something they want and get rid of the pins they don't want.

Yes, you get them cheaper, but they are most likey "scrappers" and therefore fake.

[tallen429]

I just bought a lot of 30 on E-bay for $23. This is our first time with pins also!

Sorry, just responded to another post, but then I saw yours.
You bought "scrappers", aka cast off, unoffic1al fake pins.

[michelle06]

I think the deal with buying a grab bag from eBay is you get them much, much cheaper than buying individual pins. On eBay I bought a lot of 30 pins for $27. So less than $1 each; buying in the park would cost you at least $6 per pin. When the kids trade with CMs they can get something they want and get rid of the pins they don't want.

Yes, but still, since Disney obviously endorses the trading, there must be something to it other than just getting the pins cheaply. Right?

[luvmy2boyzz]

Can someone explain to me this amazement with pin trading? This is new to me. Anything I collect, I buy as I add to my collection. Why would one buy pins just to trade them? Seems like you would just buy the ones you want.

Some pins you can not buy, they are given to cast members. For us it's about interaction with other people and the challenge of finishing a series. My DS's decide what series they want to collect usually by what they get in trade the first day and then we are off to finish the series!

[luvmy2boyzz]

Yes, you get them cheaper, but they are most likey "scrappers" and therefore fake.


You know, last time we traded pins a lot of people on these boards had me weirded out about the possiblilty of trading "fake" pins. I had several conversations with CM's about this and to tell you the truth they just didn't care where I got my pins from. I know there are many serious pin traders out there and I am sure they inspect a pin thoroughly before accepting it in trade so why get the first timers or those just collecting for fun all upset. Really I almost threw all my pins out and my boys were upset about possible fake pins! Some people just want to have some fun and just because they bought off Ebay doesn't mean they bought fake pins. It seems every time there is a question about pin trading the whole fake pin thing comes up and lot's of people get upset. :confused:

[abmitch01]

I just bought a lot of 30 for $20 off ebay from a trader with a good rating who said they were official. I can't tell, they look it but IDK.

My kids started it the first time we went because they were given a "Year of A Million Dreams" lanyard and pin from a CM. They bought more while we were there. I bought these thinking they would have fun trading them. They are now 11 and 12. I made sure my son got some "girlie" ones so he'd want to trade.

[KristyBDJ]

the fake pin thing is something I have been concerned about. I'm really not looking at this for a "serious" collection right now. My kids are young so it's about the fun of trading. We will most likely only be trading with CM's not other guests, only because I think that would feel more comfortable and more approachable for myself and my kids. Will the CM's really care? Would they really make a kid feel bad and not trade if they think it's a fake? I would think not but I worry.

[maureeny]

Before our trip last year I saw a suggestion on these boards to purchase pins from www.mousepinsonline.com ... so I did. I had gotten my son about 25 pins for our 9 day trip. I think I paid about $1.65 per pin. If you were to purchase pins in the park, you can pay anywhere from $5.00 to $15.00 per pin (for an individual pin).

I was not prepared for how fun pin trading was going to be!! We LOVED it! by day 3 my husband was pin trading also.. and by day 5 I was pin trading! So, with all 3 of us trading... well, we accumulated about ...well, let's say.. A LOT OF PINS!!

However, we purchased Mickey Mouse shadow boxes to display our pins for when we got home. We each framed our favorite pins. To us, this is a special display wall, with very fond memories of our trip. It's not uncommon to see one of us stopped at that wall to remember what a special trip that was! We could probably tell you at what park we got each pin!

So, my advice would be this:
1. purchase pins ahead of time (very important). I would over estimate. Pin trading is fun, and you will be surprised at all the cool pins out there! There will be pins you may wish to purchase when you are at Disney... like some of the ride pins, or special pins that you really love - that you would not trade.

2. IF you have to purchase pins while you are there to trade, buy them in sets, and go for the cheaper sets. You know you are not going to keep those pins, you need to use them to trade.

There are several reasons that I enjoyed the whole pin trading mania. As a previous posted mentioned, it's a great way for the kids to break out of their shell and ask someone if they could see their pins (and a great way to practice manners.. please and thank you). It's also challenging... in a fun way. Kind of like a treasure hunt. Every employee has pins, so everywhere you go you are always "eyeing" the pins. Be warned, some employees have green (I think) pin forms. They are only allowed to trade with children. We never approached other guests to trade (I think it's allowed).. but to me it wasn't something we choose to do. Pin trading really added SO much to our trip. I believe there are "pin trading rules" on Disney's website.


Order pins prior to going, and have fun!!! Oh, and if you in Epcot, stop in the big store to the left when you go in, they have a pin board that they get out for pin trading at certain times during the day.. only for about a half hour I think. That was a lot of fun!!!!

[michelle06]

Well, after reading the pin trading threads here, I decided to buy some off of ebay. WOW!!! They are so awesome. I bought a lot of 30 for $20. I figured I would get several I don't like and let dd trade for princess or fairy pins. But I got so many cool pins. They look new. I am very pleased with my purchase and can't wait to let dd and myself trade them on our trip in June. Definitely do have some reputable sellers on ebay.

Could use some advice though. Are all pins equal or are some very valuable and maybe not want to trade? Any tips since I'm new to this? One pin I have is of Minnie and says 1928 on it.

Also received a couple pins that I have no idea what they are! I'll have to post pics later and ask about them.

Thanks,
Michelle

[scouthawkk]

Could use some advice though. Are all pins equal or are some very valuable and maybe not want to trade? Any tips since I'm new to this? One pin I have is of Minnie and says 1928 on it.

Also received a couple pins that I have no idea what they are! I'll have to post pics later and ask about them.

Thanks,
Michelle

I get my pins from mousepinsonline, like the pp. good price for bulk, never got any scrappers. When my order comes in, I like to spend some time on pinpics.com to see what they are about, and who/what some of them are, if I can't figure it out. I would say that unless the person you bought from doesn't know a lot about the pins, you most likely didn't get any rare and/or super valuable ones. but pinpics allows you to search-for instance, you can search Minnie 1928 and it will come up with a bunch of pins (48 is the number I just got) for you to look through. Look through them and see if the one you got is there, and it will tell you info about release date, edition size (if there was one and it is known) and that sort of thing. Lots of info there...

[Coach81]

OH NO... my wife I think ordered a set of 30 or so.. from ebay last night.. after reading this thread.. I'm starting to realize how much trouble we may be in now....

[nicki.momof3]

Yes, you get them cheaper, but they are most likey "scrappers" and therefore fake.

Really depends where you buy them. We have bought they on ebay in lots of 100 from the same trader for 2 years (did it 4 times) and they are always great. Never a scrapper in the lot.

[katybugsmom]

We are trying something new this year. We will be at WDW in December so I bought my two kids Christmas lanyards off ebay and have begun purchasing Christmas pins off ebay too! I'm hoping a lot of the CM's will have Christmas pins to trade. We will also buy a set of pins in honor of MVMCP and the Candlelight Processional at Epcot that they won't be able to use for trading.
Our kids spend more time trading pins then anything else!:cool1:

[bamamolly]

This will be our 5th Disney trip and each time I did not seem to have enough pins! (both boys collected the alphabet last time, 26 pins each!) I bought a lot of 100 form ebay and already told the boys it better be enough ;) We have tons of fun pin trading and my "shy" boys have learned to come out of their shells a little and even made friends with many CM's.

This is what I'm hoping for for my very shy DD5 too! :banana:

[bamamolly]

You know, last time we traded pins a lot of people on these boards had me weirded out about the possiblilty of trading "fake" pins. I had several conversations with CM's about this and to tell you the truth they just didn't care where I got my pins from. I know there are many serious pin traders out there and I am sure they inspect a pin thoroughly before accepting it in trade so why get the first timers or those just collecting for fun all upset. Really I almost threw all my pins out and my boys were upset about possible fake pins! Some people just want to have some fun and just because they bought off Ebay doesn't mean they bought fake pins. It seems every time there is a question about pin trading the whole fake pin thing comes up and lot's of people get upset. :confused:

THANK YOU!!! I was told on this board that there is no way what I got off of ebay could be real after telling the price for the lot so I was all upset thinking that we wouldn't be able to trade them and feeling bad that we might be trading fake ones. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized the fun in it and if the hard core collectors out there want to scruitinize ever pin before trading, that's fine, but my girls are just going to be doing it for the fun of it.

[Brian_WDW74]

This thread seems to have become a discussion of buying pins from sources other than Disney, so I've moved it to the Collectors board. :)

[Spiffie]

THANK YOU!!! I was told on this board that there is no way what I got off of ebay could be real after telling the price for the lot so I was all upset thinking that we wouldn't be able to trade them and feeling bad that we might be trading fake ones. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized the fun in it and if the hard core collectors out there want to scruitinize ever pin before trading, that's fine, but my girls are just going to be doing it for the fun of it.

Honest, hardworking people like me appreciate those of you who are teaching your children that it is okay to buy fake/bootleg/scrapper products and trade them to people who have used their hard-earned money to purchase the real pins from the parks. Your children will be able to trade with CMs because CMs HAVE NO CHOICE. So, if you can live with yourself for having less than honest trades, so be it. My children know the difference because we are teaching them the value of a dollar and how to spend it wisely and honestly. My children are also learning how to spy fake pins so hopefully we can steer clear of the people who are pawning them off on others!

[plutotek]

In all fairness to both established and new collectors alike, I have yet to find any definitive process by which to determine whether a pin is a fake or the real deal. If I'm missing some 'how-to' book or website, please let me know, because all that I have seen so far is subjective information such as this color may be off, or it may have a distinctive odor, or a fake may be thinner than a legit pin.

That being said, I do question some of the sellers on Ebay, and certain raise red flags even without being on the 'Good/Bad' list (which I AM grateful for).

[SFigments]

wow this thread has me worried. My dd and her cousins got really into pin trading last year. all they wanted to do was buy more pins to trade. Well while we were trading with a CM he was telling us more about pin trading and he told us to get our traders for next time from e-bay in a lot. I thought nothing was wrong with this and figured if a CM told us to do that it was a good idea and so our pins for this year are off e-bay. I am now worried we have bad pins even though all are stamped with proper markings and have the right backer.