Ebay Pin Lots

[GoldenBoySC99]

I am relatively new to Pin Trading and I love it.

I recently bought a lot of 15 pins on ebay and the description said that all the pins were "official Disney pins" and "tradeable" at the parks.

I received the pins today and noticed that on the hidden mickey pins, the back has a different imprint than the ones for which I traded at Disneyland.

The ones already in my collection say "Cast Lanyard Collection." The pins I received today say "Hidden Mickey Pin"

I think I know the answer to this question, but was I duped?

[GoldenBoySC99]

Also some pins have a dull finish. That was my first indication that these are not just fakes, but bad fakes. I have never seen a disney pin that wasn't glossy. Have you?

[Coheteboy]

Got a picture? There's many resources here to find out if we can know where to start.

[yoyoflamingo]

http://www.pinpics.com

This is your friend. Sometimes the imprint does change. Some do say cast lanyard and some say hidden Mickey. They still might be good. Sometimes also, it's just too hard to tell which is which. What NNL and I do is, if we like it, we don't care if it's fake or not.

This is actually one of the main reasons I don't like buying on ebay, but even when trading in the parks I always seem to pick the fake pins.

[penguinsoda]

This article has some good info, from an eBay seller.

This is another good one.

Often times I read that those lots are comprised of scrapper/bootleg pins. Its really a crapshoot with eBay. Even if the seller has a 98% or better feedback score, sometimes you can still get burned. I recently discovered that a bunch of Disney postcards I had bought for my daughter, had been cut down to regular size from continental size. But when I bought them I didn't look that close at the back of them. I'll check more closely next time BEFORE I leave feedback.

If you are going to seriously get into pin trading, it would be worth it to take some time and read some of the guides and get familiar with some of the ins and outs of it. Its really a bit more complex if you don't want to get burned by either scrappers or sharks (Professional pin traders). There are also the Sedesma from Spain and ProPins from Germany, which are usually not as valuable, and may or not be tradable depending on who you try to trade with. (The Sedesma sometimes have a more non-glossy finish. The pins you have could be Sedesma pins).

Like Coheteboy said... show us some pictures. It would be a good resource of infomation for everyone to check out what you have. None of us are immune from getting scammed. I've even gotten a couple of pins myself that I'm not that sure of, since I only recently got into collecting.

[WheresMickey]

When you buy "lots" from ebay. They are most likely 90% fake. They have a glossy finish. But i agree that pinspics is your friend.

Check out this thread I started in the past:
http://micechat.com/forums/showthrea...ers-98749.html

[laurabeth909]

theres also the funny smell. ive heard that a lot of the "fake" pins when kept together kinda smell like gasoline. i have a seller on ebay i LOVE! she usually sells single pins or buy it now and you can get 1-300 unknown pins but they are all definately official disney pins. they come on the felt backs and skus match on the price tag and everything. i havent seen her sell the open amounts or lots in the past few weeks but i sent her a message to see if shell be doing that again. ive been buying from her for the past 9 mos. they end up being under 3 dollars a pin after shipping depending on how many you buy i guess. i know you can find cheaper ones in lots but shes a fast and reliable seller and i know they are official disney pins.

[GoldenBoySC99]

Sometimes also, it's just too hard to tell which is which. What NNL and I do is, if we like it, we don't care if it's fake or not.

Yea, thats the attitude I took when I suspected it was fake. Some of the pins are really nice... like the Soarin' Fast Pass and the Mickey Autopia. But I also got like 4 stitch pins... and I am not a big fan of the movie.

Thanks for all the info. I knew this was the place to go.

[Peabody]

I've had great luck buying lots from Ebay. My young son is going nuts with trading. 4 times from 3 different sellers I've bought lots and all have been 100% legit (as far as I can tell).

My question is these sellers are usually from the orlando area and are selling cast lanyard pins for under $2.....since there are real how are they getting them? Are they CMs who are pocketing pins?

[I Heart Disneyland]

Someone spoke of that gasoline smell and I am like a freak sniffing all of my pins that I buy! haha! The only ones I am VERY suspicious of so far were shipped from Hong Kong. Thankfully it was only about a $5 investment. The rest had excellent reputations, etc. And, I hope they are real, because I will DIE if I try to trade and they reject my pins! I am new to pin trading too.