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Best Way to Build up Traders

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Best Way to Build up Traders
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lovespins23

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HI everyone,
I have been trading since about Jan of this year, my whole family trades including my 3 year old son. What is the best way to build up my traders I always have to end up selling them to get pins that I am looking for. Any advise would be great.
Have a great day
Kim
 
For me, my traders are building slowly over time as I 'grow into' my collections. For instance, I started collecting something in the very beginning that I no longer collect. Those have become traders for me. So as your pin collections change you will often find yourself with traders. Also, getting lucky with good auctions on eBay others don't bid on so you get a good price, or being able to get LE pins at cost if you are able to go to events/have access to things like D23, DSF, WDI, etc. Facebook is also a good place for people selling pin lots, so long as you low who is selling real vs fakes.
 
I also recommend looking online at the disney store. You can find in through disney.com. They sometimes have sales on Limited Edition pins. Although the sales are not as frequent.
 
Trading with cast members vs. trading with people via the mail.

Trading with cast members, you can usually find $1-3 pins here that are authentic.

Trading with people online, that is tough. Inevitably, I end up selling pins to buy the ones I want.
 
I have found doing trade auctions has helped me build a few traders ! I'm also lucky being in the UK as I can get some traders from the disney store website and occasionally we get Paris pins
 
I am wanting to do more trading on here and Facebook, i aways end up having to sell my traders to buy my wants on ebay and thats not as much. I love trading with ppl and meeting people from all over the world. I don't have tons of money but i have noticed that as my collections change i do trade off old ones. Thank you all for your advise
 
Thank you for posting this, I was just about to go on a hunt for someone that could help me and explain how people get so many traders. And lots of good advice as well
 
It's pretty much like starry solo mentioned, it depends on what kind of pins you want to trade for. I've learned there's no definite answer because everyone's wants are totally different! To get good traders for relatively interesting pins means usually getting LEs (limited edition), which also means $$, getting the pins when they get released if you're near one of the parks, and/or going to stand in line for pin releases at Disney Store/Ghirardelli Hollywood. I'd also mention this a hobby you need a lot of patience, if you're trying to have a collection of traders in a hurry than you're probably going to buy them off people, because this is a slow process unless you have a large disposable income with no bills and try to network with people they'll also give you helpful info and leads to who has your pins and what they're looking for. Hope this helps
 
If you are looking for limited edition pins to trade I have lots of them available at $5 each they are random and include WDI, DLRP, and CRuise line If uareinterested pm mewih how many you wat
Jacqui
 
I'm personally more of a collector than a trader so most of my traders (LE's) are duplicates of the pins I've purchased for my collection. It's definitly not the cheapest way to go but I've been able to build up a fairly sizable pool of traders over the past few yesrs. As far as CM trading goes, those discounted starter sets and $2.95 mystery packs (when you spend a certain amount of $) have worked faily well for us. For us, the cheap e-bay lots have proven to be mostly fakes and scrappers so we dont even bother anymore.
 
I usually trade with cast members so I only buy from people I can meet in person. I look through Craigslist (there seem to be an abundance of scrappers there) and go to meet people locally so I can inspect the pins in person. I'm sure I can't tell every scrapper, but seeing pins in the cheap plastic ziploc bags is usually a red light.
 
Go to the local Disney Outlet store if you have one. They sell pins for $2-3. And start packs with 5-7 pins for $20 usually.

Last time I was in Orlando, the outlet stores there had LOTS of pins. But here in CA pins in the outlet stores are pretty slim.
 

So far all of the trading I have done has been with Cast Members as well. Being a Premium Annual Passholder I get 20% off starter lanyards with a many as 8 pins on them. I've come across some decent LEs a what he you trading this way. I've gathered some cool pins this way. I do know though that I will have to start dipping into the nice pins in order to trade for the real collectable pins.
 
Depending where you live, secondary stores have cheap pins for park trading such as My D pins and some of the booths at Frank and Son. If you are not local, maybe having a yard sale hunt day or swap meet you might could run across a steal of a deal. Just some outside the box ideas that do not involve buying scrap lots. Also remember, building up traders either takes lots of TIME or MONEY. if you are on a budget then patience should be your new best friend and slowly build your trade book between park visits. keep up on whats popular and if you get a chance to buy, buy pins for trade too, not just for collection. I wish you the best of luck, and have fun and enjoy the hunt!!!
 
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