Do you call people out?

What do you do when you see people collecting/trading scrappers and fakes? I mean outside of pin groups, because obviously in circles of serious traders it isn't allowed. I've noticed that outside the pin trading community, that I love being a part of, there are many people who are just fine with trading junk pins. Maybe some are oblivious but I think a lot of them know and just don't care. I've brought it up to Disney bloggers before, when they give a "tip" that ebay is a good place to get cheap pins. I've also shared my experiences on a moms forum when someone asked about pin trading for their upcoming vacation. It was a little uncomfortable when someone else chimed in and recommended a known scrapper seller on ebay. Then they asked me if I knew that seller. I responded by listing all the reasons I don't buy from that particular seller and all the "red flags." I'm a travel agent and I have mostly Disney clients so I don't want to come off as being bossy or accusing people of doing something morally wrong, because I don't want to offend people, (especially clients and potential clients) BUT I feel very strongly that it's wrong to buy/trade/sell scrappers and fakes so I do always try to share what I know about fake pins and direct people to good sellers.

What made me start thinking about this more was last night when I saw a post on a FB group. It was a picture of a bunch of fake pins in little baggies and the poster said they were looking for "POSITIVE info" about the pins and whether they should trade them or keep them for their collection. The fact that they specified they wanted positive info means they must know they aren't authentic, right? What else could that mean? Lots of people commented about how neat they were and it made me want to vomit. Especially one comment that said "Who cares what people think?" UGH! NO ONE cares if you keep crappy fakes but when you say you might trade them... then it becomes an issue for me. I thought about reporting it to the group's admin but I didn't because it isn't a pin group so they probably won't care. So I was just wondering what you guys do when you find yourself in this situation with a fellow Disney fan who may or may not understand what they're doing.

I think telling people what signs of scrappers are would be helpful. Some people will consider it "calling them out," some will not. But point out everything that is wrong with their pins may help others to not be taken advantage of.

Pin trading has a natrual progression into pin collecting. When one moves from a single lanyard of a few HM's into a bag, a show lanyard, a book at home, etc. you tend to start caring less about hidden mickey's. At the start, it can be annoying when all the HM are gone and most lanyards are full of scrappers. Took the fun out of trading for HM when that revelation happens, like Santa Clause isn't real, aka you pins are all fake. But anymore, I could care less about HM. I stopped a few years ago when I couldn't even find pins when I was hunting them multiple days a week with my annual pass. You literally had to attack a CM when they left the break room door and then they glared at you with shameful eyes like you stole all their fun in their life or something. Now I have maybe 2 or 3 HM pins in my backpack, and if I happen to see a rack OE pin or LR or LE pin on a lanyard I may get it, but other than that, HM's are just the tool Disney uses to lure people into the mass consumerism that is pin collecting.

I think it's great that you make people aware...we've mentioned it to others, too. Ultimately it's each persons choice, but I think awareness makes people think twice about trading scrappers....every little bit helps!!

I would never call people out. I just won't trade for their pins. I blame Disney 100% for the scrapper problem.

I for one collect high end Disney counterfeit pins, really like them a lot, would not trade them but always on the hunt for them.

maxtrexmom said:

NO ONE cares if you keep crappy fakes but when you say you might trade them... then it becomes an issue for me.

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^^This is how I feel about this issue. I've seen people post on Disney travel blogs about "how to find lots of pins to trade for $1 a piece on eBay" and when someone points out that those large lots are all fakes/scrappers, the response is "so what? The pins are tradeable and this is just for fun." It upsets me that people can be selfish enough not to see that by trading their fake pins for legit pins and hidden mickeys, they are potentially screwing over other people.

daiyuflower said:

It upsets me that people can be selfish enough not to see that by trading their fake pins for legit pins and hidden mickeys, they are potentially screwing over other people.

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To be fair, they are most likely trading crappy fake pins for crappy fake pins. They probably don't realize (or care) that most of the pins they are taking off of the CM lanyards these days are counterfeits...

unibear said:

To be fair, they are most likely trading crappy fake pins for crappy fake pins. They probably don't realize (or care) that most of the pins they are taking off of the CM lanyards these days are counterfeits...

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I guess that's true. I guess for most it's really just for fun, and people don't realize they are still contributing to the market for counterfeits and scrappers. Those big lots of fake pins are there because there is demand and people will buy them. Taobao and factory seconds have really diluted many collectibles and hobbies.

unibear said:

To be fair, they are most likely trading crappy fake pins for crappy fake pins. They probably don't realize (or care) that most of the pins they are taking off of the CM lanyards these days are counterfeits...

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This may be kind of true to a point. But not all the time. Each day CMs start with a set number of pins and they are real. It's the sharks and resellers that run around and swoop up all the good pins that leave the fakes for other people. No matter how someone try's to spin it or make it ok because others do it to. It is wrong!! Always has been and always will be. It hurts the hobby and makes some people not ever want to be a part of the disney pin family.

I for one was real mad when I first started and found out that I had traded away so many real pins only to end up with fakes. It is up to us all to learn how to tell good pins from bad and to help each other to learn also.

I would call call people out in a heart beat but try to do it nice I guess. Unless you know the Pearson is just getting fakes and or selling them and knows dam well what they are doing. Than I would put them on blast all over the place and tell everyone I could to stay away from them. It's so sad that people would try to make money in such a dirty way. This is a disney hobby and should be treated as one. WWWD???

KT07 said:

Each day CMs start with a set number of pins and they are real.

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Not unless the cast member or their manager has specifically refreshed their lanyard. Plenty of lanyards are just leftovers of whatever the previous day's pins were. Many CMs have said they don't bother or don't get the chance to refresh their lanyards on a regular basis.