Good/Bad Internet and eBay Pin Sellers

[Tampa Mousekeeter]

Originally Posted by Malouff

I can't believe these people even were trying to sell more pins yesterday look at eBay item number 280410619962

They had 15 sets of 100 pins for $104.99

More than likely they are selling on Ebay under several different names...also another thing to look for is if their feedback is private, meaning you can not see what others have purchased from them. A lot of the scammers have their's private because they do not want potential buyers to see them selling the same pins over and over...

[Anjelica]

Originally Posted by thelionqueen

I noticed FAR FAR less scrappers @ DLR than at WDW! In fact, trading at DLR was teh best I've seen in a very long time. This was last May, so I don't know what's changed since. I must also add that our last trip to WDW (May this year) we saw much less scrappers than the previous visit. There were a HUGE amount of "cuties" and "starter set" pins, but not near as many scrappers. I think things are looking "up" and the Disney "brass" may finally be addressing the problem the only way they can at this point; having CM's pocket the scrappers and replace them with starter pins..

That's my take!

This gives me great hope!!! I was getting discouraged lately at the prevelance, at least on ebay, of the amount of scrappers or at least what appeared to be scrappers.

[Broncobilly83]

Originally Posted by Jen M

So tonight wasn't such a good night and I couldn't sleep because of some problems with a neighbor. I started looking on ebay and found some possible sellers selling scrappers. I made a list and also included some of the feedback that I could find.

Remember I haven't dealt with thess people just what I could tell from ebay. Also sorry if some of the names have already been listed.

funpins

Just got an auction from them. It was one of the lots of 20 they had with 6 of them being the Haunted Mansion Tombstones (set of 6)

As far as I can tell, I got decent pins (I used Pinpics.com) to compare what I had, but I am relatively new to this so I might not be a good barometer. There were a couple that flagged for me as scrapper or fake, so I am waiting to hear back from them to see their take on it. But the HM pins seemed legit as well did most of the Hidden Mickeys. Of course half of them, including the HMs, were flagged on PinPics as being sold outside of Disney by the makers, so it is hard to say if they got them from Disney or China directly

[MountNittany]

Originally Posted by pixiewings71

Actually, there is a difference between "genuine" and "official" pins, official pins are pins that have passed the QC testing and been approved by Disney, genuine pins may be made from the same molds but not pass QC and not be approved by Disney. I hope that helps. And yes, official pins can be traded.

And scrappers are pins that were made with low quality materials and are basically "illegal" because they were not allowed by Disney and should not have the backstamp.

[MountNittany]

Originally Posted by thelionqueen

Although CM's may (and probably will) accept pins they know are scrappers, that is not what the point of this thread is.

I know you are "new" at pin trading, and buying for 3 kids is NOT cheap! The reality is this..pin trading is NOT CHEAP..period! Disney sells the pins for $8-20 EACH.

The reason the CM's lanyards are completely LOADED with scrappers is because of people (many fully unknowing) buying scrappers from ebay for $1 or so per pin.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't become part of the group that buys them from ebay and trades them @ WDW! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't be one of those that thinks..."it's just for the kids to have fun," "we're not serious collectors," "we don't care if they're scrappers" so it doesn't matter. IT MATTERS!!! By buying scrappers on ebay and trading them at the parks, you are becoming part of the problem that is absolutely RAMPANT in regards to pin trading.

The reality is that pin trading IS NOT CHEAP!! The reality is that you can get GREAT information from this thread about REPUTABLE ebay sellers to keep your costs as low as possible.

Please look at the entire situation and the impact it can have on every other pin trader at the park BEFORE you make an uninformed and harmful decision, just to save money.

Believe me, I am NOT rich..not even close! But I LOVE pin trading..and I absolutely DETEST having the hobby I ADORE infiltrated with all this scrapped mess, and I DETEST even more having to examine every pin that I trade.

For those who have not pin traded for very long, there used to be a time..not long ago (2 years or so) where EVERY SINGLE PIN on a CM's lanyard was AUTHENTIC!! These were CURRENT, AUTHENTIC and GENUINE Disney pins! It was TRULY a treasure hunt, and it was a BLAST!!

Fast forward to today..nothing but crummy pins, mass produced in an overseas company with absolutely no quality whatsoever. Every trade takes several minutes to determine if it's "legit" This is not the way pin trading was intended at all!

I don't mean to badger anyone in particular, it is just that I am SO passionate about ending this problem, that when new traders ask for advice I tend to be more direct than maybe I should

Bottom line is..THINK BEFORE YOU ACT!! and...What would Walt think?
Rant over

YES! A link to this post is definitely going in the OP

and update is coming in a few minutes... sorry, school has really gotten in the way of things

[MountNittany]

Originally Posted by Tampa Mousekeeter

More than likely they are selling on Ebay under several different names...also another thing to look for is if their feedback is private, meaning you can not see what others have purchased from them. A lot of the scammers have their's private because they do not want potential buyers to see them selling the same pins over and over...

That happens frequently... remember Bibbity Bobbity Boo Collectibles?

[pixiewings71]

Oh yes, I remember BBBC, she had like 3 names she was using to sell. She probably has more now......

I do not have any kind of resolution yet from Paypal and mikeandnancy are still not returning my attempts at contact. I will be leaving them negative feedback and hope to get my money back. I will keep updating the thread when I have new information.

[MountNittany]

Originally Posted by pixiewings71

Oh yes, I remember BBBC, she had like 3 names she was using to sell. She probably has more now......

I do not have any kind of resolution yet from Paypal and mikeandnancy are still not returning my attempts at contact. I will be leaving them negative feedback and hope to get my money back. I will keep updating the thread when I have new information.

Thanks, they're now red

[MountNittany]

oh and shipwick vs skipwick? are they the same person?

[Disney On A Dime!]

Real quick...I wanted to mention what has occurred with a recent pin purchase...again on ebay. I know I wrote some time ago about not collecting anymore vinylmation pins...well...I just had to get a few more! Anyhow...I just received a few pins in from a seller that was not mentioned here at all, but looked to be very reputable and only selling a few pins...not a huge amount of pins or lots...plus a bunch of other non-disney items. Well...I should have known...the pins are knock-offs of the geniune Disney holiday vinylmation pins. The mickey's do not go all the way to the edge on the back, they are thinner and they are lighter.


So...I write to the seller and explain very nicely my recent knowledge about the vinylmation pins and that I believed the ones that they sold me were not geniune Disney pins. I also gave them the benefit of doubt and suggested that they might not even be aware of the knock-offs.


The seller replied very nicely and said that he would give me full refund and pay for shipping back...and then he said, "Are any of them real?"


After my next correspondence with him...he wrote back that he had talked with his supplier and that I needed to check out pinpics.com pin number 72748...where it was clearly evident that some people had purchased these holiday vinylmation pins directly from Disney and that half of them were not having the mickey ears go all the way to the edge on the back.


Now I am getting pretty upset about this entire pin thing...because I knew exactly what post he was talking about on pinpics.com. If you go and look at pin 72748...there are several people writing in comments about this pin.


One of the first posts states something about Beijing having a hard time reproducing the mickey heads on the back of the pins...mainly that it is a dead give away that Disney did not sell this pin.


A few posts down there are two people who verify with each other that they did buy pins at Disney that some had the mickey heads all the way to the edge and that some did not.


The worst part about this entire situation is that one of the posters claiming Disney sold them pins with the mickeys not touching the edges is the same user name as a person I purchased knock-off vinylmation pins from in the past off of ebay!


I know that this post has been long and I started with "real quick!" But I just thought that I would put it out there that the sellers of these knock-off/scrapper/Beijing pins are being able to refer buyers to this pinpics site in order to say..."Yes! That pin is a real, genuine Disney bought pin" when in fact the source of the post on pinpics is a seller of knock-off/scrapper/Beijing pins!


At this point I am not a registered user of pinpics...I just go there every now and then and check out pins...so I am not sure about their posting control...or if they even have that???


As far as my ebay purchase...I will post this persons user name here once I have received my refund. I did have to explain to him that regardless of the mickey heads on the back not being correct...the pins were thinner and lighter than my Disney purchased vinylmation pins. I am going to send him a vinylmation pin that I purchased from Disney so that he can see what I was talking about. I believe that I blind-sided him with the information about his pins. I really don't think that this person knew that they were selling these knock-offs...I do think that the supplier knew!


I will keep you posted!

[pixiewings71]

You know, every pin I've purchased that has the Mickey heads on the back, they go all the way to the edges and OFF, they do not have the "edge", they do not stop before the edges of the pin, they go all the way off....and scrappers I've traded for have not had the Mickey heads going off the edge. I do not believe your seller, and what exactly does he mean by "his supplier?" Disney pins are not available for purchase outside the parks......

[Disney On A Dime!]

Yep - all my pins with mickey heads go all the way to the edge and off...there remains no border. On these knock-off pins...there is a distinct border and the mickey heads are not neatly embossed on the back. I guess this seller gets his pins from someone who either trades for them or gets them from Beijing...just my assumption??? Again, it really stinks for those of us who are truly collecting for the joy of collecting and end up with non-genuine Disney pins... It also stinks that some of the sellers don't even know that they are selling knock-offs! Like my husband said...until we started to research the pins...we had no idea about scrappers and such. It does take a little digging around to find out what your collection truly consists of...

[Disney On A Dime!]

Hi MountNittany! I see that you are updating the list on the first page...thanks! I do need to add though that I just received a knock-off from someone who had previously sent me a genuine pin! This seller has nothing to do with the previous issue that I have going on...but nonetheless...I can't totally recommend them. I don't know where they should be placed on the list...so far I'm 50/50 with them??? The ebay user name is kather99.



I have got to find a new hobby or find a way to get down to WDW more or go on DCL more...I need to buy my own pins!!!

[Broncobilly83]

Originally Posted by Disney On A Dime!

Hi MountNittany! I see that you are updating the list on the first page...thanks! I do need to add though that I just received a knock-off from someone who had previously sent me a genuine pin! This seller has nothing to do with the previous issue that I have going on...but nonetheless...I can't totally recommend them. I don't know where they should be placed on the list...so far I'm 50/50 with them??? The ebay user name is kather99.

Could it be she did not know something was off? I ask as I am looking at some of her Scrooge Pins on Ebay now

[Disney On A Dime!]

Originally Posted by Broncobilly83

Could it be she did not know something was off? I ask as I am looking at some of her Scrooge Pins on Ebay now

Most definitely...I think that they had no idea that the pin they sold me was not genuine Disney. Like I said...in the past I did receive a great pin from them. That's the hard part with all of this...I do believe that most selling items on ebay want to sell genuine Disney pins...it's just that all of the knock-offs and scrappers look so close to the real thing...that even for those honest folks...it becomes a challenge.

Please don't get me wrong...there are some out there selling totally scrappers and knock-offs on purpose or knowingly. That's why the system is so messed up now. This is just my opinion...

My new way of bidding is to first ask the seller..."Do the embossed mickeys on the back of the pin go all the way to the edge or do they stop at the edge and a border is formed?" All sellers have replied back very kindly...so far...only one response states that "yes" the mickeys go all the way to the edge and I purchased these myself at WDW. All the others IMO were knock-offs or scrappers. (Keep in mind these are just the vinylmation pins.)