Good/Bad Internet and eBay Pin Sellers

[TeenaS]

Yes..it used to be a major indicator...
but...I have personally opened hundreds of mystery pins.....
that I bought at the park..
that have the edge.
I think they started doing it in the beginning of the year.
and you are right...
some disney pins are not perfect...
I find imperfections about 2% of the time..
once again..the BEST way to figure out scrappers...
is to study the pics of the big lots.
99 percent of all scrappers are in these lots..
and the pics are there for everyone to see..
if you see pins that are in these lots..
the answer is simple..
do not buy those.
from anyone.
and unfortunately...
even the real ones from the park.
the reason...?
everyone will think they are fake.
and..no matter what..
people want their collections to have some perceived value.
even if they never sell them..
they want the value to be there...
and..if you have pins that are in the giant scrapper lots..
it will not be.

Thank you for all that information. But isn't it true that the scrappers are the ones that are made at the same factories where they make the legit Disney pins and then after quality control eliminates the ones that have flaws in them, those flawed ones are the ones that are being taken and sold in huge lots from oversees? So if that is where the so-called scrappers come from, doesn't that make it pretty much a given that all pins can have the good ones and the "scrapper" version?

 

[debranator]

Thank you for all that information. But isn't it true that the scrappers are the ones that are made at the same factories where they make the legit Disney pins and then after quality control eliminates the ones that have flaws in them, those flawed ones are the ones that are being taken and sold in huge lots from oversees? So if that is where the so-called scrappers come from, doesn't that make it pretty much a given that all pins can have the good ones and the "scrapper" version?

yes, that does make sense.
but, that is not my experience..
of course occasionally I have seen a scrapper.....

every great once in awhile...
that is not a "regular scrapper"..
but, most often the scrappers..
that I have seen are all lanyard,hms...ect.
now...a few of the "common scrappers" are of LE pins...
and..those are so widely distributed..
as they make the real LE worthless...or close to it.
if you really look at all the large scrapper lots..
you will notice..that almost all of them..
have the exact same pins...
over and over..
those are the ones that you do not want.
I will give you an example....
the current PWP photograph pins....
they sell for 2.99 plus tax...and you need to make a 30 bucks purchase..
plus..CM and AP discounts will not apply to these.
Remember last years key pins?
there were no scrappers made of these[at that time at least]...
so..they continually sold in the 10 buck range on ebay and were VHTF.
now..this years photo pins...
are all over ebay for 99 cents...
the scrappers had them on the market before Disney did.
so...they are worthless.
no one buys em at the park...
and..you cannot give them away.
but,want to find a real one?
check ebay for those that list them with PWP in the title.
at least those sellers know where they came from.

 

[TeenaS]

yes, that does make sense.
but, that is not my experience..
of course occasionally I have seen a scrapper.....

every great once in awhile...
that is not a "regular scrapper"..
but, most often the scrappers..
that I have seen are all lanyard,hms...ect.
now...a few of the "common scrappers" are of LE pins...
and..those are so widely distributed..
as they make the real LE worthless...or close to it.
if you really look at all the large scrapper lots..
you will notice..that almost all of them..
have the exact same pins...
over and over..
those are the ones that you do not want.
I will give you an example....
the current PWP photograph pins....
they sell for 2.99 plus tax...and you need to make a 30 bucks purchase..
plus..CM and AP discounts will not apply to these.
Remember last years key pins?
there were no scrappers made of these[at that time at least]...
so..they continually sold in the 10 buck range on ebay and were VHTF.
now..this years photo pins...
are all over ebay for 99 cents...
the scrappers had them on the market before Disney did.
so...they are worthless.
no one buys em at the park...
and..you cannot give them away.
but,want to find a real one?
check ebay for those that list them with PWP in the title.
at least those sellers know where they came from.

Thanks for your clarifications. And mostly thanks for letting me and everyone know that the "edge" on the back of the pins is NOT an indication that they are scrappers.

 

[Skye23]

Since we've removed the edge as an indication of being a scrapper and I just compared the pins I bought to ones I'd purchased from Disney directly (some at parks, some from Disney Store) from the same era. The pins I was worried about no longer worry me. The ennamel looks good, the colors look close to the pictures posted (understanding that monitors vary), and the worn edges I was worried about. Well those appear on many of the pins I bought from Disney that are still on their cute little cards with the prices still on them. None of my LE pins have rough edges but a fair number of my non-LE ones do and since I purchased them directly I can't use that as an indicator now. And the ones that were a bit light, well pins I bought directly from Disney back in 2006-2008 are noticiably lighter then the 2009-2011 ones. The ones included compare favorably to ones of the same era, if not newer ones.

I still think one is wonky but from the front it looks so good I'd have traded for it too so I consider that no harm, no foul on the sellers part. I plan to tuck it into one of the boxes my Mom sends to poor kids in third-world countries at Christmas, thus insuring it will likely never see a Disney park or trader again, leave them positive feedback and call it a day. Simply being a pin that has been scrapped is nowhere near enough proof that it is scrapped to ask for a refund or impune their reputation or feedback rating. And since we've just tossed 2 of the criteria I was using to judge the pins if they were on the scrapped list and the weights seem ok when judged only against pins from the same time-frame I think we're pretty much done here. I appreciate everyone's help.

When all is said and done, you're right that the only way to know for sure is to buy the pin yourself from Disney directly. Buying pins has the same risk as trading for pins, since any pin I trade for even if its on a CM's lanyard COULD be a scrapper. If I'd trade for a pin thinking it was good enough quality to be real then that has to satisfy me when I buy it too. By that criteria I'm satisfied.

 

[parrothead64]

You can add dyllan to the list of bad sellers. Received a lot of 25 and most if not all were scrappers. Says he will give me a refund, but now I have to ship them back on my dollar. Color was off on all I checked, brush strokes on some, bad edition numbers on a couple, some edges were white on the fast pass style. Instead of black paint on outlines, it was silver.

 

[pixiewings71]

I just bought 2 lots from Mubunny who has 100% positive feedback on ebay and a green rating here. I haven't left feedback yet because there are a few pins that are worrying me a little. Some are obviously legit but several of them when I look them up on pin pics show as having scrappers for them and of those a couple feel a bit iffy. Rough edges, one has a border around the mickey waffle pattern on the back, thin or light metal. The price was low, but I fully expected somebody to bid against me, and in fact I was outbid on 1 other lot. I'm not sure if there's an issue or if I'm being a bit paranoid after reading all the posts about bad lots. Anybody have any thoughts? I don't quite want to complain and I definately don't want to ruin a 100% rating (have one myself) when its possible its just that they traded for a scrapper and missed it. I should add they all look good at first glance, no obvious issues.

Lot 1

Lot 2

Oops - one is absolutely, positively a scrapper. Looked at the back of #34210 and it has the alternate spelling along with thin metal, worn/rough edges etc.

Without seeing the pins personally it is hard to say if they are fake or not, I'd need to see them and be able to inspect the backs etc. But I will say that I have purchased many pins from mubunny and had NO issues with them. I have always been very pleased with my purchases from mubunny and I will continue to purchase from this seller. Please note, I have not needed to purchase scrappers for approximately 2 years now, we did not visit the parks for a while and when we did go back we went through our pins and found enough to trade that we won't need any for a while still. Just so you know that my personal experience is a couple of years old, but again, I would not hesitate to buy from mubunny again in the future.

Thanks for your clarifications. And mostly thanks for letting me and everyone know that the "edge" on the back of the pins is NOT an indication that they are scrappers.

I too have a few pins I purchased directly from DL that have the edge around the back as well......and just an fyi, I also have pins I purchased directly that have divets in the enamel......

Good luck to you!!

 

[prisjoyce]

Wanted to update that I received good pins from ebayer AngelaJuly, as well. I looked through the pin set when I received it and compared to info on pinpics and everything matched up.

Thanks for the info provided on this thread!

 

[Mhincherick]

I have seen AngelaJuly on here a couple of times, what is her seller id? I can't find her on ebay. Did you buy a lot from her? I am looking at purchasing a lot from funmamas, does anyone have any feedback on her?

 

[danimaroo]

I have seen AngelaJuly on here a couple of times, what is her seller id? I can't find her on ebay. Did you buy a lot from her? I am looking at purchasing a lot from funmamas, does anyone have any feedback on her?

Unfortunately it doesn't look like she's selling any items at the moment. Keep an eye out for her; her user ID is AngelaJuly. http://myworld.ebay.com/angelajuly/&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2754 That should be her profile.

I would keep an eye on her though as she tends to put stuff up at certain times (I'm guessing depending on when she makes trips to the park or a Disney outlet store).

I actually bought another set of pins from her, and they were perfect. I also got a set of Vinylmation Wall-E and Eve pins from user levitz13 and one Stitch pin from abau9659. Both users were also great. Hope that helps!

 

[Mom2OakandEm]

I have seen AngelaJuly on here a couple of times, what is her seller id? I can't find her on ebay. Did you buy a lot from her? I am looking at purchasing a lot from funmamas, does anyone have any feedback on her?

I have purchased from funmamas, maybe 6 months ago, and all of them were genuine. I would purchase from them again.

 

[amy611lou]

Was wondering if anyone has purchased from wd_pins on ebay? My kids want to maybe start pin trading on our upcoming trip and I don't want to spend a lot of money without knowing if this is something they are going to enjoy. Thanks!

 

[maciec]

Just got back from Disney on Saturday and I think that after this trip we are done with trading pins. I cannot tell you how many fake pins we encountered. It was so frustrating! Something that I did find was that we went to Target and they had official pins for $3.99. I bought some there for the kids to trade so I didn't feel so bad when we lost out to a fake pin.

 

[brookmey]

My kids have just recently gotten involved with pin collecting and trading, so I'm doing my best to learn about scrappers on Ebay.

I'm watching a pin that says it's backstamped with the Disney Official Pin Trading Logo, including the copywright symbol. If a pin has this on the back, is it official?

And thank you for all the valuable info on this thread!

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

Was wondering if anyone has purchased from wd_pins on ebay? My kids want to maybe start pin trading on our upcoming trip and I don't want to spend a lot of money without knowing if this is something they are going to enjoy. Thanks!

I would be cautious when buying from wd_pins. The price per lot is under $1 a pin and the seller mentions duplicates. Duplicates is a red flag word when dealing with Disney trading pins.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

My kids have just recently gotten involved with pin collecting and trading, so I'm doing my best to learn about scrappers on Ebay.

I'm watching a pin that says it's backstamped with the Disney Official Pin Trading Logo, including the copywright symbol. If a pin has this on the back, is it official?

And thank you for all the valuable info on this thread!

The Disney pin trading logo does appear on unauthorized pins. So, that characteristic is of little help when deciphering legitimate pins.

 

[danimaroo]

Just got back from Disney on Saturday and I think that after this trip we are done with trading pins. I cannot tell you how many fake pins we encountered. It was so frustrating! Something that I did find was that we went to Target and they had official pins for $3.99. I bought some there for the kids to trade so I didn't feel so bad when we lost out to a fake pin.

Bummer, that's definitely discouraging. I was planning on bringing legitimate pins with me in January and trading here and there, but this is making me a bit nervous. Perhaps I'll only put on pins that I am 100% okay with giving away, regardless if what I get in return is a scrapper. I have quite a few rack pins that I was willing to trade out (I got an excellent deal through a legit seller on eBay of 10 pins on their original cards, along with some boosters), but now I might just keep them. We'll see what I run into when I go.

 

[brookmey]

The Disney pin trading logo does appear on unauthorized pins. So, that characteristic is of little help when deciphering legitimate pins.

Grrr. That's no good! Is it safe to assume that pins that are attached to what looks to be their original Disney card are OK?

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

On card pins, might be better. Beware, there are sellers out there selling the black cards. I know kittykat2bad, bizzybee1, gitanoman, themuchnessofdisney, beekerlg and domdisney are good ebay sellers. Maybe some of these sellers will have something you are looking for.

 

[pixiewings71]

The problem with the black cards is they can be from ANY pin.......that's happened to me before, purchased a pin on the card and then found out the card was for a different pin. I found out because I took the card and compared. I don't think the pin I got was a scrapper but it was on the wrong card.

I absolutely 100% agree with Disneyrunner, the sellers above are all great sellers.

 

[brookmey]

Thank you! I'm not looking for any particular pin, just ones that my kids will be trading away. I've saved these sellers, so I can breathe easier when I'm looking for pins!