ebay pin questions?

[frank2271]

Hello all,

I was on ebay last week looking for some cheap pins for my eleven year old son to use for trading on our next trip. My question for you guys is, where do these people get SO many pins SO cheap? There is one seller selling lots of 50 and 100 pins. The same pins too, they have ten POtC Mickey and friends pins. They are selling lots of these pins. It baffles my mind how they can sell them for $1.50 a pin and make money.

Where do they get these???

Thanks,

Frank

Ps, Merry Christmas to all

 

[RRB]

one possible answer is they have been collecting for many years and are now getting rid of some or all of their collection. Another may be that they buy in much greater quantity and sell in lesser quantity. There is also a possibility that some of the pins are not Disney pins.

I myself was very active from 2000 to late 2003 and probably have 2,500 pins in my collection. I haven't traded, bought or sold in many years. I'm not sure what i want to do with my pins but the thought of selling them in groups is more attractive than selling them one by one. Could you imagine putting together 2,500 eBay auctions only to find that 50% didn't sell the first time?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

The lots that are the same pins over and over again are counterfeits. Nobody collects the same 20 pins over and over to make hundreds of identical lots that are auctioned week after week.

On the DizPins board someone posted a spam e-mail she got awhile back offering lots from 100 to 1000 pins for pennies apiece, direct from China. People buy hundreds of duplicates, sort them into multiple identical lots, and sell them for profit. And their feedback is good because people have no clue. The buyers pay for pins, they receive pins, they post positive feedback. And if they learn later on that the pins are fakes it is too late to alter the feedback.

 

[nyyankeegirl]

That's so scarey. I usually just buy the pins on ebay for my kids (although I have a secret stash!) but I'm just saying that I might not be able to tell that they are knock offs. Do these fake ones still show the Disney logo on the back?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

That's so scarey. I usually just buy the pins on ebay for my kids (although I have a secret stash!) but I'm just saying that I might not be able to tell that they are knock offs. Do these fake ones still show the Disney logo on the back?

Yep.
The most common counterfeits are the Hidden Mickey pins. The font on the back will be different on the fake ones, and the numbering may be off. For example, on the real pin it may have the words "Hidden Mickey" directly under the post, then the copyright and year under that, then "1 of 4". A fake one will have a little bit larger font and the info may be arranged differently, and the number might say "3 of 4". Unless you know for sure what the back stamp SHOULD be it would be very difficult to know if the pin is fake. That's why the fakes are so popular. The point is to make a pin that is so close to the real thing that they can easily "pass" as authentic.

We had some fakes at one point that said "D sney" on the back. Others are "scrappers" which have manufacturing flaws. A real pin might have an open area between the character's arm and body, a scrapper would have metal filling that area. A real pin would have black paint on the character's nose where a fake or scrapper would have a silver nose. Other fakes have slight color variations that are only really apparent when you put the pin beside a real one.

It's absolutely maddening. It takes a lot of fun out of trading when you have to worry that every pin you trade for may be some penny knock off that somebody bought from eBay.

 

[2goofycampers]

So theses people with all the fake pins are they hurting or helping the value of the real pins?

 

[frank2271]

Will my son have trouble trading these pins "if" they are found to be fakes? Will a cast member actually turn him down? That would be aweful. I haven't left feedback yet and won't till after our January trip.

Frank

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Will my son have trouble trading these pins "if" they are found to be fakes? Will a cast member actually turn him down? That would be aweful. I haven't left feedback yet and won't till after our January trip.

Frank

Judging from some of the pins I have seen on lanyards, I don't think the CMs really care.

We have seen broken pins, pins that look like they have been dragged across the concrete, pins with big chunks of paint missing, you get the idea.

It is partly up to the integrity of the guests NOT to trade trash. The CMs try to be nice and accommodate everyone. Getting into a confrontation over a pin isn't very "Disneyish".

For serious collectors it is hard to keep your collection "pure" with so many fakes in the parks. And if you ever want to trade with a collector as opposed to a CM you can NOT trade counterfeits. It could also be problematic if you ever want to sell your collection.

 

[frank2271]

I understand completely what you are saying. If I were the one collecting I would be a lot more careful, but since it's my eleven year old son doing the trading, he don't care if it's counterfeit or not. He just loves Chip and Dale pins and wants as many of them as possible.