Having just returned from Disneyland last week (and ironically a day before your incident), I can tell you that I have seen both sides of the coin.
1) Many cast members, especially those in the heavy pin trading areas, DO care. During one trade with the book session, one of my pins was "double checked" due to being a but more worn on the front than usual. Having seen me take it in trade earlier from another cast member, they decided to make the trade with me to "take it out of circulations." Moments later, I discovered the pin I wanted from them (in the Disney pin book) was untradable - broken (wobbly) back post. Bottom line: questionable pins can get through no matter how throughly both parties check.
2) Cast members are required to trade with guests should they have lanyards, pouches, or hip pads. Unless the pin being offered is an obvious fake or non-Disney pin, they MUST accept it. I even saw some of the infameous Dancers 2000 showing up again on lanyards. And inside on book, the huge 3 part USA map pin was obviously not Disney. While some may unintentionally load their lanyard with a bad pin, most counterfeit / bootleg pins were put there by guests making trades.
3) It's amazing how far "thank you" and "may I please" will get you when trading with cast members.
4) Many cast members will have additional pins to refresh lanyards or pouches. But they usually won't break them out around known pin traders unless they see you doing something positive. Being willing to trade fairly with other guests (especially obvious new traders) or helping make a trade when the cast member was lanyard locked (too many of same pin - typically Costco / AAA / Disney Vacation starters), I was considered a "good" trader. If you can establish that type of reputation, castmembers are more willing to share treasures with you. It also helps if your seen as not looking for Ebay material and collecting for the love of Disney.
5) I also encountered one trader clearly pushing counterfeit pins. Having several of same design inside individual plastic bags is a bad omen. Have to say the fakes are getting better (sadly). It has only a minimal lip on the rim with a proper mouse head waffle pattern. Coloring was good. Magnet test - worthless even with a super magnet only the outer rim responded. Test is dubious at best while almost all new Disney pins are non-magnetic, older pins often include magnetic nickel or iron in their alloy. A casual observer would have NO CHANCE of recognizing this as a bootleg/counterfeit/scrapper pin. It also fooled several cast members until I was able to show them the rim - made more obvious with a magnifying glass. In defense of the person trading, they may not have realized what they had either. They simply responded to the siren lure of Ebay saying great park traders for cheap.
I'm also sorry to hear that you encountered a cast member who appeared unconcerned about the apparent scrapper you found. But getting upset at her won't help. By lecturing her and trying to "get her to care" you can come off as one of the rabid pin traders who scour lanyards leaving only untradables in their wake. Simply note that the color seems a bit off or looks odd, you might later discover that she would remove the questionable pin when she had a private moment or when next meeting with a supervisor.
Hopefully your future experiences will be more enjoyable
