Parents of Children Pin Traders Beware

[TinkerbellMama]

I hope my son NEVER develops an interest in pin trading! What a nightmare that would be for me, personally, because just reading the rules gives me a headache!

Sorry your kids were taken advantage of. That really stinks!

 

[Robo]

Good point - I guess the motto "buyer beware" exists in WDW

What's a motto?

 

[meandtheguys2]

Kids need to be supervised, because there are creeps out there. A child might like the pretty Mexican pin for the same five minutes he liked the pretty grumpy pin he traded for it. There is an assumption by most innocent children that what they trade for is tradeable, when they tire of it.

OP, I'm sorry you child was scammed. It does leave a bad taste, doesn't it? But a good CM is worth their weight in GOLD!

 

[JFrey4240]

My DD loves to pin trade in the parks. We've told her she can only trade with CM---didn't realize you could trade with other guests. She's gotten a few not so great pins for her trades but doesn't seem to care because she only trades for what she likes. I would have been upset to get something that you can't even trade with a CM later on that day. Hopefully this sort of thing doesn't happen very often.

 

[canwegosoon]

That was taken from the CM to Guest Trading section which I clearly stated. This is ALSO from laughingplace.com

Guest to Guest - Trades between Guests only have one hard and fast rule - no monies are to change hands during the trad.- Guests asking for money or those accepting payment can be asked to leave the park or trading location. Beyond that - anything goes and any pin is tradable. While trades with Cast members are one for one, trades between Guests have no limits

Please understand that I am not supporting what the other kids did, and I am not trying to be rude, I just think the OP was over reacting. It is not a big deal and certainly not a huge scam...

A- I am not overreacting(and yes you are being rude)...I am informing other parents of children that like to trade there is a scam out there...and it is a money making scam. If this had been an honest child trading child with GOOD intent, then I would have not confronted the father. The father's response was the nail on to coffin that this was a bonafide scam. "oh I didn't know, the boy didn't realize, etc would have indicated a response that the kids just like to trade"...Stating "My boys will not trade their pins back"...is the intent to scam..they are preying on children and using children to do it.

B-If this doesnt affect you...why tell me I am over reacting and that it is not a big deal?(sounds like you like being a ) My kids have over $100 in pins around their necks at any given time(Yes I also do lock them, but leave 2-3 unlocked for trading)...if someone came along and tried to offer you 10 cents on the dollar for any item you had (jewlery, car, etc) you would not take it(unless you had a financial motive to take it). The difference is these are children(they should not be preyed on) and cannot make financial decisions on their own. Hence the new rule...no trading with anyone but CM's(who have no vested intrest in their pins either)

To everyone else out there...We really enjoy pin trading, and my kids love it. I hope you all love it too, just a heads up!!!

 

[mrsltg]

I am so sorry to the OP. This is why we don't let DD trade. We'll buy her whichever pins she wants (within reason) and she can keep them as a collection. I've heard quite a few stories like this and even adults try to take advantage of kids - PATHETIC.

Sorry to all of the parents whose children have been scammed. What a crummy thing to do.

 

[Cruisin]

Just a quick question?

Where do you get the locking backs for your pins?

I've not ever heard of those.

 

[KimWDW]

I bet what's happening is that the father is making money off of it. He probably got 1000 of those Mexico pins for a dollar somewhere and he gets his kid to trade with kids that don't know any better. Then he sells the Disney pins on eBay.

 

[canwegosoon]

Just a quick question?

Where do you get the locking backs for your pins?

I've not ever heard of those.

They sell them at most of the pin stores. I think I have gotten 1-2 bags, and lock on pins that my kids are working on. (example I have one son that is just missing Mrs. Incredible...he has all the other cut outs) I think a bag of locks is $9 ish...but it was 2 years ago and might have been less(I can remember)

 

[blessedby3]

Thanks for the heads up. DD8 just got into this on our trip a few weeks ago and I would have never thought of this happening. She only traded with CM's while we were there and I guess that will be our rule from now on. Sorry your kids were scammed like this. Sounds like it is happening a lot from the other posts agreeing with yours.

 

[canwegosoon]

I bet what's happening is that the father is making money off of it. He probably got 1000 of those Mexico pins for a dollar somewhere and he gets his kid to trade with kids that don't know any better. Then he sells the Disney pins on eBay.

here is a pic of one of the pins traded being sold now for over $8.00 on ebay plus 2.50 in shipping...now I do not think most ebay supplies get their supply this way, but it is an example of the value of pins and how people are being scammed.

 

[canwegosoon]

OK...so what do you know...I just did some ebay investagating...and LOW and BEHOLD her are my sons two pins(amonst 4 pages of pins, so I guess the 1,000 pins was about right)
The first was an unusual Castaway Cay pin and the second was a Mickey Mug(posted previously)....these are being sold by the same seller who has tons of Castmember pins etc...do I know for 100% that this is the father(or the father supplies this guy...no), but very questionable that these 2 pins show up in his inventory at the same time this week.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Disney-Mickey-M...ryZ38014QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Oh yeah...he lives in Tampa FL too

 

[princesspwrhr]

What's a motto?

"Nothing. What's a motto with you?"


My oldest has been trading pins since she was a month shy of 4. She's ONLY ever been allowed to trade with CMs and we have met some of the nicest people that way and had wonderful conversations. We love pin trading, and if I were to put a value on the metal around her neck, I would faint, especially since she's 1 pin away from an 8 pin set that's discontinued and she's been working on aquiring for 4ish years!

In 4 years she has traded with another child twice. Once when she was 5, and the other mom was also present and was clearly not happy but the daughter demanded and even when I said my daughter isn't generally allowed to trade with kids and Iwoudl only allow it if the mom said yes. The mom gave in to the daughter. Ends up it was a cast lanyard pin the daughter insisted on giving away and refused to give away another. Mom should set some limits with her daughter and no means no. The other experiance was at 8 in line for Soarin. We ended up talking to this wonderful family in line behind us and their daughter was the same age as mine. The girls were going on and on about their pins and they both asked us if they could trade. Both of us moms had locked the 'non trades' and both moms agreed to the trade.

We did twice on our Dec trip have a child approach my oldest and ask to trade. She responded with 'I'm only allowed to trade with CMs'. Once the child just left, another time the child said something like 'just this once?' so dd begged, I said no and the child left. I don't think it was the same child, it was different parks on different days, but who knows, and I certainly wasn't thinking she'd be 'scammed', we just stuck to our own family rules. Now that's not to say every trade with a CM has been for a 'good' pin. Twice she's gotten those cheap knock off but have Disney marking pins - what are they? the brand starts with an S or a P......anyways they look plastic - but she got them off cast lanyards because they were of a charcter she wanted and didn't have. When she got them and decided they weren't good she got rid of them. lol infact her words were something like 'Mom, these look like they'll just break off!' In general dd picks a theme for her trading each trip while still trying to round out her set, but often she uses pin trading as an excuse to talk to the CMs and trades don't stay on her lanyard for long before they're traded again.

 

[kribit]

OK...so what do you know...I just did some ebay investagating...and LOW and BEHOLD her are my sons two pins(amonst 4 pages of pins, so I guess the 1,000 pins was about right)
The first was an unusual Castaway Cay pin and the second was a Mickey Mug(posted previously)....these are being sold by the same seller who has tons of Castmember pins etc...do I know for 100% that this is the father(or the father supplies this guy...no), but very questionable that these 2 pins show up in his inventory at the same time this week.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Disney-Mickey-Mi...QQcmdZViewItem
Oh yeah...he lives in Tampa FL too

My dh thinks I'm a conspiracy theorist so the first thing I did when you posted a picture of the pin was search Ebay. I have to say that I probably won't buy cm pins on ebay now. There is always a bad seed in the bunch!

I do really sincerely hope this father isn't setting his children up with a life of crime. Sadly, you can never be too sure who sells what on Ebay, but I think that's really sad if in fact those are your little boys pins. My heart aches for children of parents like that.

 

[canwegosoon]

My dh thinks I'm a conspiracy theorist so the first thing I did when you posted a picture of the pin was search Ebay. I have to say that I probably won't buy cm pins on ebay now. There is always a bad seed in the bunch!

I do really sincerely hope this father isn't setting his children up with a life of crime. Sadly, you can never be too sure who sells what on Ebay, but I think that's really sad if in fact those are your little boys pins. My heart aches for children of parents like that.

It wasn't the CM pin that did it for me, it was this one http://www.pinpics.com/cgi-bin/pin.cgi?pin=48154&sid=8848.1167920040, it was an unusual pin, and looked it up on Pin Pics I had never seen it before...and here it is in this guys inventory...an no one elses BTW.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

I don't know why this thread is generating so much controversy. It is obvious that this father is running a scam with his kid(s) - the "good" Disney pins on one side of the lanyard and the cheap-o pins on the other side? Give me a break. The father probably has an annual pass for himself and the kid, sets his kid(s) to work scamming other little kids and then hawks the fruits of their labor on ebay. Quite a profitable little business he has going. How sad.

 

[momocay]

No doubt this is a terrible scam. It is disgusting how people target children for these things. Thank you for the post. We are leaving in two weeks for our first trip. My dd wants to trade and I will also follow a CM's only policy.

 

[Ileana]

I don't know why this thread is generating so much controversy. It is obvious that this father is running a scam with his kid(s) - the "good" Disney pins on one side of the lanyard and the cheap-o pins on the other side? Give me a break. The father probably has an annual pass for himself and the kid, sets his kid(s) to work scamming other little kids and then hawks the fruits of their labor on ebay. Quite a profitable little business he has going. How sad.

Very sad. There's always someone out there trying to ruin a good thing.

 

[lovethattink]

Very sad. There's always someone out there trying to ruin a good thing.

Yes, it is very sad that there are people scamming pin traders. My son got scammed by with pin. http://pinpics.com/cgi-bin/pin.cgi?pin=37931&sid=8995.1167921743.v2 He knows his pins, been trading since 1999. He knew it was an LE pin, but had no idea there were counterfeit pins circulating of this pin. He found it on a CM lanyard at the TTC store. He was so excited. As we were walking to the car, he turned the pin over, and he said the pin felt rough. He was doing the happy pin dance as he saw it was LE 500. We got home to look it up on pinpics, and sure enough discovered his says SUPPISE and not the SURPRISE. He was very upset. He had traded a lanyard series pin for it, since he figured he was getting a good pin. Turns out that both of the pins he traded for on that CM's lanyard were counterfeit. The other pin was http://pinpics.com/cgi-bin/pin.cgi?pin=39378&sid=9017.1167922044.v2 , but the unauthorized version instead.

Both pins had the copyright Disney on the back. So unless the CM is well versed in pin trading, they would have had no idea they were being scammed. So I guess in a very long winded way, I'm trying to say that you can also get scammed off CM lanyards as well.

 

[mrsltg]

OK...so what do you know...I just did some ebay investagating...and LOW and BEHOLD her are my sons two pins(amonst 4 pages of pins, so I guess the 1,000 pins was about right)
The first was an unusual Castaway Cay pin and the second was a Mickey Mug(posted previously)....these are being sold by the same seller who has tons of Castmember pins etc...do I know for 100% that this is the father(or the father supplies this guy...no), but very questionable that these 2 pins show up in his inventory at the same time this week.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Disney-Mickey-M...ryZ38014QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Oh yeah...he lives in Tampa FL too

To this prince of a guy... Four flats, no spare, hemrhoids and hairloss. He'll get his.