Talk to me about pin trading

[MamaBelle4]

I just ordered a bunch of pins and lanyards for my kids for the fairies to leave them in our room. I know nothing about pin trading.

I looked up how to tell if a pin is authentic or not and plan to meticulously go through each pin to see, but I'm no expert so I made sure to choose a seller with exceptionally high reviews and I read through the reviews and previous buyers mentioned that they did not receive one scrapper.

What do my kids do? If they see a pin they like on another kid or a CM, do they ask for a trade and let them choose one on their lanyard? Is that the general idea? Is there anywhere in particular that is good for young kids to get their start to get their feet wet (I have 5 kids and my oldest is 9)?

Thank you all!!

 

[ashpi]

Congrats on getting your kids started with pin trading, they're going to have a lot of fun! Trading with CM is super easy, you kids should have no problem trading with any of them. If you see a cast member with a lanyard or a panel of pins hanging from their hip, you just walk up to them and ask to see their pins. The cast member will hold them out, and you can pick up to two of them to trade for (make sure your kids don't try to take them off themselves! Just point/describe them). Then take off whichever pin(s) of yours that you want to exchange and - CM will accept any Disney pin and never refuse a trade. Make sure the backs are on all of the pins being traded. That's it!

Trading with other guests is more complicated/less common, and personally I generally avoid it (except when a young boy mistook me for a CM!) In that case both parties have to agree on a fair trade, and that's not always possible.

In addition to trading directly with CM, some locations have pin boards hidden behind counters which will have a larger selection. Ask around at shops to see if they have one (off the the top of my head I know the Space Mountain exit shop, Rock'n'Roller Coaster shop, and some of the stores on Main Street). At these places it's basically the same protocol, except here you will keep your pin back, as the pin will be stuck directly on the board.

Disney Tourist Blog has a pretty good summary of pin trading too: http://www.disneytouristblog.com/pin-trading/

 

[dreiwhit]

My daughter traded pins on our last trip in February. She loved it. My advice is to bring a lot more pins than you think you will need. She had gone through her trading stock in two days!

She looks for the pins she likes, knowing there may be fakes out there. But she collects what she likes, whether or not its authentic.

 

[Firebird060]

Strangely Enough the people that tend to have the Best Selection of Different pins are the DVC spots in all the theme parks. Also remember if a pin is on a CM backwards aka you cant see the pin, its a mystery Pin, so its luck of the draw if the kids want to take a chance, have fun pin trading is something that can be unique and fun at Disney

 

[MamaBelle4]

My daughter traded pins on our last trip in February. She loved it. My advice is to bring a lot more pins than you think you will need. She had gone through her trading stock in two days!

She looks for the pins she likes, knowing there may be fakes out there. But she collects what she likes, whether or not its authentic.

My plan in introducing the pin trading is also to help them focus where to spend their souvenir money. I don't want them to spend it on stuff we can get at the Disney store or Walmart again.

They will each get 10 pins from the fairies. Is that a decent amount?

 

[Firebird060]

It really depends on how into it they get. Once they start pin trading and know what to look for they will see Pins for trade everywhere. Even though my wife goes with 20 or 30 pins every trip we go, we still end up buying some pins at retail minus AP discount, it really subjective if 10 is enough

 

[dreiwhit]

They will each get 10 pins from the fairies. Is that a decent amount?

I think my daughter had 12 on her lanyard, and she traded them off in two days. As the previous poster said, its all about how they get into it. After her first trade, my daughter was definitely hooked! She was looking at every CM to see if they had pins, and we went into every gift shop around!

FWIW, she bought lots of 50 pins off eBay for @$20. She only trades her duplicates.

 

[davper]

I have to insert my $.02...
Many people by those lots off ebay and many if not all in the lot are fake/scrappers. They go into the parks and trade with the CM who can't refuse the trade and they end up with a panel full of fakes.

I would not trade any pins that you yourself purchased unless you are sure the pin you are getting is not a fake/scrapper.

Sorry to put a rain cloud over the experience.

 

[MamaBelle4]

Sorry to put a rain cloud over the experience.

You didn't. That's why I looked up how to tell the difference and plan to go through the pins I ordered. The seller has great reviews and all the comments say the pins are authentic. My kids are young enough that if they like a pin, they won't care if it is authentic or not. If they spend souvenir money on pins, I plan to keep those at our hotel room so they can't be traded.

 

[Firebird060]

It wouldnt be a bad idea to get a bag of extra pin backers, The last time me and my wife went, we had a friend and there family with us, and the kids had issues with keeping the pin backs on. Its alot easier to make sure the pins that are traded stay with the family and not disneys magical dust bin of lost and found if you can get a cheap bag of pin backs

 

[davper]

You didn't. That's why I looked up how to tell the difference and plan to go through the pins I ordered. The seller has great reviews and all the comments say the pins are authentic. My kids are young enough that if they like a pin, they won't care if it is authentic or not. If they spend souvenir money on pins, I plan to keep those at our hotel room so they can't be traded.

Good plan

 

[dreiwhit]

My kids are young enough that if they like a pin, they won't care if it is authentic or not. If they spend souvenir money on pins, I plan to keep those at our hotel room so they can't be traded.

That's how my daughter feels as well. She will buy or trade a pin because she likes it. If its a fake, it doesn't matter too much to her.

 

[Kaleidodad]

I have to insert my $.02...
Many people by those lots off ebay and many if not all in the lot are fake/scrappers. They go into the parks and trade with the CM who can't refuse the trade and they end up with a panel full of fakes.

I would not trade any pins that you yourself purchased unless you are sure the pin you are getting is not a fake/scrapper.

Sorry to put a rain cloud over the experience.

FWIW I have bought 25-pack lots of pins on eBay about 5-6 times and have never received a single fake. I did stick with the same couple of sellers though. Never saw any fakes that we traded from CMs either.

 

[davper]

FWIW I have bought 25-pack lots of pins on eBay about 5-6 times and have never received a single fake. I did stick with the same couple of sellers though. Never saw any fakes that we traded from CMs either.

Not every seller is going sell fakes/scrappers. But if they are selling 50 for $20. You can bet they are bad.

In 2016 almost every CM panel had at least 1 bad pin on it. The panel at the BLT had almost all fakes/scrappers on it.

 

[ashpi]

It wouldnt be a bad idea to get a bag of extra pin backers, The last time me and my wife went, we had a friend and there family with us, and the kids had issues with keeping the pin backs on. Its alot easier to make sure the pins that are traded stay with the family and not is disneys magical dust bin of lost and found if you can get a cheap bag of pin backs

That's a good point - also might be worth looking into the locking pin backs for anything that's for show but not trade. I bought some last year and they gave me some real peace of mind when wearing my good pins

 

[omniscientmommy]

I have no idea how to tell if the pins were fake or not. We bought around 50 for $30ish dollars off eBay, go with a top rated seller. Ours kids didn't seem super into it last year, although they were 3 & 6. Maybe this year will be different.

 

[Unlimited N2O]

You didn't. That's why I looked up how to tell the difference and plan to go through the pins I ordered. The seller has great reviews and all the comments say the pins are authentic. My kids are young enough that if they like a pin, they won't care if it is authentic or not. If they spend souvenir money on pins, I plan to keep those at our hotel room so they can't be traded.

Would you happen to remember the ebay seller you purchased from? Looking to start a collection before our Disneymoon.

 

[starry_solo]

If you are buying pins for less than $1.50 in eBay lots, that is not a good sign.

When the listing says that the pins are tradeable in the parks, all that means is that the pin has the pin trading logo or (c) Disney on the back .

When the listing doesn't show you the actual pins you will get but instead says that you will receive a mixed lot of pins that may not be what I pictured, that is not a good sign.

When the seller is not in Orlando, FL or Anaheim, CA (or closeby) but says in their listing that they traded for these pins in the parks, that is not a good sign.

When the pins come indivudally packaged in flimsy ziploc-y type bags, usually with a red line at top, that is not a good sign.