Pin trading?

[PrincessBrideJo]

I have gone to disney and seen this, but never participated. How much does it cost to get started? Are there any rules? Any info would be appritiated!!!!!

 

[magicaldisney]

The cost of pin trading varies. The average pin you purchase at WDW is roughly $7 - $12 or so. There are kits you can buy that give you a lanyard (thing you wear around your neck) and I think 6 pins. I think they are roughly $35 - $50 (?). These pins are all the same or are duplicates of 2 or 3 pins. This way you won't feel bad about trading one of them. As long as you have a DISNEY pin you can go to any cast member who is wearing a lanyard and ask to trade your pin for one of the pins they are wearing that you want.

For the past 5 years I have just bought pins for my own personal collection, never traded. This year I am taking 20 pins down with me and I am going to let the kids trade them for pins to add to our collection. I am getting these 20 pins from e-bay for about $2 a piece. You can find people on e-bay selling in lots or find them selling some for $0.99. I even got one for $.01. You do have to pay to have them shipped to you so you need to figure that into your cost.

 

[Adam1217]

i was thinking about getting into the pin trading but i didnt know if it be an interesting thing to do or not

 

[amy4bruce]

DD6 handles the pin trading in my family. This year, we've bought 17 pins from Ebay dealers, and she'll take every opportunity to trade them, until she is satisfied with what she has. Last year, she stopped on the fifth day, saying that she didn't want to trade the pins she wound up with.

If the CM has a green lanyard, they will only trade with children, which gives DD6 an advantage there.

It doesn't excite me, but the look on DD6's face when she makes a trade certainly does.

 

[Plantlady]

All three of my boys really loved pin trading (9, 7, 4), as did my husband. It was an excellent way to talk to the Cast Members, and minus the startup cost, it was free for the remainder of our vacation. This gave the boys an excellent chance to get something "new" from the parks.

We recommended that they pick a "theme" and try to look for pins that fit the theme. My 9 year old got pins from his favorite rides and all four parks. My 4 year old with with donald duck and his nephews, along with nemo, and tinkerbell. My 7 year old never went with a theme, but had a wonderful time.

Even I got into trading halfway through the trip.

 

[Simba22]

I'm 23 and DBF is 22. We just bought 20 pins from ebay for $2.10 each (and that included s & h). My DBF kept 9 for himself and we are going to trade the other 11. Plus we will be getting more to trade before we go. If we find a CM (or another guest) with a pin we like, using pins purchased on ebay is WAY cheaper than running to buy one at $6.50 + tax in WDW. We love it!


I collect Stitch, Lion King (although mostly just Simba), and Tigger, along with some random other ones. My DBF collects Mickey, Aladdin, and Disney Villains

 

[bamabelle]

Pin collecting is fun and you will find yourself stopping at every location with pins to see if you miss anything! The DTD World of Disney has thousands and the store on Main Street, right hand side looking at castle has a great selection. There are certain areas in parks designated for pin trading--just check the park map.

Be careful, though, if you buy any LE or more expensive pins--a lot of people buy cheap, mass produced pins and will try to trade you for your best pins. You should stock up on GOOD pins from ebay that you can find for good prices to trade and keep your favorites or LE's in the room. I had several people ask me to trade and they were perfectly fine when I told them that I collected and didn't care to trade. I will say that everyone I encountered wanted my brand new Tink LE flower garden pin and the mismatched pair of Tink flip flops!

When you are making your first purchase of lanyard and pins, make sure to buy a pack of replacement backs. We lost the backs all the time and luckily didn't lose the pins--you will hear them loud and clear when they hit the pavement! The money I spent on the replacement backs was well worth it!

Good luck and have fun trading pins!

 

[Adam1217]

I think you guys have talked me into starting this pin collecting, it sounds like a fun thing to do and keep me busy.

 

[SleepingBeautyDreamr]

Not to be the downer here but I just thought I should warn anyone that wants to do pin trading. A manager CM at the Disney Store told me they are only allowed to trade Official Disney pins and are trained to know them. If you buy them off of EBAY please make sure you have a guarantee that they are official otherwise you will not be able to trade them with CM's in the parks.

 

[PrincessBrideJo]

I wish I had time to buy some cheap ones from ebay, but we don't! Darn it!

Are they cheaper in downtown disney at all? Cuz I can go there and buy some and then trade in the parks. My guess is they are about the same price though!

 

[byoung]

I have my pins but don't trade.

 

[magicaldisney]

I wish I had time to buy some cheap ones from ebay, but we don't! Darn it!

Are they cheaper in downtown disney at all? Cuz I can go there and buy some and then trade in the parks. My guess is they are about the same price though!

No, they are the exact same price. You can get pins anywhere....DTD, parks, resorts, even at Orlando airport at the Disney store. Have Fun!!

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

DD6 handles the pin trading in my family. This year, we've bought 17 pins from Ebay dealers, and she'll take every opportunity to trade them, until she is satisfied with what she has. Last year, she stopped on the fifth day, saying that she didn't want to trade the pins she wound up with.

If the CM has a green lanyard, they will only trade with children, which gives DD6 an advantage there.

It doesn't excite me, but the look on DD6's face when she makes a trade certainly does.

I didn't know that about the green lanyard, we will definitely keep that in mind! My DS6 and DS8 love pin trading. We don't trade with other visitors, just CM's. We started about 3 years ago, and they have about 30 pins each..(the lanyards are so full, that we just pick out the ones we want to get rid of for the day and put them into a plastic baggie. Then we don't have to carry the heavy lanyard around, or, as it happened one trip, almost lose it by leaving it laying in the boneyard at animal Kingdom--DH... OR worry about the pins falling off the lanyard..) I have only bought one keeper for each, they really wanted them, so Santa brought them at Christmas. Whenever there is a promotion for trading pins ( I have gotten them for next to nothing through a cereal promo, and Smuckers had one not too long ago...I got 9 of the same pin..) I get as many cheap ones that I can..then we can trade some and keep one. I bought a bunch from an online store-they came out to be about $2.30 each including s/h...Most are German..or whatever language is on the card..LOL, some are cute, ALL are official, and so we just trade the ugly ones. The Disny online store had Incredibles pins for 2 or 3 dollars, I bought a bunch to trade. I buy the ugly ones so it doens't bother us to get rid of them..

I have seen the folks at the trading pin store with their "suitcases" of pins...this seems to be a little extreme to me, but I guess it is a way of meeting people, and enjoying Disney. I don't think this is a way to make money as some people might think...


my boys also LOVE the penny press machines. Before we go out into the park, I am at the cash register at the resort, making change, gathering quarters, and asking the poor CM to give me all the shiny pennies! This year I have been collecting all the shiny pennies at home, so we are ready. After the $6 for the little collecting book, it is the cheapest souvenir at WDW-51 cents, no tax!! They are constantly taking their books out while walking around to inspect their pennies...Since we don't collect autographs, (they don't like to get near the characters) this is fun for them...

To the OP, there actually ARE a set of rules for pin trading. You should get a little brochure about it when you check in..One good one is that you do not touch the CM or their lanyard. You ask about the pins, and they will hold it out for you to see. Can't remember the other rules, they are mostly common sense...

( I just noticed your name, amy4bruce. I have (had, she passed away last year) a dear friend whose daughter Amy married Bruce about 10 years ago...I think she has two boys, though...maybe I am wrong..could it be you?)

 

[amy4bruce]

( I just noticed your name, amy4bruce. I have (had, she passed away last year) a dear friend whose daughter Amy married Bruce about 10 years ago...I think she has two boys, though...maybe I am wrong..could it be you?)

Interestingly enough, I did marry Amy 10 years ago, but Amy's mother is still very much alive (and shaking her head at our Disney fascination), so I don't think we're the same people.

But it's really nice to meet you now!

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Interestingly enough, I did marry Amy 10 years ago, but Amy's mother is still very much alive (and shaking her head at our Disney fascination), so I don't think we're the same people.

But it's really nice to meet you now!

Well, I'm certainly glad to hear about your Amy's mother..I think they live in Virginia, and I am almost certain they have only 2 boys....Ya never know, it's definitely a small, small, world on these boards..

Her Amy's Bruce has bright red hair, and when Amy's mom went through her first chemo round, then went to visit them, he met her at the airport with a bald head to match hers...What a great guy, must be the name????

Nice to meet you, too!!