Veteran Pin Traders...Help, Please!!!

[wdwdreamin2]

How did you start?

I would like to start DD6 on our trip in January. She won't know we are going until Christmas morning

So..I wanted to have her open the lanyard and starter pins that morning.

I have already purchased a lanyard off ebay, but the pins are Very overwhelming.

Any suggestions? Should I wait till we get there?



Amy

 

[CapEldano2]

I personally pretty much pick pins I like rather than pins that are rare. Find out which Disney character(s) she likes and get the pins of that character that best fit her personality. For example.. I have a Chesire Cat pin that says "Weird and Wacky", that I wear proudly in the parks. I wouldn't go too crazy though before you get to the parks because a lot of times, pins from someone's favorite attractions can be great to have. I would say buy two or three pins off ebay and then build her collection in the parks

 

[jennib5426]

I have been trading for about 5 years. We go to WDW 1 or 2 times a year and trade.
We always by a pack of 25 - 50 pins off ebay to start with.
You can get good pins from ebay that are true disney trading pins for as low as $3 a pin. In the parks they cost you $6.50-$12 a pin.

Be careful when buying, you want true disney pins that are tradable.
Read sellers feedback for the past 6 months to get an idea about pin quality.
I try to stay away of buying bulk of the same pin, if I am buying it so is everyone else and cast landyards will be flooded with them, which makes it harder to trade.

Good luck

 

[hezreck]

Your DD will love pin trading. Ours was 7 when she started. This time, I bought a set of 10 pins on Ebay for her to trade. I bought ones that I knew she wouldn't want to keep. Also, make sure they say Disney on the backs. Ask the seller if it doesn't say in the description.

If you want to wait until you get to Disney, I would suggest buying a pin trading starter set at any of the gift shops. It includes a lanyard and 4 or 5 pins, all the same design. I believe they are around $26.00. Then head off to the parks and start trading. My DD only trades with CM's, she doesn't trade with other guests. The CM's are great with kids. Have a great time!!

 

[missmonkey]

You write that you've already purchased a lanyard but you can still borrow an idea from the starter lanyard-and-pin sets sold in the parks. The gift shops sell a lanyard with four pins. There are two of one pin and two of another. The idea is to be able to keep one of the duplicate pins and use the other to trade.

Be aware that the only pins permitted for trading have "Disney" written on the plastic pin backing shaped like a wee Mickey head. Wherever you choose to buy your pins, make sure you can visually inspect them so you can verify the presence of this word.

 

[lazydazy8]

I am NO veteran... we are new to the pin collecting, but I read your post and thought I'd share our plans.

This is my kids first trip (in 17 days). They love to collect everything and ANYTHING (rocks from my driveway, even!). I bought a bunch of pins from seller moth339. She is wonderful! She is a great resource for all pin collecting information! As far as which ones to buy, I simply picked out ones I thought they'd enjoy. I do know that some pins are specific to cast members only and can be more valuable if you planned to build a collection to sell. (Which is of no concern to us, we just want the fun!)

Anyhow, I bought a bunch of pins from her so the kids will have a bunch of pins to start trading with. I understand that the pins are quite expensive in the parks. I wanted to buy lanyards ahead of time to put in their surprise box, but decided I'd let them pick them out when we got there. (I have picked out and purchased so much else b/f going!)

 

[AStamm]

I would personally stay away from eBay pins until you've become a more knowledgeable trader. We bought our DS a lot of 40 or something shortly after we came back from DL in June and thought the quality was terrible--certainly nothing like the pins we bought or traded for at the park. The seller was a power seller and had all but one or two negative feedbacks over the course of the year, but I just couldn't keep them in good conscience knowing my DS might be trading garbage.

I'd recommend purchasing your starter pins off www.disneyshopping.com--you can often times get a set of pins for around $3 or $4 each, especially with the discounts and free shipping they are always throwing out. We ended up getting around 50 of them for DS to trade when we went in August and he had a blast. We've continued to be on the lookout for good deals from the web site and have almost another 50 for him to trade when we head back for Christmas.

 

[Drcell01]

You can also purchase pins at your local Disney Store. They have just recently put several styles of pins on sale (most of them have a "Halloween" theme to them) at a price of $2.99 each and can be used to trade at the parks.

I would also suggest that if you are at the Magic Kingdom please visit with Scoop Sanderson. He is the official "Disney Pin Trading" ambasador. He can be found at Exibition Hall (at the entrance to Main Street USA) at 1:00pm Sunday to Wednesday. He loves to educate guests about pin trading and especially loves visits from children as they start out pin trading.

Good Luck and Happy Pin Trading!!!

 

[mamacatnv]

My DD 7 asked the waitress at our restaurant one evening how pin trading worked and she went and found a pin trading guru who came and sat at the table and explained the whole thing to my DD, then proceeded to be her 1st trade. She was hooked from there on.

We were never approached and we never approached anyone but a CM. The CM's were great! It is my understanding that if the CM is wearing a green lanyard then they will only trade with kids under 12.

The only clear rule I know of is that a CM cannot trade for a pin that they already have on their lanyard.

I have picked up 110 pins on ebay over the past 6 months for the kids. I buy in small sets/lots of usually 10 or less. I pay about $3.5 ea on average. I read the description for the Disney wording and I inspect the pictures. IMO stay away from the large "lots" and "grab bags". Go to PinPics.com for some really useful information on purchasing pins thru sources other than just the parks.

We depart for Fl. on Christmas morning. The kids are getting the pins and a new lanyard as their present from me and Dad.

 

[STEAMBOAT209]

I started collecting Disney Pins from the beginning, and I learned very quickly that there are way to many to try and collect everything you like. You need to narrow down what area or theme you want to go with. Characters, movies, rides, resorts, limited editions, special occasions,, trying to go with all the different areas will get very costly. My personel preference is mickey pins open stock or limited edition pins. Try to stay away from purchasing lot pins, there are too many times pins that you won't want or be able to trade.
Once you come up with a threme, it will be easier to decide which pins will be a must have for your collection. Good Luck with your DD's new adventure on collecting. Here is one of my favorites.

 

[jayandstacey]

I'll add my 2 cents as my DD6 just traded for the first time last week, and we had no idea what we were doing... So I'll tell you what we did and you can decide if it makes sense.

First, we bought a few pins at our local Disney store about 2 weeks before going. They were on sale, so not too bad. She picked pins that she liked, including some she didn't know (like the ghost from the Tim Burton Holloween movie). She bought doubles of a few, but not many. She got maybe 12 total.

We arrived at the beach club and Art the greeter was her first trade. As others have said, a soft landing helps.

Again, I'm no expert - but the rule seems to be that you can approach a CM and trade (if they have pins) and when trading you can say which one you want to give up from your batch, and which one you want to take from theirs. After all, I don't believe they are really their 'collections,' rather they are just a part of the profitable Disney magic. Econmics aside, you ALWAYS get the benefit of meeting a CM, and that is well worth a buying a pin, to me.

My wife bought a lanyard when we arrived - to hold our park tix and the pins. When it was time to trade, our DD6 took the lanyard. If you are nice and willing to give up any of yuor pins, you could certainly let the CM choose one from your lot.

My daughter quickly decided she wanted princess pins, and was always successful finding them, or something else she thought was cool. We traded one pin with another guest we met - she said the ghost was rare. OK - we weren't going for rare (and they were just on the shelf at our local store) so we traded - and had a nice conversation.

We didn't seek trades but did them when the time seemed right. By the end of our trip, we had traded all our original pins for new ones. Our DD6 liked the original pins, but the new ones each came with a smiling face and a few nice words - at we all figured out what pin trading is all about.

So akuna matada. Pick something, anything your DD6 likes. Vehicles, villians, princesses or pirates - there's plenty of everything. Let her change her mind each time - doesn't matter. Just get a few disney pins and dive in!

 

[jayandstacey]

Also, two things -
- to answer your question, yes, I would get some pins before going. Then you can start right away without having to sidetrack to a gift shop (not that a gift shop is ever far away )
- I think trading is a first step and a subset of collecting. My DD6 doesn't appear to want to collect, at least not yet. But she did love trading, as you can see above. My advice is to enjoy trading, then learn more about collecting as the mood strikes. And besides, to a 6 year old, 12 pins is a big collection

Can we all come to your house for Christmas??

 

[M 'n C]

definetly check out disneyshopping.com Usually they have nice pins that if she doesn't want to trade you won't be stuck with ugly ones you know?

Then if she really gets into it there are shops at DTD and the parks that sell the "baby" character sets of 7 pins for $25 which is a pretty good deal esp when it is late in your trip and you are addicted.

 

[wdwdreamin2]

OMG!!!!!

You guys are awesome

I gotta run to work

Be back later, though!

 

[gbrogers]

This will be our first time trading. I went the Ebay route for our pins, but I was very careful about what I bidded on. I only went after official park pins or Disney Store pins. Following this strategy, I purchased a total of 33 pins (3 different lots) at an average price $2.10 per pin (including shipping). We received the pins last week, and they were quality pins.

If you are thinking about Ebay, do your homework before you bid. I have read too many sad stories on DIS about CM's not trading for pins that were listed as pins that could be traded in the parks on Ebay.

 

[learnhome]

This will be our first time trading. I went the Ebay route for our pins, but I was very careful about what I bidded on. I only went after official park pins or Disney Store pins. Following this strategy, I purchased a total of 33 pins (3 different lots) at an average price $2.10 per pin (including shipping). We received the pins last week, and they were quality pins.

If you are thinking about Ebay, do your homework before you bid. I have read too many sad stories on DIS about CM's not trading for pins that were listed as pins that could be traded in the parks on Ebay.

How do you know which pins can be traded?? I, too, am going to WDW for our first family trip in January 2007. I was just looking TODAY at pins on ebay, and there are so many, and some people are charging ridiculous shipping rates, like 4.75 and over for one tiny pin?? Do you have an ebay seller you would recommend??

thanks!
Chris

 

[DisneyFunfor3]

I started my DS pin trading 3 or 4 years ago. I was afraid that we might lose him in the parks and I wanted him to 1) know what a cast member is and 2) feel comfortable approaching them....so pin trading seemed like a great idea.

OK...fast forward to now...pin trading is still great. He has TONS of pins (and I have some too) and we thoroughly enjoy talking with the cast members and trading pins with them...in fact, we've made a few friends along the way.

Yes, pin trading is expensive. We have bought some pins off of e-bay with good success (never really gotten stiffed) but we've also bought some from within the parks...the packs are the way to go there!

To the OP (wdwdreamin2)...if you'll PM me with your daughters name and address, I'll send her a few pins (for free that she can trade) in an envelope with a note that is signed by a character...I think that would make a great stocking stuffer for her and help make her trip just a bit more magical! Just let me know how you want it sent. I'll explain to her the rules of trading in the note and tell her to have fun. Why....just to spread the magic!

Karen

 

[gbrogers]

How do you know which pins can be traded?? I, too, am going to WDW for our first family trip in January 2007. I was just looking TODAY at pins on ebay, and there are so many, and some people are charging ridiculous shipping rates, like 4.75 and over for one tiny pin?? Do you have an ebay seller you would recommend??

I found Ebay overwhelming at first too. Here are some tips from my experience:

1. I looked for multiple pins being sold together by narrowing my pin searches on "Official Disney Pins" or "Disney Pin Lots".
2. Look for pins that have the Disney backstamp and copyright. I avoided Sedesma pins. Sellers will list this information.
3. Shipping can be really outragious so I used the following formula to determine my maximum bid: Bid = (Total Pins x 2.50) - shipping
4. If pin numbers are listed on the auction, check them at PinPics.com.

 

[mamacatnv]

I found Ebay overwhelming at first too. Here are some tips from my experience:

1. I looked for multiple pins being sold together by narrowing my pin searches on "Official Disney Pins" or "Disney Pin Lots".
2. Look for pins that have the Disney backstamp and copyright. I avoided Sedesma pins. Sellers will list this information.
3. Shipping can be really outragious so I used the following formula to determine my maximum bid: Bid = (Total Pins x 2.50) - shipping
4. If pin numbers are listed on the auction, check them at PinPics.com.

I agree, buy in lots. I usually get the 8-15 pins per lot size.
Make sure you see the picture of the actual pins being bid on

I too use a formula but I spend a little more
total pins X 3.25 + shipping divide by #of pins I will not usually purchase if formula exceeds $3.75 per pin.

This is my max and I have rarely paid that much, I am usually right in the $3.25-3.50 range.

 

[AshleyMWC]

This may be a silly question, but do adults pin trade also, even those adults without kids in tow? I have never doen this, but I do own some pins I have bought just because I thought think they are neat. When I was a "too cool" teenager I would have no way been caught wearing such thing as a lanyard around my neck, btu now at the ripe age of 26 (well, in 4 weeks!), I suddenly think it might be fun. Even if I don't trade, I thought it might be fun to wear it with pins that fit my personality. Thoughts?