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Pin Value

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Pin Value

mavericklancer

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Forgive me if this sounds like a very newbie question, but how do you determine the value of a pin? I feel like this is something important to know so that I can make informed trades, especially at DLR where I've personally been cheated quite a few times.

I usually check ebay and other online stores, but what do I do if I can't find another for sale to compare it to? I considered buying Tomart's, but I heard it was grossly inaccurate.

Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
After a while, you just kind of gauge how much a pin is worth...ebay's a good way to get a feel. For a more accurate price for a pin, check out completed items rather than what's currently listed. What's being asked and what sellers are actually getting are 2 different things. Check out pinpics and see how many want vs how many are trading...if 1 is trading and 50 want...it's probably a valuable pin. And finally, a pin is worth whatever the amount that people want to pay for it.
 
a pin is worth whatever you are willing to give up to posses it. Pure and simple, like any art or collectable, what the price will be, or what you may consider fair, may not be the same, however, if you come across one of those pretty grails on your sig,
what price is too high? and would others consider that number for those pins outrageous, ?
The big question unless your selling Low le high quality pins boils down to this

hey buddy, what is it worth TO YOU!!??

to me it may not be worth more than any other trader, to you it may be the Rosetta stone of pins, value is in the want of the collector!

Im sure this wont help at all, but it is true
happy hunting
Darryl
 
how do you check how much items sold for instead of how much people are asking
 
there is a column to the left of your screen when you are searching for pins. scroll down until you see "completed" under the heading: show only check that then refresh! it brings up recent ended auctions sold and unsold.
 
When you make a search, click on "Advanced Search," and "Completed Listings" will be an option on the page that comes up.

Honestly, there are lots of ways to value a pin. Trades versus Wants on Pinpics; eBay completed value; eBay lowest Buy it Now value; Edition size; or just by how much you want the pin yourself. Like, at the end of the day, you're going to have to decide which of these factors matter most to you, and then choose how you want to value pins. It's a personal choice, and the best answer is often to use all of those factors to form one big holistic method of valuation.

-JD
 
I have a new methos for pricing pins. I have various prices on a dartboard, I then blindfold myself and throw the dart, wherever it lands is what the pin is worth. Just had a DA100 stitch for $2.00 and an HM for $500.00
You can say its hit or miss.

I was thinking recently to go by weight, like gold or platinum........
 

Can I buy that DA100 Stitch from you?
 
Most other collectables at least have guides that are somewhat reliable to give you an idea of a starting point. The Tomart guide seems to exist in its own plane of reality--I really don't know what anyone would use it for.
 

Is this another way of saying prices are subjective?? :rofl:
 
Ended ebay auctions is a somewhat reliable source to determine a pins price. I'll put pins I like on my watch list, and the end price is usually the "demand" price for that pin. Then when that pin comes up in another auction down the line, I have an idea of what I can pay. Its not always consistent, since some times you get into a bidding war and other times the listing goes under the radar. Just give yourself some time and you will start to get a feel for it.
 
I agree with you mybabykelly. I know that when a pin comes out it is usully more expensive, for many are willing to pay a lot for it right off. However, if I watch the pin sell various times, I will get a more consistent and true value for the pin I want. Then I go after it with and average price from all the completed listings I have seen, whether it is on ebay or for trade.

However, the problem lies when a pin is so rare that you see it only once a year or less on ebay. Then it is up to you what you want to pay and what that pin means to you. I have found that the trade ratios on pinpics do not really give you the value of the pin. It just tells you how many are trading it and how many want it, but it does not tell you how much they are willing to pay for it.
 
Like, perfect example of how individualized values are on pins? I personally don't agree with the idea that an average of closed auctions is an accurate way to value something. If I'm looking to value a pin, I don't really care what someone else was able to buy it for in the past: what it's available for to me, right now in the present, is far more relevant (in my opinion). I tend to go by lowest Buy-It-Now prices whether I'm valuing something I have, or something I want, because it's representative of what I could actually buy the pin for. But you'll find alot of people don't subscribe to that, and realistically, the best way to value a pin using eBay is probably to take both the lowest current Buy-It-Now and an average of previously completed sales into account. How you weigh the difference between the two is, again, a matter of individual opinion.

-JD
 
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See, I used to do the "lowest buy it now price" too but most BIN sellers overprice rarer pins soo much that its hardly accurate. Take my old grail Stitch with Belle. Most sellers on ebay have a BIN of over $100. When I was barely starting out a year ago, I saw it go in an auction for about $50 each time. Therefore, when I finally found it for $60 I knew I was paying a fair price for it. I think the most important thing with pin trading is patience. If you aren't willing to pay an arm and a leg for a really rare pin, you better be able to wait for an indefinite period of time before it comes up again.
 
mybabykelly said:
If you aren't willing to pay an arm and a leg for a really rare pin, you better be able to wait for an indefinite period of time before it comes up again.
Click to expand...

Absolutely!!! The most I ever spent on one pin was a couple of years ago. It was painful and I sold some traders off to pay for it, but I haven't seen it available anywhere at any price since so I'm glad I went for it!
 
Originally posted by my babykelly
See, I used to do the "lowest buy it now price" too but most BIN sellers overprice rarer pins soo much that its hardly accurate.
Click to expand...

Again, I totally agree with you and have been trading over 6 years now.

Originally posted by erudolf
The most I ever spent on one pin was a couple of years ago. It was painful and I sold some traders off to pay for it, but I haven't seen it available anywhere at any price since so I'm glad I went for it!
Click to expand...

This is what has happened to me with many of the old rare pins. Sometimes, when you see it, you have get it, because you know it might be a year or longer before you find the pin again. Just like you said, it was painful, but I have never regretted it.

Yet mybabykelly is so right about having patience and waiting.
 

Yeah, I can see both sides here. Sometimes I refuse to wait any longer and buy the overpriced, harder to find pin. But that is ONLY for rarer pins that you know won't show up again for a while (if ever). You kinda have to take it on a pin by pin basis, and trust me, you will learn quickly which pins are the IMPOSSIBLE pins to find. When a pin is rarely listed on ebay, has few traders on pinpics, and the only pin listed is BIN at an unthinkable price, you know its a rare pin! That means you play the waiting game or shoot yourself in the pocket

But back to using the lowest BIN price.... I had been looking for the DA Beauty and Beast with Rose pin LE 500 for over a year. My little sister REALLY wanted this pin but I never once saw an auction for it and the lowest BIN til this day is $140. I'm not even willing to pay that price for once of my grails. So I waited it out until finally, Shenzi (Lynnette) randomly posted it in the sales thread a week ago and I was seriously LUCKY enough to purchase it from her for one of the best deals I've ever had on a pin. She's amazing and just wants to sell her pins to new homes for reasonable prices. Anyways, I played the waiting game and saved myself well over $100. Now my little sister has her grail and loves it, and I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg. It could have easily played out differently, but patience was really the virtue in this case.
 
There are numerous criteria that can factor into a pin's 'value': edition size, ease/difficulty in obtaining it, initial selling price vs 'current' selling price on the secondary market (be sure to check what it's actually selling for, not listed for), pin's origin (WDI, DSF, DLRP, DLR, etc), character, how badly I want the pin I'm trading for (especially when compared to what I'm being asked to give up to get it), and so on. You also can look at wants:trades on Pin Pics, but know that this information may not be entirely accurate because

1. people have been known to artifically inflate the ratios to make pins appear more desirable and
2. sometimes people don't always update their accounts, which also leads to an inaccurate ratio (I know mine is hopelessly outdated)

You also can use Tomarts as a *guide*, but I'd consider that more of a suggestion and guideline rather than hard-and-fast rule for values and take everything within it with at least a pinch, if not a barrel, of salt:

1. it's a published book and, therefore, inherently out-of-date upon release and can't account for market changes in pins
2. it's just one entity's opinion of what pins are worth

As you gain more experience, you'll find a system of evaluating trades that works for you. With experience you'll also learn which trades you probably should walk away from (a word of advice: always listen to your instincts and don't be afraid to decline a trade if something seems 'off' or you aren't 100% comfortable or happy with it). One of the best and worst things about pin trading is that it's all so subjective. One person's junk could be another person's grail. I've said this before and I'll say it again: at the end of the day, a pin is worth only what another person is willing to give up, be it in $$$ or pins, to acquire it.
 
Good going mybabykelly! Getting an HTG pin for a fair price is fantastic, and it does prove that playing the waiting game does have its benefits. Your sister is lucky to have you!

I now wish I had been a little more patient back when I overpayed a ton in some cases. Yet on some others, still happy I got them when I did. So it just gets more complicated as we go. It really depends on how much you have to have something and how soon you need it. You also have to keep in mind that it is so much easier to find HTG pins on ebay these days than it was a few years ago. Back then, it was nearly impossible to even see some pins for sale or trade anywhere. So the waiting game works much better now than it did then.
 
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