Good/Bad Internet and eBay Pin Sellers

[RCEliot]

And, of course, no matter how educated you are, and regardless of whether you work for Disney or not, no one can be 100% positive in all situations because some of the scrappers actually look better than the legit pins.

See, that's why with the lots I got yesterday I'm going to have several people who work at Disney take a look and I'm trying to get in touch with one of my relatives who trades pins on a regular basis. So many of them look exactly the same (colour is correct, no dimples or obvious brush strokes, etc.) and a few I got are the same ones I bought brand new at Disney Quest and side-by-side they look identical. They could be really good fakes, they could be real, but there are really really good fakes of stuff out there.

The pins I want to trade and sell are all ones I've bought personally at Disney. The only time I will trade any that I didn't buy is when I've got a solid opinion from everyone I have inspect the pin. Otherwise they're just for me to have Disney stuff around.

long babbling post

TL;DR I won't trade any I get on Ebay unless enough people give me the okay. Only going to trade ones I know are real. Probably will only trade with other traders because the Disney cast may not know the difference between real and fake.

 

[RCEliot]

Has anyone had any dealings with Shanwendy? She's selling 50 pins for (typically) $25 to start and then lets it go up from there, but some of her auctions start at nearly $10 and I found one starting at $0.99. Thinking that one may be a typo, I went ahead and bid on it (since it's cheap anyways) and if I win I'm going to check the pins thoroughly and let my friends see them, but I'm going to assume that since she's starting them at around $.50 per pin on most of her auctions that they are scrappers. (She doesn't have any neutral or negative feedback yet.)

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

Has anyone had any dealings with Shanwendy? She's selling 50 pins for (typically) $25 to start and then lets it go up from there, but some of her auctions start at nearly $10 and I found one starting at $0.99. Thinking that one may be a typo, I went ahead and bid on it (since it's cheap anyways) and if I win I'm going to check the pins thoroughly and let my friends see them, but I'm going to assume that since she's starting them at around $.50 per pin on most of her auctions that they are scrappers. (She doesn't have any neutral or negative feedback yet.)

My personal opinion? I wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole. That doesn't mean you won't get great pins. You may. But, the photo they are using is one full of pins known to be scrappers. Also, the whole "tradeable and traded for at Disney" line is one often used by scrappers... they guarantee them to be tradeable, they don't guarantee them to be authentic. Lastly, selling multiple lots and saying if you get over 50 you WILL get duplicates is a good indication, at least when you are buying the pins that cheaply. Who can afford to sell 50 pins starting at $.99 if they are legit? Obviously they are hoping they will get bid up, but if they don't, they are out 50 pins and eBay leaves them with a big fat bill for more than what they got paid. Plus, they are coming with free shipping from China... don't know if you noticed that part or not. It will cost them more than they make to ship it.

Now, granted the part about possibly getting duplicates if you buy over 50 doesn't equate to scrappers. I have that in my blind lot wording, but mine are for all new on card. I have hundreds of unique pins on card but I put that in there to cover my butt in case some reseller decides to come in and buy up my whole supply at once. I don't want to have a negative feedback for putting a duplicate in.

If you are just looking for traders without wanting to risk scrappers, my (very wordy) two cents is to stick with US sellers who advertise new on card pins. There are tons of them. A lot of us have posted about them on this thread over the last 10 pages or so. If you don't mind taking the risk and you want to go with loose pins, try to go for the what you see is what you get route instead of stock photos. They usually have better outcomes. And, you can often find fun pins that you actually want to add to your collection, not just stuff to trade. I recently bought from cuquicollectibles (or whatever it was) and although I had issues with some parts of the transaction, I did get some cute pins that my kids were thrilled with and was able to finish off some of my mystery pin sets.

 

[pixiewings71]

Has anyone had any dealings with Shanwendy? She's selling 50 pins for (typically) $25 to start and then lets it go up from there, but some of her auctions start at nearly $10 and I found one starting at $0.99. Thinking that one may be a typo, I went ahead and bid on it (since it's cheap anyways) and if I win I'm going to check the pins thoroughly and let my friends see them, but I'm going to assume that since she's starting them at around $.50 per pin on most of her auctions that they are scrappers. (She doesn't have any neutral or negative feedback yet.)

My personal opinion? I wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole. That doesn't mean you won't get great pins. You may. But, the photo they are using is one full of pins known to be scrappers. Also, the whole "tradeable and traded for at Disney" line is one often used by scrappers... they guarantee them to be tradeable, they don't guarantee them to be authentic. Lastly, selling multiple lots and saying if you get over 50 you WILL get duplicates is a good indication, at least when you are buying the pins that cheaply. Who can afford to sell 50 pins starting at $.99 if they are legit? Obviously they are hoping they will get bid up, but if they don't, they are out 50 pins and eBay leaves them with a big fat bill for more than what they got paid. Plus, they are coming with free shipping from China... don't know if you noticed that part or not. It will cost them more than they make to ship it.

Now, granted the part about possibly getting duplicates if you buy over 50 doesn't equate to scrappers. I have that in my blind lot wording, but mine are for all new on card. I have hundreds of unique pins on card but I put that in there to cover my butt in case some reseller decides to come in and buy up my whole supply at once. I don't want to have a negative feedback for putting a duplicate in.

If you are just looking for traders without wanting to risk scrappers, my (very wordy) two cents is to stick with US sellers who advertise new on card pins. There are tons of them. A lot of us have posted about them on this thread over the last 10 pages or so. If you don't mind taking the risk and you want to go with loose pins, try to go for the what you see is what you get route instead of stock photos. They usually have better outcomes. And, you can often find fun pins that you actually want to add to your collection, not just stuff to trade. I recently bought from cuquicollectibles (or whatever it was) and although I had issues with some parts of the transaction, I did get some cute pins that my kids were thrilled with and was able to finish off some of my mystery pin sets.

ITA!

 

[petals]

wdwmagic1928 is another seller to watch out for. I was going to buy pins from them but asked about feedback they have recieved as there has been negative feedback saying they weer selling scrappers of Soda Fountain pins. I told them I would leave negative feedbacks if the pins i recieved were fake and they said they don't want my business.

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

wdwmagic1928 is another seller to watch out for. I was going to buy pins from them but asked about feedback they have recieved as there has been negative feedback saying they weer selling scrappers of Soda Fountain pins. I told them I would leave negative feedbacks if the pins i recieved were fake and they said they don't want my business.

Let me prefice this by saying I am not sticking up for this seller, nor would I buy from them. I agree with your assessment but for different reasons. I am only posting this response to give deeper insight for someone who may be new.

I wouldn't go by that feedback in and of itself. Sometimes you need to dig a little deeper. Three of the comments were from the same buyer and eBay removed one of them, which they rarely do unless a buyer has abused the system and the seller can prove it. Then with the other feedback, one negative was for a slow ship and one was for a package that went overseas that was opened (which sadly does happen). And, one was from a person who wanted to do the transaction outside eBay. Compare that to the 2,261 positive feedback and almost 5 perfect stars and I would sooner try them before I judge, if I had not dug deeper that is.

All that being said, the part that would concern me most is all of the Disneyshopping pins they have advertised as being not new or on card back with low LE's, as well as the HKDL and Disney Soda Fountain pins. If you look at their sold items over the last 15 days with advanced search, they have sold the same exact pins over and over and over. That is more telling to me than the feedback. It looks like they have around 200 varieties of pins and they just keep re-listing and re-listing each of them as individual pins, and since they keep selling repeatedly, they are most likely scrappers.

 

[RCEliot]

The problem I'm having right now is I've got these scrappers now, and I don't want to trade them and contribute to the problem, none of my friends collect, and I don't have any kids/young cousins that would like them. I can't list them on Ebay without getting put on a list as a scrapper seller and I would get negative feedback, but what can I do with them? List them and put in the description that they were bought from another ebayer and are definitely scrappers? That would still get me listed. I can't afford to throw them out, though. As it was I shouldn't have bought them but I love Disney stuff, just not the particular characters and pins I got... and some of the ones I don't want seem to be completely real too.

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

The problem I'm having right now is I've got these scrappers now, and I don't want to trade them and contribute to the problem, none of my friends collect, and I don't have any kids/young cousins that would like them. I can't list them on Ebay without getting put on a list as a scrapper seller and I would get negative feedback, but what can I do with them? List them and put in the description that they were bought from another ebayer and are definitely scrappers? That would still get me listed. I can't afford to throw them out, though. As it was I shouldn't have bought them but I love Disney stuff, just not the particular characters and pins I got... and some of the ones I don't want seem to be completely real too.

Some suggestions... I have scrappers in my collection. Most I obtained before I knew what scrappers were and I am just stuck with them for the same reasons as you... don't want to contribute to the scrapper problem and can't sell them without negative feedback which no one wants.

Some of mine I keep in my collection as "place holders" until I can get my hands on the authentic pin.

How long ago did you buy them? You may be able to utilize eBay or Paypal buyer protection... check their rules for the time limits (I don't remember what they are offhand.) Even if the seller says no returns, eBay's policy is that the seller HAS TO accept returns no matter what their stated policy is. A lot of buyers don't know that. But, you only have 14 days for that and you will have to pay return postage.

Do you do any crafting? Some people use them in various forms of crafts... there are all sorts of things you can do with them if you want to take the time. One of the most common ones is scrapbooking.

A friend of mine takes his to a metal recycling place and has them melted down. Not sure how much money he gets for it... not much I am sure... but he just had a huge batch melted down.

 

[Emerson613]

Totally never even thought about fakes.....saw a pin in the lot I just purchased that seemed like plastic almost.... did some research and sure enough I have a bag of fakes!

The ebay seller is Disney.Crazy

 

[sixteen]

I just planned our first trip to DLR and in the excitement of learning about the fun stuff to do there, jumped too quickly on an auction for pins that I thought was a great deal!..... Ah.... Then I researched. Guess who I bought from? 243disneypinfreak..... Great.
So since this was only this morning and maybe it hadn't shipped yet, I decided my best course of action was to email the seller. I questioned where they get these huge amounts of pins to sell, their authenticity, and requested my money back in full if they couldn't give me a good answer to these questions.
I have already based my own judgement of his legitimacy given what I've read on this board, but I thought you might be interested to see his reply:

Hi,

Please understand that I try to sell the best pins available. I get my pins from all kinds of sources that are too numerous to mention. All my pins are official disney pins with pin trading logos and rubber mickey backs. They are 100% guaranteed tradeable at all Disney parks. I have personally traded tens of thousands of my pins and have always been able to trade them. Never had one I could not trade!! I do have a return policy as well, which most other sellers do not. You can look at my feedback of over 6000 and see that I stand behind my pins, so if you are not happy with them, you can return them and i will either swap them out or refund your purchase.

Second, please understand this on what I am saying, not just because I am saying it. This is Disney policy and what the upper levels of Disney have said. They are saying this, not me!! There is absolutely NO one, especially a regular cast member in the parks, or even the managers, who have the authority to tell a guest that any pin is not a true Disney pin. It is actually AGAINST Disney trading policy for ANY cast member to tell you THEIR opinion on whether a pin is "good" or "bad"!!! This is in their training! They are NOT to disrupt and cause any problems. You are the guest, and for them as the cast member to disrupt the pin trading process is COMPLETELY against Disney policy. So when a cast member interjects his/her personal opinion about a pin, they are violating Disney policy and can get reprimanded for it!!! If any cast member tries to tell me their opinion, I tell them they can't because it can get them in trouble. So cast members can NOT tell you that a pin is good or bad. How and why can I say this? Because there is not a way for them to prove that it is not. All Disney pins are made in the same place, so for them to tell you that they are "scrappers" is just not true. Disney knows this so that is why they have that policy in place. The information I have from upper levels of Disney is that Disney considers ANY pin that have disney backstamp, logo and a rubber mickey back an official authentic Disney pin. This is just because they CAN NOT prove in any way that it is not! Further, Disney's policy on pins is that the only way for anyone to know it is a official authentic Disney pin is to buy it DIRECTLY from Disney. It does not make much sense, but in a way it does, because it really is the only thing Disney can say about any pin. So does that mean that any pin that is bought, traded or sold in any other venue than at a Disney park or store is not a official authentic Disney pin?? Well of course not. Are all pins on ebay "scrappers" as they are called?? Of course not!! But that is what Disney wants you to think! Because they want you to buy pins only from them and for much higher prices. Disney hates ebay and people who sell Disney pins in whatever fashion, because it is cutting into the money they make. They would love to get rid of anyone selling pins on ebay.

Most people who buy my pins love them and think they are great. So there is no way a cast member or two can tell you they are not real when they have no ability to say they are not. I have personally bought thousands of pins from Disney and traded for 10s of thousands of more in the parks, so when a cast member tells you that my pins are "scrappers", I take that personally. Not just that they are wrong, but that they just do not have the authority or the capability to make that decision, no matter what they try and tell what might be wrong with the pin. I can go into all the production reasons on how the pins are made, but that is just not necessary. It mainly has to do with quality control. But that is a whole different topic.

So after being longwinded and technical, I am more than willing to do what you want on the pins. If you want to return them, please do and I can either swap them out or refund your purchase. I am more than happy to do what you would like to satisfy you.


Thanks,
Pat Jones
423disneypinfreak

 

[xmansmom]

If you want to return them, please do and I can either swap them out or refund your purchase. I am more than happy to do what you would like to satisfy you.


Thanks,
Pat Jones
423disneypinfreak

Oddly enough, I just received some pins from this same seller. I suspected they were fake so came here to do a little research. I noticed that she takes returns but you have to pay return shipping and pay a restocking fee. I sent a msg. and am interested to see if I get the same response. What I get from reading your response is that she has looked into Disney policy, knows they won't say anything to you, and is peddling fakes knowing full well that it is wrong. Technically when she says 100% tradable she is being honest but the listing says "Official trading pins". They are obviously NOT official. "I have personally bought thousands of pins from Disney and traded for 10s of thousands of more in the parks" So does this mean she admits that she has traded more than she has actually purchased from Disney? Unbelievable!!!

 

[RCEliot]

Do you guys think that $18 each for the Toddler Princess and Toddler Boys sets is fair? I found someone selling each of them, in the package, but they state that

"These pins were bought here on ebay and I cannot guarantee that they are completely authentic, however seeing as they are in the package with the original price on them I assume that they are."

They have other pins listed too. A set labeled as being definite scrappers bought through ebay auctions and am assortment that they say
"THE ONLY PINS IN THIS LOT THAT I CAN SAY ARE AUTHENTIC DISNEY PINS ARE THE PHILIP, MALEFICENT, AND JEDI PINS AS I GOT THEM FROM THE PARK MYSELF (PAID FOR, NOT TRADED).
THE PIN WITH CHIP AND DALE IN THE PLANE WAS GOTTEN AT A GARAGE SALE IN FLORIDA AND IS MORE THAN LIKELY REAL BUT CANNOT BE CONFIRMED AT THIS TIME.

THE OTHER PINS CANNOT BE DETERMINED AS AUTHENTIC AT THIS TIME. THEY WERE GOTTEN THROUGH TRADING AND BUYING HERE ON EBAY. THEY DO NOT HAVE OBVIOUS DIPS, BRUSH STROKES, BACKSTAMP ERRORS, OR COLOURATION ISSUES FROM WHAT I CAN TELL (I am new to this and it is possible that I overlooked something.)"

I mean, at least they're honest but I don't know... They want $16 for the "maybe real" ones and $5 for the scrappers.

Has anyone done business with them before? Their name is "yoruthewulf." I'm going to message them and see what they say, but, yeah, anyways.

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

Do you guys think that $18 each for the Toddler Princess and Toddler Boys sets is fair? I found someone selling each of them, in the package, but they state that

"These pins were bought here on ebay and I cannot guarantee that they are completely authentic, however seeing as they are in the package with the original price on them I assume that they are."

They have other pins listed too. A set labeled as being definite scrappers bought through ebay auctions and am assortment that they say
"THE ONLY PINS IN THIS LOT THAT I CAN SAY ARE AUTHENTIC DISNEY PINS ARE THE PHILIP, MALEFICENT, AND JEDI PINS AS I GOT THEM FROM THE PARK MYSELF (PAID FOR, NOT TRADED).
THE PIN WITH CHIP AND DALE IN THE PLANE WAS GOTTEN AT A GARAGE SALE IN FLORIDA AND IS MORE THAN LIKELY REAL BUT CANNOT BE CONFIRMED AT THIS TIME.

THE OTHER PINS CANNOT BE DETERMINED AS AUTHENTIC AT THIS TIME. THEY WERE GOTTEN THROUGH TRADING AND BUYING HERE ON EBAY. THEY DO NOT HAVE OBVIOUS DIPS, BRUSH STROKES, BACKSTAMP ERRORS, OR COLOURATION ISSUES FROM WHAT I CAN TELL (I am new to this and it is possible that I overlooked something.)"

I mean, at least they're honest but I don't know... They want $16 for the "maybe real" ones and $5 for the scrappers.

Has anyone done business with them before? Their name is "yoruthewulf." I'm going to message them and see what they say, but, yeah, anyways.

If you want those toddler pins, you can get them cheaper. PM me if you want. But, that is a good, fair price. I just bought someone's collection - all real authentic still on card pins. And those pins were in it. There was a set of Princess Booster and a set of Prince in BOX - the older release of the set. I can't list the transaction here because it was not an eBay thing, but someone getting rid of their collection that I got lucky to find here.

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

OK. I used the eBay app the other day to buy something. The app does not have the advanced functionality of the full site, at least not on my device. You can't look at the feedback except by scrolling though all of it... its not clickable to see what the specific complaints were. Also, you can't search completed auctions by seller to see if they are selling the same thing over and over. I have emails set up to notify me of certain things, and obviously when I click on those links, you see other things, and the Princess shoes caught my eye. I have 3 packages direct from Disney, and I traded for one shoe when I was at the park 2 months ago. I expected to see a lot more of those since they are one of the best deals on park pins. But, I couldn't find them anywhere. I wanted them for something specific without opening my sealed packs.

So, stupid me buys a set of loose princess shoe pins that "were traded for" from (yikes) disneyfamily801. The auction was ending in moments and at that very time they had no other sets listed and so I decided to take a chance not having access to this thread and the eBay app at the same time. I knew the name seemed familiar to me but I just wasn't sure. BIG MISTAKE!

Finally get my pins in the mail - it was actually well packaged and prompt shipping. I can't complain about that part of the transaction. But, they were definitely scrappers. VERY GOOD scrappers. Only 1 had a slight divot, barely any sign of brush strokes, and only a slight border on the back on one edge of the pin. An average person would never know. But, I pulled out my legit ones and compared side by side and sure enough, scrapper. Then I looked at their history as I tried to decide what to do and saw they sold 40 sets in the last 10 days alone. I didn't go any further. I knew I didn't need to

So, I wrote a very polite message to call them out on it because they do accept returns and said that I didn't feel I should have to return them at my expense because they were fake. If I had changed my mind I would be willing to pay return shipping, but since they were counterfeit I didn't feel like I should be out ANY money. I had already read their nasty responses to feedback people put out, so I covered all my bases by stating things that would not give them room to make any of those same comments to me. I told them I wanted an amicable resolution but if one could not be reached then appropriate feedback would be left and I would be going through the eBay or Paypal dispute process and possibly making a chargeback on my credit card.

Here is their response:

Hi,
I have traded for these pins over the last couple of months. I also purchased a few sets to compare the traded pins with. I believe that these pins are authentic but respect your opinion. I would appreciate your thoughts on how to have an amicable resolution.
Also, I have a large family with many living in the LA area. Therefore we are able to go the parks several times a week. Also, my sister just left with her family for WDW.
We have been pin trading and selling on ebay for a long time. Customer satisfaction is important to our family business.
I await your reply.
CJ

Please tell me how someone who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah goes to Anaheim several times per week?

 

[sixteen]

Can someone please explain to me how the mini pins work re: trading.

Is a mini = a regular-sized pin, or do you need to trade a mini for a mini, or are the minis considered a set and only tradable as a set?

I am looking to buy a lot of 25 from bizzibee1, but it looks like I could end up with a bunch of minis..... Would I be better off only looking for sets of regularly sized pins?

Thanks.... I'm new to this!

 

[DarthTod]

Can someone please explain to me how the mini pins work re: trading.

Is a mini = a regular-sized pin, or do you need to trade a mini for a mini, or are the minis considered a set and only tradable as a set?

I am looking to buy a lot of 25 from bizzibee1, but it looks like I could end up with a bunch of minis..... Would I be better off only looking for sets of regularly sized pins?

Thanks.... I'm new to this!

A pin is a pin, but don't expect everyone to trade that giant pin with spinners for a smaller one, unless they're a CM . I just bought one of those sets from her, very happy with what I got.

 

[davedmaine]

OK. I used the eBay app the other day to buy something. The app does not have the advanced functionality of the full site, at least not on my device. You can't look at the feedback except by scrolling though all of it... its not clickable to see what the specific complaints were. Also, you can't search completed auctions by seller to see if they are selling the same thing over and over. I have emails set up to notify me of certain things, and obviously when I click on those links, you see other things, and the Princess shoes caught my eye. I have 3 packages direct from Disney, and I traded for one shoe when I was at the park 2 months ago. I expected to see a lot more of those since they are one of the best deals on park pins. But, I couldn't find them anywhere. I wanted them for something specific without opening my sealed packs.

So, stupid me buys a set of loose princess shoe pins that "were traded for" from (yikes) disneyfamily801. The auction was ending in moments and at that very time they had no other sets listed and so I decided to take a chance not having access to this thread and the eBay app at the same time. I knew the name seemed familiar to me but I just wasn't sure. BIG MISTAKE!

Finally get my pins in the mail - it was actually well packaged and prompt shipping. I can't complain about that part of the transaction. But, they were definitely scrappers. VERY GOOD scrappers. Only 1 had a slight divot, barely any sign of brush strokes, and only a slight border on the back on one edge of the pin. An average person would never know. But, I pulled out my legit ones and compared side by side and sure enough, scrapper. Then I looked at their history as I tried to decide what to do and saw they sold 40 sets in the last 10 days alone. I didn't go any further. I knew I didn't need to

So, I wrote a very polite message to call them out on it because they do accept returns and said that I didn't feel I should have to return them at my expense because they were fake. If I had changed my mind I would be willing to pay return shipping, but since they were counterfeit I didn't feel like I should be out ANY money. I had already read their nasty responses to feedback people put out, so I covered all my bases by stating things that would not give them room to make any of those same comments to me. I told them I wanted an amicable resolution but if one could not be reached then appropriate feedback would be left and I would be going through the eBay or Paypal dispute process and possibly making a chargeback on my credit card.

Here is their response:

Hi,
I have traded for these pins over the last couple of months. I also purchased a few sets to compare the traded pins with. I believe that these pins are authentic but respect your opinion. I would appreciate your thoughts on how to have an amicable resolution.
Also, I have a large family with many living in the LA area. Therefore we are able to go the parks several times a week. Also, my sister just left with her family for WDW.
We have been pin trading and selling on ebay for a long time. Customer satisfaction is important to our family business.
I await your reply.
CJ

Please tell me how someone who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah goes to Anaheim several times per week?

Seems like the red flags were there.. You shouldn't have bought them

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

Seems like the red flags were there.. You shouldn't have bought them

Actually, no, the red flags weren't there. That was my point. Don't use the eBay app... it sucks for stuff like this. Can't click on feedback the way you can on the computer. Can't look at completed listings. Can't do a lot of things I normally do from the computer. They didn't have another set listed at the time, and I know people who have traded for them.

If I had been in front of the computer I would not have bought from them. But, no matter as I am returning them. Sadly they will just re-sell them, but I am not going to eat the money. I did way too much of that when I didn't know what scrappers were and I have buckets of them that are useless.

On the other hand, just bought a pin from kiljoy667 and it was perfect. I have not bought from them before. I was after a specific pin and just searched for the lowest price on eBay. But, it is flawless and legit and completes my set. Fast shipment and well packaged as well. Same goes for a pin from scubapro5.

 

[RCEliot]

OK. I used the eBay app the other day to buy something. The app does not have the advanced functionality of the full site, at least not on my device. You can't look at the feedback except by scrolling though all of it... its not clickable to see what the specific complaints were. Also, you can't search completed auctions by seller to see if they are selling the same thing over and over. I have emails set up to notify me of certain things, and obviously when I click on those links, you see other things, and the Princess shoes caught my eye. I have 3 packages direct from Disney, and I traded for one shoe when I was at the park 2 months ago. I expected to see a lot more of those since they are one of the best deals on park pins. But, I couldn't find them anywhere. I wanted them for something specific without opening my sealed packs.

So, stupid me buys a set of loose princess shoe pins that "were traded for" from (yikes) disneyfamily801. The auction was ending in moments and at that very time they had no other sets listed and so I decided to take a chance not having access to this thread and the eBay app at the same time. I knew the name seemed familiar to me but I just wasn't sure. BIG MISTAKE!

Finally get my pins in the mail - it was actually well packaged and prompt shipping. I can't complain about that part of the transaction. But, they were definitely scrappers. VERY GOOD scrappers. Only 1 had a slight divot, barely any sign of brush strokes, and only a slight border on the back on one edge of the pin. An average person would never know. But, I pulled out my legit ones and compared side by side and sure enough, scrapper. Then I looked at their history as I tried to decide what to do and saw they sold 40 sets in the last 10 days alone. I didn't go any further. I knew I didn't need to

So, I wrote a very polite message to call them out on it because they do accept returns and said that I didn't feel I should have to return them at my expense because they were fake. If I had changed my mind I would be willing to pay return shipping, but since they were counterfeit I didn't feel like I should be out ANY money. I had already read their nasty responses to feedback people put out, so I covered all my bases by stating things that would not give them room to make any of those same comments to me. I told them I wanted an amicable resolution but if one could not be reached then appropriate feedback would be left and I would be going through the eBay or Paypal dispute process and possibly making a chargeback on my credit card.

Here is their response:

Hi,
I have traded for these pins over the last couple of months. I also purchased a few sets to compare the traded pins with. I believe that these pins are authentic but respect your opinion. I would appreciate your thoughts on how to have an amicable resolution.
Also, I have a large family with many living in the LA area. Therefore we are able to go the parks several times a week. Also, my sister just left with her family for WDW.
We have been pin trading and selling on ebay for a long time. Customer satisfaction is important to our family business.
I await your reply.
CJ

Please tell me how someone who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah goes to Anaheim several times per week?

I know what you mean with the really good fakes. I have the Snow White shoe and it is PERFECT. You'd think it's the real thing... until you notice that on one edge there is a blotch of paint. That's literally the only thing wrong with the entire pin. Ugh. But I'm keeping it. I don't plan to do pin trading unless it's with pins I buy from the parks myself, so having completed sets of scrappers doesn't bother me so much.

I'd say you just make the appropriate cases and demand a refund from them. They're just like every other scrapper seller and are going to "stand behind" their pins and be completely rude when confronted.

 

[RCEliot]

OH, I almost forgot: I got a response from yoruthewulf.

My message to her just asked generally about why she's selling the pins, where she got them (the ones she says are real) etc.

Her response:

Hi! First of all, I'd like to thank you for contacting me about the concerns you have towards the authenticity of the pins I'm selling.

As I've stated in the the descriptions, I bought all but four of my pins through ebay users here-and-there and everywhere at super cheap prices. Expecting the worst, I made sure to check every single pin against pinpics, and I carefully looked for dips, dings, brush strokes, color issues, and all that jazz. The ones in my scrapper auction I can say with certainty are scrappers because the majority of them have big dips in them, some of them have very horrible coloring, and many are just plain wrong, hence is why I've listed them as scrappers.

As for the auction where I included real ones with ones that I can only assume, based on my limited knowledge, are real, I've checked each and every one of the ones that I didn't get personally at the park against pinpics as well. From what I can see, there's nothing wrong with the color of any of them, and there are no visible dings. I've only been collecting for a few months now, so my knowledge is very limited, because of which I have stated that the only ones I know for a fact are real are the Philip, Maleficent, and Jedi pins, and I'm 95% sure that the Chip and Dale one is real because I bought it from a garage sale in Daytona Beach (where I live). I still could be wrong, which is why it's not included with the other three (it also has sharpie on it, which was entirely my bad.)

On the matter of the Toddler pins, I bought those here on ebay as well, and they were listed as new, on the card, and in the original plastic packaging. From what I can tell (without opening them) they are real and everything seems authentic in the sense that it does have the original sticker on the package and everything is all sealed up. Working against the glare of the plastic, I haven't been able to see any dips or problems, and I don't plan to remove the plastic only to find that they are, in fact, real and end up lowering the value of a brand new in-package set. I have stated that I can't be sure that they are authentic, because I did not purchase them from the park myself, so there's that. I only just got them, but I paid more than I really wanted to ($20 for the Princess set, $10 for the Boys) because I was hoping to get to keep the set, but I have to resell them and get my money back, and more, because the Spring semester has just started and I've spent so much money on pins in the last few months that I was unable to afford any classes and am now selling things at a desperate rate to get 2 classes in the Spring semester B (starts in March.)

I'm aware that selling pins for low(er) prices is suspicious, but I assure you that I have no intentions of passing off pins that I, myself, did not buy as authentic when I cannot be sure that they are, I'm just trying to make some money so I can go to school.

I thank you again for contacting me about your concerns, and I hope you have a nice day.

Regards,
YtW

Seems pretty straightforward and sincere, but I can't help thinking that she's just a bit of an idiot. I mean, come on, she spent her college money on Disney pins? I know some of us get carried away when we're buying things on ebay, but you think she'd be smarter than that if she's in college.