I almost traded with that Vegas trader and saw you had a positive experience with him at some point... but sadly, people change. Thankfully I didn't get caught up in a trade with that Vegas trader after checking into him further. Your emails contradicted what he was telling me while using a different email address. That scum.
I know Dizpins.com is totally old skool and a dying resource but I wish more traders would use it even if the trade was initiated on DPF. More and more traders are using Facebook and Instagram to trade and some of these newer traders think they can get away with s**t without the entire community knowing about it.
Thank you David for offering your experience and emails with all of us!
If I may offer up some additional advice on safe trading...
1. If something sounds fishy, research the trader. If a trade sounds too good to be true, it may be. So do more research!! Keep an ear out for contradictions made by the other trader as a sign that something isn't right.
2. If you find out the other trader has more than one email address, Pinpics account, or DPF account... something is not right so ask them about it. I'm not saying that everyone who has multiple accounts is up to no good but for the sake of full disclosure, I have one Disney Pin Palace account, one Pinpics account, one DPF account, one FB trading account, and one email address for trading. And all have the same name, or a similar name and avatar/profile pic which identifies who I am.
3. If you're using FB or Instagram to trade, look to see if any of your friends on FB knows the person you're contemplating a trade with. Don't be afraid to ask around, even if it may shake up the trade. Better to protect yourself than lose valuable pins. SUPER IMPORTANT: Just because a reliable trader is friends with another trader on DPF or Facebook, it doesn't automatically mean they've traded before... it just means they're "friends" and really, it doesn't mean anything. Please don't mistake that as a positive reference and an indicator of this person being a trustworthy trader.
4. Check out the pins of a potential trader on Disney Pin Palace and Pinpics. If all their "trader pins" are grail pins or other highly sought-after pins, they may be using their traders to fish for people to make bad trades with. Check out their wants, trades, and collections and if something seems off, look into it. No one with 100 pins in their collection (80 of which are hidden mickey pins) is going to have every Designer Princess in their traders.
5. After doing your research, if you're still unsure about a trader because their reviews aren't stellar, don't be afraid to ask them to send their pins first. If your trade score on DPF is 100% and you have many positive reviews on Dizpins, you have a reputation to protect and a credibility that backs up your trade commitments. Don't be shy to ask. This could apply to every potential trade with someone who has zero feedback on DPF and/or Dizpins.com ... if you are able to tell a trader to check out your references, then you also have the right to ask them to ship first if they have a 0% feedback score.
6. After every trade, leave and request feedback on DPF and Dizpins. Even if the other trader doesn't want feedback, ask them to leave you some. If they don't have a DPF account, they can leave it on Dizpins.com. (Sometimes I get behind on this but I'll be more on top of it in 2014!)
7. Trust your instincts. Always.
