Let’s help new pin traders avoid the cheap pins

[labdogs42]

Does anyone know if this site sells legitimate Disney pins?

I'm new to pin trading, so I'm still kind of clueless!

 

[Kycha]

Sorry. Wrong thread.

 

[Tomh]

Thanks for the kind words of support!

 

[PinCrazed]

People keep saying that the best thing we pin traders can do to fight against the distributors of counterfeit/scrapper pins is to make sure that we only buy authentic pins from Disney, Disney Store, disneyshopping.com, etc.. Even if were were able to get every pin trader on the disboards to follow this advice, there would still be tens of thousands of fake pins being sold daily on ebay, making their way onto lanyards at the parks. Most buyers are not on the disboards. The end result would be that we'd spend more of our money on authentic pins, and we'd be trading them away for counterfeits at the parks. And, even though Disney is not making money on the fake pins being sold on ebay, it's making PLENTY of profit on the pins it sells at the parks, Disney Store, and disneyshopping.com. You can say all you want about feeling morally justified and having a good conscious because you purchased and traded a legitimate pin, but the fact is that you're getting SUCKERED, and that SUCKS.

So how about this...how about everybody stops buying pins from Disney, and starts buying counterfeits/scrappers and trading them at the parks? I'm willing to bet that Disney would REALLY start to care when their pin sales drop and the Hidden Mickey/Cast Lanyard pins that cost them money to manufacture are being traded for fakes that were purchased elsewhere. Sure, it would suck for the few people who buy pins at the parks and trade them, but that's already happening now. Besides, the misfortune would be short-lived, for Disney would QUICKLY go after the counterfeiters with the wrath of God and would do more to eliminate counterfeits/scrappers from Cast Members' lanyards.

I'm not saying that this is what we should do...I'm just playing devil's advocate.

This is the wisest thing I have heard on this thread. Read my earlier posts about basically the same thing. Disney, by the over-pricing and lack of concern of pin trading, has created the scrapper problem themselves.

 

[PinCrazed]

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.

Tomh, I could not agree with you more. People get very upset when you bring the truth to light. I feel the same way. Pin collecting and pin trading almost ned to be compeltely different entities. They can not be one and the same when you have counterfeit pins the majority of pins out there.

 

[EpcotMatt2]

Tomh, I could not agree with you more. People get very upset when you bring the truth to light. I feel the same way. Pin collecting and pin trading almost ned to be compeltely different entities. They can not be one and the same when you have counterfeit pins the majority of pins out there.

Wow, 2 people in a row who think this thread is entirely useless? I disagree. But if you think it's useless, that's unfortunate. And luckily, everyone has the right to not read useless threads. And those who find a use for the thread can continue to read. I know I'll continue to try & give my opinion & help in whatever way I can.

 

[KatInHat]

Hey, I'm not sure if I'm asking this question in the correct place because this is not a question about avoiding cheap pins but a general question about pin trading. You guys seem to know a bit about pin trading and have been very helpful in the past. So here's my question:
My DS7 just got into pin trading on our last trip. We bought several pins to trade but he also purchased some of the larger pins that he does not want to trade. Is it ok to put locking clips on the keeper pins and wear them on the same lanyard as pins for trading? I hope this makes sense.
He also suggested wearing 2 lanyards one to display his special "keeper" pins and one lanyard only for trading pins.
What do you think ??
TIA

 

[EpcotMatt2]

Hey, I'm not sure if I'm asking this question in the correct place because this is not a question about avoiding cheap pins but a general question about pin trading. You guys seem to know a bit about pin trading and have been very helpful in the past. So here's my question:
My DS7 just got into pin trading on our last trip. We bought several pins to trade but he also purchased some of the larger pins that he does not want to trade. Is it ok to put locking clips on the keeper pins and wear them on the same lanyard as pins for trading? I hope this makes sense.
He also suggested wearing 2 lanyards one to display his special "keeper" pins and one lanyard only for trading pins.
What do you think ??
TIA

Are you asking if he has to wear only "tradable" pins on his lanyard? If so, absolutely not. He could wear an entire lanyard of pins that he never wants to trade, if he so chooses. CMs don't get to choose what pins to get in return for their pins. Is that what you were getting at?

 

[KatInHat]

Are you asking if he has to wear only "tradable" pins on his lanyard? If so, absolutely not. He could wear an entire lanyard of pins that he never wants to trade, if he so chooses. CMs don't get to choose what pins to get in return for their pins. Is that what you were getting at?

Yes, exactly! Thank you. I was not sure if he had to wear only tradable pins on his lanyard. I didn't know if it was proper "pin trading etiqutte" Thank you so much for clearing that up for me.

 

[EpcotMatt2]

Yes, exactly! Thank you. I was not sure if he had to wear only tradable pins on his lanyard. I didn't know if it was proper "pin trading etiqutte" Thank you so much for clearing that up for me.

No problem. That's what this thread is about, helping folks.

 

[PinCrazed]

Wow, 2 people in a row who think this thread is entirely useless? I disagree. But if you think it's useless, that's unfortunate. And luckily, everyone has the right to not read useless threads. And those who find a use for the thread can continue to read. I know I'll continue to try & give my opinion & help in whatever way I can.

I think this a great thread and NO ONE has ever said anything to the contrary. I think the greatest compliment to this thread (started by you) is the ability to evolve and reach a number of different variables and aspects of trading.

This allows people to make educated well rounded decisions about pins and pin trading. Understanding the "why" behind all of the myriad of pins that folks new to pin trading are exposed to, especially when they look at Dizpins, ebay or the disney store can be nothing, but beneficial.

Look back and see how many posts have folks saying "thanks for the info, I am going to make sure I buy only pins that I would want to trade for." So, by exposing multiple points people can come to their own conclusion, which in most cases had been to avoid the cheap pins.

At points in every thread people are going to do some ranting, but the point of the thread remains the same.

 

[Tomh]

I didn't mean to imply that the entire thread was useless, and I'm sorry if it sounded that way. I have gleaned much useful information from this thread. I just find it unfortunate that I also took away from this thread the name of a "reputable" pin seller who I ultimately wound up buying questionable (at best) pins from. I think that one of the main points of this thread was to help people avoid having that happen.

Of course, it is always possible that the people who originally gave that vendor a thumbs up didn't get bad pins. Perhaps this is something that just started happening recently with that vendor. It is also possible that the pins that are "questionable" are indeed legitimate, and that I've only got perhaps one or two pins that are really bad. At any rate, ultimately that is my problem, no one else's.

I thank everyone who has contributed here for the information they have supplied, much of it has been really helpful to me. And, to the plethora of valuable tidbits, I add my warning to be careful with PinSeller.com.

 

[labdogs42]

Does anyone know if this site sells legitimate Disney pins?

I'm new to pin trading, so I'm still kind of clueless!

Anyone have an answer for my question? I think I got lost in the shuffle. Thanks!

 

[Luv2Roam]

labdogs42 (Had to answer as I have a few myself. )
I have not bought nor traded from anything other than Disney for years.
As long as the seller follow through, looks fine. I would have to say $2 for a cast lanyard pin is pretty cheap, and as cheap as you will see.
I would stick with the cast lanyard pins, and stay away from Propins, Bertoni, etc. They are just that -- cheap pins. You will be disappointed, esp when you see the real deal.

 

[astrodrummergirl]

labdogs42

Although I have not bought from them, I am keeping their website bookmarked incase I want more pins before I go away in june to DLRP. It depends on how many I need to get, as if I only want 10 or less, I'm better buying the pins they have on sale in the shops in the Disney Village rather than getting them shipped from the states.


Just out of interest, has anyone bought pins from Disney Shopping who live in Europe, would interesting how much you paid for in shipping although, every time I try to get to the website, it redirects me to the UK disney store, which sadly no longer sells pins

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

The thing about this thread is that it is very long. Here is what I think sometimes happens on eBay:

People have some pins they want to sell. Authentic pins. They sell them. It goes well. They think "Hey! How cool was that?" They then begin to buy pins from other sellers with the intent to REsell those same pins. They get scrappers, they don't realize (or don't care), they resell them. Now you have a seller who started out with good pins but no longer has good pins.

I bought pins from a guy and they were wonderful. Later on I saw him bidding on pins from a seller who I KNOW sells scrappers, so going forward I wouldn't buy from him again. Too risky.

Obviously people are going to continue to buy from eBay. eBay sellers are going to continue importing thousands of fakes from China. I am going to continue to be very angry about it.

Everybody has to make their own decisions. I have posted my opinions on the subject, and I will continue to respond to folks who ask. I am strongly opposed to buying pins from eBay. I have never puchased from Mouse Pins or Pinseller or any of those other places, but I tend to think that overall there isn't a legitimate source for pins at less than $2 each.

 

[tnmomof4]

I just wanted to say thanks again for all the info, help, and advice. I know it might sound corny, but I have learned a lot from you all.

I learned that it is really better to not buy pins off e-bay or other various sellers. Even though these places are cheaper, the pins are usually not good pins. I now know NOT to buy a tin of pins to trade with the people sitting at DTD. I hope I will be a little bit better at spotting bad pins. I still need to write down what I should be looking for on the back. I think I will be able to spot cheap pins. I am really happy about the pins I bought from the Disney website because I got them on sale.

You guys have been great.

 

[JKMJ441724]

Wow. You guys have really scared me. But I'm sure the knowledge will be worth it.

I have only bought one pin - ever. I only got it because it was a Boston Red Sox pin - and no other reason.

I have never traded a pin in my life but want to get some cheap, yet authentic, pins to trade for our vacation in October. I will check out disneyshopping.com and see if I can catch some on sale before we go.

Unless, any of you have a lot of 10 to 25 authentic pins you are willing to sell????

 

[Minnie M6]

Anyone have an answer for my question? I think I got lost in the shuffle. Thanks!

I am WAY new to this, so I am not sure what the answer is.

What I can tell you is that based on a thread I saw on another board, I ordered a grab bag from this site. I was happy with what we received, but I did notice that about half of them were Propins. Not sure if that's a bad thing or not. My kids liked them, I just hope they're able to trade them if they decide that's what they want to do.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge can weigh in on this?

 

[Tomh]

Minnie M6, I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than I will chip in with a more detailed answer, but I'll give a shot at it. From what I've read here, I believe that the deal is this: Propins can be traded, however the more serious traders here frown on them because they are of lesser quality than the Disney pins sold in the US.