Pin trading has truly turned into a Disney phenomenon. It has become huge! We were not intially interested in pin trading, and once bitten by the trading bug, spent many hours (and dollars!)
during our vacation in search of 'must-have' pins!
Many kids participate, and can be recognized by the lanyards around their necks. They trade sometimes with each other, but usually with the CM's in the parks and on the ships. Castmembers wearing these lanyards will trade anything they have on it for anything the child (or adult...) wishes to trade to them, provided they don't already have the pin you are wanting to trade away. "Value-for-value" isn't really a consideration with them. I have traded many cheap pins for more expensive ones!
You don't HAVE to buy any pins. Most traders/collectors have a few 'themes' they collect, such as all the princess pins, or all the resort pins. If your daughter has a favorite Disney character or movie, she may become interested in collecting that particular thing. My son has a very extensive Toy Story collection, for example. My wife has at least a dozen different 'Ariel' pins.
Just collect what you like!
As for getting started, I suggest going to a nearby
Disney Store and purchasing a lanyard and a few inexpensive pins to begin with. It is also a good idea to buy her a few cheap pins that she DOESN'T want, as these can be used for trading purposes. I buy lots of pins on Ebay because you can often get them cheap there, and they can be traded for better pins in WDW or on the ships!
Pins purchased off the racks at WDW or on the Disney ships can average 8 dollars or more. You can easily buy pins on Ebay for 3 to 4 dollars and yes, they can be traded for these more expensive pins. The only rules are: The CM cannot already have the pin you are trading, and you can only trade genuine Disney pins.
As for trading with other collectors (Not CM's), that's a private matter between individuals and you can strike up any sort of deal you like!
I hope this info helps - ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!
'Beano'
