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Disneystore UK Rant

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Disneystore UK Rant
mashead2000

mashead2000

New DPF Member
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Location
York, United Kingdom
New to pin trading having just started last month at DLRP and was shocked at the high priced pins there (rubbish euro exchange rate to blame) so going back to the UK was excited to pop in to our local disneystore and see the pins section there, surely it would be as good as in the park?
No it wasnt :(
searching high and low throughout the large store i managed to find near the till - 2 hooks with pins on of 4 different designs!!!
why the small supply? surely they could stock up as im sure im not the only pin trade in the UK? anyone else have the same problem in their local shops?

and don't get me started on the 5poundpostal charge from the online shop :eek:
 
Some of the stores near me in CA carry pins, but they are always the reject pins from the park. They were either way too overstocked or bad quality, so they sent them to a sales rack at an outlet near me. It's nice for traders at the park, but not much else. :/
 
Have you seen Earthbounds post about placing a large order on Uk disney store of over £75 to get the free postage. If you are after something it might be worth having a look. It will cost you the price of the pin and postage to you (much cheaper than what they charge)
 
:( It's a shame, but Pin Trading will never be as popular here as it is in America. I just hope they don't stop selling/trading here all together. A small display of pins is better than no pins at all. And they most likely had the rest of their pins behind the counter in draws, like my local store does.
 
Disney pin trading in the UK can be very frustrating.
I visited the Cribbs Causeway store a couple of weeks ago and the only pins they had were the earth day alien pins and some rubbish core pins like mickey sitting down and dale.
However I find it often profitable to ask to look in the box behind the counter. Last week at the Solihull store I managed go get the Hercules and Hydra pin which has been out of stores for quite some time.
Why have they taken the board/plinths (that used to sit on the counter) away from stores as it was often nice to see all the pins displayed on there and made it easier to choose pins to buy rather than rummage through crammed hooks full.
The designs and characters chosen to be pins have so far been dissapointing but the Jack Skellington, Emperor's New Groove, Hunchback, Princess and the Frog pins hopefully are a sign that things are improving!
 
It is ashame and I agree with Lindsay that pins are not as popular but they are finally reducing the prices on LE to £5 on some, the Briar Rose is a perfect example of a good pin for the price unlike some we have had.

On another note though, it could just be your store is small and not have many on show, Im guessing if its a small store they will keep the LE behind the till and not on the racks as not all stores have them out so you would have to queue up and ask a CM at the till for LE pins IF they are not on show as it doesnt mean they dont have them when they are not on the rack.
 
I have two DSUK Stores, both about 10 miles from where I live (Lakeside & Romford)

Now this may turn into a moan, BUT we as traders need to do our part to help promote pin trading within the UK.

I have visited both these stores sporadically over the past few months (mainly because I hate shopping!!) - on every occasion I have managed to make a trade in the store BUT only after asking to see the CM's lanyards which are typically kept behind the till OR in the storeroom. Obviously unless you know about pin-trading then you'd be none the wiser! I have asked as to why CM's do not wear the lanyards all the time & I've had responses back from "I forgot to put it on" to "the lanyard gets in my way when serving" - go figure!! There only appears to be a maximum of 2 lanyards per store (unless anyone can say different) & the pickings on the lanyards can be quite good - I have picked up a £5 value Ariel pin which didn't stay with me very long as my daughter took it, other occasions I have traded for a current UK release!! However the odd scrapped/counterfeit pin is also showing up on them too which is unavoidable in my opinion!!

The question is how do we as traders in the UK push the hobby/pastime/addiction so that Disney UK broaden the trading opportunities, educate CM's into proactively trading & recognising that it has a popular UK fan-base - it is afterall difficult to compare the UK trading scene with our friends in the US - there is no comparison, but it has to start somwhere! I seem to remember that UK trading in-store was originally to be on a trial basis - did we pass???

The Disney Store UK web-site does detail future release pins - averaging at approx 2 per fortnight - some pins are nice, new designs, some are old school. However they are initially priced comparable to US prices - a £5 LE pin equates to approx $8, however the cheapest £3 rack/open pin works out less than $5 - great, BUT the UK mailing cost is ridiculous & unless you order over £75 of goods then a flat £5 cost is incurred (makes those £3 pins now £8 each & totally out-priced!). The selection of on-line pins can usually be found within the stores (apart from on-line exclusives), but I have had problems - some outlets do not as mentioned previously have the pins on display, some do - you do have to ask to see what's available in store. Again, this is another bad point for the stores by not having on display the pins for sale - is this because there is little concern or maybe lack of popularity - I really don't know.

I'd be interested in suggestions or maybe even contact details for anyone who is considered a Disney UK Pin-Trading representative - we need to increase the momentum & highlight where we think it is going wrong

Just my 0.02C worth!!
 
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hi mashead.the york store used to have a massive pin display,but when i went the other week they only had a small amount.i asked the cast members and they said they had limited space due to christmas items.they have a box behind the counter with a large selection of pins,they also keep the lanyards under the counter,so it pays to ask.there are a couple of cast members who work there who are really into pin trading.there was a blonde haired american girl who was very happy to chat about pins,not sure if shes still there as i havent seen her recently, the other is one of the managers with long brown hair,i cant remember the names.hope this helps
 
well to add to what earthbound said about not having them on display... when they are on display for example in the Trafford Centre store..they are near the till and in the way of where CMs get behind the till or go into the stockroom/back of the store. I was there on friday and had to constantly move out the way... they shouldnt have them near the tills especially when you either block the queue or get in peoples way.
 
Just to add to earthbound's point about choice on lanyards. I have found that it is easy to get current release pins by trading as opposed to buying. At the moment the Birmingham Bull Ring store is full of Stitch Pirate, Dalmatians and Mickey and Minnie sitting.

In my time trading in store I have had great success trading for good pins. I managed to get a couple of the earth day and sword series pins from off the lanyards. I also managed to get things such as Agent P, Ariel and Flounder, Thumper LE and many many more. There are a lot of scrappers in some stores and in my early days of trading I managed to pick some of those up aswell which was frustrating. I have to say that the CM lanyard pins so far have also been very nice and very good pins.

I do find that some staff are very excited about pin trading whereas some couldn't give a monkeys! Those who do care are very good to talk to and they are always excited to see pins which have come from DLRP or anywhere else.

2 Lanyards seems to be the norm. I highlighted earlier that on my visit to the Solihull store on Monday I had the CM's getting the box behind the counter out and they also retrieved a huge jiffy bag full of pins from out the back. These included the gift series CM pins which I finally managed to get my hands on but also a great range of other pins which weren't on the lanyards. In this jiffy bag was another two lanyards and the CMs made up the two new lanyards whilst I was there, choosing the best and most interesting pins to add to the on show selection. So therefore the Solihull store now has 4 lanyards with about 12 pins on each. I was very pleased to help this small store with selecting the pins whilst telling them all about pin trading. However I did ask wether they had many traders in and they said no, the only people who they can recall trading pins was a few members of staff.

I do agree that pin trading will never be as popular here as it is in America, but I would like it to be more popular than it currently is.

I think that organizing more events and marketing them in the public eye or coinsiding them with other more popular events could generate more interest.
It is definately something to think about...

Regards,

Martin
 
Duckmite said:
£5 postal charges? Luxury! I live in a hole in the ground covered by a sheet of tarpaulin and have to pay £20 for shipping to Finland!
Click to expand...
Tarpaulin? You were lucky! We used to get up every morning before nightfall and DIG our hole in the ground... we would dream of having a sheet of tarpaulin and have to pay $450,000 for shipping to Mars!

And you try and tell the young people of today that... they won't believe you.

:D
 
hi martin,where abouts is the solihul store.i have family in birmingham and have always gone to the bull ring,didnt relise solihul had a store,saying that it must be 5 years since ive been into solihul.will deffo make a beeline for it when im next down.thanks.dax
 
Hi Dax.

The Solihull store is a very small store and is located in the Touchwood centre. It is next to the escalator up to the cinema, opposite Bella Italia.

They often have a huge backlog of pins there. Like I said earlier I managed to get Hercules vs Hydra there on Monday. I haven't seen it in stores for ages. They also have the Grumpy and Dopey pins aswell as the Ariel Locket and Agent P.

Martin
 
thanks for the info.im goin down just afer christmas so will take a look.i allready have a near full set of all uk pins,but its always good to stock up on traders
 
Thanks Martin,

Just to carry on from your post......

Well done for getting the CM's to make up a couple more lanyards, it shouldn't really be up to us to force the issue - CM's should really be wearing lanyards as a matter of cause. I'm not sure what the rules (if any) state or whether or not it is by choice - but in my opinion there is room for improvement!

I'll also agree with Dax & Danny's point that the area chosen to display the pin board leaves a lot to be desired, from memory the Romford store also has it board on the counter stuck in the corner, right where customers are served & it does seem that you are in the way & you do feel obliged to move, I have made the suggestion that like us collectors, the store makes use of a cork board (behind glass & lockable if required) & mounts it on the wall away from the counter area - other pin information can be included as well - upcoming pins etc etc.

The problem with organised events is the travelling, because of the relatively small number of traders (as compared to the US) the events are widespread, usually hundreds of miles from home & the cost of public transport, hotel costs etc sometimes does not make it viable unless it is for a whole weekend. I'm not aware of any events in or around my area & I have mentioned the possibility of hosting one in July - the interest has been minimal & as always happens people say they will turn-up but then drop out at the last miniute - this makes the organising a real pain as the potential numbers are small to start with!

Trading will never be as big as in the US, fact - but it can be just as fun if there is an amount of publicity behind events (DPF calendar, Facebook groups etc) & an improvement in the way Disney UK chooses to market the pins - are they included in ODPT release dates for example??

That's now 0.04C worth!!
 
I like the idea of the pin board locked behind glass away from the till area. I presume then that pins would be displayed on racks underneath etc.

Is anybody here going to the mousemeets event in Birmingham on 30th April/1st May, this will be my first event and I look forward to it.

I missed out on the Milton Keynes event last year. I wonder if Disney will do a similar event again in 2011. Looking at the pictures it looked like there was lots of traders and the general feedback was very good. Also adds an incentive to attend if there is a LE pin being released alongside it!
 
I'll be at Mousemeets.

The Exeter store used to be really on top of the pins. A lot of the CMs were really into it but unfortunately the shop closed.

I'm hoping to visit the White Rose store in Leeds over Christmas.
 
Im going to mousemeets, I think I will be having a pin meet in Manchester a week before Mousemeets as I know some people are not going. cant wait and Im coming all the way frim Ireland XD
 
i like the idea of the lockable pin board with information.this would attract new collectors and make it so much easier for everyone.i would love to go to mousemeets as i missed this years but we are expecting a baby around that date
 
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