Pin trading question

[michelle06]

Well, after reading the pin trading threads here, I decided to buy some off of ebay. WOW!!! They are so awesome. I bought a lot of 30 for $20. I figured I would get several I don't like and let dd trade for princess or fairy pins. But I got so many cool pins. They look new. I am very pleased with my purchase and can't wait to let dd and myself trade them on our trip in June. Definitely do have some reputable sellers on ebay.

Could use some advice though. Are all pins equal or are some very valuable and maybe not want to trade? Any tips since I'm new to this? One pin I have is of Minnie and says 1928 on it.

Also received a couple pins that I have no idea what they are! I'll have to post pics later and ask about them.

Thanks,
Michelle

 

[scouthawkk]

Could use some advice though. Are all pins equal or are some very valuable and maybe not want to trade? Any tips since I'm new to this? One pin I have is of Minnie and says 1928 on it.

Also received a couple pins that I have no idea what they are! I'll have to post pics later and ask about them.

Thanks,
Michelle

I get my pins from mousepinsonline, like the pp. good price for bulk, never got any scrappers. When my order comes in, I like to spend some time on pinpics.com to see what they are about, and who/what some of them are, if I can't figure it out. I would say that unless the person you bought from doesn't know a lot about the pins, you most likely didn't get any rare and/or super valuable ones. but pinpics allows you to search-for instance, you can search Minnie 1928 and it will come up with a bunch of pins (48 is the number I just got) for you to look through. Look through them and see if the one you got is there, and it will tell you info about release date, edition size (if there was one and it is known) and that sort of thing. Lots of info there...

 

[Coach81]

OH NO... my wife I think ordered a set of 30 or so.. from ebay last night.. after reading this thread.. I'm starting to realize how much trouble we may be in now....

 

[nicki.momof3]

Yes, you get them cheaper, but they are most likey "scrappers" and therefore fake.

Really depends where you buy them. We have bought they on ebay in lots of 100 from the same trader for 2 years (did it 4 times) and they are always great. Never a scrapper in the lot.

 

[katybugsmom]

We are trying something new this year. We will be at WDW in December so I bought my two kids Christmas lanyards off ebay and have begun purchasing Christmas pins off ebay too! I'm hoping a lot of the CM's will have Christmas pins to trade. We will also buy a set of pins in honor of MVMCP and the Candlelight Processional at Epcot that they won't be able to use for trading.
Our kids spend more time trading pins then anything else!

 

[bamamolly]

This will be our 5th Disney trip and each time I did not seem to have enough pins! (both boys collected the alphabet last time, 26 pins each!) I bought a lot of 100 form ebay and already told the boys it better be enough We have tons of fun pin trading and my "shy" boys have learned to come out of their shells a little and even made friends with many CM's.

This is what I'm hoping for for my very shy DD5 too!

 

[bamamolly]

You know, last time we traded pins a lot of people on these boards had me weirded out about the possiblilty of trading "fake" pins. I had several conversations with CM's about this and to tell you the truth they just didn't care where I got my pins from. I know there are many serious pin traders out there and I am sure they inspect a pin thoroughly before accepting it in trade so why get the first timers or those just collecting for fun all upset. Really I almost threw all my pins out and my boys were upset about possible fake pins! Some people just want to have some fun and just because they bought off Ebay doesn't mean they bought fake pins. It seems every time there is a question about pin trading the whole fake pin thing comes up and lot's of people get upset.

THANK YOU!!! I was told on this board that there is no way what I got off of ebay could be real after telling the price for the lot so I was all upset thinking that we wouldn't be able to trade them and feeling bad that we might be trading fake ones. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized the fun in it and if the hard core collectors out there want to scruitinize ever pin before trading, that's fine, but my girls are just going to be doing it for the fun of it.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

This thread seems to have become a discussion of buying pins from sources other than Disney, so I've moved it to the Collectors board.

 

[Spiffie]

THANK YOU!!! I was told on this board that there is no way what I got off of ebay could be real after telling the price for the lot so I was all upset thinking that we wouldn't be able to trade them and feeling bad that we might be trading fake ones. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized the fun in it and if the hard core collectors out there want to scruitinize ever pin before trading, that's fine, but my girls are just going to be doing it for the fun of it.

Honest, hardworking people like me appreciate those of you who are teaching your children that it is okay to buy fake/bootleg/scrapper products and trade them to people who have used their hard-earned money to purchase the real pins from the parks. Your children will be able to trade with CMs because CMs HAVE NO CHOICE. So, if you can live with yourself for having less than honest trades, so be it. My children know the difference because we are teaching them the value of a dollar and how to spend it wisely and honestly. My children are also learning how to spy fake pins so hopefully we can steer clear of the people who are pawning them off on others!

 

[plutotek]

In all fairness to both established and new collectors alike, I have yet to find any definitive process by which to determine whether a pin is a fake or the real deal. If I'm missing some 'how-to' book or website, please let me know, because all that I have seen so far is subjective information such as this color may be off, or it may have a distinctive odor, or a fake may be thinner than a legit pin.

That being said, I do question some of the sellers on Ebay, and certain raise red flags even without being on the 'Good/Bad' list (which I AM grateful for).

 

[SFigments]

wow this thread has me worried. My dd and her cousins got really into pin trading last year. all they wanted to do was buy more pins to trade. Well while we were trading with a CM he was telling us more about pin trading and he told us to get our traders for next time from e-bay in a lot. I thought nothing was wrong with this and figured if a CM told us to do that it was a good idea and so our pins for this year are off e-bay. I am now worried we have bad pins even though all are stamped with proper markings and have the right backer.