Pin Trading Etiquette - How To

[Desade]

Hi guys! This is my second post here.

I'll be leaving for WDW at the end of March, yippee! The last time I was there was 7 years ago, and at that time, I only just started pin trading. I was timid about it, and only traded with a few cast members wearing lanyards.

I remember one day I saw a group of tables where people had their pins in big binders. From what I understood, they were serious collectors.

So what are the "rules" now for trading? Are we limited to cast member's lanyards? I saw someone posting about "pin boards" around the park. What are those?

Also, unrelated, what are these trading cards? They sound fun! Is it just for kids? I'm 24, so would it be weird if I did it?

Thanks for reading!

 

[OlaftheSnowman]

pin boards are in a lot of shops and hotel lobbies
they are just bullitin boards with pins on them
you can trade with anyone but only 2 trades with the same castmember

 

[OlaftheSnowman]

have fun trading

 

[Desade]

have fun trading

Thank you , I will!

 

[figment_jii]

So what are the "rules" now for trading? Are we limited to cast member's lanyards? I saw someone posting about "pin boards" around the park. What are those?

The pin trading rules haven't really changed all that much. As the PP said, you're limited to trading two pins per day per CM or pin board. This means if you run across ten CMs with lanyards you can trade up to two pins with each CM (so technically you could trade twenty pins in one day). The pin boards have the same rules (two trades per board per day).

The only major rules are that the pins you offer to trade must be Disney pins (the CMs will often look for the Disney copyright on the back) and they cannot already be on the CM's lanyard or pin board. Other than that, have fun.

Pin boards are basically boards (sometime small, sometimes large) that have pins for trading. There are also pin books. Some boards/books are out all the time, others only come out at specific times. Most all of the major pin shops have either a board or book; you'll have to ask about the schedule. Often times, guest services (parks and resorts) also have a pin book.

Regarding the "serious" or "professional" pin traders, there are not rules per se with them. You can trade as much (or as little) as you want. They can ask you for multiple pin (i.e., I want five of your pins for one of mine), they can ask you to buy pins for them, or they can offer a one-to-one trade. I'm sure there are nice "professional" pin traders out there, but remember, for most this is a business, so they'll looking to make the best (i.e., economical) deal for them. If they ask you to buy a pin for them, I'd walk away.

Disney was trying to get them out of the parks at one point, but I don't know if they're stilling doing that much. It can be fun to look at their pins, but don't really expect to do much trading with the "professionals" unless you have rare pins to offer.

 

[Desade]

Thanks for all the information!