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Grrr, sharks drive me nuts! DLR sucks compared to WDW too...

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Grrr, sharks drive me nuts! DLR sucks compared to WDW too...

markheardjr

Help me DPF u're my only hope!
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I'm really tired of trying to trade with other people at the parks. I'm a pretty new to trading, just started in April. I have a lanyard of nicer traders that I keep in my bag in case I see something I want. I almost never ask for a LE because it's just not worth the breath. I know I'm new, I don't have anything super rare or valuable. But, everytime I attempt to trade with someone they automatically want the nicest or lowest LE pin on the lanyard. Come one people. Obviously i'm not asking for a LE, I just want a HTF open edition or even a HTF hidden mickey pin. And in return they want a LE pin or the best pin I have. It's not even a fair trade. Like one GWP pin for a LE of 1500 from 2006. Drives me nuts. I just pass the trade tables now, especially if all they have is books full of LE's. I don't even ask to look anymore. If they have lots of hidden mickey's then maybe I'll stop and look.

The other thing I've quickly noticed is that DLR sucks when it comes to cast members that wear pins. I started collecting on a trip to Florida. We've been DLR passholders for 4 years now and go 3 or 4 times a month. So on our trip we decided to start since they had the starter sets of GWP for $16. It seems like WDW had tons of people trading and because there are so many parks and it's so large there was always a chance to find a decent pin. DLR I swear people show up and just do laps looking for every HTF pin. I haven't seen a single 2011 wave B pin yet and I've been to the park 4 times in the last two weeks. And I am looking for them hard. Walk over by westward ho trading and I see sharks with lots of the new pins. Just drives me nuts...

Sorry, rant over.
 
I have had the exact same thing done to me. I got to tje point that I don't trade unless its Hidden mickey for hidden mickey or vinyle for vinyle. I keep the good pins I have and only trade when with them when it is really important to me or my family. Trading was started to be fun and to some its a job. So its not fun anymore. I will still trade but my scars will hinder trades with some people.
 
I totally agree. My wife has a bunch of Tangled pins on her lanyard (obviously not for trade as it was a themed lanyard) we walked up to a trader at a table and he tried to swindle us with a " I'll trade any one pin here for that pin (pointing to a DSF Tangled pin)" . He only had a bunch of HM and rack pins. i know we are new but come on!

And yes cast members get cleaned out FAST. I'm assuming by those who sit at the tables....it can be frustrating at DLR sometimes...
 
I have to admit, as a new trader, I get really turned off by some of what you described. As for the cast lanyards, though...I don't mind so much if I don't find what I'm looking for. I really just enjoy trading with the cast members. It's fun. I've found some pins that I absolutely love that really aren't worth anything, but it reminds me of the nice day I had at DL, so I keep them. I do find it sad that there are certain people that make it a point to go around and pick off whatever they can off the cast lanyards, just to try and swindle others with, though.
 
So sorry to hear that guys! There are a handful of good traders that trade out there still It's one of the reasons that my husband and I started trading at tables in the park. It was our goal to counteract the sharks and help people have a great experience. We give pins to families who don't have any to trade if they like them and sit and chat with everyone It's something that we really enjoy. We have been away for a few months house hunting (and finally purchasing!) with only a couple of very short trips in the last couple months. When we were able to go Westward Ho was packed by the time that we got there. Hopefully we can get there a little more often in the future and get to meet some of you! We are usually there on Sunday's when we go. So sorry you guys have had bad experiences but hopefully we can help that. We can all make a difference if we try
 

I didn't want to but finally gave in yesterday and traded away my Dumbo pin for the final two Sepia GWP I needed. I traded this pin http://www.pinpics.com/cgi-bin/pin.cgi?pin=15215&sid=5909.1313440367 for the Cheshire cat and Tinkerbell sepia pins. Cheshier and Tink are harder pins to get so I figured it was ok but I had another guy that wanted to trade a HM from 2009 straight up for the Dumbo pin. I just got the Dumbo pin a few weeks ago in the World of Disney store so I only gave up a plain old trader for it but still. I know it's much more rare than the GWP Sepia pins. Still, I completed my sepia set so I'm happy.

I've also had the pleasure to meet some traders that are any hidden mickey for any hidden mickey. It was amazing. I completed so many sets and I didn't feel bad about leaving a HTF HM because I also got some HTF HMs. I even traded a few HTF open editions and a few old CM Lanyard series pins that he was looking for also. That was the best trading experience I had. I just wish there were more of thos kinds of people. Maybe some day I'll have enough duplicates to get a trader book where it's one for one. For now I try to trade away duplicates as fast as I can because I'm new and there is always something new out there. And why keep duplicates when someone else will want it all the same!
 
Although there are some bad apples at the DLR tables, not everyone there is!

I have my book out there occasionally, and I will admit I am one of the trader with mainly LEs in my book. But that's because most of the pins I want are LEs. I do however, keep a small board (well, now book) where it's any pin for any pin just for casual traders. I enjoy the interaction with most traders.
 
With my first real experience with traders at Westward Ho, they people there were actually really nice! There was one guy who kept wanting to trade for my S Simba from 2002, and the one who is always going on about Disney history while being a slight jerk, but other than that, it was really pleasant! I traded for a few of my Simba pins with traders at those tables.
 
You have to let it roll off your shoulder and not let yourself get taken for. My first trade at the tables was interesting. I spotted a pin I had never seen before and asked to trade. The guy wanted my ENTIRE lanyard for the pin, so I responded with a quick YA RIGHT! Anyways I had a PT52 Series - Wall-E (GOLD Chaser) with me that I didn't really care for so I traded it.

What makes it all worth it was I was in line for Toy Story for over an hour (o well) but there was a family in line behind us. Their kids had so many questions about my pins, which I know most of the history on. We talked for so long. Then their youngest boy wanted to trade with me so bad, didn't care what he got. So I got out my trades and he picked the first thing he saw, which was nothing for what he wanted to give me, BUT he was SOOOO HAPPY! The experience was mattered to him. I snuck the somewhat pricey pin back to his mother so that she could replace it on his lanyard and ended up giving away a few pins to the kids because it was FUN.

Make Pin Trading what you want it to be. If it has become a chore for you, then be happy with it or stop. Don't forget why you started in the first place!
 
Ohhhhhh....spiders....one of my biggest creeps!!!!! My new house has massive spiders outside! Thank goodness they are OUTSIDE! I even named one Monstro the Magnificent. I have never seen such large spiders!
 
Table traders can be an interesting bunch. I was there last weekend and traded for a Jiminy Hat Box pin. The gentleman trading was preaching how horrible it is that scrappers are infesting the park. He was even handing out flyers on how to spot fakes! Hah! Well, as soon as I got home and checked on pinpics I found that I had been given a scrapper...figures.
 
I agree with most of what is being said here. I know I have only been trading for a couple of years, but collecting for over 20 years. We love pins, and although some of mine might be out of reach to little kid's with Hidden Mickey's, I always try to give them a pin.

The best reaction is when you ask the child if they really like that pin and they say yes, and you just hand it to them! priceless!

I wear a few pins on my hat that are not of real value, but they are special to me. Last year, after the World Series, A little boy noticed my Mickey playing baseball as a San Francisco Giant! He said he would love to trade for it.

I had purchased this pin years ago and love it, so I asked him if he was a Giants fan and he said yes and his mother was shaing her head up and down. lolol

I took it off my hat and gave it to him. They asked what I wanted in return and I said, fo them to be happy with their new pin as I could not ask a young Giants fan to give me one in return.

The little boy was sooo happy and in return? I was very happy and found the same pin, a little more banged up, in the cast member trading books when they came out that day at 1:00. It has a loose back, so I am afraid I will lose it one day, but it reminds me of a happy little boy who loves his Giants!!!!

Giving is so much more than receiving! Sharks are in it for the money or the bigger better deal. They can have that. I want to be known as a fair and fun trader!!!!!!

That os what brings me happiness!!!!


Vicki
 
I agree with Vicki. I found myself enjoying pin collecting so much more when I stopped worrying about getting the best pins for myself and started helping other people. Sometimes they were grateful, sometimes they didn't seem to be, but I had much better experiences. And pin karma came my way, so I eventually ended up with pins that were special for me as well.

I think the first few years of collecting, I really wasn't in a position to make much of a difference to other traders because I knew so little and didn't have anything great to trade. I think that's what some of the recent threads have been trying to say: that when you have been trading long enough to know what's going on and you have a surplus of decent pins to trade with, you are then in a position to make it fun for others and hopefully influence them to trade fairly and spread the magic.

My experience is that I have been happier when I don't try to compete with other collectors, but view them as comrades. People are going to do what they want, and I imagine that there will always be sharks whose sad lives have little else to take joy in than trying to gain for themselves at the expense of others--and that's probably true in all walks of life--but I don't have to let that be me. No matter what I stand to gain in a lopsided trade, I know what kind of person it would make me to take advantage of someone else.
 
I think i know who that is. he always tells people yes these are for trade then when you want to trade for a pin he says " I just got it and i think i want to keep it awhile" COME ON DUDE!!! if you dont want to trade it dont put it out with the other traders! he has done this 2 me 2x's already so I dont even bother with him anymore.
 
 
Well there is one thing I am not and that is a SHARK. Yes, there are a lot od sharks out there who will take advantage of even children and even use their children to get what they want, but there are also plenty of great people out there to trade with.

Many of you know I do magic and when a princess or little prince does not have a pin to trade, I get to do magic for them and make a pin appear. It is the greatest feeling to know you have made someones day.

Dont let the sharks get you down, use shark repellent and enjoy the good fish.

Also, I have to agree that WDW is well geared for pin traders. I think the sharks are what ruined it for DLR.
 
WDW was pretty amazing compared to DLR, as far as pin trading is concerned. I was there a couple months ago and spent literally two days doing nothing but trading at the WDW DTD. It was nutty. It's too bad DLR isn't comparable.

As for sharks at the Ho at DLR, I've found most people there to be quite nice, actually. When I was getting started earlier this year, I did some of my first real trades there, and found that most people were really helpful. Even the traders that are parked there to trade at-profit are generally pretty friendly folks, and I don't begrudge them their perspective on the hobby. Like, realistically, some people are there to trade up: not a big deal to me. Everybody's got their own take on things, and I've yet to see something like the horror stories relayed from Epcot, with people trading scrapped HM's for multiple full-sized pin bags or anything.

I've only once seen someone there committing what I would consider to be underhanded trading practices, attempting to trade a heavily scrapped LE pin as if it was actually worth 20+ dollars. And that dude failed, so the problem fixed itself.

-JD
 

Which one? XD The guy who keep asking to trade for my Simba, or the Disney guy? XD The Simba guy was like "I've been looking for that pin forever, I'll trade you two for that one!" But it's special to my heart so I couldn't trade it. The Disney guy[the one I think you're referring too] is no fun to trade with and we couldn't get any deal going.
 
i know the older guy your talking about hes actually pretty nice once u get use to him lol but granted i thought the same thing when i first met him lol but sit there and talk to him hes actually a really nice guy missunderstood but nice all the same lol
 
Yeah, the historian's probably Ron. Once you get to know him he's actually really easy to trade with. And he's a walking encyclopedia about the park, which is pretty sweet.

-JD
 
I have bad news about that guy who's probably "Ron"

He cheated me, I wanted , which he said was really rare and since it came on it's backer card it was super rare....but that pin is from a cast member lanyard in DLRP....not a backing card!
He made me go into the store and get 2 (that was the limit) for it....he also said that if I answered a trivia question correctly (which I already told him I didn't know much about Disney history) that he'd make another trade with me. Obviously I failed so he didn't trade.

I've been scarred by that experience ever since I found out how easy it is to get that lady pin-- I paid around $30 for a pin people sell for about $6!!!!

 
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