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I Feel Overwhelmed

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I Feel Overwhelmed

Hope Princess

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Hiya! I don't know if there is a thread for this so I created one. I'm new to pin trading and have a smallish collection of some pins I bought on my cruise and some I found at yard sales. I recently created a pin pics account and found myself with a pretty long list of pretty pins I want :naughty:. However, I have nothing really to trade yet and a pretty extreme budget. I found out though yesterday that I'm going to Disney World this summer!!!
So, my question is: What should I get there for trading when I get back? How does the whole online trading process work? And how do you all keep yourself from going broke? Is there a lot of pins at the parks, how much should I bring for spending?
Thanks in advanced!!!!!
 
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If you're on a tight budget, I wouldn't bother getting anything there for trading, just buy what you want for your collection.
 
Hooray! I'm sure you're super excited about your trip! If you're planning to pick up some pins specifically for the sake of trading, it's a little hard to predict what will be available as we only get "release info" for any given month a few weeks beforehand (sometimes not even that!). So my suggestion would be to hang tight and see what gets released closer to the date. If anything limited edition pins are released now and are still available by summer, I doubt they'll be good traders. ;P Hahah!

And, of course, if you are on a budget, it might be best to focus on what you want to keep for your first pin trip. Otherwise, keep an eye out on the different sales threads and especially the 2017 Release thread to see what gets the most "buzz" and that will give you an idea of what will be good traders in the future. Hope that's helpful!

~Merlin
 
Personally if you're on a budget don't worry too much about buying the WDW releases as traders , except for a few they're generally high edition numbers which means you'll struggle to get too much for them . That being said if you really want to give it a go then look out for popular princesses (Ariel / Belle / Rapunzel) or villains (Maleficent / Ursula) or go niche with characters you don't see too often , eventually everything is tradeable it just takes a while in some cases .
Have an amazing time , and don't miss the Tiki room Dole Whip
 
Thank you guys for the replies! I think I will first see what I want for myself and if I have left over money buy some things to trade when I get back. Another question I had is about trading in the parks. Is it worth it? And should I buy some booster packs from the Disney Store Online beforehand to trade when I get there? Thanks!
 
It depends what you're looking for . There's a new series of hidden mickeys if that interests you , but they're generally speaking mostly scrappers (fakes) on most CM lanyards but you might get lucky . If you have time perhaps a visit to one of the outlet stores to pick up some cheap traders might be more cost effective than disneystore . Or I believe a few people here on DPF have some pins priced around the $3 each mark
 
What should I get there for trading when I get back?- what Merlin and Jabberwocky said. I would focus on getting pins for your collection only. I would also try to keep your wants/collections to a few specific characters/themes/movies. Take it from someone who once collected a dozen themes, narrow down your focus. Otherwise you start "branching" like I did and it gets super expensive. Not to mention how much space that many collections can start to take.
If you want to start on a few traders, focus on characters that are more mainstream/popular and appeal to a wider base. And keep to buying traders that you can get at cost or close to. Don't try buying expensive high end traders in hopes that you can use it for trade. Just use that money instead to buy something for your own collection. As it gets closer to your vacation date, you can check here for the latest info on pin releases and see if there is going to be anything released during your vacation that seems like it would be a good trader. But again, I wouldn't go crazy.

How does the whole online trading process work?- I believe that there is a tutorial on Pinpics that can go over the mechanics of trading on that site.(video #3) But a couple of my own thoughts: The reply rate on Pinpics for trade offers is low, so don't get disappointed if you don't receive a lot of replies (You might have better luck inthebeginning posting here on the trade thread). Do your research and try to offer pins that are comparable (but keep in mind that everyone has a different opinion of what is the best way to "value" pins: LE size, rarity/age, trade ratios, secondary market costs, etc). But if someone sent me a trade offer for a hidden Mickey pin in exchange for my DA LE 100 pin, I would decline. Once Pinpics gets the reference center up and running, use it. Until then, you can ask people if they have references somewhere (DPF, Ebay, IG, etc). That will help screen for any problem traders/scammers.
 
Hey, welcome to DPF it's nice to meet you!

I wouldn't worry about getting the best traders right now, just collect what you like and the rest will come naturally! ^_^

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk
 
speedwaystar1 said:
Best advice ever
Click to expand...
Seconded. Far more concise. XD

And seconding also what PoohLady said about collections. Take it from someone who has more collections than he knows what to do with, hahah! Pick one or two at first and stick to it for a while. :3 the more specific you can be, the less money you'll shell out early on. So for example, rather than saying "I'll collect all of Aladdin!" say, "I'll focus on Prince Ali, or Jafar" and you'll limit not only your options (which are still overwhelming) but you'll also figure out what you REALLY want rather than just buying stuff up because you like it.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
 
To add on to what Merlin is saying, you can also focus on specific pin sets! Like, say, you want to collect all the Marquees ever, or PTDs, or the WDI Princess Portraits, etc, etc. It helps. IT HELPS. XD
 
AvatarAng1 said:
Speaking from experience, are we? XD

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Click to expand...
LOL. Yeah. When I first started I wanted everything, EVERYTHING. Now I'm like "Okay, okay, I want this.. and this.." and I've decided to focus on just a few things (right now it's the WDI Villains set, gorgeous. I have Facilier. It started the whole thing). Having the Sets as a goal is really, really nice. Just helps to have something to focus on.
 
Yep. Like everyone said, buy for your collection. However, if you buy mystery boxes/pouches you will end up with duplicates that will help build a little trading stash. Same if you buy a booster pack but only want 1 or 2 pins from it. If you are able to visit one of the Disney Character Warehouses (the closest one is Premium Outlet Mall off I-4) they will have some discounted pins, and sometimes they have LE pins for $5.99 or less. You can't always trade these quickly, but over time new collectors will search for them and you will know you got them at a good price and can trade them easily.

And as for lanyard trading. I don't recommend it anymore. Unless you look at the Hidden Mickey list and see stuff you want, and then I would only try and trade for those. I am sure that even pins people *think* are good, are probably 75% unauthorized versions. Based on what I see the known bad Ebay sellers are selling and comparing to what is on the lanyards.
 
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I have to say (sadly) that I agree with hopemax. Trading with CM's is often just throwing your real pins away unfortunately. I used to *love* to trade with the CM's and that would often be the highlight of my visit to Disney, but not anymore. You'll see more pins offered than ever before (small boards all over, etc) but even a moment looking you will see many fakes without touching or getting too close, I can only imagine what you would find on closer inspection. I have had decent luck just talking to people wearing lanyards and asking if they might like to trade, I get a mixed response, but isn't that kind of how pin trading all started?
 
Thank you guys for the advice! I'm gonna take the advice and probably just gets pins to represent Disney movies that hit close to home. I really love Princesses and the Mickey bunch! Also I didn't know about the Disney Outlets? What are they? Are they on property? We will most likely be using Resort transportation. Thanks again!
 
You can find Disney outlets all over the place. Usually not on property. I believe Disney Springs in Florida has a discount store tho. for merchandise not in season. Anyways, look for local collectible stores or swap meets or thrift shops with possible Disney pins. Don't spend much on park traders. like many said, there are people on here that sell pins from $2-$3 a pin. and that's where you get the most if youre trading to cast members. A majority of their pins are fake.
 
as for what to buy at the parks, like they said, buy pins you like. Park pins don't do so well as traders when it comes to limited editions. most traders look for Soda Fountain, Imagineering, Auctions, Shopping, and those kinda rare pins. As for not going broke, its hard to avoid it. But once you get the hang of trading and what hot and whats not, you can start picking up pins for people out of town or those not able to pick pins up for themselves. set a profit goal and use that profit to buy more. (Pin Money). but for now, collect pins you want, make up for your spendings later
 
Accept that you will spend money, and lots of it. But, still, this is a less expensive hobby than say, scuba diving (ask me how I know). Also decide what you really enjoy. You say Princesses. Which ones? There's a flock of them! For me, my main Princess collection is Aurora/Sleeping Beauty with a real healthy side of Anna, Elsa, Rapunzel, Ariel, and Tiana. I'd also do Poca, but there are so few great pins of her. Then I have my Donald collection, a flock of Mickey and Minnie, a Goofy section. Don't forget the huge Mali, Hades, Chernabog collection with the beginnings of a great Frollo and Facilier collection. AND Haunted Mansion. And Stitch. And these dang sneaky Cinderella pins that keep appearing. And Sith characters. Oye. And then there's my dog pins. And my fantasy pins......

See what I mean? I'm awful at being discriminating in my collections. Fortunetly not everything is demanding my time and money NOW (Like the villains, I try to snatch them up as they come out, and try not to think about the DA pins that cost more than my car payment). If you can manage to not be like me, you'll have a far less pained pocketbook.

I buy what what I like. I've bought a few extra here and there to trade and I have awful taste in what I think will trade. So I don't do that much. I'm mostly a buyer. Pins come into my possession and rarely leave, though I do attempt to trade of extras from blind boxes and bags.
 
Welcome to the Hobby Hope Princess. I'm still new to pin collecting myself, but what I've found is that this is a really great community who are very willing to help out and answer questions. So if you ever feel like you are unsure about a trade or anything else related, these folks are great and only seem to bite when you're going after one of their grail pins. Happy pin hunting!
 
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