Scrapper/Counterfeit Etiquette

Hi all,

I am relatively new to the world of Disney Pin Trading (and a bit obsessed already!) ;-) When I was first starting out, I purchased several inexpensive traders on eBay to supplement my own small collection and complete a few Hidden Mickey sets. So far I have received two pins which I believe are "Scrappers." Not necessarily counterfeit, but definitely with the incorrect colors. One of these was purchased on eBay, and the other was received in a trade at Disneyland Park (from a cast member! it was another cast member who let me know the pin was a fake).

I'm not really interested in keeping these pins, but I would not feel right in re-trading them, either in the Parks or online. Is there an appropriate system for returning or disposing of Scrappers? Is it just a matter of either throwing them away or keeping them in a special place, to remind myself to do my homework before trading in the future? Or, is there any kind of selling/trading community interested in having them?

I would just give them as gifts to people who like the characters, but I wouldn't want to encourage them to keep on trading them, thus keeping questionable pins in circulation.

Sorry if this is a remedial question, and my sincere thanks in advance for any advice and input! I am really enjoying reading the Forums, and hope to continue trading with all of you :-D

Lots of love,
Dana (Snowy717)

When I end up with fakes and/or scrappers I just chalk it up to experience. Since I do not want to perpetuate the problem I cut the pin backs off and glue small strong magnets in their place and make refrigerator magnets out of them.

Occasionally in a trade, if I knew they were fake, I would trade the guest but snap off the pin back and when I went to trade it it, that pin was destroyed. Many times it was a kid, and it's not his fault some shark got to him, or his parent tried to buy some on eBay.

During my college program at WDW in 2010, I got the pin trading bug and bought myself a 20 pin set off of ebay in order to start my collection. When they came in the mail, some looked good but others looked scratched and slightly dull. In retrospect, I now realize that those were probably unauthorized scrappers; I have since gained even more just from trading, go figure. As a CM I didn't find out about the unauthorized pin issue until halfway thru; I was told that any bad pins were thrown into the "recycle" pile at pin replenishment. The scrappers I still have now are used as themed thumbtacks, one of which is holding up the calenders in the kitchen and stuff throughout the house.