Newbie trading question about pin value

[Piglet]

I'm very new to the trading game and I've been reaching out to some users on PinPics who were looking for pins that I have and want to trade for.

Now I have two LE pins from the Pixar Studio Store that I'd like to trade, but although I know these are quite special I am a little unsure of their worth when it comes to trading. Do you just look at the ratio wants/trades for each pin to determine their worth if they're not LE? And do you always trade one pin for one pin, or can you sometimes ask to trade several pins for one special pin? I don't want to offend anyone when proposing a trade.

I guess my question is: how do you know or determine your pin's "value"?

 

[Tokaji]

I think this question has been asked before, and there's a thread somewhere...

But anyway... there are a lot of different ways to determine the "value" of a pin, and it depends if you're talking personal value or monetary value. Monetary value can be easier or harder, depending on the pin. If you find the pin on eBay and then use the "completed transactions" function (it's down on the lower left), it will show you what that pin has sold for in the past. This can give you a good idea of a ballpark. Alternatively, you can ask around here, or search forums to see if anyone else has sold the pin.

If you're looking for trade or personal value, a good place to start is PinPics, to see what the wants/trades ratio is. If a pin a is LE 1000 but only 20 people want it and 100 people are trading it, its trade value is lower than if it was the opposite. Otherwise, aim to be fair, and trade for things you want. I put far more stock in personal value than in monetary, as I rarely aim to sell pins. Just my thoughts on the thing.

 

[speedwaystar1]

I'm afraid there's no easy answer . Some people go by original purchase price , some by edition size , some by eBay prices . It all depends on the situation . If I had the one's you have I'd be looking to get a pretty nice pin in trade , and if you're only collecting Piglet something with a pretty low edition size (especially for the Good Dinosaur pin)

 

[Piglet]

Thanks for your reply! I don't intend on selling anything, I only want to trade for pins I like. I guess pin values vary from person to person, depending on which pins you collect. It can be quite confusing when you're just starting out, but I'll try and judge by the wants/trades ratio and my personal preference

I think this question has been asked before, and there's a thread somewhere...

But anyway... there are a lot of different ways to determine the "value" of a pin, and it depends if you're talking personal value or monetary value. Monetary value can be easier or harder, depending on the pin. If you find the pin on eBay and then use the "completed transactions" function (it's down on the lower left), it will show you what that pin has sold for in the past. This can give you a good idea of a ballpark. Alternatively, you can ask around here, or search forums to see if anyone else has sold the pin.

If you're looking for trade or personal value, a good place to start is PinPics, to see what the wants/trades ratio is. If a pin a is LE 1000 but only 20 people want it and 100 people are trading it, its trade value is lower than if it was the opposite. Otherwise, aim to be fair, and trade for things you want. I put far more stock in personal value than in monetary, as I rarely aim to sell pins. Just my thoughts on the thing.

 

[Piglet]

Thank you for your advice!

I'm afraid there's no easy answer . Some people go by original purchase price , some by edition size , some by eBay prices . It all depends on the situation . If I had the one's you have I'd be looking to get a pretty nice pin in trade , and if you're only collecting Piglet something with a pretty low edition size (especially for the Good Dinosaur pin)

 

[unibear]

I actually tend to focus on the monetary value. But it's not because I'm planning to SELL pins, it's because (since I don't live near either park) most of the times I plan on BUYING pins. So, I always think 'what can I pay for this at some other place (ebay?)' when I'm thinking about a trade offer...

 

[Piglet]

Good point! I might try that approach and see where I end up. Thanks for your reply

I actually tend to focus on the monetary value. But it's not because I'm planning to SELL pins, it's because (since I don't live near either park) most of the times I plan on BUYING pins. So, I always think 'what can I pay for this at some other place (ebay?)' when I'm thinking about a trade offer...

 

[bvb53]

I think the only price that something has is what someone is willing to pay.

 

[docfish2u]

As one of the old timers around here, I try to use both the wants/trades ratios and the edition size to determine what to trade. The other factor for me is the popularity of the character. For instance if I had an LE 250 Frozen pin with a good want/trade ratio, I would not trade it for a Mickey with a very good wants/trades ratio, Mickey is not very popular but almost anything Frozen is. The other factor would be are you trading for a pin for your collection. I live in Seattle so access to the parks is infrequent. I have to feed my pin trading addiction some how, so most of the pins I trade for are to use as traders. I do a lot of trading overseas for this reason. So if I want a pin for my collection I would give up more then I would for a trader.

Everybody does it a little different as has been mentioned here. As for asking for multiple pins here is a formula I use when trading LE for open edition pins.
LE 1000 and higher = 2 oe pins
LE 500-999 =3 oe pins
le 250-499 = 4 oe pins

Of course if the LE is a very popular character I would want very popular oe pins in return.

I hope this helps a little.

 

[Piglet]

Great, thank you! That does help a lot

As one of the old timers around here, I try to use both the wants/trades ratios and the edition size to determine what to trade. The other factor for me is the popularity of the character. For instance if I had an LE 250 Frozen pin with a good want/trade ratio, I would not trade it for a Mickey with a very good wants/trades ratio, Mickey is not very popular but almost anything Frozen is. The other factor would be are you trading for a pin for your collection. I live in Seattle so access to the parks is infrequent. I have to feed my pin trading addiction some how, so most of the pins I trade for are to use as traders. I do a lot of trading overseas for this reason. So if I want a pin for my collection I would give up more then I would for a trader.

Everybody does it a little different as has been mentioned here. As for asking for multiple pins here is a formula I use when trading LE for open edition pins.
LE 1000 and higher = 2 oe pins
LE 500-999 =3 oe pins
le 250-499 = 4 oe pins

Of course if the LE is a very popular character I would want very popular oe pins in return.

I hope this helps a little.

 

[BilgeRat]

Everybody does it a little different as has been mentioned here. As for asking for multiple pins here is a formula I use when trading LE for open edition pins.
LE 1000 and higher = 2 oe pins
LE 500-999 =3 oe pins
le 250-499 = 4 oe pins

(My perspective is from a newer trader. I have been actively trading online for about a year now.) I have successfully used DocFish's formula in trades, including a trade with DocFish himself. Some experienced traders, however, don't use this method at all; their "valuation" criteria are far more nuanced than that, and would be impossible to reduce to a formula.

I even had one experienced trader tell me she highly valued an older Hidden Mickey pin such that she would only accept multiple OE's and/or an LE for it! Her reasoning was somewhat sound; the character on the pin was particularly popular, there are few/no reports of this pin being scrapped, and the ratio of wants:trades was very high (320:47, actually). I didn't make a trade for this one!

Unfortunately, even in the normally-friendly Disney universe, you will encounter the occasional "shark" in online trading. These traders will happily make trades that they KNOW are far more skewed in their favor (pin value-wise), and like to take advantage of your "newness" to the hobby. Beware of this. On the other hand, I have had online trading partners suggest I was not making a particularly smart trade (from my perspective), and suggested alternative trades to make it more fair to me! These are the real GOOD people of pin trading!

Another thing you may discover; as pins get older, even OE pins, their perceived value can sometimes begin to go up! This is natural for any pin that is no longer produced (retired). Remember, if a pin is no longer produced, it automatically becomes an LE pin at the moment it is retired! (albeit, an LE pin with an very high, and unknown number of units in circulation!) This fact becomes more important for OE pins that were produced prior to the advent of the immense popularity of pin trading (generally, prior to Pin Trading logo days; when was that? 2002 or so?). Some older pins can be as hard (or harder!) to find or trade for than even some more recent LE pins!

Hope that doesn't cloud the issue too much for you!

 

[docfish2u]

Another thing you may discover; as pins get older, even OE pins, their perceived value can sometimes begin to go up! This is natural for any pin that is no longer produced (retired). Remember, if a pin is no longer produced, it automatically becomes an LE pin at the moment it is retired! (albeit, an LE pin with an very high, and unknown number of units in circulation!) This fact becomes more important for OE pins that were produced prior to the advent of the immense popularity of pin trading (generally, prior to Pin Trading logo days; when was that? 2002 or so?). Some older pins can be as hard (or harder!) to find or trade for than even some more recent LE pins!

Hope that doesn't cloud the issue too much for you!

Actually even if an open edition pin is "retired", it can be brought out of retirement at any time. It happens a lot. Which is why there can be multiple years listed on the backs of pins.

 

[Piglet]

Thanks both for the extra knowledge! I think I have more of an idea now for how I can and want to trade my more special pins.

Actually even if an open edition pin is "retired", it can be brought out of retirement at any time. It happens a lot. Which is why there can be multiple years listed on the backs of pins.

(My perspective is from a newer trader. I have been actively trading online for about a year now.) I have successfully used DocFish's formula in trades, including a trade with DocFish himself. Some experienced traders, however, don't use this method at all; their "valuation" criteria are far more nuanced than that, and would be impossible to reduce to a formula.

I even had one experienced trader tell me she highly valued an older Hidden Mickey pin such that she would only accept multiple OE's and/or an LE for it! Her reasoning was somewhat sound; the character on the pin was particularly popular, there are few/no reports of this pin being scrapped, and the ratio of wants:trades was very high (320:47, actually). I didn't make a trade for this one!

Unfortunately, even in the normally-friendly Disney universe, you will encounter the occasional "shark" in online trading. These traders will happily make trades that they KNOW are far more skewed in their favor (pin value-wise), and like to take advantage of your "newness" to the hobby. Beware of this. On the other hand, I have had online trading partners suggest I was not making a particularly smart trade (from my perspective), and suggested alternative trades to make it more fair to me! These are the real GOOD people of pin trading!

Another thing you may discover; as pins get older, even OE pins, their perceived value can sometimes begin to go up! This is natural for any pin that is no longer produced (retired). Remember, if a pin is no longer produced, it automatically becomes an LE pin at the moment it is retired! (albeit, an LE pin with an very high, and unknown number of units in circulation!) This fact becomes more important for OE pins that were produced prior to the advent of the immense popularity of pin trading (generally, prior to Pin Trading logo days; when was that? 2002 or so?). Some older pins can be as hard (or harder!) to find or trade for than even some more recent LE pins!

Hope that doesn't cloud the issue too much for you!

 

[Tbird]

Actually even if an open edition pin is "retired", it can be brought out of retirement at any time. It happens a lot. Which is why there can be multiple years listed on the backs of pins.

A perfect example of this would be these two pins:

Pin 236 DL - 1998 Attraction Series - Haunted Mansion (Hitchhiking Ghosts)

Pin 237 DL - 1998 Attraction Series - Haunted Mansion (Ghost)

 

[Tbird]

Just to add to the mix and to confuse you even more (sorry), I also consider how hard a pin is to get. I have pins that took me forever it seems to get because you just never see them for trade or for sale. Not that they are LE pins or special event pins, they are just older open edition pins that you just never see. I value these pins higher then others because of this. Here are a few examples of these types of pins:

Pin 1281 DLP - Mickey Mouse Since 1928 Flag

Pin 71676 Haunted Mansion® O'Pin House - Boxed Set - Corridor of Doors - Door Knocker Only

Pin 3629 Yellow Tie Dalmatian

Pin 9161 DisneyQuest Blue Spaceship

Pin 13428 Flubber Question Mark

 

[Piglet]

Thanks, all the knowledge you have is very welcome for a newbie like myself I have been taking all of your comments into account, although I am also mentioning that I am still new to the pin trading hobby just in case I unwillingly make an unfair offer.

Just to add to the mix and to confuse you even more (sorry), I also consider how hard a pin is to get. I have pins that took me forever it seems to get because you just never see them for trade or for sale. Not that they are LE pins or special event pins, they are just older open edition pins that you just never see. I value these pins higher then others because of this. Here are a few examples of these types of pins:

Pin 1281 DLP - Mickey Mouse Since 1928 Flag

Pin 71676 Haunted Mansion® O'Pin House - Boxed Set - Corridor of Doors - Door Knocker Only

Pin 3629 Yellow Tie Dalmatian

Pin 9161 DisneyQuest Blue Spaceship

Pin 13428 Flubber Question Mark