Trading Pins on Ebay

[DaveStroem]

I just got some trading pins off of Ebay. They all have Disney Copyrights cast in the back, but I feel that some of them if not all of them might be not quite legitimate.

I have one that is limited edition of 175 but when I looked at pinpics.com they mentioned that there are a lot of "scrappers" of this pin that have been imported from China. One person over there stated that on a recent trip, he saw over 30 of this "L/E" pin on CM lanyards.

From what I have been able to learn, these scrappers are from the same source as the legit pins come from but are over runs or 2nds.

My question is, should I file a claim with Ebay?

Should I return the pins and request a refund?

Should I just not worry about it and let my girls trade the pins?

When I purchased the pins, I was not aware that there was a black-market of Disney pins. I do not intend to collect pins for resale. I just thought this would be something fun for my girls to do on their first trip. I worry that some CM will tell them that their pins are fake and not trade with them causing a scene and for my girls to become upset.

TIA Dave

 

[tink fan]

If you bought them for trading, I would just keep the pins and have your children trade them.

For starters, you don't know for sure that they are fake.

No CM would do anything to embarrass your children. The only time they say no is when they already have the pin. And even when that happened, the CM's we traded with found another CM without the pin for my children to trade with.

My kids absolutely loved pin trading!! My daughter decided to collect only Tinkerbell pins, so we had lots of fun trying to find new pins. The lanyards got heavy though, so they got tired of carrying them on thier necks.

Check at the resort gift shops as well. Sometimes they have trading boards full of pins your children can trade.

 

[DaveStroem]

I am limiting each kid, + my wife to 8 pins each. Hopefully that won't be to heavy.

 

[Dancemom03]

I am limiting each kid, + my wife to 8 pins each. Hopefully that won't be to heavy.

okay, that takes care of the hotel lobby and the park entrance on your first day.

Must be strong... discipline, think discipline... must resist temptation.... whoops, nope I can't do it, it's just too addictive - hope you sleep soundly cause I'd be sneaking down to the gift shops for the rest after you went to sleep!

Seriously though, have a terrific trip and don't worry about any problems with the pins, CMs love to trade with kids and with only 8 each you shouldn't have any problems at all - except wanting more, that is...

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We stopped buying from eBay for that exact reason. The scrapper and counterfeit markets are HUGE.

The thing to think about is that some other person is going to come along, see the pin you traded to the CM, and think they found something great. Then they will find out later that it is fake.

I got a counterfeit King Louie last August, DS got a "bootleg" Mickey (one that was never produced by Disney at all), we have all come home with some pretty strange stuff.

Yes, pin trading is fun for kids and if nobody was ever going to attempt to resell or trade their pins (in a trade here authenticity mattered) it wouldn't be a big deal. I know I would be extremely embarrassed if I was trading with a professional collector and my pin was counterfeit.

We just went to the Disney liquidator sale and bought 115 pins to trade this year. I HOPE some of what we come home with is authentic.

 

[fatfish]

We just went to the Disney liquidator sale and bought 115 pins to trade this year. I HOPE some of what we come home with is authentic.

Disney liquidator sale???!! What and where is this? Please tell us more!!

 

[Duchie]

We just went to the Disney liquidator sale and bought 115 pins to trade this year. I HOPE some of what we come home with is authentic.

Disney liquidator sale???!! What and where is this? Please tell us more!!

I'd like to know as well.

 

[stitchlovestink]

okay, that takes care of the hotel lobby and the park entrance on your first day.

Must be strong... discipline, think discipline... must resist temptation.... whoops, nope I can't do it, it's just too addictive - hope you sleep soundly cause I'd be sneaking down to the gift shops for the rest after you went to sleep!

Seriously though, have a terrific trip and don't worry about any problems with the pins, CMs love to trade with kids and with only 8 each you shouldn't have any problems at all - except wanting more, that is...

We must be twins!!!
Sometimes, I would just tell DH 'Oh, I'm going to go and refill my mug.' and it would take me an hour. He's like what are you refilling it with? I'd hit the Gift Shop, the CM's at the registers at the CS, and anybody at the front desk that had a lanyard. By the end of my 10 day stay, the CM's knew me a little too well. A couple of CM's had recognized me from previous trips.
I trade only for fun and to collect what I & DD like. I do not resell. I try to avoid the fakes, scrappers, etc... But if I have gotten one from a CM, another CM is going to get it back because I will not be absorbing the cost out of my pocket to take it out of the trading market. Sorry if anyone disagrees with this, but I think it's kinda let the trader beware and since a CM previously accepted it in a trade, they're going to get it back.
Enjoy and have a great time. You will find it to be addicting though. I traded almost 200 pins last trip. It's always fun going thru airport security w/ them. Oh and by the way, I highly suggest taking them in your carry on as they can become quite heavy for checked luggage if you get close to the 50 lb limit and we always do.

 

[surfergirl602]

trading is addictive! 8?!? Yeah, in the first five minutes! lol DH nd I did a pirate theme this past trip and it was so fun trying to find all the different pins! CM's with kid lanyards would let me dd's take a pin from mine and trade with them for pins if we didn't have them. They love it, too! We buy our pins from ebay, usually in lots of 200 or so. If we see any fake ones (we have only twice) we just toss them.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

We buy from Ebay, I haven't found any questionable pins..if they say Disney on the back, that is all the CMs are looking for. If you are limiting your trading to CMs (which is what we do, we don't want to approach strangers, and then with strangers there is the haggling..they can say no-CM's will trade as long as there isn't a duplicate on their lanyard.) I have traded some downright ugly pins, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We trade only for fun, my kids have actually picked an ugly one or two! You can't trade thinking about if the next person who comes along is a serious trader and won't like the pin you left behind. As long as it is trademarked, you are fine.

I agree, Eight is not enough...hey that was a TV show long ago, wasn't it?

We don't carry all of our pins with us. In fact, I try to get the boys to leave their lanyards of pins in the room. Then I take about 20 of the ones we want to trade and carry them in my backpack in a plastic bag. It's quick enough to trade and like others have said, the lanyards get heavy and scratchy around your neck all loaded down with pins. Plus there is the chance of knocking one off while you are on a ride. We put the new ones back on the lanyard when we return to the hotel. Another option would be to have two lanyards-leave the "keeper" pins/lanyard in the room, wear the trading pins/lanyard around the parks.

This is addicting, are you sure you want to start this?


I just reread some of these posts, and saw the number "200" in at least two posts...you guys are seriously addicted, we may go through 10-15 a day at the most for three of us. I salute you!!

 

[zoemurr]

with 12 each.. and after 2 trips both have about 40.. as do I.

I would consider purchasing more before you go as well. They can trade those 8 very quickly, and as soon as they like all the ones they have they will be begging for more. You don't want to spend $7-$8 each at the parks. My kids 5-9 loved wearing their lanyards, even in August with about 16 pins each on them. They love the attention and always needed it ready. Very fun component of our trips.

Sorry.. but we learned this the hard way. Luckily we had grandma with us.

 

[surfergirl602]

We bring about 10 each person with us to the parks and then leave the ones we want to keep at the hotel when we get back, and start all over again the next day. We have a pin book that we put our "keepers" in after our trip is over. It's fun to look through the book and "remember when" them.

 

[JackJack08]

I have to agree about the 8 pins. My kids had 25 each and it didn't take long for them to go through those!! Have fun though....it is addicting!

 

[ncbyrne]

If you reason for the buying the pins is just to trade in the parks, then I wouldn't give it another thought. I too bought pins in lots on eBay to give to my DGDs to take on vacation. They traded every single one and had a blast. We've done this three times, and have never encountered a problem of any kind.

 

[kelleigh1]

I've actually sold a few pins on ebay. I'm definitely selling authentic (only those exclusive pins I can get for being a Disney Visa cardholder), and it bothers me to know that there are so many people out there selling knockoffs and ruining a good thing. Some people are just pathetic.

We haven't traded too much...because we can't get to Disney enough and because we usually buy what we really like. But it is fun to see all the pins that are out there.

Our next step is to create some display for our spare bedroom since we have a ton of pins from our last trip that are just sitting in a bag.

 

[anonymousegirl]

Seriously, Dave, 8 is not enough. When I went with a friend I bought 25 pins to split with her for a 6 day trip. I ended up coming home with twice that, so I ended up spending a lot of money on pins (of course, it's nice to know they are real).

That was last July. Now I have close to 500, from trades, purchases at Disney and Disney shopping dot com, and Ebay.

Now I try to limit myself to 8 a day.

But your kids will have a ball trading and meeting the CMs. I do solo trips occasionally, and I love slowing down and chatting with the CMs as I peruse their lanyards.

Oh, and even in the heat of summer I have never felt the lanyards were hot or uncomfortable (and I never wear necklaces because they usually bother me like that).

 

[kjbau]

I agree with the rest - you may want to pick up a few more pins before you get there. It is very addicting and a whole lot of fun. We have traded on our last 3 trips and each one seemed to take on a whole new theme or pin set. It's great to take a look back at all the lanyards to see what we were into that year! Pin trading is a great conversation starter with CM's as well!

 

[TRICKY_TINK]

if you use ebay what seller is good? I dont want 15 of each scrapper in my lot of 100. thanks

 

[newtodis]

We have a pin book that we put our "keepers" in after our trip is over. It's fun to look through the book and "remember when" them.

I'd love to hear more - is this something you made or purchased?? DH's gotten in to collecting and wants to get a corkboard to hang in the house and display the pins. I'd like something a little cuter than that to hang/display in the house.

We just went to the Disney liquidator sale and bought 115 pins to trade this year. I HOPE some of what we come home with is authentic.

I'd love to hear more about this as well!!

 

[robb01]

Ive bought several there, its a good place to get them