Ebay pins- Are they HOT?

[iheartdisney]

I have a serious inquiry, I do am not accusing anyone.However, I do not want to inadventently support criminals... I've been looking on ebay to build up to trade, and I was wondering how the pins I saw at the park yesterday, are at a discount price on Ebay? Are they hot (stolen) off a truck, or what is the deal? I don't know how a seller can list a pin for less than $5.00 if its not?
Just wondering...

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

I have a serious inquiry, I do am not accusing anyone.However, I do not want to inadventently support criminals... I've been looking on ebay to build up to trade, and I was wondering how the pins I saw at the park yesterday, are at a discount price on Ebay? Are they hot (stolen) off a truck, or what is the deal? I don't know how a seller can list a pin for less than $5.00 if its not?
Just wondering...

I have often thought that but then someone explained to me some are "hot" but others charge so much for S&H they actually profit.

 

[NHMickey]

It seems like a lot of work but people wil trade a pin that they paid few bucks for for one off a lanyard and turn around and sell it for twice what they paid for the trader... Also if they are like me you just sell off the pins that don't trade to well for what ever you can get to recoup some of your cost.

Another way they do it is simple. You trade one pin for 2 or 3 pins. Then you sell the traded pins for less money than you paid for the 1 pin you traded (just below cost) and add for shipping you will come out ahead. If they sell... Do a search for Disney Pin on ebay... Then check the completed auctions. Not very many pins sell...

I don't believe the market is full of "Hot Pins". It would be a hugh risk to the person selling them if they ever got caught... And trust me Disney does watch the auction sites.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

There are also pins known as "scrappers." These are mistakes...pins with little errors on them, or extra pins that were created over the amount of their edition run...for example, a certain pin was only supposed to have a run of 1,000 pins, but 1,100 were created. The Chinese factories that make them are contractually obligated by Disney to destroy those pins, but sometimes they'll wind up in the secondary market (like ebay) at discount prices. While they're not exactly hot, and they were manufactured legally, they really aren't supposed to be sold, so most traders won't accept them.

*Brian*

TheBlackPearl on PinPics and DizPins

 

[figment_jii]

They might also might be cast members selling pins at less than list price, but more than their discounted price.

 

[tiggr33]

I have to agree with Nat. I see alot of quick turn arounds by some that have regular park access. Another thought, some of us have so many excess that we just sell to get rid of it. I regularly buy whole collections and then sell off what I do not want to keep. I make money on certain pieces and the rest I just want to get rid off. I also have bartered for pins, as I have been paid for a consulting job in pins (long long story - but I was consulting on collectibles including Disney pins), I dumped them out and again scoured for value (trade or selling) and the rest go to the get rid of pile. Additionally some sellers start their auctions lower then retail to try and get noticed. Anyway, just my thoughts on the subject.

 

[Melora]

We sell pins on ebay (100% positive for almost 4000 feedbacks). I have a huge stock in our store right now. I buy pins in large lots from people who are getting out of trading and will not spend more than $2 each pin so I do not have much into the pin when I put it up. In the mix I get common lower value pins but often get very expensive pins that I can put up on auction and sometimes get over $50 (best case scenario). I start all my auction pins at .99 (lower insertion cost) and hope that they bid up. I spend enough time researching etc that I hopefully will not put up a pin that goes for opening bid.

I have inexpensive pins in my store for less than what they cost new because I did not pay very much for them in the first place. We all know as soon as you buy MOST stuff it is not worth what you spent on it to resell it. So pins that went for $6-12 in the parks are the ones I pick up from private people for about $2 each.

There are places that sell bulk DIsney pins (THOUSANDS at a time) for about $1.25 each but you have to know where to go and be willing to buy in bulk. That is where most of the "grab bag" sellers on ebay are getting their pins which contain a high amount of lanyard pins. I have occaiosnally purchased these lots and they contain very nice pins that I most often resell but keep some and trade some. I got a recent lot where I did find some "scrappers" and alerted the seller who upset that his source had sold him some. Most "scrapper" pins are character pins and will say "Disney Store" on the back (which is generally a mark of a pin purchased at a Disney Store in Japan) when you know that the pin is a common rack pin and should read Made in China.