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A Guide to Pin Buying on DPF

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A Guide to Pin Buying on DPF

starry_solo

Judge of the Dark Court
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These are my thoughts only about buying pins on DPF (and anywhere else, other than ebay). Remember, past performance is NOT a guarantee of future results.

Paying with a credit card (US sellers & buyers)

If you are in the US and the seller is in the US, pay as goods with a credit card. That way you have PayPal buyer protection and, if they don't side with you, you have protection with your credit card company. Make sure you have a CONFIRMED shipping address. And add extra money for the fee (people say gifts so no fee but if you're already paying with a credit card, you would click the "sender pays fee" already so just go and pay as goods!)

Paying with a credit card (one person is not in the US)

If either party is out of the country, then you will need to determine whether you want to pay for trackable shipping (the only way the seller will take PayPal as goods). Trackable shipping is pricey (can be $10-20) so think long and hard as to whether the pin is worth it (if you pay as goods). Otherwise, if it’s a small amount that you can "afford" to lose if the pin doesn't show up, then gift should be okay.

Paying as a gift

If the seller insists on getting payment as a gift to avoid the fee and you are okay with it (again, I wouldn't recommend it), pay with a credit card and click the portion that says "sender pays fee." That way, you still have your credit card company to fall back upon.

International shipping

This is very pricey: $3 for the first ounce and $1 for each additional ounce from the US to Europe. I believe it is pricier to ship to Australia and other countries. A customs tag is used and a value has to be declared. This value is subjective when trading (original retail price versus what it is selling for on ebay) but when selling, it is usually the price sold for. There are customs duties (to the recipient) that is associated with obtaining the item so this needs to be taken into account as well. There is a customs tag/receipt that we are provided with a trackable number that is ONLY trackable within the US. This trackable number is not meant to be used as a substitute for actual trackable shipping (trackable outside the US.)

Check Feedback as a Seller

Check feedback and his or her posts on DPF (use the search feature). A lot of people have no qualms about complaining about their treatment by other DPF members so this is a good tool to use.

You can check feedback left for a specific individual as a seller and as a buyer. The cumulative feedback score is for sales, purchases, and trades! Also, check to see how recently the feedback was left from buyers.

Again, remember, past performance is NOT a guarantee of future results. It is better to be safe (pay as goods with a credit card) than sorry.

Communication is the key

Be communicative and before agreeing to send payment, make sure you get a timeline for when the pin(s) will be shipped. Always ask for a delivery confirmation or signature confirmation number. If the seller wants to charge you extra for either option, look at the overall price and if you're okay with it for the pin, great; don't penny pinch for these added costs.

Delivery Confirmation (DC) or Signature Confirmation (SC)

If one is going to the post office and getting the green DC label, it costs 75 to 95-cents, depending on method of shipment (first class versus priority mail.) The pink SC label is $2.60. For high valued items, it may be a good idea to obtain SC.

For the seller, there is the option of using a pre-paid label (you can do this through PayPal Shipping Assistant and possibly stamps.com) and then DC is FREE! Plus, for some odd reason, shipping costs using one of these methods is cheaper than going to the post office.

The seller can also use Click 'n Ship for Business (a downloadable program from the USPS), formerly known as USPS Shipping Assistant, and get free DC as well (but pay for postage in person). If the seller uses PayPal Shipping Assistant and/or stamps.com, I recommend the seller take the package to the post office and get a scanned receipt (for acceptance). With Click 'n Ship for Business, you get a receipt which the post office can stamp with its postmark. I don't know about the other two since I use Click 'n Ship for Business. But, the seller should still be able to get a printed receipt which shows the items were scanned for acceptance.

I like to color my label to correspond with what the post office uses. For example, for the DC label, I use a green highlighter. For the SC label, I use a pink highlighter. Those are the two colors that the post office labels are. I don’t know if it causes the post office to remember to scan them, but that’s why I do it.

Pre-sales

There have been a lot of people asking for pre-sales and pre-trades on the forum. This is a great idea to help others who aren’t close to the parks to get new pins. However, it is a good idea to have everything in writing so that there are no disappointments.

For sales: Does the “seller†want the money up-front? If so, how many days in advance?

Types of Pins – Mystery Boxes

For example, mystery pins/boxes are non-refundable and non-returnable. If the buyer wants to try to get the whole set of mystery pins, does the buyer want them unopened? Does the buyer want the box intact? Does the buyer want the seller to open the boxes and try to trade for the missing pins at the park?

Piece of Disney Movies

Another example is the Piece of Disney Movies pins. For a long while, we at DLR have heard that the ratio between the two parks is 1500 at WDW and 500 at DLR. But it appears to have shifted with the Steamboat Willie release so that the pins are equally distributed (1000 per park). Is the seller offering you a specific scene for the price? Or is it just random? If random, the buyer should determine whether he or she will be happy with whatever scene he or she obtains for the agreed upon price. If random and the seller has multiple sales, perhaps the seller can just “blind box†them. That is, each is wrapped up and sealed in their own individual bubble envelopes, jumble the envelopes together and randomly select an envelope for a label.

As mentioned above, communication is the key.

For those who aren’t charter members, we are limited in the number of PMs we can keep in our boxes. So, it might be a good idea to exchange email addresses.

Pre-trades

If pre-trading for mystery boxes or any other pin that is non-refundable/non-returnable, what do you do? Is this a pin that you could “live with†if the trade doesn’t go through?

If pre-trading for PODMS, make sure you communicate well as to whether the recipient of the PODM will get to choose the PODM amongst the scenes the other gets or whether it is random. And, make it very clear so that neither party is upset at the end.

What I do

I rarely pre-trade because my collection is limited and I don’t like to be stuck with a pin that I don’t want if it is a non-returnable pin or is too late to return. I will sometimes pre-trade with pins that I can get at the parks that may be good traders, but again, I don’t like to be stuck with a pin I don’t want, so that is rare.

I have no problem buying someone a pin at the park as long as they pay the cost of the pin, tax & shipping to them. I expect payment at least one business day prior to the release, by a set time (because I stop checking email, PMs, and PayPal after a certain time and there’s no guarantee that I’ll have time to check the day of the release). I typically only do this for US residents only.

For payment, I prefer PayPal gift but will also take PayPal goods and charge an amount to cover the fee that PayPal charges (I usually round up to the nearest whole $). Payment as goods requires a confirmed shipping address in the US. For payment as goods, if I am unable to deliver, I refund the money promptly. However, I have since learned that even for refunded payments as goods, PayPal will still charge the 30-35 cents transaction fee and only reverse the 3% added fee. So, the buyer is informed of this information and is willing to risk the 30-35 cents, then I provide my information for PayPal payment.

Shipping

I ship promptly (Mondays thru Thursdays). If for some odd reason, I cannot ship during these times (meetings or something), I communicate to the person immediately to tell them that something came up and let them know when it will be shipped. I use the USPS Shipping Assistant aka Click ‘n Ship for Business so I can provide them the DC # as soon as it is generated.

I think my feedback speaks for itself But, if it's a high dollar amount and you're buying from someone that's not local to you and may have had issues in the past here on DPF, it's better to be safe than sorry and pay as goods!

Those are my thoughts. Feel free to add any more that I haven't thought of.

P.S. For the most part, I will send as goods because I always pay with my credit card. Always! A separate guide might be done for selling. I haven't thought of one yet.
 
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Fabulous post, starry solo . Just let me add if the seller has close to 100 positive feedbacks, then you can send as gift if comfortable doing so . I always ask for payment to be sent as a gift, but my feedback speaks for itself . I bubble wrap my pins and most times use Scotch bubble envelopes . The outside has a plastic coating which makes things waterproof .
 
Fabulous post, starry solo . Just let me add if the seller has close to 100 positive feedbacks, then you can send as gift if comfortable doing so . I always ask for payment to be sent as a gift, but my feedback speaks for itself . I bubble wrap my pins and most times use Scotch bubble envelopes . The outside has a plastic coating which makes things waterproof .

Thanks Tinker. Also, just to let people know, you can see how many feedbacks a person has as a "seller" as well :)
 
Thanks for the helpful notes. I always pay with credit card and will pay the fees (for gift) to make sure you have the added protection. It is a very good idea especially if you have not dealt with the person much.
 
Thanks for this post. I have never sold or bought anything before only traded and this helps a lot. Never really understood the PayPal fees and coverage.

You're welcome. Just remember if you sell and accept PayPal goods, make sure you have tracking (delivery confirmation). There was a guide for shipping somewhere :) But, you can use PayPal's shipping assistant and pay less postage costs than you'd pay at the post office. Or use USPS Shipping Assistant (now known as Click 'n Ship for Business) - this is a downloadable .exe program - and get free DC. Or go to the post office and pay 75-95 cents for DC.
 
Great idea with paying with a credit card.

Even if someone has 100% good feedback, it only takes one time for a bad deal. It's happened to me. Sent money as a gift, never got pin, and person said they didn't have the DC number anymore.

Always get a DC number and like Starry said pay using Paypal but with a credit card.

Always cover yourself!

Vicki
 
I agree! But don't forget about the sellers!
There is no telling if the buyer will retract their payment or file a complaint saying they never got it even with DC # claiming you sent it to the wrong place even though it says delivered.
It hasn't happened to me but I do know people it has happened to. Buyer's aren't the only one that need to be cautious, it's the sellers too, whether the person has 0 feedback or 100+.

That's why it's always good to take a picture of the pin/packing/shipping label. And also why I always get a receipt at the post office when I ship things, even things with stamps on them so they can't say I never shipped it.

You never truly know what to expect until the situation arises, both sides need to be careful/cautious, not just one :)
 
I agree! But don't forget about the sellers!
There is no telling if the buyer will retract their payment or file a complaint saying they never got it even with DC # claiming you sent it to the wrong place even though it says delivered.
It hasn't happened to me but I do know people it has happened to. Buyer's aren't the only one that need to be cautious, it's the sellers too, whether the person has 0 feedback or 100+.

That's why it's always good to take a picture of the pin/packing/shipping label. And also why I always get a receipt at the post office when I ship things, even things with stamps on them so they can't say I never shipped it.

You never truly know what to expect until the situation arises, both sides need to be careful/cautious, not just one :)

I will tell my sister to update it. BTW, I think we have that Mulan & Khan pin in your signature!
 
hmm.. awesome post.

I always have people send as gift, or I send as gift. but never really thought about it as a potencial for issues later. I guess I just assume that since I am honest they will be too. I also always pay through my paypal/bank account link. We don't have any active credit cards.

I think if you added a section about how to approuch sellers, and seller/buyer ettiquette this could be stickied in the guides area. Very nice info on payment!!!
 
! Mulannnn and Khannn they're so cute :D
I will tell my sister to update it. BTW, I think we have that Mulan & Khan pin in your signature!

And yes this thread is awesome. I generally assume if someone has a high amount of good feedback that they're honest traders/buyers/sellers but I never thought about "maybe majority is trades not payments" or "maybe the bad transactions were never recorded" or "what if this one time they do me wrong!" etc :eek:

It truly makes you extra cautious when making any sort of sale/trade, whether you're the buyer or the seller.
 
! Mulannnn and Khannn they're so cute :D


And yes this thread is awesome. I generally assume if someone has a high amount of good feedback that they're honest traders/buyers/sellers but I never thought about "maybe majority is trades not payments" or "maybe the bad transactions were never recorded" or "what if this one time they do me wrong!" etc :eek:

It truly makes you extra cautious when making any sort of sale/trade, whether you're the buyer or the seller.

Thanks! I am going to update it as I think of additional info. Maybe make title/headings and subparts too. And yes, I'm pretty sure I have that Mulan & Khan pin you need (not a PODM). Will check tonight!
 
Original post

This was my original post (I have since edited the first post):

My thoughts about pin buying on DPF.

If you are in the US and the seller is in the US, pay as goods with a credit card. That way you have PayPal buyer protection and, if they don't side with you, you have protection with your credit card company. Make sure you have a CONFIRMED shipping address. And add extra money for the fee (people say gifts so no fee

If either party is out of the country, then you will need to determine whether you want to pay for trackable shipping (the only way the seller will take PayPal as goods). Trackable shipping is pricey (can be $10-20) so think long and hard as to whether the pin is worth it (if you pay as goods). Otherwise, if its a small amount that you can "afford" to lose if the pin doesn't show up, then gift is okay.

If the seller insists on getting payment as a gift to avoid the fee and you are okay with it (again, I wouldn't recommend it), pay with a credit card and click the portion that says "sender pays fee." That way, you still have your credit card company to fall back upon.

Check feedback and his or her posts on DPF (use the search feature). A lot of people have no qualms about complaining about their treatment by other DPF members so this is a good tool to use.

For me, I have taken goods (charge an amount to cover the fee) and as gift. I ship promptly and I think my feedback speaks for itself :) But, if it's a high dollar amount and you're buying from someone that's not local to you and may have had issues in the past here on DPF, it's better to be safe than sorry and pay as goods!

Be communicative and before agreeing to send payment, make sure you get a timeline for when the pin(s) will be shipped. Always ask for a DC. If the seller wants to charge you extra for a DC, fine, just look at the overall price and if you're okay with it for the pin, great; don't penny pinch for these added costs.

Delivery Confirmation: If one is going to the post office and getting the green label from them, it costs 75-95-cents (prices vary and increase a lot). For the seller, there is the option of using a pre-paid label (you can do this through PayPal Shipping Assistant and possibly stamps.com) and then DC is FREE! Plus, for some odd reason, shipping costs using one of these methods is cheaper than going to the post office. The seller can also use Click 'n Ship for Business (a downloadable program from the USPS), formerly known as USPS Shipping Assistant, and get free DC as well (but pay for postage in person). If the seller uses PayPal Shipping Assistant and/or stamps.com, I recommend the seller take the package to the post office and get a scanned receipt (for acceptance). With Click 'n Ship for Business, you get a receipt which the post office can stamp with its postmark. I don't know about the other two since I use Click 'n Ship for Business.

Those are my thoughts. Feel free to add any more that I haven't thought of.

P.S. For the most part, I will send as goods because I always pay with my credit card. Always!
 
This is something that I've been wanting to bring up:

Making people pay you with a gift option is Against paypal's TOS and will get your account suspended.


I never ask people to pay me with the gift option and it always freaks me out when they do D:
 
This is something that I've been wanting to bring up:

Making people pay you with a gift option is Against paypal's TOS and will get your account suspended.

I never ask people to pay me with the gift option and it always freaks me out when they do D:

Wow, never knew that. I do prefer gift (as mentioned above) but don't require it (unless the person doesn't have a confirmed US shipping address and doesn't want to pay extra for tracking international mail.)
 
good guide.

I was wondering how long should I give someone whom stated they would give a dc# the night I paid them, sent more than 1 additional pm to me, but no DC# and has yet to respond to emails/pms??

I spent a bit of money (thankfully sent as a payment with my end covering the fees), but still would not like to be "hasty" in opening a case with paypal. It's been over a week.

Any thoughts? I'm really worried.
 
good guide.

I was wondering how long should I give someone whom stated they would give a dc# the night I paid them, sent more than 1 additional pm to me, but no DC# and has yet to respond to emails/pms??

I spent a bit of money (thankfully sent as a payment with my end covering the fees), but still would not like to be "hasty" in opening a case with paypal. It's been over a week.

Any thoughts? I'm really worried.

I have never dealt with the seller protection policy (only once with the buyer protection policy and that was horrible, I had to go to my credit card company twice to get the charges reversed on the counterfeit merchandise I was sent), but I seem to recall that PayPal recommends the seller send within 7 days of payment. If after 10 days of no communication and no DC (if the seller had used PayPal shipping assistant, you would have gotten an automatic email from PayPal with the tracking number), I would open up a case with PayPal. There is a limit to the time to file a dispute (I think it's 30-45 days) so if the seller tries to delay without providing any information, I would open one sooner rather than later.
 
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