Pre-buying pins

[WildernessExplorer04]

My family and I are heading down to Disney World in December, and I'm looking forward to pin trading. I'm fairly new at it, though, and I was wondering where you all get your pins from before a trip? I've read some trip reports about people buying some traders off of eBay for a cheap price, but then I also read somewhere that a lot of the ones bought off eBay turn out to be unofficial scrappers, so I got worried. What would be my best bet to buy cheap pins to trade? Do you know someone on eBay who sells good, official ones? Thanks!

 

[Jedimike]

Any "lot" on Ebay in which you're paying $1.00 a pin or less is most likely (like 99% of the time) a lot of scrappers that you should avoid.

In the parks, the packages of pins are the best deals, and they are generally ~$4 - $5 a pin (i.e., $32 for a package of 7 pins).

If you search, you can often times on Ebay get these lots for about half that price, or for about $2 - $3 a pin (i.e., a package of 7 for $15 - $20).

Are these scrappers? I do not know. I've purchases scrappers (less than a dollar) and they are obviously fake/bad/knockoffs/rejects not worth your time. The packages on Ebay that I mention above, if they are fake, I can not tell. I think it is the best way to arm yourself with pins ahead of time.

 

[WDGPCFR]

You don't indicate where home base is for you. If there is a Disney store near you check it out and load up on any clearance pin. It is a lot harder to find one now.

 

[smiller1971]

My kids are not hard core traders. They mostly trade with cast members and we have not had any problems with the eBay pins. It's great--we get pins for about 50 cents apiece and my kids have tons of fun in the parks. We then buy them some special pins once there.

 

[jenineh]

My question......I always thought that you could not trade scrapers in the parks. Today I read somewhere that you can. Which is true? I never let my kids trade the expensive ones that we buy at the park. I will only let them trade the inexpensive mystery ones. I'd hate for my kids to trade for scrapers though. I am guessing I need to inspect each trade.

 

[jco_direwolf]

My question......I always thought that you could not trade scrapers in the parks. Today I read somewhere that you can. Which is true? I never let my kids trade the expensive ones that we buy at the park. I will only let them trade the inexpensive mystery ones. I'd hate for my kids to trade for scrapers though. I am guessing I need to inspect each trade.

Trouble is a lot of CMs don't care to look close enough. Yes if you guy a lot of pins for 0.50 you are likely buying scrapers, and trading them for real pins (way to go.)

 

[texasbelle12]

I have found (but not yet purchased) a lot of pins through the clothing and accessories resale app, Poshmark. On average the pins seem to go for about $3/each, however with the app you can bargain on price, or if buying multiple pins from one seller you can also see about getting a discount. Also, if the pins are not authentic (and claim to be) they will generally refund your money so you are protected!

 

[sharonabe]

Trouble is a lot of CMs don't care to look close enough. Yes if you guy a lot of pins for 0.50 you are likely buying scrapers, and trading them for real pins (way to go.)

And the people who trade after you are possibly trading real pins for the scrappers you traded.

 

[stky6]

We ALWAYS get our pins from ebay and NEVER have had problems. We recently purchased 100 pins for $45.00, they are all official for trading. There was a list on here somewhere of sellers that were reputable to buy from, maybe do a search for it.

 

[Haygar2]

I bought a lot of 25 pins off of ebay. While i didn't spend $0.50, I did spend quite a bit less than what they are asking in the parks. Keep in mind that they are older pins and CAN have some duplicates. We went through them and decided which ones we wanted to keep and which ones we wanted to trade. They all came with the Disney logo on the back and some of them had the hidden Mickey.

 

[jco_direwolf]

They all came with the Disney logo on the back and some of them had the hidden Mickey.

Doesn't mean they aren't scrapers. You have to look at the color and cut. the pin trading sites mostly have pages about scrapers.

http://www.dizpins.com/pinventory/scrappers.htm

 

[Skmcpher]

We have been trading pins for 2 years now and we've rarely come across pins traded from cast members that are of high quality. The way we look at it, we trade for the pins we like and we don't care if they are technically scrappers or not. The whole pin trading system has been flooded with the cheap pins and that is what most cast members have so we see no point in buying expensive pins to trade. If you just want to collect pins that you like and don't care whether they are the real genuine Disney pins or not, then buy on eBay and have fun. Each time we go, we bring a bunch of pins we want to trade and we buy special pins we want to keep. I keep my special pins that I will never trade either at home or pinned to my bag with the heavy duty locking pin backs, and the ones I want to trade are on my lanyard. Have fun with it!

 

[NJdadof2]

We have been trading pins for 2 years now and we've rarely come across pins traded from cast members that are of high quality. The way we look at it, we trade for the pins we like and we don't care if they are technically scrappers or not. The whole pin trading system has been flooded with the cheap pins and that is what most cast members have so we see no point in buying expensive pins to trade. If you just want to collect pins that you like and don't care whether they are the real genuine Disney pins or not, then buy on eBay and have fun. Each time we go, we bring a bunch of pins we want to trade and we buy special pins we want to keep. I keep my special pins that I will never trade either at home or pinned to my bag with the heavy duty locking pin backs, and the ones I want to trade are on my lanyard. Have fun with it!

Perfectly stated.

 

[SabresFan]

Here is the link to the thread on
Good/Bad Internet and eBay Pin Sellers

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2213419

I try to only buy pins that I THINK are legit - I have no desire to be infringing anybody's copyrights, and if stuff is obviously fake, then I don't want to get involved in it. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of the pins in my collection were fake.

Just try to be as honest as you can and avoid the ones that people have flagged as fakes. The ones I have bought on eBay have almost always appeared to be legit (because I avoid the obvious scrappers) - and I do look at sellers to see where they are listed on this thread.

 

[WildernessExplorer04]

Thank you for all your help, everybody!

There's still quite a bit of time before my trip, so I'll take all of your information into consideration and look around that eBay seller list for a while. I feel like I'd feel a bit guilty if I traded away scrappers, so I'm definitely going to try to be as honest as possible, like one of you said.

Once again, thanks so much!

 

[jneal3285]

I also recommend checking out Character Warehouse before your trip into the parks- they often have some great authentic pins at a great price! Just make sure to save some for me

 

[Holeshot1982]

One thing you can do is buy the mystery pins sold at Disney for like 3.00 each... I met a girl on a cruise who had a bunch of them and she said it was the cheapest way to real Disney pins for trades.

 

[::Snow_White::]

I used to be a merchandise CM and we did pin trading and we always accept Disney pins even if we know that they are scrappers, we were not allowed to turn people away unless they were Universal or some other non-Disney pins, so you will be fine.

However, it's likely that when you trade with CMs you'll end up with a few scrappers since there are so many traded off of them. I personally didn't care trading my personal pins for scrappers as long as I liked them so it's all up to you! Some scrappers you can obviously tell because the colors will peel off in sheets and they are super thin compared to real pins. A tip they taught us was if you drop it on something and it doesn't sound like a normal heavy metal (you know like when you drop a coin, it echoes) then it's probably fake. Have fun!

 

[sdonovan]

I have had some luck with a seller on fb. there page is called Disney pins 1.15 &up. They have a great selection for great prices. Also you can order mystery pins off the disney store website.