Best way to pin trade

[klj27]

I think we are going to let the kids pin trade as their souvenir for our next trip. I am wondering what is the most economical way to do this. Should we buy them each a starter set there? What is a minimum number of pins we can get away with and still have fun? Are there a lot of cm who wear the trading lanyards? Do all of the resorts sell pins?

Thanks for answering any or all questions!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

You might want to look at the Collector's Board, this is a common question and there are a lot of threads there with the answers you use.

 

[Cplofdisneynutz]

also check this website on pin trading

Good luck and have fun

 

[CrazedDisFan]

I would try to buy some off Ebay first. You can usually get some for $2.50 each or less. This is a good deal. The pins start at $6.50 each in the parks and resorts.

We let our kids earn a pin a day for 3 weeks prior to our trip. They each ended up with 21 pins to trade for our 8 day/7night vacation.

This seemed to be a good number. The kids did 3 extra chores a day to earn their pin. I made a weekly schedule on the computer and posted it on the fridge. They came home from school and got right to work. The chores weren't anything hard, but things that gave me more time to pack and do that sort of thing.

I also recommend purchasing pins that don't necessarily appeal to your children. For instance my girls really don't care for 'The Rescuers', so I found several of those pins for the to trade. Otherwise, they would keep all the ones I pre-bought and I'd be stuck buying more!

hope this helps!

 

[weluvpluto]

I purchased a bunch off of ebay for my daughters to trade on our upcoming trip.
Here's a good guide from Deb's site:
http://allearsnet.com/ae/issue018.htm

 

[geetey]

My kids love trading pins and we have been doing it for several years. The most pins they have ever had for a trip is 7 pins each. (they are 9 and 11 now) That was plenty for them to keep up with and continuously trade. I would recommend between 4 - 10 pins per child (depending on their ages).

I agree with the poster above - buy pins they do NOT like! Otherwise they won't want to trade them. At the parks you can get a starter lanyard with 4 pins but it is definitely cheaper to go with some ebay pins.

Have fun!

 

[hockey mom]

Look under "Disney pin lots" on E-bay. We just bought 40 pins for $110 total. Do not buy anything that says "from Spain" or "Sedesma". When you are in the parks or stores pay extra attention to the guys or gals in suits with lanyards- they always seem to have great traders.

 

[shari2shop]

On our trip in March I had planned for my 2 kids to trade 4 pins a day for the 6 days that we were. I bought 50 pins off of eBay. Well, we get there and my son is not interested in trading so my daughter (age 6) gets to trade 8 pins each day. Well, that was plenty. She traded all day long. After seeing how much she traded I'm glad that she had more than 4 to do each day. Each evening when we went back to the resort she really enjoyed taking her new pins off her lanyard and adding the 8 she would trade the next day. On our next trip I think I'm going to buy her 6 or 8 for each day. I have already gotten quite a few off of eBay for a pretty low price.

While the actual trading of pins was alot of fun I think my daughter also really liked how all the CM's called her "princess" and asked her about her trip and really fussed over her while she was looking at their pins. She wore a "my first trip to WDW" t-shirt on the last day and it seems that the cms just went on and on about her trip. She loved the 'extra' attention.

Also, my daughter discovered that if you trade pins with cms that are working shows you have a chance to get a little extra attention. My daughter traded pins with the cm that was at the Country Bears. After we were seated the same cm came and found my daughter had had her help start the show. She also got to 'drive' the jungle cruise after trading with the tour guide. The neatest thing was that my daughter was telling the hostess at Rose and Crown about her favorite pins and she asked my daughter (and son) to start Illuminations.

For us, pin trading started out as something fun for the kids to do but turned into a magical part of our trip.

 

[grodgers49]

We haved a Disney outlet store near us and we were able to buy pins on clearance, $2.00 each. We bought plenty of duplicates since they were going to be used for trading. Some of the CM's are skeptical and seem to prefer trading with children since they know some adults are in it for the money. They were very gracious with our children.

 

[Pigsty333]

I try to buy a whole bunch of the same pins and then we normally keep one or buy all the ones we don't really care for (my son only collects Mickey's) and we use the rest to trade. We got a lot of pins at the outlet stores too. CMS with green lanyards trade only with kids.

The managers (those not in uniform but wearing either a suit, or dress) have better pins.

Enjoy

 

[klj27]

Thanks for all of the information! Now I have to decide if I should buy some off of EBAY before we leave (I have never purchased there before) or check the outlets. I have only been to two of the outlet malls near WDW and I am wondering if that's where the character shops are. The ones that I have been to are near Crossroads. I believe we turned right out of Hotel Plaza BLVD, turned left just past freeway, travelled past Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine and the outlets were on the right. Does that sound familiar to anyone? What are the chances that the outlet will have some pins available? I am guessing that is where a few of the Ebay sellers got theirs. I noticed a lot of them reside in Florida.

Thanks again!

 

[iLoveEeyore2]

Thanks for all of the information! Now I have to decide if I should buy some off of EBAY before we leave (I have never purchased there before) or check the outlets. Thanks again!

I decided to try Ebay for the first time this past week and I hate it! I just wanted to get some pins for DD to trade. No matter how long I have a bid, eventually someone comes along and raises it to an amt. that is not worth it for trading purposes. I have been so frustrated this past week. It seems like people sneak up at the last minute and steal it right out from under your nose! I'm not sure if its worth the time. Maybe I'm doing something wrong??

 

[eeyoresmountainpals]

One more tip...if you don't mind.

If you buy off e-bay look for sellers that will combine shipping. There is one that sells a lot that will ship one or fifty for the same cost (only $2.00)! I just bought five from that seller today! Another well-known seller charges $2.00 for the first and only 25 cents for each pin after. You can get a lot that way and only pay a small amount for shipping.

I've started buying pins in anticipation of our trip in October. We have never traded pins before but our boys (16, 12, 11) are really excited about trading. Our 16 year old has Down Syndrome and I think he'll especially enjoy it!!!

Good luck finding your pins!

 

[Grammy]

The ones that I have been to are near Crossroads. I believe we turned right out of Hotel Plaza BLVD, turned left just past freeway, travelled past Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine and the outlets were on the right. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

Yes, those are the Orlando Premium outlets. They have a Character Permier in there. My 4 year old grandson started trading pins on his last trip. My daughter and I went and bought him a bunch of pins there to trade. They were just putting out new stock when we walked in so we got probably 20 pins at $1.99 each. Of all the pins we bought he only saved one and that was a monorail pin that had his name on it. His mom buys 2 or 3 pins on each trip that they save on a special lanyard. Usually one for their resort, one for each of her son's favorite ride/show/character from that trip.

 

[klj27]

Grammy,

Thanks for the info about the outlets. We will be going to Church the night we get there and now we will probably head over to the mall afterwards.

My husband will be so thrilled.

 

[geetey]

http://allearsnet.com/btp/cware.htm

The above link has information about the 3 different outlet malls. I suggest calling each one to see if they have any discounted pins in stock. They will even ship them to you! They are very nice and will try & help you.

This may be less frustrating that trying to bid on different lots on ebay. Good luck!

 

[eeyore45]

I decided to try Ebay for the first time this past week and I hate it! I just wanted to get some pins for DD to trade. No matter how long I have a bid, eventually someone comes along and raises it to an amt. that is not worth it for trading purposes. I have been so frustrated this past week. It seems like people sneak up at the last minute and steal it right out from under your nose! I'm not sure if its worth the time. Maybe I'm doing something wrong??

That's me too! I too am hoping to find 10 pins for our weeks stay in Oct - I started reading this thread and thought...

WELL so this is who is bidding against me - Disers!! Stop it, my turn!!

Geetey thanks for that idea - I know I cant get to an outlet mall, I read somewhere where they had grab bags of pins... I was so jealous, but I never thought about calling! *duh!

any other tips let me know!

 

[geetey]

Good luck, Eeyore45.

When we were at the outlet malls in January, they have a good selection of clearance pins. Remember they also have regular Disney World pins. Just explain to the CM that you are looking for some clearance pins and the CM will let you know what they have. I have had 20 of the same pin shipped with no problem at all. I have also requested a set number of pins, making sure I explain that I don't mind duplicates. I hope they have some for you!

 

[jadejazzkayla]

Do not buy anything that says "from Spain" or "Sedesma".

can you tell us why we should not buy pins from spain or sedesma?

 

[twinkerbelle]

I decided to try Ebay for the first time this past week and I hate it! I just wanted to get some pins for DD to trade. No matter how long I have a bid, eventually someone comes along and raises it to an amt. that is not worth it for trading purposes. I have been so frustrated this past week. It seems like people sneak up at the last minute and steal it right out from under your nose! I'm not sure if its worth the time. Maybe I'm doing something wrong??

Nope, that's called sniping. You just need to put in a maximum bid, the highest you'll pay, and keep the shipping in mind, too. Some items are more popular than others. You could always look for the "buy it now" button, then you know it's yours.