Trading Pins......

[jrjones1990]

Part 2 of my questinos from my crazy-less-than-30-days-to-plan-for-Disney whirlwind.....

PINS
We bought a lot of 28 off ebay - 14 for each child - I thought that would be PLENTY - I can't imagine much more on a lanyard anyway and my kids are only 5 and 6 - but I find now that I want MORE!!!! I didn't expect this addiction! Is 28 (14 each) plenty and will it be enough to make trading fun in the parks?

Thank you!!!!

 

[zarvgirl]

I think that the amount you have is plenty. We were there for 7 nights, 7 days in the parks. Our children would put about 7 or 8 pins on their lanyards that they wanted to trade. All favorites always got left in our room, in case they might get lost!!
Trading pins was an awesome filler to the day. Each of our children starting collecting a certain theme and managed to collect a dozen or so of their favorites to fit the theme.
It was hard for me to let them make their own decisions and try and get in on the action!!!

 

[stopher1]

My oldest son first started the pin trading thing in our family several years back, and now each trip we get a lot on ebay to split up between each child, as well as my DW and I. Our last family trip was in Oct. and I found a lot of 50. 10 each was plenty for that trip. My DD actually will put about 6 on her lanyard in th emorning, and every single day ends up with an entirely different set by the time we get back to the room. My DS' are both a bit more selective, and might only trade 1 or 2 per day since they are looking for specific characters or situations...DD just loves the thrill of the trade. DW came back home again with 3 of the original eBay ones (much more selective), and now has 3 to add to whatever we get from eBay the next time around.

It's a nice little addition to a trip.

 

[james'mommy]

Pin trading is addicting. I buy lots of 50 and start getting panicked when my supply drops below 20. There have been emergency trips to the premier character outlet to get more pins when supplies have been low. We also save a lot of our trades.

 

[jrjones1990]

That's so funny! What's with those little pins that suddenly makes me want more? LOL

So when you say that your "supply runs low" what do you mean? I take it that you trade one for one so how do you have less? Or are you referring to your "tradable supply"? Sorry if dumb questions!

 

[james'mommy]

Yes. I mean tradeable supply. DS keeps everything that he trades. To him everything is a keeper. Me I'm more selective. I load up a lanyard with 10 pins every morning. I also keep a few in my pocket and so does DH. I trade away the junk I get off of ebay for something more desirable. Occasionally I find keepers.

 

[SherylWrites]

They each have about 25 pins now that they've traded for from lots I've bought off of E-Bay. Our first trip I bought them a souvenier pin from each park that they aren't allowed to trade.
It's a great way for them to meet people from all over the world. And they end up with the sets that they want. My dd managed to trade for a whole set one day in Epcot. The last pin she needed was hanging around a CM's neck while we were in line for Soarin'. He was busy running back and forth doing this and that but he stopped and made time for her to trade. She was one happy kid and I was very impressed.
It's a simple, cost effective way to collect souveniers of real importance to them.

 

[LPNmom]

I think that that you should have enough for your trip. My daughter who was 9 on our last trip and loved trading. She can't wait to bring her pins back to WDW in Sept. She used some of her own money at the parks to buy pins she couldn't live with out, it was a great lesson with money. My youngest daughter age 5 on our last trip didn't really care about the pin trading, I think this time she will have more fun with it.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

The problem is that the kids will trade for pins they want to keep. Once they run out of "traders" you are in trouble.

DH, DS13 and I all trade. DS and I typically go through about 20 pins per day EACH. DH is a bit more selective.

Be cautious when buying pins from eBay because many of them are counterfeits. We only buy trading pins from Disney Shopping, Disney Store, or the authorized Disney liquidation sales.

 

[NaplesRI]

For any of you that stay offsite, you also get a card every day when you enter the parking lot. It's for a free pin that you pick up at a specific store on that Disney property.
Some of these turned into "traders", a couple were "keepers".
It was almost exciting to get a "trader"

 

[5stljayhawks]

I got a ebay 15 set, kids are 5/3 and for the most part they did all the trading. At the end of the trip they each had 4-5 pins on homemade lanyards out of old kindercare metals.

There were a few keeper pins, that we can across and pulled them. We would not take the lanyards everyday, it's a PIA with small kids, but when we did take them, Iwould throw an extra pin or two in my pocket. That way if we came across a keeper. I could make sure the kids were "even" on the pin count.

It's fun, still in the camper from Nov, but a great hobby and will provide cheap fun and memories. I have a Micky/Minnie hanging from my car rearview mirror. Something about the love for my wife......

 

[Nlbnikki]

I don't think there is such a thing as enough pins to trade for DD6. The keepers end up as her big souvenier & they go on a board in her room. We buy them from mousepinsonline.com & have been very happy with them every time. She is now at least trying to get complete collections/sets when she trades so she is a little pickier. Problem is DD3 idolizes big sis & wants to do everything she does,so she trades a few each day too.

 

[sanibelsettler]

It depends whether you have kids who are traders or collecters. I have two traders, and one that only trades for what he loves. He buys many extra pins to trade!

 

[erika412]

At what age were your kids into the trading and undertstanding it? I could see my 5 & 6 year old just trading for trading sake and giving favorites away and not understaind that they will not get them back.

 

[sanibelsettler]

At what age were your kids into the trading and undertstanding it? I could see my 5 & 6 year old just trading for trading sake and giving favorites away and not understaind that they will not get them back.

Mine did this for a long time. Eventually I learned to pull the ones I loved, and just allow them to trade for what they like. Frustrating at times, but it took out the stress for me.

 

[pixiewings71]

We all trade so I make sure I have at LEAST 100 traders per trip to DL. We go pretty often (see siggy notes) so I just try to stay "stocked" on traders. Some of our trips we do hardly any trading, other trips we do a lot of trading so my guideline is to have 100 available just in case. That's 25 for each of us. I don't really buy "lots" anymore, I've received too many scrapper pins and those are not tradeable so it's wasted money. I instead purchase many different pins from individuals and combine shipping, I have 2 lots coming soon......

 

[Faldred]

At what age were your kids into the trading and undertstanding it? I could see my 5 & 6 year old just trading for trading sake and giving favorites away and not understaind that they will not get them back.

DS3 (just turned 4) was pretty good about this. He had a dozen that we got him from eBay -- but he liked a particular style and wound up trading with myself and DW for all the ones we had of that style. That left him only 5 "traders" for the week.

For a not-quite-four-year-old, he did pretty well. Some pins he traded for and then traded away later, but he seemed to understand (especially because we reinforced the point) that once he traded it away, it was gone. It took some reminding, as a few times he decided he wanted a specific CM pin without figuring out what he wanted to trade for it, but in the end he liked what he wound up with, and there were no tears at any point.

 

[Carolina Mouse]

Here's a little tip. When your kids are looking to trade with a cast member, look for ones that are "turned around" - i.e., they have it pinned on backwards and all you can see is the clasp.

My kids noticed it on our last trip on one cast member. They traded for the mystery pins and they ended up pleasantly surprised. They were all unique "Euro Disney" pins.