Come back from a years break only to find out...

that pin prices have increased about 1000%!!

Whats happened in this past year? why are they all so expensive now! I know mega rare ones where always abit of challenge to afford but now they just seem major high!

Has there been an increase in pin traders? or are people just throwing loads of money at pins now?

This is really bad to come back too

I hear ya! People are screaming recession, recession, recession....but visiting the parks and seeing prices on eBay really make a person wonder!

A year break. You missed the entire DSF releases that caused all the calamity. I would actually say February 4, 2012 was the day you should start with and look at all the DSF releases until April 13, 2013. Then you'll somewhat understand what you jumped back into.

Welcome back and good luck.

MASTER said:

A year break. You missed the entire DSF releases that caused all the calamity. I would actually say February 4, 2012 was the day you should start with and look at all the DSF releases until April 13, 2013. Then you'll somewhat understand what you jumped back into.

Welcome back and good luck.

Click to expand...

Pretty much this

I took an extended break and was also smacked with this same realization! :/

I hear you. It has really gotten uber-crazy!! For me, it has taken some of the fun out of it. Many pins are just plain unattainable. It's hard to know what to collect. I am on a limited income and I already spend more than I should. I have noticed a big difference since I started trading last June.

Sue

I totally agree with you! I just recently became active again and thought the same thing!!! I was completely shocked. :eek2: It's astounding how much it's changed. I think a lot of the prices have tripled from what they were going for before.

Doesn't tend to make one feel like having a 'magical day' does it???

When I started trading, there were some LE Tangled pins I wanted because they sold for around $40-$60. Now those same pins sell for over $100. It's rather ridiculous how expensive some pins have become.

I agree with all the above sentiments. Last year trading and collecting was so fun and reasonable. The ultra rare pins (Gomes, Princess Carousel, etc.) were expensive, but the new DSF releases (Beloved Tales, Tangled, etc.) were only marked up double/triple the cost. Now even before they are being released, they are being marked up 10x to 20x their original cost. It seems more like a business than a hobby now.

I wish DSF made their releases online instead now, that way people all over the country could enjoy the Disney magic and the resellers wouldn't have a monopoly over their product. Just make it an online registration and raffle.

Pin trading is nuts...and the problem is alot of people who do it see the value...and they want to make as much as they can....

I know a few people who quit their jobs to do pins...thats what happened to our beloved hobby

I think tax time makes people spend tooo much also...but over all the valyes have taken alot of the fun out of pin trading..

Example:.... i am dieing to the enchanted marquee..was going to spend 400 on it..( thats nuts rite for medal and paint)... i know but i need it!!! I toold myself...and then guess what happened it sold for 1100.00.... fml..lol..

I member in 2008 when i startes my grails 100 auction ariel pins beautiful were 129.00 bin
On ebay..and i thought who wpuld ever spend that much on a pin...i couldnt so it...kicking myself now ugggh...
How the times have changed..maybe one day it will be fun like before..whwn it was more about the pins then the value of them

Pin trading is nuts...and the problem is alot of people who do it see the value...and they want to make as much as they can....

I know a few people who quit their jobs to do pins...thats what happened to our beloved hobby

I think tax time makes people spend tooo much also...but over all the valyes have taken alot of the fun out of pin trading..

Example:.... i am dieing to the enchanted marquee..was going to spend 400 on it..( thats nuts rite for medal and paint)... i know but i need it!!! I toold myself...and then guess what happened it sold for 1100.00.... fml..lol..

I member in 2008 when i startes my grails 100 auction ariel pins beautiful were 129.00 bin
On ebay..and i thought who wpuld ever spend that much on a pin...i couldnt so it...kicking myself now ugggh...
How the times have changed..maybe one day it will be fun like before..whwn it was more about the pins then the value of them

Probable sequence of events that has led to the crazy prices and high demand for a small pool of product.

* Disneyshopping.com decides to basically drop the regular pin releases and virtually disapears. Creates a hole in the product stream, particularly for those not near a Park. Demand for low LE pins available to the public pretty much instantly doubles.

* Tangled Piece of Movie History is released and sells on eBay for $400+. This creates the new resale frenzy, due to super inflated sales potential. This spreads to all other LE pins with popular characters.

* DSF experiences a hyper inflated rise in popularity, due to grossly inflated sales potential. They become the only publicly accessible low LE pin reseller in the game.

* DSF wait times increase and nearly everyone begins to inflate resale and trade values, due to the time and expenses needed to get the pins at cost. Campouts become commonplace. Demand escalates and prices continue to skyrocket.

* Becomes increasingly difficult for most people to see the inflated costs and not be tempted to try their hand at flipping or to trade extremely hard for other grail type pins. Demand increases again, as people realize that DSF pins are considered the defacto monetary and trading standard in the community.

These are all my opinions and I'm not calling anyone greedy or anything. It's just how I view the sequence of events occuring. As long as DSF continues to offer low LE pins and there isn't any other publicly available source, this will likely continue for a very long time. There has been some talk about DSF increasing the LE sizes, but it hasn't been rumored to be anything significant enough to devalue the pins and decrease demand. I think we're stuck with this madness until something drastically changes.

So basically its all because of Tangled and DSF?

It just seems like the little hobby is now something if you are mega in the money if you want the decent pins, if your not you have to stick to the medicore and just dream of the high ends. To me it used to seem that the high wants was always very hard to obtain but not impossible, now its only possible if your willing to pay out alot of money.

Is it mainly based on buying/selling and not trading?

In my opinion, only the currently popular characters have been adversely affected. Tangled, Up, and a few of the popular series of pins like Marquees and Beloved Tales. DSF pins almost automatically resell for at double, due to the time and expense some people tend to use as justification (for which I don't blame them. Parking, meals, gas, and the amount of time needed in the queue to attempt to guarantee even getting the pins).

There are still some very nice pins and series that are still cruising on a normal pace and some are quite easy to acquire. DSF still has some pins that don't do as well as others and are there a week or more following a release.

There's just a lot of focus on the bad vibes and hard to get pins here, so it all tends to appear that ALL pins are affected, when it is really only a small sampling of pins that continuously garner a ton of attention and resulting heartache and drama.