Pin Trading in the disney stores

[Tinks1984]

I type in stuff like "Disney Pin Lot" and "Disney Booster Set". Like I said, I've been making sure that I don't pay over £1.50 a pin, so I've managed to find some real bargains.

The lot we bought yesterday was 25 pins for the Buy it Now price of £29.99. The P&P was £3.80, so it total it was £33.79. If you divide that by 25, it works out at about £1.35 each. Me and my mum are going halves on that lot, so we'll get 12 pins each and we'll toss a coin for the last one. All the pins in that lot are fully tradable, so it was a very good deal.

Thanks for that, that's not a bad price at all. I sometimes worry that some could be counterfeit in the pin lots. I know that could also be the case with trading too, but I dunno, there's just something about the lots

My Dad and I got some of our core pins for trading next year, so I'm thinking we may just stick to that, although I'd love to be brave enough to get the lots and pay £1.50 a pin! Great bargin!

 

[Disney Princess Elli]

I've never had any trouble with pin trading in DLRP...
I traded one of my many castway cay pins for minnie dressed as tinkerbell last time we went

 

[wdw_adict]

Wow, I've never heard anything like that. I personally have never had any problems trading at DLRP. I admit that the language barrier can sometimes be an issue, but it's quickly resolved just by pointing at the CM's lanyard!

I'm really excited for the Pin Trading Night at DLRP next week.

I think we were pretty unlucky but one CM really upset my DW by refusing a pin swap as he didn't like the one she was offering up. We did complain about him though.

The other thing we noticed is that some CM's take off their lanyards, especially those working in the shops.

 

[wdw_adict]

I sometimes worry that some could be counterfeit in the pin lots. I know that could also be the case with trading too, but I dunno, there's just something about the lots

If you pick a seller with good feedback you should be ok. I've bought plenty of lots on eBay without problems.

Just remember that if you buy larger lots from the US and have them imported then there is a good chance that you'll have to pay VAT and Import Duty.

 

[Masamune]

Thanks for that, that's not a bad price at all. I sometimes worry that some could be counterfeit in the pin lots. I know that could also be the case with trading too, but I dunno, there's just something about the lots

My Dad and I got some of our core pins for trading next year, so I'm thinking we may just stick to that, although I'd love to be brave enough to get the lots and pay £1.50 a pin! Great bargin!

I understand what you mean, but as long as the pins have the Pin Trading Logo, that's all that matters. Besides, I've bought from that seller before, so I know all the pins from them are 100% genuine. 25 Core pins at £3 each would cost £75, so I would much rather pay £33.79!

@ adict - That's awful. I can understand some of them taking their lanyards off if the shop is very busy, but it's not something I've seen very often, even when the shops are super busy when the parks are closing.

 

[Tinks1984]

If you pick a seller with good feedback you should be ok. I've bought plenty of lots on eBay without problems.

Just remember that if you buy larger lots from the US and have them imported then there is a good chance that you'll have to pay VAT and Import Duty.

I understand what you mean, but as long as the pins have the Pin Trading Logo, that's all that matters. Besides, I've bought from that seller before, so I know all the pins from them are 100% genuine. 25 Core pins at £3 each would cost £75, so I would much rather pay £33.79!

@ adict - That's awful. I can understand some of them taking their lanyards off if the shop is very busy, but it's not something I've seen very often, even when the shops are super busy when the parks are closing.

Thanks for the tips guys, maybe we'll give it a try with the smaller lots nearer the time of our trip. I'll be sure to check the seller's feedback scores before I buy any. Or maybe if we want to get a bigger lot, we'll try have it delivered to our resort as a PP mentioned!

 

[Masamune]

You can't really go wrong as long as you read the seller's feedback. If the person I bought from would've had negative feedback claiming that they were selling scrappers, then I wouldn't buy from them. Happily the guy had 100% positive feedback, so I bought with confidence!

I'm going to work today, so I may pop in the Disney Store on my lunch. With it being a weekend though, they may be quite busy, so I may just hold off until tomorrow.

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

I have brought lots of grab bags off Ebay for trading at DLRP and have successfully traded them all.

Never had any problems with trading with CM's in DLRP they always seem to get excited when i ask to look at there pins.

 

[disneybarbie]

I was in the Disney Store in Guildford this morning.. and they have pins there & leaflets on the counter that say "Pinformation" ... telling people how to trade
the CM that served me didn't have a lanyard on tho... she did do a good job of convincing me to buy a reusable Pooh Earth Day bag tho!

I am yet to start pin-trading, I've kept resisting but this year, as I have two trips to wdw booked, I might be tempted to start! I only have two pins & a lanyard that my sister gave me two years ago, she won them as part of the Year of a Million Dreams promotion!

and now that I could start buying & trading before even getting to wdw...

 

[Disney Princess Elli]

I traded one of my Castaway Cay pins for one with all the Disney gang on today in the Disney Store

 

[Masamune]

I traded one of my Castaway Cay pins for one with all the Disney gang on today in the Disney Store

I traded for that one too today, assuming it's the one that you can buy there for £5. I also traded for the £3 Marie pin, and... the LE Stitch pin with frog spinner! I paid £7 for that pin when it was released, and today I traded a £1.47 pin for it! So I'm just gonna sell it on eBay, so I can get my £7 back that I paid for my original one.

 

[Lizzybear]

I wanted the Wall-E pin but i'm not sure if they're doing it anymore, didn't see it in the Brighton Disney Store earlier this week.

Most of the large pin lots (50, 100 etc) on eBay are scrappers, if someone is selling multiple listings of these sorts of amounts of pins then you can pretty much guarantee that they are. Apparently they are either seconds/flawed or illegally made when the moulds from the genuine pins aren't destroyed so they're open for people in the factories to reuse and then sell on to others willing to sell them on eBay etc. Yes they have the Disney pin trading logo on the back and yes they are tradeable (it's very hard to tell the difference and I doubt the average busy CM has the time or inclination to check) but they aren't official Disney pins.
http://www.dizpins.com/pinventory/scrappers.htm

 

[astrodrummergirl]

I was in the Disney Store in Guildford this morning.. and they have pins there & leaflets on the counter that say "Pinformation" ... telling people how to trade
the CM that served me didn't have a lanyard on tho... she did do a good job of convincing me to buy a reusable Pooh Earth Day bag tho!

I am yet to start pin-trading, I've kept resisting but this year, as I have two trips to wdw booked, I might be tempted to start! I only have two pins & a lanyard that my sister gave me two years ago, she won them as part of the Year of a Million Dreams promotion!

and now that I could start buying & trading before even getting to wdw...

Haha, those CMs do do a job at selling those bags, I bought one, but thats because they're brilliant for washing.

Pin trading is an excellent thing do start, especially at WDW, I've learnt so much about CMs and talked to CMs I never would have talked to if I hadn't pin traded!

Also, was talking to my sister about the pin trading and apparently it hasn't been that much of a gap since they used to do it, since thats how she got started in 2004!

Also also, am working on updating my pinpics, although I have more wants than owns!!!

 

[Masamune]

I wanted the Wall-E pin but i'm not sure if they're doing it anymore, didn't see it in the Brighton Disney Store earlier this week.

Most of the large pin lots (50, 100 etc) on eBay are scrappers, if someone is selling multiple listings of these sorts of amounts of pins then you can pretty much guarantee that they are. Apparently they are either seconds/flawed or illegally made when the moulds from the genuine pins aren't destroyed so they're open for people in the factories to reuse and then sell on to others willing to sell them on eBay etc. Yes they have the Disney pin trading logo on the back and yes they are tradeable (it's very hard to tell the difference and I doubt the average busy CM has the time or inclination to check) but they aren't official Disney pins.
http://www.dizpins.com/pinventory/scrappers.htm

Like I said, if someone has 100% feedback, it's more likely that they're not actually selling scrappers. With lots as big as 100 I can imagine there being some scrappers, so yeah, I'd probably never buy one that big.

The one I bought was only 25, and like I said, I've bought off this seller before. The pins are 100% genuine, with one set I bought (the Princess toddler booster set) arriving still sealed in the box it was bought it. I think it's better to give people the benefit of the doubt in regards to stuff like this, as like you say, it can be hard sometimes to spot a scrapper.

 

[astrodrummergirl]

Like I said, if someone has 100% feedback, it's more likely that they're not actually selling scrappers. With lots as big as 100 I can imagine there being some scrappers, so yeah, I'd probably never buy one that big.

The one I bought was only 25, and like I said, I've bought off this seller before. The pins are 100% genuine, with one set I bought (the Princess toddler booster set) arriving still sealed in the box it was bought it. I think it's better to give people the benefit of the doubt in regards to stuff like this, as like you say, it can be hard sometimes to spot a scrapper.

I've bought lots as big as that before from sellers with 100% feedback, they'd only have a couple of scrappers in there, and the seller would get told about any I'd received that were untradable

 

[Masamune]

A seller with 100% is gonna want to keep it that way, so if indeed I did recieve any pin that was untradable, I would e-mail them and ask for a replacement. So far I've yet to have to do that, as all but one pin I've bought off eBay has been genuine as far as I can tell.

The one pin I bought that I knew would be a scrapper was a Cheshire pin, so I didn't mind that it would most likely be a scrapper as I wanted it for myself and it was cheap.

 

[Tinks1984]

I wanted the Wall-E pin but i'm not sure if they're doing it anymore, didn't see it in the Brighton Disney Store earlier this week.

If you can't manage to find him in-store, he's still available on the Offical Disney website for £3. But the only thing there is that you'll get stung for £4.50 on postage! If you're ordering on-line it's better to order a couple of 'wants' as the postage then counts for something.

 

[Danauk]

The Wall E core pin is still available, the CM I was chatting to in the Birmingham store said that they had sold out of some of the core pins but they were getting a new delivery of them soon. So I'm sure it will be back in your store soon.

 

[Masamune]

Since it's a Core pin, it's only a matter of time until they get it back in stock.

 

[Lizzybear]

The seller I bought from had 100% feedback, I think most people probably just can't tell the difference between a real pin and a scrapper (I couldn't until I compared 2 of the same pin or ones from the same set side by side, the backs gave it away and they often have flawed paintwork and/or are made of thinner metal.. There are some though, like the HM Gus pin which are apparently impossible to tell apart) or aren't bothered as long as they can trade them. I wouldn't doubt that I have a few scrappers in my own collection but since I like the pins it doesn't bother me enough to check. Smaller lots are probably 'safer' as they're more likely to be the cheap sets bought in the parks, like the princess one you mentioned (I saw this at WDW a couple of years ago) or someone selling off their own collection. Apparently there is no way to buy Disney pins wholesale (aside from the parks and stores of course) so I don't see how someone could sell a lot of, say, 100 pins for around $1-2 a pin without making a loss. It doesn't really bother me what others do, it's only pins after all, but I just wanted to share the info as I know a lot of people buy the bigger lots to trade and may not be aware of this.
Also, I am glad to hear Wall-E is still available! Will have to get the bf to check TDS in Liverpool One for me