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Have You Ever Bought A Damaged Pin (On Purpose)

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Have You Ever Bought A Damaged Pin (On Purpose)
Ninpin

Ninpin

Mothmouse
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There's a pin that I've been after for quite a while now, basically my grail, but is never available anywhere. Of the few people that have it for trade, none of them are active/responsive, and I've never seen one on eBay before now. It's a LE 250 from a decade ago, of a theme/movie nobody ever talks about, but I love to pieces.

Well, I finally found one a couple of days ago! At long last! Dream come true! ...unfortunately, the seller noticed that it was damaged, and took it off the site. However, they did tell me that they would throw it in for free, if I won a different auction. So now I am really debating. I don't particularly need anything else on their list, and it is a damaged pin (part of the enamel looks melted somehow), but since it has been so hard to find, do you think I should buy another random pin to get it for free? I mean, I suppose I could use the purchased good pin as a trader or a zap! But I am not sure how I feel about owning a damaged pin. I really do want it though, and I'm afraid I wont be able to find it otherwise! Gah!

So, have you ever bought/traded for a damaged pin on purpose, because you could never find it?

I keep thinking I could get it and just use it to fill the void until I find a better one. Dunno.
 
I did this! I bought the snow white winter pin (in my sig) for wayyy less than the "market price" because it was missing a post. I knew I'd never be able to bring myself to pay what most people ask for it, and my traders aren't so fantastic... plus I knew I wanted it for my personal collection forever and know how to put on a new post so it didn't bother me at all.

It still looks just as lovely in it's own frame on my wall and no one else will ever know hehehe :)
 
I've bought pins with damaged posts before , not too hard to fix , and I couldn't afford/find an undamaged example . Personally it would depend on the level/location of warping . If it looks good at first glance I might be tempted but once I'd seen the damage I wouldn't be able to un-see it each time I looked at it .
If the seller has other pins you could get cheap and get this for free then why not , in my experience virtually every pin is wanted by someone it just might take a while to trade away .
 
The real question is, will you forever regret not getting it if you pass then it becomes unavailable? I'd go for it personally. At least you will have your coveted pin if you never are able to find a better example, and if you are, great! Then you can perhaps trade the damaged one to someone in your same position now, they just love the pin despite the damage. I guess it also depends on how much the persons other pins are? Are they very expensive? Also, while the damage would bother me and I'd be searching for a better specimen, I would still get a warm fuzzy feeling that at least I had one in my possession, even if it's damaged.
 
I have never done this with a pin... but I have done it with a figurine.. I bought a Cinderella statue that I knew the bubble was damaged... but it was a fifth of the going price. The damaged bubble is hidden so I don't see it all the time. It is all a personal preference.
 
If the pins you can choose to buy aren't too expensive, I'd definitely buy it. I would regret it forever to miss out on this pin otherwise. But I would still try to get a better undamaged pin.
 
Thanks guys - I thought about it and decided to go for it! I mean, I guess there's nothing to lose anyway! I either either keep it and never find another one, or I do find a better one later, but this one was free so it doesn't hurt either way!

:D

Also, the damage looks basically like a small piece of the enamel (I didn't even notice at first) is missing, and there is a slight texture on the piece of enamel above it which I am guessing is related to what happened, like it got on the above part somehow. I do wonder what happened though! Do pins... melt? Could it have been a harsh cleaner that did something? They traded for it, so they have no idea. Also the majority of the pin looks fine, and it's a multi-character pin, where none of the characters that I care about are affected at all.
 
I'm glad you're going for it. One of my favorite pins is one that came damaged. I didn't know until I received it. It was missing the white enamel in one eye. The seller made it right with a refund and I kept the pin by choice. I filled in the eye with white nail polish and if you're not looking for it you'd never know. Now, I did this because I will NEVER trade this pin. It's one of my favorites and I don't know why but the imperfection makes it a tad more endearing. I don't know if I found another if I would chase it. I love my pin.

I've also "bought" (similar situation to yours, when the seller realized it was damaged threw it in for free) a damaged pin. I glued the missing post back on and it's sitting happily on my pin board with the others. Again, I probably won't ever trade it. I'm glad I own it, though!
 
I have purchased a pin that the seller mentioned was damaged. It was a very hard to find pin and I couldn't pass it up. I saw pictures of the flaw prior and it wasn't that noticeable, unless the pin was held at a certain angle. It is for my personal collection, so I don't mind.
 
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