HELP! Building a Base

Looking to get some more pins to have for trading but having a hard time finding them besides at the parks or through Loungefly. Any suggestions on where to look? Thinking of Whatnot but there seems to be a pretty high mark up on pin prices there. Not quite sure where to start. TIA for the help!

There are some sellers on whatnot that overcharge, but others that undercharge, IMO! I'll look through the sellers that I've had good experiences with and message you a list.

Forum members also often host games or sales that are a great place to get traders as well.

I also have had great luck with PinMeUpCo on Instagram.

I like blind boxes for that . . . if I get a pin I want, great, if not I can quickly build a supply of traders.

Do you have a BoxLunch or Hot Topic anywhere near you? Both of them sell licensed Disney pins, & have new blind bag sets all the time.

Ach West said:

I like blind boxes for that . . . if I get a pin I want, great, if not I can quickly build a supply of traders.

Do you have a BoxLunch or Hot Topic anywhere near you? Both of them sell licensed Disney pins, & have new blind bag sets all the time.

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They also have a lot of BOGO sales. And there are folks in here who are pros with the box lunch money.

mootzman1285 said:

Looking to get some more pins to have for trading but having a hard time finding them besides at the parks or through Loungefly. Any suggestions on where to look? Thinking of Whatnot but there seems to be a pretty high mark up on pin prices there. Not quite sure where to start. TIA for the help!

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Due to the associated fees, I try to avoid Ebay, Mercari, and Whatnot. Just before a pin-heavy event, FB group members tend to have bargain basement sales on some of their smaller pins in an effort to raise money for the event pins. I'd start there.

mootzman1285 said:

Looking to get some more pins to have for trading but having a hard time finding them besides at the parks or through Loungefly. Any suggestions on where to look? Thinking of Whatnot but there seems to be a pretty high mark up on pin prices there. Not quite sure where to start. TIA for the help!

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Pink a la Mode (PALM) is a common place people buy pins at retail (or sometimes PALM has sales).

This is a pretty comprehensive list from the DPF guides section:

You didn't mention Disneyshopping.com - every Tuesday they drop pins and those are usually some good ones to snag for traders.

I think buying the 5-pin mystery packs is one of the best trading investments you can make. It gives you a variety of pins to trade to others who are often trying to complete the set or find their favorite character. They are clearly authentic and very rarely stay on your pin book for a long time if you're an active trader.

ohanagalaxy said:

I think buying the 5-pin mystery packs is one of the best trading investments you can make. It gives you a variety of pins to trade to others who are often trying to complete the set or find their favorite character. They are clearly authentic and very rarely stay on your pin book for a long time if you're an active trader.

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Where do you find those?

mootzman1285 said:

Where do you find those?

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They are occasionally available on the Disney Store website, especially on pin drop Tuesdays. Otherwise you'll want to connect with someone who does pick ups in the parks.

Sithathoriunet said:

They are occasionally available on the Disney Store website, especially on pin drop Tuesdays. Otherwise you'll want to connect with someone who does pick ups in the parks.

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I like this idea, especially with the new sidekicks and prince booster packs. I believe each pack is around $50 and has six pins. There are DPF members who do pickups at DLR if you're interested.

mootzman1285 said:

Looking to get some more pins to have for trading but having a hard time finding them besides at the parks or through Loungefly. Any suggestions on where to look? Thinking of Whatnot but there seems to be a pretty high mark up on pin prices there. Not quite sure where to start. TIA for the help!

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I think Whatnot is 90% resellers who mark stuff up like crazy and not ever worth it, BUT if you are really smart about what you're bidding on you can find some amazing deals. Just need a lot of patience and good timing.

There's a specific seller named Pintervention I like - honest sellers, sell at markups that aren't insane, and often will have vintage and unique pins versus the same old park stuff you see everywhere.

While it is fun to have some traders, as a resident curmudgeon and long timer who still has pins they picked up from 2000-2002 “because it might be a good trader” be mindful in investing too much money in traders instead of your collection.

Traders will come naturally via duplicates from mystery / blind boxes, sales you stumble into, accidental oopsies when you purchase the same pin twice, or you decide to refocus your collection and pins move from keepers to traders. And then you will, without knowing how it happened, find yourself amongst the ranks of “I have too many trader pins!”

The reality is that often the person who has a pin you want will already own what you have to trade or it doesn’t fit their focus. So investing in your collection is a more direct way of checking off your ISO list. However, blind box pins either from the parks or Loungefly (Hot Topic, Box Lunch) seem to do better than most because there always seems to be someone working on a set and people are more likely to find a similar pin to swap out in their trade book. The other good way is to be extremely rich 🤣 with access to exclusive CM stores, which is not 99.9% of us, unfortunately!

Good luck and welcome to the forum!

Pidge said:

They also have a lot of BOGO sales. And there are folks in here who are pros with the box lunch money.

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BOGOs, B2G1, 20, 30, 40% off... there is almost ALWAYS some kind of active discount in the entire boxlunch/hottopic branch of buying pins.