Putting on my flame-proof suit......

[kmeakin]

In my opinion (and only my opinion), there are a few factors here.
For one, a lot of people seem to be saying "hey, if they mark it up a little bit, that's their right, and who can blame them?". And i agree with that, i certainly would have no problem paying extra for someone's time and trouble... it's the marking up a LOT that i find disappointing. Someone mentioned ordering pizza and paying a delivery charge - sure, fair enough. But do i really want to pay a $60 delivery charge on top of my $20 pizza? I really don't.
Another thing (again, just my opinion), when it comes to the DLRP pins... i have limited experience with those (only any that have Alice characters), but yes, they have all been marked up 3 or 4 times the original price. The difference there is that it's usually only ONE pin at a time. I don't know about everyone else, but i'm okay paying outrageous prices OCCASIONALLY (i obviously don't love it, but i can suck it up and live with it because i am a completist and "need" the pins). Technically this is no different (crazy high markups), but what sets it apart is that this particular Alice release is TWENTY-SEVEN pins/frames/figurines ALL in the same day. So i realize that when you break it all down, sure, the scenario is the same with the markups, but because the scale is so different, it's harder. Paying $40 for a $10? I don't love it, but can live with it on occasion. Paying roughly $1,400+ for $510 worth of pins? That hurts. And that is beyond people trying to recoup their costs, and beyond people trying to make a few extra bucks - it's just greedy (again - in my opinion).
I ended up lucking out in a HUGE way (also thanks to Katy - she's my absolute hero!!! THANK YOU AGAIN!!!) and was able to get everything except any of the mystery pins or their chasers. That saved me a TON and i will be eternally grateful. I have never met Katy, and have only dealt with her once before (that i can remember). But she just up and offered to help me because she's an amazing person, so i don't think it's naive to think that people still do that. I think that it's nice to know there are still people like that out there.
I still have the 20 mystery pins/chasers to go after... i sent offers to people selling complete sets of each, what i thought were fair offers (between $200 and $300 for either a complete set of mystery pins OR a complete set of chasers, so 10 pins, not the full 20). And even that price made me shudder! But i got responses back telling me (politely) that i basically need to double that offer before anyone will even consider selling to me (and this was not from one person, but many). I get that it's a free country and they can charge whatever they want. It just seems kind of malicious to me, i guess. "Mwahaha, i have these pins, and you're a passionate collector, so i know i can ask whatever i want and if you want to ever complete your collection, you'll have to pay it!".
I think a big part of this too is that i'm an Alice collector, so of course i'm not happy with the gauging prices that are going on. I'm afraid that i won't be able to afford these mystery pins/chasers, and it will be the beginning of the end of my complete collection. Someone said that we don't "need" pins, we just "want" them and if we want them badly enough, we'll pay the prices. Well, i "need" them for my collection. I don't want a collection of just "some" of the Alice in Wonderland pins. I take pride in my collection, i absolutely love it (and i'm not one of those people that enjoys the 'chase' of getting the pins, i like having and admiring them). So to know that there are pins missing... i don't know, it just kind of deflates it for me. How can i possibly keep up at those prices? I find it really sad that after so many years of collecting that i might end up getting shut out, because even if i was willing to pay the insane prices, i can't afford that, so the decision is made for me.
So of course i view that as sad. I think most of the people that don't see a problem with the prices are people that aren't having to pay those prices (ie: non-Alice collectors), so it doesn't hit close to home. I absolutely do not think that i'm entitled to these in any way (why would i be?). I just really want them, and i do "need" them if i intend to continue with my collection. I am willing to pay higher (much higher) than retail for them - but even that's not good enough. I guess that's what i find disappointing.
The theory that if we wait it out a bit and prices drop... well, that would be ideal! That's never worked for me in the past (i've tried it and it ALWAYS backfires, i end up paying much more). So, because of my luck, i'm sure i'll wreck it for all the Alice collectors that are considering trying that (sorry, Margaret!!).
Sorry if this all sounded like a rant, i didn't mean for it to. I think i just needed to vent my frustration at the prices, because whether they're unfairly marked up or not, i am stressed that i'm not going to be able to get them
Just my opinion. We certainly don't all have to agree... but wouldn't it be nice if we did?

 

[kmeakin]

Sorry, didn't realize how long my post got! Guess it was a bit of a rant. Sorry!!! :ugh:

 

[bwschultz]

I applaud those of you who go out of your way and get pins at cost for people like me who live hundreds of miles from the parks. You make pin trading enjoyable for the rest of us.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You will have good pin carma and good things will always come your way.


As for paying the markup prices whether it be the alice event or DLRP PTN pins, I would be paying a heck of a lot more in expenses with travel and hotel costs to get the pins on my own, so if I really want the pins and I feel the price is reasonable I will buy it. If I feel the price is too much I will wait it out and see if the price comes down.

There is my two cents worth (Oh and Vicki your two cents is always worth it)

 

[Nettiejeanne]

its a mixed bag, I have gotten pins from DSF, and Dland for several people, at cost, to help them get pins. But on the flip side when those same people we help, wont return the favor when they have access to pins we want, or have pins we want for trade, choose not to help us, it makes us want to stop helping. I have no decided to only help board members I know get pins at cost for this reason.

I know that this isn't 'entirely' on topic, but I just wanted to address this. I have only met in person ONE member of this board & that was when I was on vacation in MA and Sue was willing to travel a bit just so I could do my first 'in person' trade. Living in Montana makes it impossible for me to go buy the magnifying pin from DSF for example. Caligirl offered to buy the cupcake set for me at cost. I can't tell you how much appreciate her kindness. Is there anyway I can return the favor? Pretty doubtful. Would I trade with her to help her out? Absolutely.

It makes me sad & I feel like an outcast to read that unless someone knows me personally they wouldn't pick up pins for me at cost.

Hey... You are all welcome to come visit me in MT to get to know Me.

And I realize that many of you are probably thinking that I should just take a trip to CA or FL to buy my own pins... But as I have 2 kids in college and I work for my church, that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

Maybe I shouldn't feel this way, but I know that I consider a number of people here on the DPF my friends. I would go out of my way for a number of members here & I can only hope that there are others here who feel the same way. There many kind people here.

Back on topic... I don't think you should be tarred & feathered or flamed. I happen to agree with you & wouldn't feel comfortable doing that here. So... I would just choose not to purchase them. I know... Easy for a non AIW collector to say!

 

[Gloomy]

I think its different because we have previous experience with people in CA willing to sell pins at cost. I don't expect DLP pins to be sold at cost, because I've never seen anyone offer to get them at cost.

Like, that's exactly it - I'd think if people were used to the CA crowd being helpful in the past, we could get a little slack this time around. Unfortunately it didn't really play out that way, which is why I raised this comparison. It's kind of frustrating, because when you compare how DLRP traders are treated to how DLR / SoCal traders are treated, the message is basically, "If you're routinely helpful, people will come to expect at-cost pins and then complain when they don't get them. But if you're never helpful, no one will complain, and your sales will be brisk." That's a little rough to hear, and while it may not be the intended message, it's the message that gets sent.

I wouldn't have expected everyone in CA to sell at cost, because based on sale threads, some people do mark up their pins from the get go. I was just a little surprised, that after people realized that everything was available through the 2nd chance, and some until Sunday, that no one had any pins to sell at cost. Although, there might have been some PM deals made.

This probably happened for a bunch of different reasons:

1 - The second chance line didn't formally entitle you to buy extra copies of pins you already had. So there weren't really "extras" to sell at cost.

2 - Alot of people left early in the day, before the store was opened up for general purchases of the event pins. Many left before the second chance line was even opened.

3 - Some of the items, like the Framed Set and Pocket Watches, sold out in the process of settling the second chance line. For some people, there was no second chance at some of these items.

4 - People who bought pins to trade in the wrist-banded purchasing session, had little incentive to try and buy or trade for more pins to offer at cost. Doing so would undermine the trade power they'd invested in.

5 - Everyone had spent all their money already, and thus had little ability to make further purchases with the hopes of breaking even later by re-selling them at cost. If you just spent 400 bucks on pins, plus 50+ to get in the park and everything else, you weren't looking around Saturday night for new ways to spend money. No, you were clutching your empty wallet trying to remember how much gas was left in your car. Haha

-JD

 

[huertajv]

I applaud those of you who go out of your way and get pins at cost for people like me who live hundreds of miles from the parks. You make pin trading enjoyable for the rest of us.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You will have good pin carma and good things will always come your way.


As for paying the markup prices whether it be the alice event or DLRP PTN pins, I would be paying a heck of a lot more in expenses with travel and hotel costs to get the pins on my own, so if I really want the pins and I feel the price is reasonable I will buy it. If I feel the price is too much I will wait it out and see if the price comes down.

There is my two cents worth (Oh and Vicki your two cents is always worth it)

Ahhhh! Thank you! I'm glad someone thinks it is worth something. Lol

Vicki

 

[Martin B]

Just to let you know that there are a few members who will get DLRP pins at cost

Martin

 

[Rocke01]

I think a person can charge what they want for their pin. If I want to pay it I will. If I don't, I won't. They might sell it to someone else, they might not. They might drop the price if they don't sell it, they might decide to hold on to it for a while. I agree with Margaret in that I will wait until the Mystery pins come down in price. They will, I am sure of it. Those that can not wait will pay top dollar. If you think the price is too high, don't purchase it! Simple as that. It doesn't have an effect on their integrity or anything else like that. It is simply supply and demand. Most of us hold on to the pins that are worth a lot and look at them as a prized commodity. The only difference is these pins have stood the test of time. If you think these pins will stay high buy now. If you think they won't... wait. Your price will come eventually. The key to pin trading/purchasing is patience. There are several of these pins at a starting price of $15 right now which is twice their original price. You get what you want and do not have to worry about buying something you may not need as those that purchased them did. I do not view that price as unreasonable... JMO

I do like the idea of making people post so many posts before being allowed to sell or buy on DPF. The reason isn't to keep those that want to mark up their prices out, because I don't have to buy it. I simply think it makes good sense.

 

[kyuubee]

I do like the idea of making people post so many posts before being allowed to sell or buy on DPF. The reason isn't to keep those that want to mark up their prices out, because I don't have to buy it. I simply think it makes good sense.

It does make good sense to me as well,a Days/posts minimum seems like a nice safety feature for everyone.And it will also help prevent any spambots from opening threads with bad links in em (I have a sneaking suspicion a certain new member here is a spambot,though my hunch is just the username)

 

[swim2sea]

OK, everyone think back to the PT52 pins. When they first came out people were frantic to get them. They were selling for very high prices and the chasers were over $200. Now, you can find them all over eBay for .99 and some chasers are only $20. They are even trading as rack pins. So everyone needs to just take a step back and relax. I did and I feel much better. In six months to a year, I'm willing to be I will get a set of the regular pins and the chasers and it won't cost me near as much as today. That's the nature of the beast.

 

[Gloomy]

I think PT52 pins crashed for a number of reasons: their edition was alot bigger; they weren't backstamped as LE's (they were just "Limited Release" pins); and they were counterfeited into oblivion. It's tough to say what the future of the Alice Mystery Cards will be. If they get counterfeited to the hideous degree of PT52 pins, they'll be worth next to nothing in an instant. But if they don't? They seem to be in a different category.

Maybe an Alice collector with experience in the field can give a more educated perspective than mine. Do sold out LE 200 and lower Alice pins normally drop in price over time?

-JD

 

[dizneydogs]

personally I think it's all just part of the game no matter what you collect - I have seen this same type of thing for many years on other forums where you can sell items. I have even seen people buy things on ebay and then come to the forums and sell it for a much higher price.

 

[thejessta]

It does make good sense to me as well,a Days/posts minimum seems like a nice safety feature for everyone.And it will also help prevent any spambots from opening threads with bad links in em (I have a sneaking suspicion a certain new member here is a spambot,though my hunch is just the username)

Suggestion noted! And any usernames or profiles you see that you suspect might be a spammer, let us know! We have ways of finding out. Thanks!

 

[swim2sea]

Maybe an Alice collector with experience in the field can give a more educated perspective than mine. Do sold out LE 200 and lower Alice pins normally drop in price over time?

-JD

As a very serious somewhat educated Alice collector, yes, all pins drop over time. They trend to the economic conditions of the rest of the country. As time passes some people who bought them planning to hold them for even more money will realize they really don't want them. And some people will just plain ole come to their senses and realize they are out of control. I truly believe that things will settle down and they will be worth more than an average pin, but not what they are selling for today.

 

[destiny117]

OK, everyone think back to the PT52 pins. When they first came out people were frantic to get them. They were selling for very high prices and the chasers were over $200. Now, you can find them all over eBay for .99 and some chasers are only $20. They are even trading as rack pins.

Hi Margaret,
The reason the PT52 pins are all over ebay and for .99 is because these have been counterfeited. For this reason, this is not a good example.

But you are right in that an le 200 pin of any character that sold out, will eventually drop in price for sure, and often times, sooner than one thinks.

 

[erudolf]

I don't know if it is necessarily true that all pins will drop over time. I guess it depends on your definition of the time span. Pin prices fluctuate all the time, so just because they dip doesn't mean they won't go back up. And the time periods between dips can vary greatly.

With high profile releases like this where it was basicly only "pin people" that got the pins and a lot of them were purchased for resale or trade, yeah, the price will probably drop a little because there is a lot in the pipeline. Every pin behaves differently, but with releases like these they usually start with high presales because people get all worked up, prices continue to be high for a week or two after the release, and then sellers start undercutting each other and the prices dip. It then depends on the pin whether or not the price will rebound. I'd guess that the Alice, Cheshire, White Rabbit, and possibly Mad Hatter will rebound back up in price after the dip better than the others because they are more prominant characters.

But for a lower profile release, the story could be quite different. Take this one for example: . It sat there and sat there for I think a few weeks and then POOF! it was sold out and it is super difficult to find. I couldn't even tell you what the price for it is because I haven't seen any available. So, whatever it is, it probably isn't coming out anytime soon. Or take this one: . It has been a $150-$200 pin for years and it is an LE 200 mystery pin. But, the difference between this one and the Alice ones is that it came in a mystery set with different LE pins and a lot more sets. So, a lot of tourists probably bought them and finding the one LE 200 in that bunch would be like finding a needle in a haystack. With the Alice pins, no one pin of each version is more rare than another so that is probably why trading for them that day went a lot smoother.

I don't know....it all depends really.

 

[Blacksmoke]

Hello everyone, I just wanted to add my two cents to this thread. I am fairly new to this website as I joined back in Jan (I think) however a lot of you know me as I have been on Pinpics and Dizpins for a few years now and have traded/bought/sold/or picked up items at cost for many of you over the years- like Stacey who started this thread.

Anyway, I wanted to comment on the number of posting requirement. I think if it is low it okay but if it is high then you just get people posting to get their number up. I read a lot of the threads but if what I have to say or my opinion has already been mentioned I don't post. Our time if very valuable and I am not big on duplicating. I too belong to the vinyl site where they require a 100 or so postings first and finding a 100 things you wanted to disscuss was really tough!

I too will be trading/selling/buying and playing the games on this site just like I did in the past on the other site. This past couple of weeks I think I have played the Pin It Forward and the Pirate Pin Swap about 8 times to help people get pins off there wants as I have a few extra. LOL Anyway, when I sell my pins I usually sell older or harder to get pins for what I paid for them. I bought many from traders or ebay over the past few years at higher than cost and I am always selling really good pins to get my pin addiction under control. LOL It is not really working my collection keeps getting bigger! Now I am into vinylmaitons too so that does not help! I agree that it is up to the person buying whether they want to pay what a person is asking but I do think it is only polite to let the other know either way if you are interested or not in the sale or the trade. I so appreciate when people let me know and I try to always return the favor.

And as a last point as I mentioned above I am always willing to pick up pins or vinyls for others on my trips to WDW. Sorry for the rambling now you can see why I should not be allowed to post on threads!!!! LOL Oh and Stacey thanks for picking up the things for me at WDW on your last couple of trips.

 

[Spiffie]

Hello everyone, I just wanted to add my two cents to this thread. I am fairly new to this website as I joined back in Jan (I think) however a lot of you know me as I have been on Pinpics and Dizpins for a few years now and have traded/bought/sold/or picked up items at cost for many of you over the years- like Stacey who started this thread.

Anyway, I wanted to comment on the number of posting requirement. I think if it is low it okay but if it is high then you just get people posting to get their number up. I read a lot of the threads but if what I have to say or my opinion has already been mentioned I don't post. Our time if very valuable and I am not big on duplicating. I too belong to the vinyl site where they require a 100 or so postings first and finding a 100 things you wanted to disscuss was really tough!

I too will be trading/selling/buying and playing the games on this site just like I did in the past on the other site. This past couple of weeks I think I have played the Pin It Forward and the Pirate Pin Swap about 8 times to help people get pins off there wants as I have a few extra. LOL Anyway, when I sell my pins I usually sell older or harder to get pins for what I paid for them. I bought many from traders or ebay over the past few years at higher than cost and I am always selling really good pins to get my pin addiction under control. LOL It is not really working my collection keeps getting bigger! Now I am into vinylmaitons too so that does not help! I agree that it is up to the person buying whether they want to pay what a person is asking but I do think it is only polite to let the other know either way if you are interested or not in the sale or the trade. I so appreciate when people let me know and I try to always return the favor.

And as a last point as I mentioned above I am always willing to pick up pins or vinyls for others on my trips to WDW. Sorry for the rambling now you can see why I should not be allowed to post on threads!!!! LOL Oh and Stacey thanks for picking up the things for me at WDW on your last couple of trips.

Thanks, Joni, for the support!

By the way, for any of you who don't know Joni, she's one of the best! Has some great pins for trade and if you don't have anything she wants in trade for it, she will most likely offer it to you at a VERY fair price!! So, in short, what I am trying to say is that she is a very nice, dependable ENABLER!!! :lol:

 

[Bellygrub]

It does make good sense to me as well,a Days/posts minimum seems like a nice safety feature for everyone.And it will also help prevent any spambots from opening threads with bad links in em (I have a sneaking suspicion a certain new member here is a spambot,though my hunch is just the username)

While I wouldn't be against this, as a newbie I'd hope for the post count to be kept somewhat low. 10-20 posts maybe. As was said earlier over on the Vinylmation forum there is a 50 post count limit and I have to stop myself from making useless "Me too!" posts just to get my post count to see the trading forum. It's a tad bit daunting.

Also- I'm not a spambot in case there was any doubt

 

[swim2sea]

All I can say is this. Every year when I go to the big event at WDW for pin trading. I sell all my extra pins AT COST to those who cannot go to the event. It's called Sharing the Magic. I don't think it's fair to punish someone who cannot go by charging them double or triple the price of the pins. I don't need them. Could I keep them for traders, sure and some of the will be kept, but the majority will be sold to help out my friends on the forum. And trust me, I know who the friends are and this year some people are going to be disappointed.

 

[Blacksmoke]

All I can say is this. Every year when I go to the big event at WDW for pin trading. I sell all my extra pins AT COST to those who cannot go to the event. It's called Sharing the Magic. I don't think it's fair to punish someone who cannot go by charging them double or triple the price of the pins. I don't need them. Could I keep them for traders, sure and some of the will be kept, but the majority will be sold to help out my friends on the forum. And trust me, I know who the friends are and this year some people are going to be disappointed.

Margaret picked up pins for me at one of the events! Thanks again to you Margaret! It was so much appreciated!

 

[unibear]

I just wanted to comment about the posting # requirements before buying or selling pins. I can see why you would want a "cooling off" period for selling pins since the community is concerned about opportunists. However, I think the requirement for buying pins would be a mistake. When someone new finds this site, and then finds the sales postings, they may be like a kid in a candy shop. Why tell them, "Here are some really nice pins, but you can't buy them for a week or so, and by that time they may already be gone." I'm sure the sellers on the site would not like to know that potential customers are being turned away just because they're newbies!

As a disclaimer, I don't sell pins here but I sure do buy them! And I don't mind the competition from newbies...

 

[JeffZTT]

All I can say is this. Every year when I go to the big event at WDW for pin trading. I sell all my extra pins AT COST to those who cannot go to the event. It's called Sharing the Magic. I don't think it's fair to punish someone who cannot go by charging them double or triple the price of the pins. I don't need them. Could I keep them for traders, sure and some of the will be kept, but the majority will be sold to help out my friends on the forum. And trust me, I know who the friends are and this year some people are going to be disappointed.

Margaret has purchased event pins for me in the past and I highly recommend her also.