How to collect + trade from England?

What it says ^_^

I've always wanted to get into pin trading, but it keeps not happening due to being in the UK. I only hear bad stuff about ebay; I'm always disappointed there are none in the Disney stores; and having no pins to begin with, I can't trade online either.

I know you can get some from the online UK shop, but I've always assumed they have limited value (if they can be ordered online, presumably everyone does, and therefore no-one will want to trade for them...? Is this true?)

How do other UK people get + stay involved in the hobby?

Hello
Firstly welcome to DPF
Basically you're looking for limited edition pins to trade , open edition simply aren't that difficult to get hold of as you say , each Tuesday a new limited edition pin is released via the UK website (you can get 2 of each if you like) they usually trade OK but as a general rule if you like it probably someone else will too .
The awesome Speezard offers DLR pickups at close to cost too , these are good too but be careful as they're higher edition numbers as a rule .
When you're looking to trade start by finding people here , there's some of the nicest traders you could ever hope to encounter , but remember everyone now has to pay higher postage costs so try and find someone who has at least 3-4 of your pins on their PinPics wants list and you'll have a better chance of success .
On the bright side you've chosen some excellent themes for your collection , there's plenty of nice but not massively rare Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror pins available which you could try to trade for .
If you have any more questions feel free to PM me , I'd be happy to answer them as best as I can .
It's not impossible to trade if you don't live near a park , it's just a bit more difficult

Welcome:wavey:

Hi and welcome to dpf with me I buy uk pins from disneystore you can also buy pins from dlp as they do phone orders I don't do this but my friend does and it works very well I find my uk pins are a hit and miss at times but I still buy them to build up my traders I find the uk pins trade a lot better at the Epcot tables I do buy pins from eBay from time to time hope this helps and goodluck with your collections

Welcome! I'm in the UK too! I found it hard at first. I started by buying two of every new Disney Store UK pin release. Once I had built up a little pool of traders I started to contact people to make trades! Some people don't like to trade internationally but I have found it to be a minority. I try to trade multiple pins with one person just to make the shipping worthwhile for both parties.

The value of the UK pins varies depending on theme, characters and LE number. But some of them are quite sought after and make very good traders The more popular themes do well especially if they are a lower LE (like 300 or 400). Most pins released on the UK website are EU exclusive so the only way our overseas friends can get them is to buy or trade. Obviously you still have to trade appropriately for pins of generally equal value but it's a matter of personal opinion Some people value pins by cost e.g. how much they are currently reselling for online, and some people value by LE size and prefer to trade like for like.

Ebay is a bit of a minefield but it is not impossible to get legitimate pins from there. You just need to do your research, check the pictures carefully, check their feedback. If they have multiple listings for the same pin, it may not be genuine. If the photo is a stock photo, I generally avoid it.

And as Speedwaystar1 said, Speezard does pick ups from Disneyland California which can help you get some pins from overseas either for your collection or for your traders For me Speezard very kindly holds onto any pins I order until I have bought enough to make the shipping worthwhile

Hi there, and welcome! . There are lots of us who enjoy trading with people outside of our own country, I am from the U.S., and would be happy to trade with you! I have some Haunted Mansion pins you may like.

Cheers all ^_^ Good to meet some fellow Brits, and people who're up to trade internationally.

I have a couple of extra questions:

1) If I'm picking up UK things in order to try and trade them on, can I ask what kind of themes and characters are the popular ones? Frozen, I gather - but are there any other things I should look for? Obviously everything's popular for someone ^_^.

2) Is 400-300 or less the LE size to look for? I just had a look at the UK website - none of the pins have an edition number mentioned, so am I to assume those are the open editions (like this)?

3) are the things marked as "European limited edition" impossible to source, except from someone like me who has bought it and bought or sold it on?

Hi, I'm UK as well, can I ask do you have to pay customs and a handling fee to the post office if sent pins this way?

FloFlo71 said:

Hi, I'm UK as well, can I ask do you have to pay customs and a handling fee to the post office if sent pins this way?

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In the US we do not pay customs or handling fees. When having people send you pins have them keep the value below 20.00 and you should be okay. It is a shame that so many countries do charge customs and handling fees.

FloFlo71 said:

Hi, I'm UK as well, can I ask do you have to pay customs and a handling fee to the post office if sent pins this way?

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If you mean when you post to the US , no you only pay the actual postage costs but you'll have to fill out a customs label at the post office (basically declaring what's inside) . I always label as a gift but the value you mark on it is pretty much irrelevant , the US trader doesn't have to pay any fees and you can only claim so much back for a lost parcel anyways .
They only time you'll pay fees is when you receive a parcel and the sender has marked it with a higher value , I'm not sure of the exact amount but £20 seems about right judging by my last few bundles (I'm lucky , my cousin works for the PO and he can usually right off the fees)