Let’s help new pin traders avoid the cheap pins

[PinCrazed]

I have a great distaste for the people who stand in front of the pin trading station at the Disney Marketplace DTD. The pro-traders have gotten so desperate to make money that they are really sinking to all time lows. I have seen it all. I would suppose that most people have gotten suckered by these people at some point when they are new to trading.

I really wish Disney would do something about these folks. Scrapper pins, fake pins and all that other stuff really pales in comparison to what these guys and gals are doing to pin trading. At least online they are not ripping you off right to your face.

It is private property so they could ask them to leave.

 

[arielchickenofthesea]

No problem I knew the shipping was a rip off. I am just trying to get some pins for my 4 year old to trade and not annoy cm's. Any info is great. I have my eye on a 10 lot set but it has 3 days on it. If I get that I am done. I will ask before I bid if it is legit I just do not want to waste your time if the bidding goes higher than I am willing to spend. What does a cast pin mean?? Thanks!

Shipping is NOT always a ripoff. Postal rates go up, shipping rates from sellers HAVE to go up. Listing fees are astronomical and are being raised yet again. Do you expect the seller to give away the merchandise or pay for the shipping for you? If they have high listing fees and other fees you don't know about, that must be added to a final price along with shipping to have the seller make ANY kind of profit. A lot of these people are not in it just for fun. Some need the extra income to survive.

If you are looking at pins, ALWAYS check the shipping costs. They will include HANDLING which in some cases is outrageous and in some cases fair. Every seller is getting dinged on shipping costs and shipping time. They have ZERO control over the USPS and if they ship out something fast, it could still get there late. There are great sellers who keep the shipping prices fair and there are some not so great sellers who overcharge. There is recourse for this. Feedback and NOT buying from them again will work everytime.

Find sellers you trust and stick with them. Loyal customers often get breaks on shipping if you buy from someone long enough. I have 4-5 sellers that I buy from who know me well and I am loyal to them. I do not get charged outrageous shipping because I researched these sellers and found they were fair and I have stuck by them and always get my pins from them. If I see a pin I like from a seller who has high shipping, I will email my sellers and ask them to find the pin for me, and they have, EVERY time. These are knowledgable and expert pin collectors and sellers. I buy from no on else.

And, remember this: There is a NEW postal rate increase coming up yet again. You cannot blame the new increase on the sellers! Be fair. They are going to have have to raise their rates again, because they have to pay it to ship it. Do you think they should eat the shipping cost and pay it for you? That is unreasonable. Some do and they are making nothing on their sales. Not everyone can do that.

I just want everyone to remember that shipping fees and time are NOT always the fault of the seller and you have to be responsible as a buyer to check what those charges are BEFORE you bid or buy. Most sellers will offer combined shipping on their pins as well.

NO I am NOT a seller, I am a buyer/collector and have only been ripped off on shipping about 3 times. I now email and ask if I have questions and I will always look at the auction to see what the shipping is listed as. Protect yourselves, but do NOT give low marks for shipping if it is just that YOU don't LIKE the cost. It may have cost the seller MORE to ship than you know. And the seller does not like that cost either. It makes his selling harder to do.

Have fun buying and collecting, but remember many of the sellers are just like you and make very little after ebay takes their cut and the shipping is not their fault all the time. You will know by checking many auctions and doing comparisons on shipping. See who offers combined and see who makes you pay an arm and a leg for just one pin. Go with who you think is fair. And no, they are not going to ship it for less than they pay or they lose money.

There are some sellers that do charge less and some give you free shipping. These sellers are not going to be there for very long, once the new policies at ebay come into being. They will NOT be able to do what they are doing anymore.
They will not survive financially and they will either have to start charging shipping or stop selling.

I have NEVER sold and will NEVER sell there, because ebay is taking too much in fees and one cannot survive there just selling a small amount of pins anymore. My sellers do larger inventory and we shall see if they can make it there. Time will tell.
ACOTS

 

[arielchickenofthesea]

anyone ever buy from maxheadroom777

?

I just bought 3 pins and feedback was good but after researching here and other places I am now nervous about scrappers.

I also made an offer on a LE Mickeys Not SO Scary Halloween Party Pin from 2006 (We attended this party but dd was not into pin trading at the time) butthe seller lists no number on the back. Are all limited editions numbered and if so should I ask her to provide this information?

This is a very honest and stand-up seller. I have bought from him a number of times. He is fair. Remember, some of the sellers are not collectors and don't always know if what they are getting is real or a scrapper. Scrappers end up on cast lanyards all the time so you cannot be positive that you are NOT getting one trading with just cast members. And sometimes these pins on ebay come form cast lanyards, other traders, bought by the seller themselves... There are scrappers everywhere and only a trained eye will be able to detect some of them.
I have never seen a scrapper from this seller.
ACOTS

 

[angiepangie8]

sorry I haven't read through the posts yet, but if someone could guide me to best yet value conscious site that sells pins I would greatly appreciate it. It will be DS~8 and DD~5 first WDW trip and I just want them to get a few to trade if they wanna try it.

Don't want to get junk (not that i know what these would even look like) pins.

Thank you

 

[burberryplaid]

Just wanted to thank you all for your knowledge. I'm interested in starting pin trading beginning with our next trip in April/May and I want to buy pins on e-bay to begin with. I'm also checking out the Disney store online, but I didn't see any great deals there at the moment.

I found some that look great from some of the dealers you all mentioned previously and I'm looking at some from the dealer ajbarr and maxludlow. Here are the auctions I was specifically looking at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140209577923&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140209580128&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140209574829&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150218357040&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=005

Do these all seem ok to you?

Also, how many pins do you think I should start out with?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[Plantlady]

sorry I haven't read through the posts yet, but if someone could guide me to best yet value conscious site that sells pins I would greatly appreciate it. It will be DS~8 and DD~5 first WDW trip and I just want them to get a few to trade if they wanna try it.

Don't want to get junk or Lanyard (not that i know what these would even look like) pins.

Thank you

I bought from ebay seller mikebiteme. I bought 50 pins for 1.80 each, and $6 shipping... the package actually cost him over $7 to ship, and he sent me 51 pins. I was happy with the quality of all of the pins. We will have a hard time trading away some of them, we like them so much. Now, I'm not a pin trading expert by any means... just a mom, wanting to keep the boys and DH happy.. but, I was very happy with the quality and price.

 

[my3princes]

Just wanted to thank you all for your knowledge. I'm interested in starting pin trading beginning with our next trip in April/May and I want to buy pins on e-bay to begin with. I'm also checking out the Disney store online, but I didn't see any great deals there at the moment.

I found some that look great from some of the dealers you all mentioned previously and I'm looking at some from the dealer ajbarr and maxludlow. Here are the auctions I was specifically looking at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140209577923&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140209580128&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140209574829&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150218357040&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=005

Do these all seem ok to you?

Also, how many pins do you think I should start out with?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

I've bought from maxludlow before and was very happy with the pins and the transaction in general.

 

[PinCrazed]

Just wanted to thank you all for your knowledge. I'm interested in starting pin trading beginning with our next trip in April/May and I want to buy pins on e-bay to begin with. I'm also checking out the Disney store online, but I didn't see any great deals there at the moment.

I found some that look great from some of the dealers you all mentioned previously and I'm looking at some from the dealer ajbarr and maxludlow. Here are the auctions I was specifically looking at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140209577923&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140209580128&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140209574829&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150218357040&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=005

Do these all seem ok to you?

Also, how many pins do you think I should start out with?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

It is virtually impossible to deal with anyone online who does not have any scrapper pins in them. There are several scrapper pins, or at least some of the common scrapper pins, that you find going around. However, it looks like these folks mix and match scrapper pins with pins they have traded in the parks. If you ask them they will always deny it.

Overall it looks like all of those pins will be tradeable and they are not the blatantly "fake" looking pins.

 

[GrillMouster]

I bought from ebay seller mikebiteme... Now, I'm not a pin trading expert by any means... just a mom, wanting to keep the boys and DH happy.. but, I was very happy with the quality and price.

After reading a positive previous post about mikebiteme, I ordered a lot of 20 pins from him. Among the group I've identified some counterfeit/scrappers, and I suspect that they all are scrappers/counterfeit.

 

[angiepangie8]

After reading a previous post about this seller, I ordered a lot of 20 pins from him. Among the group I've identified some counterfeit/scrappers, and I suspect that they all are scrappers/counterfeit.

yipes!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I have purchased from maxludlow before. All of the pins I have seen from that seller are the Disney Store pins from last year, and to the best of my knowledge there aren't any "fakes" of those. They are small compared to pins from Disney Shopping or the new Disney Store pins, but they are cute pins and fairly nice quality.

 

[burberryplaid]

I've bought from maxludlow before and was very happy with the pins and the transaction in general.

It is virtually impossible to deal with anyone online who does not have any scrapper pins in them. There are several scrapper pins, or at least some of the common scrapper pins, that you find going around. However, it looks like these folks mix and match scrapper pins with pins they have traded in the parks. If you ask them they will always deny it.

Overall it looks like all of those pins will be tradeable and they are not the blatantly "fake" looking pins.

I have purchased from maxludlow before. All of the pins I have seen from that seller are the Disney Store pins from last year, and to the best of my knowledge there aren't any "fakes" of those. They are small compared to pins from Disney Shopping or the new Disney Store pins, but they are cute pins and fairly nice quality.

Thanks for all your help. I may just have to bite the bullet and pay for nicer/genuine pins. I'll keep my eyes out on Disneyshopping.com

 

[2xlechemom]

After reading a previous post about this seller, I ordered a lot of 20 pins from him. Among the group I've identified some counterfeit/scrappers, and I suspect that they all are scrappers/counterfeit.

Yes, I got a pin from him. I'd compared the pic with pin pics and was pretty sure it was good. Pin I got was not the one in the pictures.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Yes, I got a pin from him. I'd compared the pic with pin pics and was pretty sure it was good. Pin I got was not the one in the pictures.

I am sorry that happened! But you brought up a VERY good point. Some sellers will use photos from PinPics or the Disney pin site instead of photographing the ACTUAL pin they are selling. Watch out for that!

 

[Tomh]

While the intention of this thread is great, ultimately, it winds up being useless. I have three kids, and will be taking them all to Disney this summer. For two it will be their first time. The third lived in Florida for many years before moving to New York to be with us. While she lived there, she visited the parks many times, and had a pin collection, but unfortunately, it didn't come to New York with her.

She had such fond memories of pin trading that I decided I would get pins for all three kids to trade. We will be there for 7 days, and I wanted to at least be able to give them 2 pins each per day to trade. When I did the math, and realized that at $6+ each per pin, that was going to cost me more than $250, I started looking for a better deal.

I read this entire thread, from the first post to the last, and finally settled on an online seller who was recommended several times in this thread. I made my purchase with a fair amount of confidence since I had gotten the recommendation here, and hadn't seen anything bad posted about the seller.

I received my pins today, and started going through pin pics. The first package of pins all seemed to check out, no noticeable defects, no mistakes on the information in the back stamp.

Then I opened up the second package of pins, and was immediately concerned since they were all packaged in those little plastic zip lock bags. Sure enough, the first two had warnings that there were unauthorized versions sold directly from China, and there was no way to verify the authenticity of any pin. Then, pin #3 from that package is certainly a fake. It should be a "1 of 3" and is instead labeled "3 of 3."

My point being if you are actually going to trade pins, as opposed to just buying them and keeping the ones you buy, then you are going to get fakes, and unless you take every pin, and scrutinized it before allowing your kids to trade it, there is a pretty good chance that you are going to pass off fakes as well, whether you intend to or not, that is just the way it is. Ultimately, to the kids it doesn't matter, as long as they like the way the pin looks, they couldn't care less if it is legitimate or not. If Disney isn't stopping this from happening, there is no way that the casual trader, the parent of kids who want to trade, can be expected to know 100% whether every pin their kids trade is the real deal.

 

[astrodrummergirl]

While the intention of this thread is great, ultimately, it winds up being useless. I have three kids, and will be taking them all to Disney this summer. For two it will be their first time. The third lived in Florida for many years before moving to New York to be with us. While she lived there, she visited the parks many times, and had a pin collection, but unfortunately, it didn't come to New York with her.

She had such fond memories of pin trading that I decided I would get pins for all three kids to trade. We will be there for 7 days, and I wanted to at least be able to give them 2 pins each per day to trade. When I did the math, and realized that at $6+ each per pin, that was going to cost me more than $250, I started looking for a better deal.

I read this entire thread, from the first post to the last, and finally settled on an online seller who was recommended several times in this thread. I made my purchase with a fair amount of confidence since I had gotten the recommendation here, and hadn't seen anything bad posted about the seller.

I received my pins today, and started going through pin pics. The first package of pins all seemed to check out, no noticeable defects, no mistakes on the information in the back stamp.

Then I opened up the second package of pins, and was immediately concerned since they were all packaged in those little plastic zip lock bags. Sure enough, the first two had warnings that there were unauthorized versions sold directly from China, and there was no way to verify the authenticity of any pin. Then, pin #3 from that package is certainly a fake. It should be a "1 of 3" and is instead labeled "3 of 3."

My point being if you are actually going to trade pins, as opposed to just buying them and keeping the ones you buy, then you are going to get fakes, and unless you take every pin, and scrutinized it before allowing your kids to trade it, there is a pretty good chance that you are going to pass off fakes as well, whether you intend to or not, that is just the way it is. Ultimately, to the kids it doesn't matter, as long as they like the way the pin looks, they couldn't care less if it is legitimate or not. If Disney isn't stopping this from happening, there is no way that the casual trader, the parent of kids who want to trade, can be expected to know 100% whether every pin their kids trade is the real deal.

That makes complete sense, and I totally agree with it. I must say, I don't think Disney is completly bothered by the fact of fake pins, as I may have said before, they can just switch them out whenever they want. Maybe Disney should use more trustworthy manufacturers or produce them themselves.

 

[tnmomof4]

Thanks to those of you who posted about the pin sale, with free shipping and 15% off on the disney web site. I just got my pins, and they are really nice. Most of the pins I ordered were $4. I got a couple $3 and $5 ones too. I got 25 pins. I was surprised at how big they are. Some of them take two pins. I got four jumbo pins, and they are even bigger.

Anyway.... Thanks for all the advice. I love the pins, and my kids really do too. I hope they have other sales, because this is going to be so nice taking these pins to trade. I am glad I don't have to worry about trading fake pins since I am new to this.

 

[PinGirl]

Thanks to those of you who posted about the pin sale, with free shipping and 15% off on the disney web site. I just got my pins, and they are really nice. Most of the pins I ordered were $4. I got a couple $3 and $5 ones too. I got 25 pins. I was surprised at how big they are. Some of them take two pins. I got four jumbo pins, and they are even bigger.

Anyway.... Thanks for all the advice. I love the pins, and my kids really do too. I hope they have other sales, because this is going to be so nice taking these pins to trade. I am glad I don't have to worry about trading fake pins since I am new to this.

Hey everyone - I posted this before but another source of authentic pins is the Disney Character Warehouse - it moves from time to time - but here is the link.

http://www.ams-liquidation.com/stores.htm

Pin prices range from 3.49- 4.00 on up with a discount card you can sign up for on your first trip. The one near us carries only Disneyland pins which we find are always popular at WDW. Even though these are more expensive than some pins we can get on ebay - we save up and buy at various times when the outlet is close and when Disney shopping has has sales so we are trading authentic Disney pins.

We are moving away from collecting Cast Lanyards at all as this seems to be where most of the faking/scrappers are....We realised we had traded for a few and did not even know it - like others posting here....

Does anyone think taking a bag of scrappers to guest relations would help?

Anyway - hope this helps someone - I know the ones in CA (Northern Cal) tend to be more expensive but I have heard the ones in Oregon and other locals being cheaper. I plan to go in the next few weeks and will post current prices here.

 

[GrillMouster]

Y'know, Disney could profit from all of the couterfeit/scrappers by offering an authentication service. I'm sure there are some people out there who would be willing to send a bag of pins just for piece of mind. I'm sure some third party could try offering such a service, but I think that only Disney is in a position to say definitively whether a pin is authentic.

Also, can anyone give insight into how Disney "scrubs" or "refreshes" the cast lanyards each night? I've heard that cast members turn in their lanyards each night, and someone goes through them to remove obvious counterfeits/scrappers, non-Disney pins, Sedesmas, etc, and replace them with authentic pins. If this is true, that would mean that the best time to trade pins with Cast Members is first thing in the morning, so you can avoid getting scrappers that would have been traded with the CMs. Even if this were the case, I imagine that the overwhelming number of pins they'd have to go through each night would limit their ability to scrutinize for scrappers. Most of the counterfiets/scrappers I see are very, VERY difficult to spot; they're virtually identical to authentic pins.

 

[Tomh]

That is indeed one of the problems, it is just very difficult to know. For example, I have one pin that looks right, feels right (it's not light, or flimsy, paint isn't soft, it's crisp and clear etc.) however according to pin pics, the back should say "made in china," but the pin just says china on it. I wonder about the pin, but I also wonder if the info on pin pics is accurate. How do I know if the person who submitted that info had the real pin, or if they actually had a scrapper? None of the pins I have say "made in china" on them, they all just say "china" and a couple of them matched up to the pictures and descriptions on pin pics exactly, including every bit of the text on the back stamp.

How about the cast lanyard series, where the info on pin pics just says "Please be advised that there are unauthorized versions of these pins being sold from China directly to individuals not associated with Disney. No one can guarantee the authenticity of this pin." What about those? I'd bet that cast members are still trading them. If no one can tell if they are fake or not, well then the only way to be sure is to not trade them at all any more, but that really wouldn't be fair to those people who have the real ones now would it?

It really just seems too big a mess to bother sorting out. I certainly don't want to pawn of junk on anyone else unknowingly, but to be honest, I'm just not certain that there is any way that I can tell for sure what ones are good, and what ones aren't. I think that ultimately, I'm just going to give my kids the pins I bought, and let them try to trade in the parks. If a CM tells them that one of their pins is no good, then we will keep that pin, and not try to trade it again. If the CM's accept the pins for trade, and they are fakes, well I'm sorry, but if Disney's own employees can't tell the difference between the real thing and the fake, then how the heck am I supposed to be able to?

On a final note, perhaps if Disney hadn't decided to have their pins manufactured in China to save some money, they would have tighter control over the process, and might be able to keep so many fakes from flooding the market!