LURKER NO MORE:
Ive kept up with this bookmarked thread for over a year. Ive always lurked, but never posted. Although I appear new, many of you will recognize me from Pinpics and pin trading. I finally decided to chime in when I had too many thoughts not to share and when what started as a great thread to protect new traders has seemingly taken a turn.
Education in pin trading is critical and though I know my one post wont matter much, Im hoping to help steer this thread back to its original purpose and share a little wisdom gleaned over the years. I have a lot of thoughts, so get comfortable OR skip to the next post. lol
I see, and have purchased from, fantastic sellers: bizzybee1, flame*o*chist and many more. To new traders, there ARE good sellers on eBay, but more about that in a minute.
I see some sellers dumped the junk, and have now apparently gone legit: funmamas anyone? Just steer clear of the Holiday Vinylmation she still has.
Im also thrilled to see the awful sellers like nannub/Parrotsandpins and mikebitesme thankfully go under when word gets out that theyre just a pipeline for the trash coming from China.
Great job everyone! I believe its directly a result of this board. Now that is smart talk! Everyone can see how to be safe and enjoy this wonderful hobby.
Ive read every post and it is easy to see those who love trading, posting on their personal experiences to protect others. That was the intention of the thread and I applaud the OP.
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I dont know you PixieWings, but I like you a lot! ~ ~
THIS THREAD:
Can we get the Disney groove back in this thread? This thread is all about the magic of pin trading while protecting one another, not making assumptions or mud slinging without facts. When we publicly guess about things like that, that is what gets people threatening lawsuits and then we cant share names anymore. As far as I know this is the only place we can publicly name sellers and I dont want to see the thread go away.
Of course were meant to share opinions, youre reading mine now. I applaud those giving out legitimate information about pins they bought that are scrappers and how they know for sure. If youre new to the hobby, read all posts critically though and use careful judgment when reading the posts of people who havent actually made the purchase or held the pin.
GOOD SELLERS:
I have been buying and trading pins on/off since 2005. I started back in the glory days of Disney Auctions and I know a lot of the traders and sellers. If it werent for bizzybee1, kittkat2bad, themuchnessofdisney, and youngqueen and Id be all twitchy not being able to get my fix.
GIFT CARDS:
One of my best friends is a corporate buyer for a company and the only real perk of her job is that she is allowed to use the rewards points/gift cards for herself. Im quite sure that many sellers have day jobs and that they rack up points too. Certain cards have no limits on corporate accounts, so just because someone is using gift cards does not make them shady.
I read about the seller using gift cards and being called in to question because of a perfectly normal practice of redeeming rewards. Theyre a great seller and they have the harder to find pins. They ask $$$ for some because they are rare and some are a great deal, but Im not mentioning the name again so you dont go picking off all the pins I want. Lol They dont sell pins in lots and I have purchased great pins from them every time. Sure they wont share their proprietary secrets, but that does not mean there is something shady. If they shared it would be certain business death. Anyway, Ive bought from that seller, their pins are amazing and always perfectly perfect as they state in their auctions and I found them personable, friendly and their shipping was so fast I think I heard a sonic boom. Lol
BULK:
How does Costco have things so cheap? They buy in bulk. How does the Dollar Store do it? If you have enough credit in the coffers and can buy in bulk, prices are much lower. Theres no mystery in that. It is just a gamble that I, for one, wouldnt be willing to make but a huge thanks to others for making the leap. I love it when sellers buy boosters en masse and pass the savings on. I appreciate the attempt to squelch the scrapper issue too. I wont buy pin grab bags/lots, but booster sets that are new in package are great!
EBAY BUSINESSES:
I would strongly disagree that all eBay sellers are just one person sitting alone at one computer. Some are, sure, but those with tons of feedback usually are not. Also, not everyone leaves feedback, so those sellers sold even more than what is showing. I cannot imagine people able to ship out hundreds of auctions every day by themselves, so if they say we they probably are more than one person. Someone posted worrying about sellers saying we, but I know at least one with a lot of auctions who are a group of traders selling together. This is not them putting on airs, theyre being honest. Some do run it like a business with separate people who do the listing, shipping and answering email. I know there used to be a seller, MarciMouse (I think) who did it that way but I havent seen her around lately. So, picturing eBay sellers as a single person at a single computer is not always the way. There are many, many sellers with hundreds of thousand feedback replies. That is a business and some Disney pin sellers are the same, a business. I would not discredit a seller for saying we. They could just mean him and his wife or it could mean they have a staff of workers.
Gift cards and buying in bulk are only two ways I mention and my guess is that a seller with more than 1k active listings on eBay gets their pins in many different ways but it does not mean anything shady. They have a pocket full of methods and I dont blame them for not sharing. That is them being savvy and trying to earn enough for it to be worth their time. It would be nice if everyone was philanthropic, but alas reality is what it is.
CLEARANCE:
I know sellers who are former cast members and have moved north or east their former co-workers, friends, family still living in Florida or California find the deals and send them to the centralized seller and share in the small profit. If they sell enough the profit goes up. I see nothing wrong with that. We all know there are those amazing clearance sections near the parks, but all of us outside the state cant comb them weekly. Personally, I like that the clearance sections are not just going to the few who live nearby the parks. Spreading it out makes it closer to fair and keeps the market stable. If only a few people were getting the sale items, we would be paying a lot more.
People who do not live near the parks can have several sources for getting pins and the Post Office is happy to deliver them anywhere. This does NOT make the sellers less reputable, just smart for having a central hub.
There is nothing shady in these examples and no huge conspiracy or fraud, just smart business buying low and selling higher. Most people dont have the time or patience, but if these sellers do then it helps keep the market from only being a few people near the parks.
SMART TACTICS:
Someone posted, and I agree, if a low priced pin gets you in their store, youre more likely to buy more Target does it, why wouldnt sellers on eBay? Again, there is no mystery to it and no tricks, just simple math and smart business.
If the seller makes a few bucks, Im perfectly fine with it. They have to eat, they have to make a little something or they will stop and more importantly I need the pins! Lol
Please be careful about dragging names through the mud without facts.
SCRAPPERS:
Lets remember, pins that have been scrapped are copies of real pins, so there are real versions of that pin out there. Just because a seller has a pin that has been scrapped does not mean it is a scrapper. There are real versions of the pin, otherwise they are listed as bootleg. If all they have are pins that have been scrapped or are bootleg, now that is absolutely a red flag, but there are legitimate versions of the pins still floating around once theyve been scrapped.
DISNEYSTORE.COM:
I have purchased many pins from DisneyStore.com myself that had I not bought them from the source even *I* would have thought they werent legit and would have returned it to the seller. Not every pin is perfect. I got a DSF pin in trade this week and Mickeys eyes are sunken in. This pin is mint on card and I know the trader very well, she bought it new at DSF. This is just an example of a legit yet not a perfect pin. Immediately deeming a seller as a fraud for having a less than perfect pin isnt using our best judgment. I would contact the seller and ask for a refund, more about that next.
PAYPAL:
I know Im getting terribly long winded, Im almost done. Its very difficult to get *jacked* on eBay because paypal protects buyers to the nth degree. EBay owns paypal and without happy buyers, sellers dont matter and the whole thing goes down the drain! No matter what a seller says about returns, paypal will make them take back a scrapper and youll get a refund. If you think youve gotten scammed on eBay then call foul and youll get your money back. No problem. Relax and enjoy the hobby.
OLIVEJUICE:
Finally, then Ill finally shut up: does anyone know what happened to Olivejuiceyou21? They were fantastic, but it appears someone, literally, died?! Theyll be sadly missed.
we recently returned from trips and did some trading with the starter sets and loved it! We don't have any trips planned but would love more pins 
I keep talking about making a new list but I think I'm going to be offered a new job soon so I won't really have the time....I'm hoping to be able to start working on the list tho to weed out those who aren't selling any longer. 
