Let’s help new pin traders avoid the cheap pins

[actionvaughn]

Thaks Epcot. I should've known when I got two pins in a day. :lol:

 

[t-beri]

As far as people trading the pixie dust pins... I think it's sad that those pins people were trying to trade them rather than following Disney's request to "spread the magic" w/ another park goer. When I got my pin ( I had offered some advice about another pin to a CM) it was our last 15 minutes on property (having our farewell lunch at the Kona Cafe) I couldn't wait for a little boy to hold a door open for me or something so I could give the pin to some deserving vacationer!!! I ended up sending it to another trader who sent me extra traders for my kids when we swapped a couple of pins, I thought that was a nice gesture so I would return the favor. I won't ever trade my pixie dust pin and if I get one this time I go to the parks I will give them both away to deserving recipients. To me it's a reminder that Disney is only as magical as we make it and I want to be one of the people spreading it around.

All of these pins have a monetary value of whatever WDW assigns them, after that it is up to you.

...t.

 

[BONITATIME]

As far as "worth", their personal value is up to you & how much you like them & value the instances in which you received them. As far as trade value, there are many more people wanting to trade them than requesting them, so it's not super high. Regarding monetary value, you can just do a search on ebay & look at the completed auctions for these pins to get an idea what the market is currently bearing.

I have a set but wouldn't trade of sell them for the world. I was given them by a cast member for giving a little girl a pin as a gift she saw on my lanyard. The idea of them is to further trading. I had to trade one off a lanyard to give away to follow the tradition of the set.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Just a little bump as I have seen a couple of people asking about buying on eBay.

As always, be familiar with what you are trying to buy. Know what the pins are supposed to look like, buy from sellers with a written, money-back return policy, pay with PayPal or a credit card so you have some recourse if you need to dispute a transaction. Buy pins from auctions where you can SEE the exact pins you will receive. Look at the sellers closed auctions. Have they sold hundereds and hundreds of identical pins in the past 2 weeks? WHERE do you think they got all those pins?

Feedback can be VERY MISLEADING! People who do not know about scrappers and counterfeits buy from eBay every day, and they leave positive feedback. Once it is there it can not be retracted or changed. I have purchased scrappers from a seller with over 10,000 positive feedbacks, so it is not a guarantee of authentic pins. Look for auctions that say "NO SCRAPPERS". Scrappers and counterfeits CAN and DO have the pin trading logo back stamp on them, so that doesn't mean anything. The pins I have gotten that have caused the biggest problems are cast lanyard pins, and I refuse to purchase them in lots now. To each his own, but really, buyer beware.

Ask for advice here if you are confused or have questions about pins you see on eBay. Better to not bid than to get stuck with fakes!

 

[GrillMouster]

I've noticed that some sellers on ebay are using images from pinpics in their auctions. This is very misleading, because it's not a picture of the actual pin up for sale. The image from pinpics is likely that of an authentic pin, whereas the one up for bid could be a scrapper.

 

[staylor]

I'm looking at some pins on ebay for my children to trade on our next vacation to WDW. I do not want scrappers or any other bad pin for that matter. Has anyone used the sellers PINSCHEAP or DISNEYPINMAD or PINSTANTGRATIFICATION or ALLABOUTME35?
You can leave me a private message if you don't want to reply publicly on the forums.

Thanks
Staci

 

[Starseeker1221]

I'm looking at some pins on ebay for my children to trade on our next vacation to WDW. I do not want scrappers or any other bad pin for that matter. Has anyone used the sellers PINSCHEAP or DISNEYPINMAD or PINSTANTGRATIFICATION or ALLABOUTME35?
You can leave me a private message if you don't want to reply publicly on the forums.

Thanks
Staci

We've gotten pins from PINSCHEAP before and definitely received a few scrappers.

 

[theantibride]

Can I just offer a word of advice on bidding on pebay (no tjust pins) NEVER ever bid on an auction that uses someone else's picture: be it from another website (i.e. pinpics) or a catalog. First of all, 9 times out of 10 that in and of itself is a copyright violation. Secondly, legitimate sellers always take their own pictures. My fiance and I sell disney pins on ebay all the time (duplicates, ones we no longer want, etc) but we always take our own photos (or scans of the pins). Sure it would be easier to use a pinpics picture but that isn't right. We tried taking pictures of the Disney logos on the back but often it doesn't come out very well so if there is ever anything unique on the back we describe it. If you find one of those auctions ask the person to send youa photo of the actual iitem they are selling. If they won't --- turn and run! A good seller will send you a picture of anything you ask for. Even when the backs don't photograph welll we still send pics when requested and I think that let's people know we're legit. We also start our bids at a couple of dollars so people know that we aren't just selling junk pins. The ones that start at 1 cent always make me nervous. I know some legitimate sellers start their auctions that cheap but in general I try to avoid those. Also, if you do buy a pin from a seller and are happy with the results add them to your favorite seller's list. Then when they list new stuff you'll get notified and you can look and see if there's anything else you want. That's how we buy most of our pins on ebay -- from people we've bought from before and in those cases not once have we ever gotten a bad pin! Hope this helps someone out.

 

[staylor]

Thank you so much for the help. I was thinking, why don't these people use their own pictures. I actually found someone at dizpins selling at a reasonable cost so I think I'll just go with them. At least I know I'll be getting good pins.

 

[TishaMoon]

Hi, I haven't been here in a while. I am still pretty new to pin trading. I haven't been taking my pins to the parks lately. I'm always afraid of them falling off my lanyard or something. And I had pretty much reached the point where the few pins I had I liked enough not to trade. So I just ordered a grab bag set off ebay to trade. I had done that before and it worked out really well, getting some I liked enough to keep and some I traded. This time however I don't think I was so lucky. I just got my pins today, and after inspecting them carefully I believe many if not all of them are fakes. I searched for them all on pinpics and probably 60-70% of them have warnings that unauthorized versions of the pin are out there. Two have scratches. The other thing that tipped me off is that on many of them the enamel seems kind of dull and scratched, and they have a kind of turpentine-like smell. It is very frustrating when this seller has good feedback.

The seller is disneypinmad and the auction number was 110184870966. I ordered 15 from him.

 

[BONITATIME]

The other thing that tipped me off is that on many of them the enamel seems kind of dull and scratched, and they have a kind of turpentine-like smell.

Scrappers are made in the same place as normal pins, they are just extras that Disney didn't ask for so I doubt they would smell.This sounds much more like the seller has picked them up in the park and has tried to clean them up.

We also start our bids at a couple of dollars so people know that we aren't just selling junk pins. The ones that start at 1 cent always make me nervous.

One of the best sellers I know lists nearly all their pins at 1 cent so I don't think you can judge from that.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Scrapper pins DO HAVE A SMELL! They do, they do, they do!

I am not the only one who has noticed it, and I am getting frustrated by people not recognizing that this is a legitimate claim. There is a VERY distinctive odor to the fakes we have received. Perhaps the terminology is incorrect - the pins that have the weird smell might be better defined as "counterfeit". On PinPics buyers are cautioned about pins in plastic bags with a single staple. The odor is most noticable on those, but the smell lingers after the pins are out of the bags. I have opened packages from eBay sellers where a "puff" of that smell comes out and I know we are in for fakes.

The folks on the DizPins boards fall over themselves laughing when the topic comes up, but the thing is, if the pins smell funny you should inspect them VERY carefully. When we looked at all of ours with a magnifying glass it wasn't good.

TishaMoon, you are 100% right about the smell - don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

[TishaMoon]

Thanks. It's not just the smell that bothered me either. Looking at them closely I've seen several flaws. Not only things that can be regular wear, like scratches, but unusual things like dips in the enamel and paint where it shouldn't be. Also, one pin I got is described on pin pics as a fake because chip and dale's eyes are silver and not black like they should be.

All of the pins I bought came in individual bags. Most of them were in small zip lock type backs, but a few were in bags with one staple as you mentioned.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Thanks. It's not just the smell that bothered me either. Looking at them closely I've seen several flaws. Not only things that can be regular wear, like scratches, but unusual things like dips in the enamel and paint where it shouldn't be. Also, one pin I got is described on pin pics as a fake because chip and dale's eyes are silver and not black like they should be.

All of the pins I bought came in individual bags. Most of them were in small zip lock type backs, but a few were in bags with one staple as you mentioned.

Well, I'm not sure how you want to handle it. You can contact the seller IF they have a return policy. You can threaten negative feedback, but then they will post something ugly about you. The new "ratings" on eBay give you the opportunity to report counterfeits. When you go to do the "stars" if you click one star for "accuracy of description" it will ask you WHAT was inaccurate, and counterfeit is one of the choices.

We have a bunch of Chip & Dale cast lanyard pins that are fakes.

 

[Caitsmama]

I am leaving in 2 weeks for WDW, and i wanted to get some pins to bring to trade..i was looking on ebay tonight, but now, i am nervous.. after reading about the scrappers and such.
Does anyone have a reputable seller that they could pm me about?

 

[actionvaughn]

Can anyone vouch for the eBay seller hppydiztrader?

 

[curlyq7171]

I was looking at buying pins on ebay but after reading some of these if am not sure. Can someone tell me if this Item number, 260176562059, looks okay. Or anything on the seller, travelinwynns. Thanks a bunch!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I was looking at buying pins on ebay but after reading some of these if am not sure. Can someone tell me if this Item number, 260176562059, looks okay. Or anything on the seller, travelinwynns. Thanks a bunch!

In general it is better to buy from auctions that show you the EXACT pins you will be getting. This seller does have a return policy but only if the item is "grossly misrepresented" and they state flat out that the pins are not new. They say they go to the parks to trade on Saturdays. OK. So what if the pins they trade for happen to be fakes? They turn around and sell them to you. You receive the pins and see that they are scrappers or counterfeits and you ask for a refund. They will argue that they traded for those pins so they ARE tradeable, no refund for you.

I would look for auctions that specifically say "No scrappers" and show you the EXACT pins you will receive. Good luck!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Can anyone vouch for the eBay seller hppydiztrader?

Never dealt with them, but this is what I noticed. The "completed listings" shows the sale of over 1000 pins in the past 2 weeks. How does someone in Ohio come to have that many pins, plus all the pins currently up for bid? They also sell grab bags in addition to the single pins still on the cards. Those single pins are recently released designs, too. If this seller was at WDW and bought pins for $6.95 or more why are they selling them on eBay starting at $2.50 each?

I am just curious where the pins came from.

 

[mommapoppins]

Do you think these pins are authentic? Ebay Auction 200168530252

or these?

Item 280168817156