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How Do YOU Trade?

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How Do YOU Trade?

Hunterofspoons

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So this topic comes up between me and a few friends quite often. We talk about stocks and toys and car values amongst other things.

My question to all of you is how do You trade pins? What is an ideal trade scenario from start to finish? Do you use a value system? Do you trade based on popularity? Are there other factors involved when you make a trade? What are some do's and don'ts when you trade?

I know everyone has a different way of trading, and I'm very interested in wanting to know how everyone trades. Chat away!

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For 80% of my pins, I just trade by original price/edition size. Most of my pins are mystery pins, so I don't want to trade the ones that come 5 in a $28 pack, for the ones that come 2 in a $20 box. The small variations in T/W ratios or Ebay prices aren't worth getting worked up about. 10% are older pins, so I like to trade them for other older pins. 10% are pins that have value, so I use Ebay sale prices for those.

Most of my concerns, which have limited my online trading, is separating real pins from unauthorized/fake pins.
 
For 80% of my pins, I just trade by original price/edition size. Most of my pins are mystery pins, so I don't want to trade the ones that come 5 in a $28 pack, for the ones that come 2 in a $20 box. The small variations in T/W ratios or Ebay prices aren't worth getting worked up about. 10% are older pins, so I like to trade them for other older pins. 10% are pins that have value, so I use Ebay sale prices for those.

Most of my concerns, which have limited my online trading, is separating real pins from unauthorized/fake pins.

^^^This, but the challenge then comes when OE mystery pins go to extreme discount at like Company D, which drops the perpin value considerably. So the thought would be don’t hang on to the pin because it will drop in value and over time there won’t be anyone really looking for that pin, the masses will be on to the next wave of new pins...then again finding that person who needs the pin to finish their set...lol all so confusing. Then there’s the online scrappers. I’d like to think there’s no malice involved but rather uneducated traders...


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First of all I buy my traders at cost (or very close to cost if price includes a small pick up fee.) Also knowing my traders are directly from the original pin source is important. This can take some effort, but the challenge is part of what I enjoy about the hobby.

There are so many variables with a trade... but in general here is my criteria:
1) Original price (I do not use secondary market prices.)
2) I typically consider LE size, but sometimes I will just trade an LE pin for something very different (higher LE, LR, OE, etc.) And then use #1 (original price) to negotiate the trade.
3) How much do I want a certain pin (or how indifferent to it am I?)
4) Pin demand (right now per Pinpics, but I keep hoping other pin databases will take off, which would provide more pin demand data.)
5) Who I am trading with. If I know them or have traded with them before, it impacts my trade equation.

I have one big trading weakness, but it is also probably why I enjoy trading so much. I am a pleaser. (ie, I want to make others happy, because it make me happy.) This is a vulnerability when interacting with the less ethical traders in this hobby.
 
I like TheMickeyMouseRules post above! Personally, when trading, (for myself) I do it completely by the design on the front of the pin. After trading online with different people, I do reserve my LE pins for trading for LE pins I want, but personally, I don't care. I just do that because everyone else cares and I have LE pins I'd like to trade for! -grin- How much I want the pin has loads to do with the ultimate trade. Also, how much the other person wants a pin has loads to do with it! I love to make people happy, and I will trade a "better" pin or multiples if someone else is really thrilled at the prospect. I also like to give extras in trades when you've gotten to interact with the other trader and it is a fun time. Price goes the same way as LE pins for me. I don't care, in the long run, if I am trading for a pin I like better. However, I will hold onto higher orig. price pins, simply because others care and I have other pins I hope to trade for! After doing this a bunch, I think it tends to have a high variable, since each person has their own trading criteria. I find most people to place more value on their pins and rundown yours when it comes to it, but I've had enough trades where we were both happy without having to really count pennies, that I find it worth the others. I think your happiness points with a trade are really the true value. Honestly . . . years from now, none of these pins will be worth anything anyway, so the fun and enjoyment you have with them now is what counts. We are in the middle of clearing out a houseful of collectibles and antiques that ten years ago, we could have sold off at enough profit to pay Dad's medical bills. Now we are mainly having to donate it. The world has seen the heyday of collectibles as an investment. So, I think in the pin hobby, how you are enjoying it now is what counts. So . . . I simply trade for pins I like. That means, if it were just me, someone would get a way better pin one time, and I might get a way better pin another time, but everyone would have the pin(s) that they wanted and made them happy at that time. :)
 
I like TheMickeyMouseRules post above! Personally, when trading, (for myself) I do it completely by the design on the front of the pin. After trading online with different people, I do reserve my LE pins for trading for LE pins I want, but personally, I don't care. I just do that because everyone else cares and I have LE pins I'd like to trade for! -grin- How much I want the pin has loads to do with the ultimate trade. Also, how much the other person wants a pin has loads to do with it! I love to make people happy, and I will trade a "better" pin or multiples if someone else is really thrilled at the prospect. I also like to give extras in trades when you've gotten to interact with the other trader and it is a fun time. Price goes the same way as LE pins for me. I don't care, in the long run, if I am trading for a pin I like better. However, I will hold onto higher orig. price pins, simply because others care and I have other pins I hope to trade for! After doing this a bunch, I think it tends to have a high variable, since each person has their own trading criteria. I find most people to place more value on their pins and rundown yours when it comes to it, but I've had enough trades where we were both happy without having to really count pennies, that I find it worth the others. I think your happiness points with a trade are really the true value. Honestly . . . years from now, none of these pins will be worth anything anyway, so the fun and enjoyment you have with them now is what counts. We are in the middle of clearing out a houseful of collectibles and antiques that ten years ago, we could have sold off at enough profit to pay Dad's medical bills. Now we are mainly having to donate it. The world has seen the heyday of collectibles as an investment. So, I think in the pin hobby, how you are enjoying it now is what counts. So . . . I simply trade for pins I like. That means, if it were just me, someone would get a way better pin one time, and I might get a way better pin another time, but everyone would have the pin(s) that they wanted and made them happy at that time. :)
It's good to go in with an understanding of collectibles (what's worth a lot today is worth nothing tomorrow) so that you're just going for and doing what makes you happy and not because you think it's an 'investment'. Because it's not!
 
The majority of my traders are from the Disney website and from Disney mystery pin sets. Most older than 5 years.

I have found that certain pins I want require a higher quality of trader. That may be due to age or LE or both. The few times I have seen these pins for sale they have been expensive (over $200). I have a few traders that I am not attached to but I would prefer to trade for something in the same neighborhood (such as a mystery pin with a similar le). I do have trading lanyards that I wear to the park that have miscellaneous traders that are either my OE, mystery or pins I have traded for (either this trip or a previous one). If I trade for a pin that I intend to keep I usually put it in a small pin bag that I have.

For mystery pins with limited edition pins I feel that most traders use the secondary market. Some of these pins were in four packs with at least one le 1000 and the other three were of lower le (900, 800, 500, 450,200, 100,and 50). The boxes were originally $39.99. So cost per pin was about $10.00. If you were lucky and got them on sale it would be less.

The individuals with these lower edition pins do not treat them as a $10 pin. I do not blame them. For me it means that although I do not trade by the secondary market I do not ignore it either.

I try to trade mystery for mystery and le for similar le. I want everyone involved to be happy and comfortable with the trade.

So I do consider(for each trade): le, mystery, is it hard to find, want vs trade ratio.

I sometimes consider secondary market, understanding that selling price is not always the price that someone pays. I especially consider the secondary market if the above does not match. I would rather trade pins than sell them.

I do not try to coerce anyone into trading with me. I do not hold grails hostage in order to get a “better deal”. If anything if I know it is your grail I will try to trade it to you. But we both should be happy with the trade.
 
I consider a LOT of factors when I trade. I do consider what the pin has recently sold for in my equitation BUT if they have a pin I really want current value really isn't as important to me. I consider what I originally paid for it and how desirable the pin is. The trade needs to be equal on both sides so both sides feel they got a great deal! Now this doesn't have to be financially a great deal but both sides need to be happy with the trade.

Pins that are $15 or less I don't worry about nearly as much as the more expensive ones. The "lower value" ones I'll trade as long as they have something cool I like. I really only care about value with the more expensive pins and that's also thanks to my first trade someone trying to pull a fast one on me so I quickly learned my lesson.
 
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