Newbie, question about scrappers and ebay (more)

[jholden]

Hello Everyone,

I am a "pin freak". Love all things Disney. I've been trading for a few years and now I'm starting learn to differentiate between scrappers and real. I have bought many pins on ebay, and now I'm wondering if I've gotten scrappers from them. Can I have your opinions regarding ebay?
I have noticed a lot of people buy pins and then jack up the prices about 500% for some.

I recently went to DL, and was taken advantage of by a trader in Frontierland. I guess I was being naive, thinking that everyone was honest. He had a pin I wanted, so I gave him one of my favorites, thinking that I couldn't find the pin that he had in his book anywhere else. When I went into the store, I found the pin for 6.95. What a disappointment. I had no idea. And he said he would give me one of his pins if I would go in to the store and buy a LE Reel to Reel pin. So I did it. Never again.

Just would really like to get info on how to find honest traders, and how to know if its a good or a bad trade.

Thank you!

 

[dawny]

oh boy, its hit or miss on ebay really. Overall i stay away from any seller that has a constant repeat of the same pins for sale everyweek and does lots. When i get the pins i log each one carefully in pinpics, look for scrapper alerts and examine my pin front and back. There is a thread on here that does an excellent job showing what a scrapper is and what to look for. I will say the 4-5 scappers i have gotten on ebay i have had funds returned and an apology. As far as DL, thats horrible, but all you can really do is know your "value" of your traders and i never expect to much from the parks--but i heard dl is way better than WDW.

 

[JKrolak]

Hello Everyone,

I am a "pin freak". Love all things Disney. I've been trading for a few years and now I'm starting learn to differentiate between scrappers and real. I have bought many pins on ebay, and now I'm wondering if I've gotten scrappers from them. Can I have your opinions regarding ebay?
I have noticed a lot of people buy pins and then jack up the prices about 500% for some.

I recently went to DL, and was taken advantage of by a trader in Frontierland. I guess I was being naive, thinking that everyone was honest. He had a pin I wanted, so I gave him one of my favorites, thinking that I couldn't find the pin that he had in his book anywhere else. When I went into the store, I found the pin for 6.95. What a disappointment. I had no idea. And he said he would give me one of his pins if I would go in to the store and buy a LE Reel to Reel pin. So I did it. Never again.

Just would really like to get info on how to find honest traders, and how to know if its a good or a bad trade.

Thank you!

I'm sorry to learn that your initial experience with trading at the park ended up with a case of pin shark bite. So lets see what we can do to at least help make more positive experiences in the future.

1) ALWAYS check the local stores and cast members before trading at the barrels. You may be able to get what you want directly from them

2) NEVER accept an offer to trade where you are directed to go and buy a specific (and especially an LE) pin. It is almost a guarentee that you are about to be taken advantage of. Pin trading rules for the barrels specifically forbid this action. You CAN be told that you can get pins to trade at the stores, but what you buy is up to you. And in general a newly released LE pin should only be traded for other LE pins.

3) Pin trading at the barrels (and in the park) is required to be 1 for 1 - just like for cast members.

4) With rare exceptions the Pin Speculators, will instantly send the price into outer space, but it will soon come back down to earth once they realize only a few people will pay 5 - 10x the original price. So go ahead and wait them out. This will not work in every case but will cover about 90% of the pins.

5) Finally don't give up. There are fair traders there and not everyone who trades at the barrels or by LGM has a fin sticking out of their back.

Good Luck.