Let’s help new pin traders avoid the cheap pins

[PinCrazed]

I know this thread is going to generate quite a bit of outrage. When reading through posts of folks saying, or hinting that you should avoid "cheap" pins because it is contradictory to what pin trading is all about or you are passing off an inferior pin I can not help but bring up a few points.

1. Pin trading started off very small, with very limited pins, reasonable prices (for the most part) and a small group of people trading and buying thepins. Pins are the most successful merchandising gambit Disney has ever done and THEY made it into a huge business with literally a limitless number of pins available.

2. Disney is overcharging for the pins. Now granted they have the right tocharge whatever they want for their product, but... A pin costs less than .50 cents to manufacture in the quantity that Disney purchases, or less. In a free market society, it only stands to reason that people will seek more inexpensive alternatives. In the old days of the Magic Kingdom milk was .05 cents for kids because Walt had preached that he wanted the kids to drink healthy. (true story) So how is it reasonable for Disney to think that if on a ten day vacation, trading 10 pins a day, the average American family is expected to pay around $900.00 for the purchase of pins? Yeah right! Its not much fun to only trade 10 pins your whole vacation, once you have the pin bug, and i think anyone who has ever traded a pin can tell you that.

3. Buying pins from reputable dealers. Hmm how do you think they can sell you a pin for $2.00? Ever wonder how? Because in most cases they are buying pins from disreputable sources for less than $1.00 (Hello China) then trading for cast lanyards in the park or worse they are stolen or were stolen when they bought them. So if you think that you are not contributing to the influx of cheap pins in the parks by buying cast lanyards...you are wrong. Of course sellers offering personal collections are the exception, but do you really think an individual goes into an online business paying $8.95 for a product then selling it for $2.00? Well at least they do not do it for long. Anyone who thinks they are standing on some kind of Disney morale highground here should ask themselves that question.

4. What is pin trading all about? My kids love pins, cheap pins limited edition 50 pins, they do not care...they like Donald and Mickey and any pin that has ears. Pin trading is about finding pins you like, that suit you and putting them in your collection. Who is hurt if someone gets pins off the internet and trades them in the park. Disney is not hurting on profit (they know we will still all buy that certain pin that catches our eye at the pin trading kiosk) The more pins you have to trade the more enjoyable it is (in my opinion). Whatever is enjoyable for you in pin trading is acceptable, as long as it does not hurt someone else. And no one really gets hurt in pin trading.

Everyone wins. The only real losers here are the old guard professional pin traders who sit around downtown disney telling you how Disney has ruined the pin trading business. What that means is that the average Joe pin trader can be on the same level as the pros who make their money buying and selling pins. Ebay and the internet have evened that playing field so people of moderate incomes can trade pins in large amounts while in Disney parks.

Well that's it for me.

I am sure I am going to hear about this post.

 

[EpcotMatt2]

Welcome aboard PinCrazed.

 

[kimsuenew]

I know this thread is going to generate quite a bit of outrage. When reading through posts of folks saying, or hinting that you should avoid "cheap" pins because it is contradictory to what pin trading is all about or you are passing off an inferior pin I can not help but bring up a few points.

1. Pin trading started off very small, with very limited pins, reasonable prices (for the most part) and a small group of people trading and buying thepins. Pins are the most successful merchandising gambit Disney has ever done and THEY made it into a huge business with literally a limitless number of pins available.

2. Disney is overcharging for the pins. Now granted they have the right tocharge whatever they want for their product, but... A pin costs less than .50 cents to manufacture in the quantity that Disney purchases, or less. In a free market society, it only stands to reason that people will seek more inexpensive alternatives. In the old days of the Magic Kingdom milk was .05 cents for kids because Walt had preached that he wanted the kids to drink healthy. (true story) So how is it reasonable for Disney to think that if on a ten day vacation, trading 10 pins a day, the average American family is expected to pay around $900.00 for the purchase of pins? Yeah right! Its not much fun to only trade 10 pins your whole vacation, once you have the pin bug, and i think anyone who has ever traded a pin can tell you that.

3. Buying pins from reputable dealers. Hmm how do you think they can sell you a pin for $2.00? Ever wonder how? Because in most cases they are buying pins from disreputable sources for less than $1.00 (Hello China) then trading for cast lanyards in the park or worse they are stolen or were stolen when they bought them. So if you think that you are not contributing to the influx of cheap pins in the parks by buying cast lanyards...you are wrong. Of course sellers offering personal collections are the exception, but do you really think an individual goes into an online business paying $8.95 for a product then selling it for $2.00? Well at least they do not do it for long. Anyone who thinks they are standing on some kind of Disney morale highground here should ask themselves that question.

4. What is pin trading all about? My kids love pins, cheap pins limited edition 50 pins, they do not care...they like Donald and Mickey and any pin that has ears. Pin trading is about finding pins you like, that suit you and putting them in your collection. Who is hurt if someone gets pins off the internet and trades them in the park. Disney is not hurting on profit (they know we will still all buy that certain pin that catches our eye at the pin trading kiosk) The more pins you have to trade the more enjoyable it is (in my opinion). Whatever is enjoyable for you in pin trading is acceptable, as long as it does not hurt someone else. And no one really gets hurt in pin trading.

Everyone wins. The only real losers here are the old guard professional pin traders who sit around downtown disney telling you how Disney has ruined the pin trading business. What that means is that the average Joe pin trader can be on the same level as the pros who make their money buying and selling pins. Ebay and the internet have evened that playing field so people of moderate incomes can trade pins in large amounts while in Disney parks.

Well that's it for me.

I am sure I am going to hear about this post.

While I agree on some points, I have a problem with this statement in your post "Who is hurt if someone gets pins off the internet and trades them in the park."

Those of us that buy pins in the park to trade (me, over $200.00 for the 2007 trip alone) and also buy pins from places like Disneyshopping.com to trade (I recently bought over 80 LE Disney pins from there to trade in 2008), do not want the junk that others seem to feel it is OK to pass on.

We (my family) trade pins because we enjoy trading AND we follow the Disney trading guidelines... as should others (a guide can be downloaded on their official site)! Following rules is one of the very best things a child can be taught!

There are some valid auctions for Disney pins on Ebay, if you look carefully, scrutinize, ask oodles of questions and for additional pictures. There are some people who sell off small personal collections that they have traded for in the parks. Not all ebay auctions are bad or have bootleg, inferior, or non-Disney pins... but many do and many have "red flags" that need to be noticed.

I guess my point is... if anyone wants their kids to trade pins, or even adults want to trade pins... wonderful! Just follow the rules, and both buy, and trade, authentic pins!

Pin trading is fun! It is also VERY expensive so if you can't afford to do it correctly, then don't do it at all because it DOES punish those of us that invest a lot of time and money... we DO NOT want junk!

 

[PinCrazed]

While I agree on some points, I have a problem with this statement in your post "Who is hurt if someone gets pins off the internet and trades them in the park."

Those of us that buy pins in the park to trade (me, over $200.00 for the 2007 trip alone) and also buy pins from places like Disneyshopping.com to trade (I recently bought over 80 LE Disney pins from there to trade in 2008), do not want the junk that others seem to feel it is OK to pass on.

We (my family) trade pins because we enjoy trading AND we follow the Disney trading guidelines... as should others (a guide can be downloaded on their official site)! Following rules is one of the very best things a child can be taught!

There are some valid auctions for Disney pins on Ebay, if you look carefully, scrutinize, ask oodles of questions and for additional pictures. There are some people who sell off small personal collections that they have traded for in the parks. Not all ebay auctions are bad or have bootleg, inferior, or non-Disney pins... but many do and many have "red flags" that need to be noticed.

I guess my point is... if anyone wants their kids to trade pins, or even adults want to trade pins... wonderful! Just follow the rules, and both buy, and trade, authentic pins!

Pin trading is fun! It is also VERY expensive so if you can't afford to do it correctly, then don't do it at all because it DOES punish those of us that invest a lot of time and money... we DO NOT want junk!

I understand where you are coming from completely. My question is " What is Junk?" Would someone tell their child not to trade for a Sedesma pin off a lanyard because they thought it was junk? My oldest son loves Donald and he has gotten a lot of what I would call "junk" pins (some do not even have a Disney backstamp from CM's) ,but he loves those pins because they are special to him. He would not qualify any those pins as junk.

So what have we made of pin trading? Did not Walt Disney say himself " Disneyland was a labor of love without the first concern being how we could make money" Is it really fair to tell the majority of Disney fans if you can't afford X hundreds of dollars you can not experience pin trading? That is why Disney made the value resorts. They realized they were leaving the bread and butter of their Guest's out inthe cold because they could not afford the contemporary resort.

I do not advocate buying home manufactured pins or knock off's of any sort, but Disney has really given the average American Disney fan few options.
Ebay is the logical choice for most folks looking to trade pins. Maybe Disney should look at reducing the prices of their base line open edition pins?
(As a side note I have made over 150 purchases on ebay for pins and pin lots and NEVER had a problem. I definately agree that you have to scrutinize every auction " LET THE BUYER BEWARE is one ofthe basic economic principles in which our country was founded)

You only get hurt when someone misrepresents pins. Saying you are getting an authentic pin when really it is not. You purchased or traded a pin under a false pretense. That is completely and absolutely wrong. Yeah it sucks when you go up to a cast member and he/she has all Eurodisney pins, but fortunately their are over 55k Disney employees. Turn the corner, go into a different shop and you will find a different lanyard. Ultimately if you do not want "junk pins" you simply do not trade for them. I have never had anyone hold me down and say "trade that LE 500 for this Sedesma pin or the Mouse get's it"

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

PinCrazed -
Your first post does come across as sounding somewhat like you are advocating the purchase of counterfeit pins from eBay to trade in the parks. Sedesma pins are legal for trade, counterfeits are not.
Like Kimsuenew, we purchase pins from Disney Shopping to trade and it isn't fun (or fair) for us to come home with a lanyard full of scrappers and counterfeits because other people want to get into the hobby cheaper than it really is.
Pin trading is fun, but it rapidly becomes much LESS fun for me when the CM lanyards are full of nothing but knock-off garbage that people bought from eBay for pennies on the dollar.
I would encourage everyone to trade pins you would like to receive, not just pins you can get away with trading off.

 

[PinCrazed]

PinCrazed -
Your first post does come across as sounding somewhat like you are advocating the purchase of counterfeit pins from eBay to trade in the parks. Sedesma pins are legal for trade, counterfeits are not.
Like Kimsuenew, we purchase pins from Disney Shopping to trade and it isn't fun (or fair) for us to come home with a lanyard full of scrappers and counterfeits because other people want to get into the hobby cheaper than it really is.
Pin trading is fun, but it rapidly becomes much LESS fun for me when the CM lanyards are full of nothing but knock-off garbage that people bought from eBay for pennies on the dollar.
I would encourage everyone to trade pins you would like to receive, not just pins you can get away with trading off.

I agree 100% with what you are both saying. However, please focus on the real point of my posts: Disney has made pin trading so expensive that the average person has to buy "cheap" pins from ebay. This fuels an entire sub-industry of Disney pins from internet merchants if they wish to pin trade. (that is the morale of my post, I do not advocate anything, but bring to light the reasons why and some of the hypocracy of those who say "I buy cast lanyards offline so I am a more morally sound pin trader than those who buy scrapper, knock-off, manufactured, Eurodisney or whatever kind of pin.)

People keep defending a broken system. I do not believe Disney really cares as long as they keep making money. Just like so many other hobbies and collectibles, pin trading has become a business whether we like it or not. All the rest of us are now stuck in the middle trying to keep things fun.

I can not agree with you enough about that feeling when you see all the Eurodisney pins on a lanyard that you have no desire to trade for. Once again, you do not take home a bunch of those pins unless YOU trade for them. There are too many CM's with lanyards for that to truly be a reality every single time you approach a CM to trade. I think everyone is smart enough to say I'm not going to spend $12.95 on a LE 1000 pin then trade it for a hidden mickey pin. The brand new pin trader makes these kinds of mistakes, but fortunately they have access to forums such as these as well as nice trading people in the park to steer them clear. If anyone does exclusively trade LE's for hidden mickeys and cast lanyards, please let me know. I would like to trade with you.

 

[astrodrummergirl]

Can I just ask what you mean by Eurodisney pins. I hope you mean the pins from the earlier years before pin trading started. Since when pin trading began many of the pins that you can buy at Disneyland Resort Paris are extremely good. They all carry the (c) Disney and so what that they say Disneyland Resort Paris on the back. I've now noticed that newer pins now have the Official Pin Trading logo and the year just like any american pin.

Sorry, thought someone should defend the nice DLRP pins just in case they were thought of like the cheap nasty eurodisney ones.

And although that previous statement may sound contradictory, its not, as many of the older pins from Paris are bit cheap and of lesser quality. I must say I do have some of these and although they are not great pins, I love them, but I do also love all things DLRP. When EuroDisney changed name to Disneyland Resort Paris, quality just got better, including the pins released since the beginning of PT and the pins to come for many years.

 

[tnmomof4]

I think everyone is smart enough to say I'm not going to spend $12.95 on a LE 1000 pin then trade it for a hidden mickey pin. The brand new pin trader makes these kinds of mistakes, but fortunately they have access to forums such as these as well as nice trading people in the park to steer them clear. If anyone does exclusively trade LE's for hidden mickeys and cast lanyards, please let me know. I would like to trade with you.

I guess I am just not smart enough. I feel pretty stupid. I guess I have been making these kind of mistakes without even knowing it. I have bought my kids pins at Disney for years and then let them trade with CMs. I have never bought pins on E-bay because I just always figured that if I am spending $8-$10 on a pin at Disney then these pins on E-bay must be fake if they can sell them for $2. I thought the same about buying them from a couple of different websites too. Like the one right now that is selling them for $1.75. I just figured that these pins must be bad in some way for them to be sold for so cheap.

I only found out about the Dis board last year, and even then I didn't know there was information about pins on here. I do remember last year about the time I was planning my trip to Disney, and I was reading a thread about pin trading. Most the people said that they buy these cheap pins on purpose and then trade up. Lots of them said they knew these pins were not as good as the pins bought at Disney, but they saved money by buying cheap pins. Their point was that they knew they were buying cheap, bad pins knowing they would be trading for better pins.

I actually just read a thread about pin trading a couple days ago, and this was the attitude of a lot of people. They get cheap pins to trade knowing they will get better pins and they don't care about
the fact that some other person might get their bad pin.

I didn't feel right about doing this, so I didn't. I read the trading guidelines and have always followed them. Now I feel like this is what most people do. I know that pins are expensive, but it is something my kids like to do. I just looked at their collections. My one son has 91 pins and the other one has 85. Some of them don't have anything on the back. Some look like Sedesma pins. Some of them are not that good quality, now that I have taken a good look at them.

I feel like they got ripped off, but I feel like it is my fault because I didn't look out for the bad pins. The CMs that got these bad pins obviously didn't care because they had them on their lanyards to trade, and didn't stop us. I guess they want to get rid of them too. I just didn't realize that they allowed people to trade them bad pins. I didn't think I had to worry about getting scrappers or pins of bad quality. I feel dumb because I thought that those guidelines about trading pins were kept.

When we go in November I will supervise every trade they make. If my kids want to trade a pin that I look at and determine is junk, I will tell them that it is junk. I feel like if they save their money for over a year just to trade pins, that I as their mom should tell them if a pin is junk. I at least want these trades to be even. I know now that there will be junk pins out there. At least now I will keep a watch out when my kids trade pins. Especially since they are so diligent about saving money just for pins.

I also have a question. What is so bad about Hidden Mickey pins? My kids saved their money for a year before we went to Disney. They had a lot of money. My DS 10 spent $500 last year on pins. I know that is a lot, but he saved and saved. He did extra chores. He saved birthday money and money relatives gave him for Christmas. He didn't spend any money the whole year. He just saved. This is the thing though.... he traded every one of those pins he bought for Hidden Mickey pins. He has 50 Hidden Mickey pins. That means that if the average cost of a pin is $10, he bought 50 nice, Disney pins to get those 50 Hidden Mickey pins. Are these Hidden Mickey pins fake, or bad in some way?

 

[astrodrummergirl]

Hidden Mickey pins are not bad, they're good. Hidden mickey pins are mainly CM only pins of which are only available when you trade it with a CM. There are some open release hidden mickeys which although are not bad, are easier to get. I think it was the case that it would be a bit silly to trade a Limited Edition pin for a hidden mickey pin as it is of less value.

I pretty sure if this is wrong, someone else will correct me.

I will also point out, that even if "junk" got on a lanyard, it wouldn't be there for long as the people in charge of distibuting the lanyards to the CMs in the costuming department will most likely trade them out with official pins since disney probably have the largest trading collection for all, enough to allow thousands of cast members to trade every day because where do you think those Cast Member only pins come from?

I'm also going to add that in the UK it is actually pretty difficult to find good quality pins for trading as the disney store here no longer sells pins and the main ways I can get pins is to buy off ebay, pay horendous shipping charges from disneyshopping or wait until a friend visits Disneyland and is happy to get some for me. I must admit, I have received some junk through ebay, and I won't buy ones like that anymore. I was lucky that a bunch of 46 came on to ebay from the UK and was inexpensive, it might be a while longer until that happens again.

 

[GrillMouster]

It's certainly true that there are a lot of sellers on ebay and other sites that deal in counterfeit or scrapper pins. However, there are some sellers that sell legitimate Disney pins for around $2. How do they to this? Where do they get their pins? I vaguely remember reading somewhere that they may be buying leftover pins wholesale from Disney. I wonder if some of these people buy the counterfeit pins from China, then trade them at the parks for legitimate pins, which they sell online.

 

[PinCrazed]

I guess I am just not smart enough. I feel pretty stupid. I guess I have been making these kind of mistakes without even knowing it. I have bought my kids pins at Disney for years and then let them trade with CMs. I have never bought pins on E-bay because I just always figured that if I am spending $8-$10 on a pin at Disney then these pins on E-bay must be fake if they can sell them for $2. I thought the same about buying them from a couple of different websites too. Like the one right now that is selling them for $1.75. I just figured that these pins must be bad in some way for them to be sold for so cheap.

I only found out about the Dis board last year, and even then I didn't know there was information about pins on here. I do remember last year about the time I was planning my trip to Disney, and I was reading a thread about pin trading. Most the people said that they buy these cheap pins on purpose and then trade up. Lots of them said they knew these pins were not as good as the pins bought at Disney, but they saved money by buying cheap pins. Their point was that they knew they were buying cheap, bad pins knowing they would be trading for better pins.

I actually just read a thread about pin trading a couple days ago, and this was the attitude of a lot of people. They get cheap pins to trade knowing they will get better pins and they don't care about
the fact that some other person might get their bad pin.

I didn't feel right about doing this, so I didn't. I read the trading guidelines and have always followed them. Now I feel like this is what most people do. I know that pins are expensive, but it is something my kids like to do. I just looked at their collections. My one son has 91 pins and the other one has 85. Some of them don't have anything on the back. Some look like Sedesma pins. Some of them are not that good quality, now that I have taken a good look at them.

I feel like they got ripped off, but I feel like it is my fault because I didn't look out for the bad pins. The CMs that got these bad pins obviously didn't care because they had them on their lanyards to trade, and didn't stop us. I guess they want to get rid of them too. I just didn't realize that they allowed people to trade them bad pins. I didn't think I had to worry about getting scrappers or pins of bad quality. I feel dumb because I thought that those guidelines about trading pins were kept.

When we go in November I will supervise every trade they make. If my kids want to trade a pin that I look at and determine is junk, I will tell them that it is junk. I feel like if they save their money for over a year just to trade pins, that I as their mom should tell them if a pin is junk. I at least want these trades to be even. I know now that there will be junk pins out there. At least now I will keep a watch out when my kids trade pins. Especially since they are so diligent about saving money just for pins.

I also have a question. What is so bad about Hidden Mickey pins? My kids saved their money for a year before we went to Disney. They had a lot of money. My DS 10 spent $500 last year on pins. I know that is a lot, but he saved and saved. He did extra chores. He saved birthday money and money relatives gave him for Christmas. He didn't spend any money the whole year. He just saved. This is the thing though.... he traded every one of those pins he bought for Hidden Mickey pins. He has 50 Hidden Mickey pins. That means that if the average cost of a pin is $10, he bought 50 nice, Disney pins to get those 50 Hidden Mickey pins. Are these Hidden Mickey pins fake, or bad in some way?

I like the Hidden mickey pins and the cast lanyards. As a matter of fact I am desperately trying to complete a set of each. But I just do not think the value of the HM's or CL's pins are worth a LE pin which would cost around $10+. I think you would probably follow some of the other folks advice about buying discount pins from the Disney store online rather than spend $10 a pin to trade for the cast pins. Sometimes you will see a brand new CM or HM pin go for a crazy price on ebay, but they never seem to maintain the same value. (Darn supply and demand)
I am not sure, but it always seems to me that the CM's do not know about pins. A few do and will say oh that's a good pin go for that one, but most of the time they just look at the back of your pin and say thank you. Occasionally you get someone who is very knowledgeable (probably collects themselves) and will give you great advice. Maybe it's just me, but I have always had better luck, knowledge wise, with Downtown Disney and Epcot CM's.

 

[PinCrazed]

Can I just ask what you mean by Eurodisney pins. I hope you mean the pins from the earlier years before pin trading started. Since when pin trading began many of the pins that you can buy at Disneyland Resort Paris are extremely good. They all carry the (c) Disney and so what that they say Disneyland Resort Paris on the back. I've now noticed that newer pins now have the Official Pin Trading logo and the year just like any american pin.

Sorry, thought someone should defend the nice DLRP pins just in case they were thought of like the cheap nasty eurodisney ones.

And although that previous statement may sound contradictory, its not, as many of the older pins from Paris are bit cheap and of lesser quality. I must say I do have some of these and although they are not great pins, I love them, but I do also love all things DLRP. When EuroDisney changed name to Disneyland Resort Paris, quality just got better, including the pins released since the beginning of PT and the pins to come for many years.

Disneyland resort pins from Paris are really nice, however when most people refer to Eurodisney pins they are talking about the ones you buy in bulk from Ebay. There is a guy from Jerusalem who sells Eurodisney pins (look at them on ebay and you will know what I'm talking about) by the 100's. I actually bought 50 from him several years ago, when we were new to trading, and quickly realized that they were really not up to par.

You really have to see them to know what I am talking about. Do a search on ebay for "pin lots 300". I can not remember his name, but I always see his posts. If you are looking for DLP pins that is definately not the way to go.

 

[PinCrazed]

It's certainly true that there are a lot of sellers on ebay and other sites that deal in counterfeit or scrapper pins. However, there are some sellers that sell legitimate Disney pins for around $2. How do they to this? Where do they get their pins? I vaguely remember reading somewhere that they may be buying leftover pins wholesale from Disney. I wonder if some of these people buy the counterfeit pins from China, then trade them at the parks for legitimate pins, which they sell online.

Lots of ways. First you have your legitimate folks who are just trying to get rid of their collection, or sell of some extras. Those are the best people to buy from, in my opinion.

Second, people buy pins from china or other manufacturers. They buy 1000 pins, trade them for CL or HM pins and then sell them. They also sell the pins directly to you in lots as well. The chinese manufacturers are supposed to break the molds, but I do not think they do or they run off an extra couple of thousand extra pins. Most of your "pin sharks" (Some of those professional pin traders that sit in front of the pin trading station in downtown Disney specialize in doing stuff like this.)

Third, buying excess inventory? I would like to know where, Disney does not advertise this. I have seen pins as low as a dollar in the disney outlet store in Orlando, but that was years ago. They usually sell for $2.99. If anyone knows how to get Disney excess inventory pins from Disney please share.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

The pitfall of Hidden Mickey pins is this:

The counterfeits are largely Hidden Mickey pins. Because Disney does not SELL the Hidden Mickey pins they are not very aggressive in pursuing the counterfeiters. Disney doesn't lose money on Hidden Mickey pins. They lose money on bootleg DVDs, and that is where they concentrate their efforts.

The pitfall of trading for Hidden Mickeys is that they may very well be fake, and unless you bring your laptop to the parks and check each pin against PinPics at the time of the trade you won't know it is fake until you get home. Cast members aren't necessarily pin traders themselves, so they may not know (or care) if pins are fakes. Trader A comes up and trades a fake pin to a cast member, and then Trader B comes along and chooses the fake pin from the cast member's lanyard. Trader B is stuck with a fake pin. Trader B will either take it home or trade it back off, which leaves Trader C to come along and choose it. It is a vicious circle, but it isn't something we should endorse! I don't want fake pins! I don't want to trade them and I don't want to add them to my collection!

I am absolutely certain many of the pins on eBay are scrappers, counterfeits, or stolen. I have purchased from multiple sellers and I know this to be the case in pins I have received. There are too many Hidden Mickeys, too many different designs (new releases - not old discontinued pins), too many sellers who live WAAAAYY far away from the parks yet they have an endless supply of pins. There might be people buying fakes and trading them off for legitimate pins, but then the sellers who say "I traded for these pins in the parks" are likely selling fakes that they pulled from cast member lanyards!

 

[kimsuenew]

I just want to weigh in on the LE pins. Before Christmas I bought over 80 LE (all LE 1,000) pins from Disneyshopping online.

I paid a smidge under $2.50 each, as they were discounted, and then I added the stackable codes for an extra % off and free shipping.

These LE Disney pins are awesome! Someone will be thrilled to get a brand new LE Disney pin from the CM we trade with I am sure!

I will be trading ALL of these pins (well we will be) during our 2008 trip, for whatever pin catches my/our attention... it doesn't matter if it is a CE, HM, or plain Disney pin (if it is catchy AND authentic), so some people trade to trade, not because of value.

I tend to trade for Tink and Lilo/Stitch the most, as they are my personal favorites, whereas our son likes Jack Skellington/NBC and Pirate themed pins.

These 80+pins were ONLY bought for this purpose, to trade!

I know others on here did the same (we posted our bargains, it began as a Croc deal thread with other goodies thrown in )... so yes, some people do trade LE or special pins, without hesitation!

Disneyshopping online does have clearanced pins at times and it is worth peeking there at least one time weekly I think to check. If you can get brand new pins, on their cards, arriving bubble wrapped and ready to pack for $2.00 - $3.00 each... you can't go wrong! Don't count it out as a potential place to get great deals... at least you are certain theirs are tradeable and authentic!

 

[PinCrazed]

I just want to weigh in on the LE pins. Before Christmas I bought over 80 LE (all LE 1,000) pins from Disneyshopping online.

I paid a smidge under $2.50 each, as they were discounted, and then I added the stackable codes for an extra % off and free shipping.

These LE Disney pins are awesome! Someone will be thrilled to get a brand new LE Disney pin from the CM we trade with I am sure!

I will be trading ALL of these pins (well we will be) during our 2008 trip, for whatever pin catches my/our attention... it doesn't matter if it is a CE, HM, or plain Disney pin (if it is catchy AND authentic), so some people trade to trade, not because of value.

I tend to trade for Tink and Lilo/Stitch the most, as they are my personal favorites, whereas our son likes Jack Skellington/NBC and Pirate themed pins.

These 80+pins were ONLY bought for this purpose, to trade!

I know others on here did the same (we posted our bargains, it began as a Croc deal thread with other goodies thrown in )... so yes, some people do trade LE or special pins, without hesitation!

Disneyshopping online does have clearanced pins at times and it is worth peeking there at least one time weekly I think to check. If you can get brand new pins, on their cards, arriving bubble wrapped and ready to pack for $2.00 - $3.00 each... you can't go wrong! Don't count it out as a potential place to get great deals... at least you are certain theirs are tradeable and authentic!

They also offer FREE SHIPPING on pins on Mondays. This cuts down on your expense tremendously. One thing I have noticed about Disney online pin shopping for the discounted pins is that you have to order early. Alot of the smaller edition LE pins (250 or less) are gone by late afternoon. Not always, but most of the time.

If you are not a member of Disney Online Shopping sign up today and sign up to get special offers. They will often give discount coupon codes which can further reduce your cost.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I just read in another thread that Disney Store has 25% off pins right now, and if you have a 15% coupon you can use that, too!

 

[PinCrazed]

If you like the jumbo pins, they have a lot for lest than $10 before any additional coupons.

 

[tnmomof4]

Thanks for all the info and advice. Thanks for helping a new pin trader like me. I just feel that if my kids are investing so much money in this that I need to know everything I can. Thanks for answering my questions and explaining things to me. You all have been great!!

I feel like I know a lot more now. I guess there is no way to stop others from trading fake pins or bad pins, but I feel that after all of the advice and tips given here I can help my kids make better trades.

I am pretty sure that at least a couple of the bad pins my kids have were traded at DTD in front of the big pin store. A couple of them were saying that if you bought one of those tins of pins that he would trade you five pins for those four. It sounded like a good deal. I'll just have to watch that too.

I checked my DS Hidden Mickey pins and they all have some kind of stamp on the back and they will say 3 of 4 or 2 of 6 etc....

Does this mean they are real?

So as long as a pin has some kind of stamp or Disney copyright on the back then the pin is ok.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Thanks for all the info and advice. Thanks for helping a new pin trader like me. I just feel that if my kids are investing so much money in this that I need to know everything I can. Thanks for answering my questions and explaining things to me. You all have been great!!

I feel like I know a lot more now. I guess there is no way to stop others from trading fake pins or bad pins, but I feel that after all of the advice and tips given here I can help my kids make better trades.

I am pretty sure that at least a couple of the bad pins my kids have were traded at DTD in front of the big pin store. A couple of them were saying that if you bought one of those tins of pins that he would trade you five pins for those four. It sounded like a good deal. I'll just have to watch that too.

I checked my DS Hidden Mickey pins and they all have some kind of stamp on the back and they will say 3 of 4 or 2 of 6 etc....

Does this mean they are real?

So as long as a pin has some kind of stamp or Disney copyright on the back then the pin is ok.

I don't let my DS trade with the "pros" at DTD because some of them are simply not very nice people. They are notorious for telling you to go in the store and BUY pins, then they will allow you to trade with them for stuff out of their books. Eh, not my cup of tea. Some of those tins have LE pins in them. I bought some pirate ones last summer, and some ornament ones at Christmas. If your child innocently gave them an LE 200 pin from a tin and took a "rack" (common, open edition) pin in trade then of course the pro came out WAAAYY ahead in that deal.

The back stamps are tricky. ALL pins will tend to have a back stamp, so the stamp in and of itself means nothing. It is the information you are looking at. The year, the font, the wording etc. Counterfeit pins are exactly like anything else counterfeit - they are made to fool the casual observer. Like counterfeit money or purses you almost have to have an authentic one to compare side by side before you can see the difference.

On Dizpins there is a forum called "comparisons" where people post a fake and a real pin side by side and point out the differences. Subtle color differences, thicker or thinner lines, images that aren't quite as "sharp", etc. Again, if you are only looking at a fake it would be very hard to tell. We have several of the same Chip & Dale pin where it says D SNEY on the back. We have others that are numbered wrong, like it says 4 of 4 and it should actually be 2 of 4. We have a purple monorail like that.

This is where you kind of have to decide HOW important it is to keep your collection "pure". If you (or your kids) have a pin that finishes a set and it looks fine to you, then don't worry about it being counterfeit. You can't do anything about the counterfeit one anyway. You can always keep your eyes open for another one and hope that it might be real, but like with our Chip & Dale pin we have 4 or 5 and they are ALL fake. We have a baggie labeled "scrappers" and we just toss them in there. I keep saying I am going to take them to Guest Relations one day, but I haven't yet.