pins on ebay?? 2 questions...

[dream_disney]

I was looking at pins on ebay and they would save me a great deal of money. I want to make sure that they all have rubber mickey backs and mickey stamps on the back which you can find in the detail section. Has anyone found any great seller to purchase pins from? Also, how are people able to sell huge quanities for such a low price?

[oopsadaisy2003]

I can't recommend any specific seller, but ask questions. I bought a lot of pins and was very disappointed when they arrived. Most of them were scratched when the condition stated that they were in good condition. We were still able to use them for trading, but not for collecting. And some of the pins sell for more on ebay than they do in the parks.

[Briansmom]

I want to make sure that they all have rubber mickey backs and mickey stamps on the back which you can find in the detail section.

I have not ever purchased any pins (or looked at any, for that matter) so I don't know anything about them. But I am thinking about starting my son on our next trip. I think maybe he would like to try something different since he is now a veteran (two trips..lol) and understands WDW now. What do you mean by having 'rubber mickey backs and mickey stamps'? Is this something that is important for trading?

TIA-
Lela

[gerald72]

I can't recommend any specific seller, but ask questions. I bought a lot of pins and was very disappointed when they arrived. Most of them were scratched when the condition stated that they were in good condition. We were still able to use them for trading, but not for collecting. And some of the pins sell for more on ebay than they do in the parks.

I would think that scratches would be expected on a pin in "good" condition.
If it was described as "Mint", "Excellent", or "Very good" then not so. But "Good" or "Poor" is a little down the grading scale.

[CleveSJM]

I think recommending a specific seller would be against Intercot rules. Just use the eBay feedback numbers.

A lot of the bulk cheap pins on eBay are "fake." I put that in quotes because they may be exactly the same pin that Disney licensed and made by the same company, but the company had overruns or made extra "knockoffs" outside the Disney order. These hit various shady markets ("Want a Rolex? ) and make there way to eBay.

Again, use the eBay feedback to gauge the quality of the merchandise and the seller.

[CleveSJM]

What do you mean by having 'rubber mickey backs and mickey stamps'? Is this something that is important for trading?

TIA-
Lela

Lela - Official tradable pins are all metal and have an official Disney Pin stamp on the back. Most come with these black rubber Mickey pin back. Disney does sell other pin back list green goofy hats and blue scorcerer mickey pin backs, but the black mickey backs are the most common "real" backs.

Some european pins are plastic and have the old fashioned metal backs. The plastic pins aren't supposed to be traded but they are. My son seems to like them. So he's traded $7 pins for $.50 junk... but it's the pin he wants so...

[CanadianWDWFan]

I did research like the other posters have said, and when I finally ordered pins they were exactly what I had ordered. They all had the pin backs and each pin came in its own bag. The seller I found had delivered what they promised.

On a side note, I had a pin that was a "special" edition Disney-AAA and I was sceptical about trading it. I took it to Pin Traders at Epcot and asked a couple of CM's about it. They told me that any pin that had a Disney copyright on it was acceptable.

[John]

BTW, the rubber mickey back doesn't make it official... I have hundreds of real disney pins that were produced before they came up with the neat idea of making the plain black rubber back into the mickey head.

In fact, in the beginning, some of the pins came with metal backs and then disney sold the rubber backs and I replaced all of them with the newer backs to avoid the pins falling off the lanyards.

The disney imprint on the back makes it official.

I have quite a collection that I really need to sell at some point as they are gathering dust in the closet from the heyday of the pin trading era!

[Briansmom]

Wow , I had no idea about all these details. I knew people said they just ordered some cheap ones off of ebay and then traded them with the CM's when they got to the parks. I appreciate all the information.....it sounds like it will save me some heartbreak of trying to trade a 'fake' pin and having a CM shake their head at me pitifully (or look at me like I'm a crook!)

[JPL]

I still pin trade and I will say I saw some pins people claimed were "fakes" and honestly I don't 99.9999999% of CMs or pin traders could ever tell the difference. Here is how most of the fakes come about the pins are made in China and the same exact set up is used to make the "fake" pins as the "real" ones. Trust me I wouldn't worry too much about a CM turning you away from a trade.

[TheVBs]

My DDs love to pin trade and the first couple trips they did it, I bought pins in the parks and at the resort for them to trade. The problem with that is, we would buy some pricier pins and then they would get traded for ones that obviously didn't cost as much. So, for our last trip I bought some pins off eBay and I have never gotten a fake or anything other than what was advertised. I've been buying them regularly since.

Check the seller's feedback. Make sure it doesn't say they're Sedesma pins, those are plastic and not tradeable. There's another off brand, but I can't think of it. Make sure you know whether you're getting exactly what's pictured or if the picture is just a "sample", or if the auction is for a "grab bag" of pins. This doesn't mean you won't get genuine pins, but I always like to know exactly what I'm paying for. I try to keep it under $2 a pin when I buy a lot from eBay. Make sure you add in shipping with the amount of your bid to figure out what you're actually paying per pin. Obviously, they sell in the parks for at least $6 - $7 so decide what you want to pay if you're buying off eBay. And buying larger lots usually saves more because you're saving on shipping, so decide how many pins you want to take.

As the girls are trading there are always pins they trade for that they want to keep. So we'd take those off the lanyard right away and keep them seperate. It helps to bring enough traders to replace any keepers. We bring about 10 to put on their lanyards and I would say another 10 to replace keepers.

Hope that helps!

[doombuggygal]

We do the same as the previous poster stated and have always been very pleased with the traders we have purchased on ebay. The name of the other "off-brand" to watch out for is Europins.

[Splash_Lover]

I have never actually had a CM even check the back to see if it had the Disney stamp on it. I have bought off ebay and had no problem trading them except to get my daughter to trade the cheap ones.

[dream_disney]

My pins just came yesterday from Ebay and they are GREAT! They have mickey backs and thery all have official stamps...thanks for the help

[TheVBs]

Glad it went well!