How do the pin sellers on e-bay afford to sell pins so cheap??

[PoppyGirl]

My DS and I have been purchasing some trading pins on e-bay. We recieved our shipment today--they are very nice pins which we purchase for $1 each! Who are these people who are selling them for this price and how can they afford to do it when the pins cost so much in the parks???

 

[Brian_WDW74]

This topic is better suited for the Collectors board, so I've moved the thread here.

 

[PoppyGirl]

This topic is better suited for the Collectors board, so I've moved the thread here.

Thanks. I wasn't sure where to post it! I hope someone can answer our question.

 

[Spiffie]

Thanks. I wasn't sure where to post it! I hope someone can answer our question.

Some form of this question gets posted here every day and we attempt to answer the best we can. However, lately, I feel that the more I try to answer the more people post that they bought from eBay too and all is fine.

Please read this thread. It is VERY long but worth the read. It has great iformation. Basically, the answer is this - the pins you bought have a 99% chance of being fake/scrapper/bootleg pins. This means they were made and sold without permission of Disney. It also means that when you take your fake pins to Disney to trade, they will in turn be picked up by some poor child (or adult). I just don't see how people can knowingly trade merchandise that was obtained by less than proper practices.

Let me say that your seller may have 100% positive feedback which means nothing to the authenticity of the pins. It just means that the transaction went well. Let me also say that you can take your pins to a CM and ask all the questions you want and they will all tell you that you can trade them in the park. Why? Mostly because they don't have the time to inspect the pins, or they don't know what to look for themselves.

All I can ask is that before you take your pin lot to a park for trading, please ask yourself if you would want to receive pins that were illegally obtained. Maybe you (generally spoken) don't care. But it sure is taking a lot of fun out of trading! Please read the thread and compare your ebay pins to those listed as know fakes on pinpics.com. Remember if it sounds too good to be true......

 

[Mike2023]

Indeed,

You can get 1000 pins in lots of 10 for $600 from china. So if the person you won them from sells all 1000 for a buck each they just made 400 bucks.

if you only got a small amount I would not worry about it this time around. But in the future I would tend to stay away from ebay lots as no matter what anyone says, if you are buying a pin for less then 3 or so buck its not a real disney pin.

In truth, if you have done any trading at disney you most likely have traded for a bad pin. They are all over the place at wdw and really most people never notice. So if your just looking to have fun and trade for some pins then it does not really matter if you trade for a legit one or not.

It really is hard for people who collect pins, and there the ones that are going to be most upset by the amount of fake pins out there.

Good luck, have fun.

 

[PoppyGirl]

Wow. Thanks so much. I read the thread you suggested and have been looking at pinpics with my son. We found a few photos of known scrapper pins that are the same as ones we have. Some we have received through a trade at WDW and a couple of them were ones we purchased through e-bay. But I am looking at these pins compared to ones I know I bought at WDW and I cannot tell the difference! I would not knowingly trade a fake pin or have my kids trade fake ones, but honestly, I can't see any difference in quality or anything between the ones I KNOW I purchased and the ones that we got today.

None of them had a funny smell or oily feel. We bought 20 pins. Some of them looked as if they were "used"--as if they had been worn on a lanyard but I expected that.

I'll research here before any future purchases and only purchase from approved sellers. Thanks for the education!

 

[Mike2023]

Wow. Thanks so much. I read the thread you suggested and have been looking at pinpics with my son. We found a few photos of known scrapper pins that are the same as ones we have. Some we have received through a trade at WDW and a couple of them were ones we purchased through e-bay. But I am looking at these pins compared to ones I know I bought at WDW and I cannot tell the difference! I would not knowingly trade a fake pin or have my kids trade fake ones, but honestly, I can't see any difference in quality or anything between the ones I KNOW I purchased and the ones that we got today.

None of them had a funny smell or oily feel. We bought 20 pins. Some of them looked as if they were "used"--as if they had been worn on a lanyard but I expected that.

I'll research here before any future purchases and only purchase from approved sellers. Thanks for the education!

Its VERY VERY hard to figure out if some are good or some are bad. But most likely, if pin pics says the pin has been scrapped, and you got it from ebay, then it is not a disney pin. Its not your fault and I would not let it get you down in the least.

When it comes to "approved" sellers, there is only one and thats disney. Thats the only way to be sure you wont get a scrapper.

 

[bweagle]

Actually I was wondering about this too. I don't think it's the same old question posted about super cheap pins that have been determined to be scrappers. But what about those selling on eBay from reputable sellers for $5.00 and $6.00 each? What about booster packs being sold for nearly half the price that they are selling for in parks? We got a booster set on the card, factory sealed with a WDW price tag listing it at $29.95 and we paid just a fraction of the cost. Out of pure curiousity, how can these sellers have these types of prices?

 

[Mike2023]

Actually I was wondering about this too. I don't think it's the same old question posted about super cheap pins that have been determined to be scrappers. But what about those selling on eBay from reputable sellers for $5.00 and $6.00 each? What about booster packs being sold for nearly half the price that they are selling for in parks? We got a booster set on the card, factory sealed with a WDW price tag listing it at $29.95 and we paid just a fraction of the cost. Out of pure curiousity, how can these sellers have these types of prices?

Disney does sell its pins at discounts from time to time. If you know where to look and live local deals can be found.

In this case I would say pins are legit. Backing cards and boxs go along way to prove pins are legit.

Again, nothing is 100%, only disney.

 

[PoppyGirl]

I don't know if this question is related or not, but I also wonder what the cast members do with the pins they trade during the day. Do they have to purchase the pins they trade? How does that work???

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I don't know if this question is related or not, but I also wonder what the cast members do with the pins they trade during the day. Do they have to purchase the pins they trade? How does that work???

The cast member lanyards are NOT their personal lanyards. Those belong to Disney. They grab one at the beginning of their shift, and they put it back at the end of the day. Cast members who are not pin collectors do not know (or care) if the pins they trade for are fakes. It's just part of their job to trade.

 

[DANque]

We sell trader pins (not on Ebay) on our webpage. They range from $1.50 to $2.00, depending on how many you buy. We guarantee our pins and if anyone is unsatisfied with ANY of them, we will replace them. I disagree (100%) with the person who said you can't get legit pins for less than $3.00.

We have been to Company D (Cast Member store) and have purchased pins on card directly from Disny on sale for around $2.00. They also offer discounted booster packs, and starter lanyard sets for less than HALF the original cost. The problem is...you have to either be a Cast Member or know one to shop there.

While most of our pins do come from Cast Member lanyards we take the time and effort to go through them and inspect them before we offer them for sale. Granted a few bad ones have slipped by us, but with our guarantee you have nothing to loose.

There are good sellers with good pins out there ...they just aren't easy to find.

I do agree Ebay is NOT the best source if you want good pins. Just offering up some advice from a pin seller and a pin collector!!!

 

[pixiewings71]

We sell trader pins (not on Ebay) on our webpage. They range from $1.50 to $2.00, depending on how many you buy. We guarantee our pins and if anyone is unsatisfied with ANY of them, we will replace them. I disagree (100%) with the person who said you can't get legit pins for less than $3.00.

We have been to Company D (Cast Member store) and have purchased pins on card directly from Disny on sale for around $2.00. They also offer discounted booster packs, and starter lanyard sets for less than HALF the original cost. The problem is...you have to either be a Cast Member or know one to shop there.

While most of our pins do come from Cast Member lanyards we take the time and effort to go through them and inspect them before we offer them for sale. Granted a few bad ones have slipped by us, but with our guarantee you have nothing to loose.

There are good sellers with good pins out there ...they just aren't easy to find.

I do agree Ebay is NOT the best source if you want good pins. Just offering up some advice from a pin seller and a pin collector!!!

So, what's your website?

 

[Spiffie]

So, what's your website?

I received my first shipment from them today and I am EXTREMELY happy with my purchase! They even took the time to look up my PinPics ID and send me a couple of things off my WANTS list! You just can't get better service than that!

here is their site:

http://thepinstation.ecrater.com/

 

[pixiewings71]

Thanks Spiffie!! These are things we need to share.

 

[baseballmom51]

this is all new to me. I bought all my starters on ebay but that was back in '01 so its been a while. That being said, I have been selling off my traders for under $3 for quite awhile. Had tons that were just sitting in the closet. So I guess its just a matter of finding legit pins.

Good luck with your search!

 

[thelionqueen]

We sell trader pins (not on Ebay) on our webpage. They range from $1.50 to $2.00, depending on how many you buy. We guarantee our pins and if anyone is unsatisfied with ANY of them, we will replace them. I disagree (100%) with the person who said you can't get legit pins for less than $3.00.

We have been to Company D (Cast Member store) and have purchased pins on card directly from Disny on sale for around $2.00. They also offer discounted booster packs, and starter lanyard sets for less than HALF the original cost. The problem is...you have to either be a Cast Member or know one to shop there.

While most of our pins do come from Cast Member lanyards we take the time and effort to go through them and inspect them before we offer them for sale. Granted a few bad ones have slipped by us, but with our guarantee you have nothing to loose.

There are good sellers with good pins out there ...they just aren't easy to find.

I do agree Ebay is NOT the best source if you want good pins. Just offering up some advice from a pin seller and a pin collector!!!

I have also sold pins from my personal collection for under $3 which are 100% authentic. It depends on the situation and the seller. That being said, the ratio to legit vs. non-legit sellers on ebay is staggering. Finding a legit seller in the sea of scrapper sellers is truly rare.

That being said, items bought as a CM or a friend or family member of a CM from Company D, Cast Connection or any other CM only venue for resale is strictly prohibited by Disney and CM's can be terminated for such activity.

 

[Belle599]

If anyone is looking for traders, I saw mystery 2 packs for $1.99 at the Disney Outlet at LBV Outlets - this was in May.

Happy trading!

 

[Broncobilly83]

That being said, items bought as a CM or a friend or family member of a CM from Company D, Cast Connection or any other CM only venue for resale is strictly prohibited by Disney and CM's can be terminated for such activity.

Interesting that there are so many Trash Can and ID Badges on E-Bay lately then, and they are on card backs, etc, so I do not think they are scrappers compared to some loose ones that might be. I know I snagged a few, almost at retail cost, still on their card backs.

 

[Ashton7]

Interesting that there are so many Trash Can and ID Badges on E-Bay lately then, and they are on card backs, etc, so I do not think they are scrappers compared to some loose ones that might be. I know I snagged a few, almost at retail cost, still on their card backs.

I don't know about more recent items but I can say that for myself, I am an avid yard sale hunter and living in the Orlando area I have often met up with people who are former CMs or who have grown kids who were CMs, etc., and found them selling pins. I once picked up an entire bag full of pins at a yard sale, asked the lady what she wanted for them, bargained her down ... and when I took the pins out and looked at them later found that virtually every single one of them was a cast member exclusive. She had told me her daughter worked for Disney but it just didn't register with me at the time.

It may not please Disney to have their CMs selling these items but I can't imagine how they would trace them if the person no longer works there. Actually, I'm not sure how they would do it even if they were still working there as long as the person selling them doesn't work there.

I once met up with a lady at a convention where we were both dealers (books, nothing to do with Disney or pins) and it turned out she worked currently for Disney and was an avid pin collector herself. Her husband was the dealer and she came to help out. She did tell me that Disney scrutinizes the CMs' buying and that she once got in trouble because she had bought some extra Star Wars merchandise for friends overseas. Even though she was simply giving it to them at her own cost, she said she almost got fired over it. She also said that Disney looked at her husband's Ebay auctions to make sure they weren't reselling stuff. So I know they do take it seriously -- I just don't see how they could stop it if the person no longer works for them, as I said.