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Does This Happen With Anyone Else?

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Does This Happen With Anyone Else?

TheForeverMan

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Hello! Newbie here. So have a predicament I live in Michigan and really don't have any access to new pins and i don't know anyone else who collects. I started out buying big lots on eBay looking at them thinking these are pretty neat but eventually decided on my wants which is still a lot.
So my question is really how can I trade? I have some LE pins but mostly just regular issue. Is it possible to still trade which is part of the fun or am I just kinda stuck and just buy what I like? Any ideas,advice would be appreciated
 
Hi and welcome. Of course you can still trade Open edition, non LE pins here.

But I have to warn you about buying big lots of pins on ebay. There are a lot of seller there that sells counterfit, fake pins. Those you wont be able to trade here. Almost all lots where the pins costs less than 1 dollars a piece, like 50 pins for 45 dollars and something like that will be fake pins.

Of course you can find good pins in lots as well, if say an old collector sells off his collection in big lots, but its a big risk.

If you post pics of the lots of pins here there will be people who can try to help to tell you if your pins are good or not.

Unfortunally this misstake is something that almost all of us collectors started out making, including myself. I do hope that you had better luck than me though and ended up with real pins.
 
For trading you could either take pics of all your pins to show what you have and post here (even though there are requirements on how long you have to be a member here and how many post you make before you can post in the trade forum) and then post what you are looking for and people will reply with what they want and what they offer. Or you could set up an account on pinpics.com where you can psot all your traders, collection and wants and then make matches with people to easier see what they want and what they have.
 
Hey thanks for the reply. Yeah I didn't know about fakes until I started collecting them then I found pin pics and began weeding the ones out from what other people posted. I do have an account on pin pics under the same name and have put a few requests out there. But will have to try here sometime when I get some more time in. Thanks for the help!
 
welcome I don't live near the parks either so have to have someone get me the pins or purchase from others as well. you can check my pinpics it is fuzzybunny
 
I live in Chicago and I try to get friends and relatives to buy me LE pins when they go down to WDW. This gives me some traders. I have also bought the Park Pack pins from Disneystore.com. They are LE pins, too, that seem to trade well with certain collectors. Keep trying trades through pinpics. You never know when you are going to get a trading match.
 
Explore this forum and see what resources are offered for trading/buying and in general... just learn good information. I live in New Mexico and there are a lot of traders on here who don't live near the parks. The following are places to buy real pins without a visit to the park:
- shopdisney.com (sometimes there are coupons good for pins... best time to buy).
- Disney Store at your local mall (hit or miss... but releasing Mickey Mouse pins each month, first one January 20.)
- pinopolispingame.com

The current park pack pins have been good traders so far... and these are monthly release (cut-off is 23 of each month I believe for the current months park pack.)

Gain the right traders (gain the wrong traders and trading will be difficult)... try to gain the real/good quality pins people want. THIS is a whole other learning curve (what trading pin will gain you the pin you are wanting?) After 4 years I still mess up with gauging pin demand correctly, but more and more I have hit the mark with my traders... and now I have some amazing pins in my perm collection.

Attending pin trading events gets you into the thick of things and may aid in reducing your learning curve faster. Not sure how much traveling you do, but WDW has a big event annually (the last few years in August). Also, there are some private regional trading events (haven't seen Michigan yet, but you never know)... keep your eye on the events thread. Perhaps you could start a Michigan event.

As Snoffsan said many of us started with the large, cheap pin lots, full of the wrong pins... (yes, I did too), and then you learn (if the pin trading bug bites you that is.)
 
Yup - Ohio here. Nowhere near a park. Luckily there are several very generous people here that do park pick ups. I've tried trading on FB and got burned a few times so I will not trade there anymore. I have made a few trades on Pinpics but not many. I prefer to trade/buy here because everyone is very honest and trustworthy here.
 
Yup - Ohio here. Nowhere near a park. Luckily there are several very generous people here that do park pick ups. I've tried trading on FB and got burned a few times so I will not trade there anymore. I have made a few trades on Pinpics but not many. I prefer to trade/buy here because everyone is very honest and trustworthy here.
Totally agree with you CCofRR13, I definitely prefer trades through DPF, people here are very honest and friendly. I've met some cool traders in other states through FB, so far only one person hasn't sent me my pins -____-
I don't use IG for trading at all, no regulation through IG, at least there are moderators for most FB Pin trading groups...

But DPF is definitely a great resource for trading and Pin Pick-Ups! Lots a great friendly traders, great Mods and Admins, never had a bad trade here, only great magicalness.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
I would add that some good deals on certain pins can be found on Ebay, but you have to be VERY careful.
You can find honest people selling honest pins.
I have done that and have made good friends.
For example, I met a guy whose mother died and she was an avid pin collector. 10,000 plus. He is ebaying them 5 - 10 per week.
He went through his (her) collection and found all of the Grumpy pins and gave me a great deal.

But there are others..... Others that specialize in selling fake pins. Not all are fake mind you. Some are scrappers, etc.
I called a person out on it once and got banned from any of their future auctions.

If a deal seems to good to be true, it probably is.
Also look at their number of transactions. If they have sold a huge number of pins, be wary, not saying that every pin they have is fake, but that may drive you to look farther.
If somebody is selling an LE 100 or 250, and you look at their sold transactions and they have sold 7 other of the same pin, that should raise a red flag.
Also, if you see an Evil Queen with the Sorcerers hat that is an Imagineering LE 250 selling as a buy it now for $2.99, it is not authentic
That said, there are those that make a living flipping pins, in particular in large metropolitan areas. It is amazing what some people donate to Good Will and then what they sell them for. So just because a seller has sold 10,000 pins does not mean the only sell fake pins. I have literally seen collections worth thousands show up in Good Will type facilities and some individuals have learned where to check these types of places and make a nice profit.


If you find comments in their description like, I cant guarantee the authenticity of the pin as it was traded for in the park, well that is another flag not saying it is fake or scrapper, but it should raise concern.

The other thing I would tell you is the sooner you pick a topic or narrow down what you collect, the better off you will be.
There are literally hundreds of thousands of pins available.
Additionally, over time you will begin to get a sense of what is in demand and what is not.

For example, my main collections are Cats (still extremely broad but helps to keep kids somewhat focused), Si&Am (can be extremely expensive), Grumpy, Evil Queen.

And don't feel bad when you get a scrapper or fake, it has happened to all of us.
I would tell you if you like it, keep it. Some people really don't care. However, don't pass it on to an unsuspecting individual or rationalize by trading it off in a park.

Have fun and trade away.
 
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