pin trading

[ArvisoCa6]

I love pin trading! Last year however was my second year, and i noticed that there were less CM's that last year trading. This year I will try the 'ask if they aren't wearing' trick, maybe I'll have better luck. I also saw that the ones that were out had mostly starter pins. So I didn't do too much trading. The thing i find hardest is decideing which pins I WANT to trade! I have some that i like and some that I LOVE , ususally individual purchases. I have decided that I am gonna clooect pins that have a meaning, such as my favorite movies, rides or characters. I'm not a big SET collector. But then there are times when I want to collect a set!! It is such an addiction!!! Don't think I'll ever get to the level of "pro trader" doing it for money kinda kills the magic.

 

[pixiewings71]

We love pin trading and spend most of our spending money on pins.
We always trade with the little kids and if they only have one pin to trade we just give then the pin they want. (Unless it's one of our keepers!)

The year of a million dreams when I wasn't really looking to trade a CM approach me and asked me if i wanted to trade pin and I was like ya sure. I started looking and ended up trading a simple pin for a special LE mickey pin. I didn't realize how special it was until I got home.

When we went last year an adult asked to trade for it and I said no, then the next minute his kid came up and asked to trade. I said no again! I felt like I was under attack.

Then Last year Hubby bought me the Eric and Ariel 20th LE Annivery pin as a surprise!

Keep your eyes open, CMs do have special pins you just might be surprised.

This happens with us quite a bit, DD9 got the most amazing pin ever from a CM, she got an LE that has Aurora on her bed with a stained glass window behind her with the Maleficent dragon before it. OMG, it's gorgeous!!! And it's a CM design too!! She got it from a CM, traded a rack pin for it and just WOW!!! I want it soooooo bad, but she got there first so she got the first trade. In our family whoever spots the CM first gets to trade first, she got lucky! LOL

I had the strangest experience w/ a CM one time @ Goofy's Kitchen. He was dressed in business casual attire & had his name tag on, so you know that he was working on the clock. He was also wearing a lanyard full of pins and I saw one that I liked and asked him to trade. Then he said that his pins weren't for trade. Are you kidding me?!?
#1. If it's your personal lanyard, don't wear it.
#2. Why are you wearing your personal lanyard "on stage?"
#3. All CMs need to trade a pin from their lanyard when someone asks them to trade & it's never a personal lanyard, why is he an acception?

I just thought it was really strange & I was ticked off bc I really liked the pin.

Oh that would have upset me too!! We've had situations like that too, where the CM says "I can't trade right now, I have to get someplace" and tries to push you away, it happened twice last trip. The first time we didn't let the CM walk away, she said "I'm on my way to a meeting, I only have time for 1 trade per family", well before she even finished the first trade all of us had pins ready to go, we pointed out what we wanted and she did the trade but we were really annoyed with her attitude. We kept her for less than 1 minute, really? 1 minute, if you're that late it's not our fault! Not to mention all she has to say is "sorry, I got caught up by some guests" and she will NOT get into trouble. The other time was a security guard, she had a hip lanyard, she was walking towards us and saw our pins and said "sorry, I'm rushing to get someplace, I'll put these away now, I'm really sorry." so we let her go. At least she put her pins away......I understand that they are working and they may have someplace to be, but in that case they should just take the lanyards off, then there's no problems for anyone. And CM's on duty are not allowed to wear their own lanyards so I don't even know what that guys issue was.......

I love pin trading! Last year however was my second year, and i noticed that there were less CM's that last year trading. This year I will try the 'ask if they aren't wearing' trick, maybe I'll have better luck. I also saw that the ones that were out had mostly starter pins. So I didn't do too much trading. The thing i find hardest is decideing which pins I WANT to trade! I have some that i like and some that I LOVE , ususally individual purchases. I have decided that I am gonna clooect pins that have a meaning, such as my favorite movies, rides or characters. I'm not a big SET collector. But then there are times when I want to collect a set!! It is such an addiction!!! Don't think I'll ever get to the level of "pro trader" doing it for money kinda kills the magic.

I've never asked if they have a lanyard but a lot of stores will hang their lanyards near the cash registers. I have a hard time picking what to collect too, we like to collect the monthly sets and then we have our favorite characters that we like to collect as well.

 

[pigletforever]

Pulled out my lanyard today. Is tehre a place to see what are very collectible pins? I have quite a few from 2006-2007. Curious to see what to look for while I am there. I also have ordered tons of LE over the years that have been collecting dust. Might spread some pixie dust to some young traders while I am there.

 

[pixiewings71]

Pulled out my lanyard today. Is tehre a place to see what are very collectible pins? I have quite a few from 2006-2007. Curious to see what to look for while I am there. I also have ordered tons of LE over the years that have been collecting dust. Might spread some pixie dust to some young traders while I am there.

Try pinpics.com, they don't "value" them per se, but you can see people who have them and people who are interested in them. You could also try eBay and see what prices are there. Value is very subjective tho, something very valuable to me may not be to you.

 

[Princess Row]

We are pin traders i have about 4-5 full books and my birthday money is lways spent on pins. Im 14 almost 15 and my little sister got my whole family hooked on pins. At first although i didnt know my mom and myself were being ripped off right and left by "those traders". We now have learned are lessons and i see peole being riped off right and left by those people. I hope people will just trade with the CM unless you know exactly how good or bad your pins are. I had a older guy one time (i was about nine) tell me that he couldnt ever believe i would ever collect "those dumb pins" refering to the hidden mickey or cast lanyard pins. He said that my collection was very low and such a "cheap set", he also made sure to tell me his pins were much more substancial "ones worth framing to be put on his wall" I was almost in tears. Now i know not to let people like him bother me because i am very content with my collection and its a hobby not a competition at all. You just can't let those people get to you i guess and can't let them ruin your time at the happiest place on earth.

 

[pixiewings71]

We are pin traders i have about 4-5 full books and my birthday money is lways spent on pins. Im 14 almost 15 and my little sister got my whole family hooked on pins. At first although i didnt know my mom and myself were being ripped off right and left by "those traders". We now have learned are lessons and i see peole being riped off right and left by those people. I hope people will just trade with the CM unless you know exactly how good or bad your pins are. I had a older guy one time (i was about nine) tell me that he couldnt ever believe i would ever collect "those dumb pins" refering to the hidden mickey or cast lanyard pins. He said that my collection was very low and such a "cheap set", he also made sure to tell me his pins were much more substancial "ones worth framing to be put on his wall" I was almost in tears. Now i know not to let people like him bother me because i am very content with my collection and its a hobby not a competition at all. You just can't let those people get to you i guess and can't let them ruin your time at the happiest place on earth.

Amen to that!!! But once again, not ALL traders are like "that", some of us like to actually help people with sets, trust me, there are plenty of nice traders out there in it for the fun and not the $$.

 

[Princess Row]

Oh i know the nice people now! I go about four times a year and i keep away from the bad and i get some cool stuff from the good. The nice people are in it for making people happy, others are trying to get you to buy a 15.00 pin for a cheapy trader......i refuse to be ripped off again! LOL.

 

[rentayenta]

My kids love to trade pins and having been to both WDW and Disneyland, I would say trading is better at WDW.

 

[shyboy72]

Just quick question might have been answered already. I was wondering why is WDW more into the pin trading then DL? All pins are usually from WDW, just something I was trying to research.

 

[Disney Dreams]

Just quick question might have been answered already. I was wondering why is WDW more into the pin trading then DL? All pins are usually from WDW, just something I was trying to research.

I don't know that WDW is "more into" trading than DL, but the CMs at DL are given the choice of whether or not they want to wear a lanyard, trade with guests, etc..... From what I have been told from when we were at WDW last Fall (omg it's been a year now!!!), the CMs at WDW are required to wear lanyards. Therefore, there are more lanyards for guests to trade off of during the course of a day. As for where pins are from, there are tons of pins that are from DL.

- Dreams

 

[queenie82]

Yep that is about it

I must say though if you ever go to Disneyland Paris they are VERY into trading.
In the main store with the pins a board comes out with both LE and regular pins twice a day. You can trade ANY Limited Edition pin for a LE on the board and you can do very well. We met a LOVELY guy Patrick (who is one of 6 CMs dedicated solely to the job of organising Pin trading including events) and he let my buy one of the cheapest rack LEs they had for a beautiful much harder to find LE (still in the packet..he had a secret stash).

I'm really not much interested in the value of the pins. I just get the ones I like. So I never get "ripped off" because I only carry to trade regular pins I didn't pay more than a few dollars for.
The only trade I did with a pro was at Epcot. It was a really nice guy who had a beautiful tin of Stitch pins. We had nothing to trade but he let me buy a pin book/bag at the pin store which was actually a bit less than rack price of the tin. Now it may have been worth less than the RRP it was originally sold at but I checked later and it wasn't.

 

[glendalais]

I don't know that WDW is "more into" trading than DL, but the CMs at DL are given the choice of whether or not they want to wear a lanyard, trade with guests, etc..... From what I have been told from when we were at WDW last Fall (omg it's been a year now!!!), the CMs at WDW are required to wear lanyards. Therefore, there are more lanyards for guests to trade off of during the course of a day. As for where pins are from, there are tons of pins that are from DL.

- Dreams

Officially, only WDW Merchandise Cast Members are required, per Union Contract, to wear Pin Lanyards/Accessories while on the clock. I believe it's considered part of their Sales Strategy.

Everyone else has the choice to do so as long as it doesn't interfere with Safety (i.e., Cast Members loading Attractions should most certainly not have them). Indeed, the vast majority of non-Merchandise Cast Members don't, from my experience. It's just that there are so many Merchandise Cast Members compared to the rest of us that gives people that illusion.

 

[Tink91]

Hubby is always approached, though, as he has a Hong Kong CM pin that's a yin/yang on a mickey head. I guess it's quite valued with traders! However, I bought it for him (ebay) specially, and he knows it would be his head on the block if he traded it...he's probably not going to wear it anymore, b/c he gets tired of disappointing people. (though I saw another for sale on ebay recently)

I had this pin and thought it wasn't very valuable so I traded it for one that was worthless but very cute. Oops!!!

 

[figaro4me2]

Yes bring them, we go to Disneyland all the time and we trade pins.