Ebay Pins!

[ohmyitskai]

So I've been very hesitant to buy any pins from Ebay, just because I'm afraid of getting scrappers, and it feels like feedback is useless, since people who post huge lots of scrappers have 100% feedback.

But then I came across this Marie pin, which I LOVE, and I really want to buy it, but I'm apprehensive with the seller being in Japan and just general nerves. It's not a particularly expensive pin, but I would still hate to spend money and not get a pin/get a scrapper.

 

[ohmyitskai]

Okay, sorry I had no idea that I couldn't post ebay links!! I thought you just couldn't post links promoting your own sales.

But could anyone help me out with tips to successful pin-buying on Ebay?

 

[karkura]

Happy to help. Can you PM the ebay auction to me?

 

[hopemax]

I saw the link before it was removed. It's a Tokyo Disneyland pin being sold from someone located in Chiba, Japan. In case you don't know it, Chiba is the part of Japan where Tokyo Disneyland is located. (Just like a DL pin would originate from Anaheim, or a WDW pin from Lake Buena Vista/Orlando). The seller probably did purchase the pin directly from Disney. Where else would you expect Tokyo Disneyland pins to come from that would be safer?

 

[Nekov]

A few tips but aren't the only ones:

It's helpful to look for pins that aren't just stock/pinpics pictures, listings that have the actual pin's picture is an easier way to make a decision on it's authenticity quality.

Compare to the pinpics ID, look for any discoloration like "the eyes should be blue but instead are pink" etc sometimes color errors do happen though on official pins so it's sometimes hard to tell. If you privately ask the seller to send you a picture of the back and they refuse, "sometimes" that's a red flag, but not always.

If you see the same seller selling the same pin over and over when it should be an LE of 100 but clearly sold 200 for example. Definite red flag. However, if you see a seller with like 10 of the same pin of an LE of 50 though it might just be that they were lucky enough to get 10 of the 50! Just make sure to ask for pictures of the front/back just to be on the safe side.

Look at recent sales and try to determine if it's a "too good to be true" sale where it's far cheaper than it should be. A Jessica Jumbo Alice for example that's selling for $50 when normally it runs from 150-200+ is definitely a concern. Sometimes you can get lucky though! So while these tips are not a definite "it's fake/scrapper" guide, it still helps you be somewhat alert

 

[ohmyitskai]

Happy to help. Can you PM the ebay auction to me?

PM sent

I saw the link before it was removed. It's a Tokyo Disneyland pin being sold from someone located in Chiba, Japan. In case you don't know it, Chiba is the part of Japan where Tokyo Disneyland is located. (Just like a DL pin would originate from Anaheim, or a WDW pin from Lake Buena Vista/Orlando). The seller probably did purchase the pin directly from Disney. Where else would you expect Tokyo Disneyland pins to come from that would be safer?

I was mostly thinking because of the overseas shipping process, it taking longer ect.

It definitely makes sense that they're in the area, I just am not very familiar with overseas shipping!

A few tips but aren't the only ones:

It's helpful to look for pins that aren't just stock/pinpics pictures, listings that have the actual pin's picture is an easier way to make a decision on it's authenticity quality.

Compare to the pinpics ID, look for any discoloration like "the eyes should be blue but instead are pink" etc sometimes color errors do happen though on official pins so it's sometimes hard to tell. If you privately ask the seller to send you a picture of the back and they refuse, "sometimes" that's a red flag, but not always.

If you see the same seller selling the same pin over and over when it should be an LE of 100 but clearly sold 200 for example. Definite red flag. However, if you see a seller with like 10 of the same pin of an LE of 50 though it might just be that they were lucky enough to get 10 of the 50! Just make sure to ask for pictures of the front/back just to be on the safe side.

Look at recent sales and try to determine if it's a "too good to be true" sale where it's far cheaper than it should be. A Jessica Jumbo Alice for example that's selling for $50 when normally it runs from 150-200+ is definitely a concern. Sometimes you can get lucky though! So while these tips are not a definite "it's fake/scrapper" guide, it still helps you be somewhat alert

Thank you so much!! They seem to have a lot of these, as they just put five more up, but it also is an OE - so it might be fine?