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Are Prices Ever Going to Come Back Down?

Will Prices Come Down?


  • Total voters
    13
  • Poll closed .
Are Prices Ever Going to Come Back Down?

mybabykelly

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Since I started pin trading in the parks in 2008 and online in 2010 it feels like pin prices have steadily gone up. Long gone are the days you could go to eBay and buy grail level pins for $50-$100. Nowadays any popular WDI or DEC release skyrockets in price and it feels like a few IG members have a stronghold on that market. Without regular DisneyShopping releases anymore, and with WDI and DEC pins trading like gold, it feels almost impossible to get your hands on any these days without feeling gouged.

So to all our pin experts and market watchers, do we think prices will ever go back down or is this just the new era of Disney Pins funding peoples vacations and self-employment?
 
I think the market is always changing and it depends a lot on movies/characters either resurging or falling in popularity. There was a time when Mulan and Princess and the Frog really spiked in value, and other usually popular themes like Alice in Wonderland and Frozen have seen some occasional spikes and drops. Now, you're seeing a big hike up in Treasure Planet pins.

DSSH pins have really dropped off in popularity this year. Less people are buying because it's so much harder to resell and often most people have to sell them close to cost just to move them.
 
I feel that they are what is popular now. If you want it now, you will pay a permium. If you wait, it will probably go down in value, although it may be more difficult to find (at least that is my experience with le mystery pins).
 
Pins are worth nothing more than sentimental value no matter what you paid for them. The market will eventually crash like beanies or vinylmations or any other fad collectible and they will all be worthless monetarily.

They are not a longterm investment. But my collection is priceless to me because it represents time, adventures, friendships and magic. That cannot be bought or sold. :)
 
Pins are worth nothing more than sentimental value no matter what you paid for them. The market will eventually crash like beanies or vinylmations or any other fad collectible and they will all be worthless monetarily.

They are not a longterm investment. But my collection is priceless to me because it represents time, adventures, friendships and magic. That cannot be bought or sold. :)
Well said. It's like art. You should buy it because it speaks to you and enjoy it, not because it will be worth more money when the artist is dead and leave it in a warehouse.
 
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I know what you're talking about. It's so weird you posted this last night- I was literally talking to my husband about the 2010 shift about an hour before I saw this post.

Before 2010, I'd say the typical going price for a grail was $300 or so. Of course, there were SOME pins going for more, but not a lot! And grails took TIME to become grails- they usually weren't grails right off the bat. Even the pins that were popular right away still went through periods were they were $50, $75, $100, etc., before they went super high.

Around 2009/2010, it seemed like pin trading was going to die. A lot of old time pin traders left the hobby, Dizpins shut down, Pinpics got sold, ds.com stopped releasing the "high-end" pins...actually, in general, pin releases were pretty sad around then! Then, something happened, and a new wave of traders/collectors/resellers came in. I know DSSH carried us for a while, as far as nice, low edition pins. I guess the WDI wave started with D23 Expo and the pop-up stores?

But yeah, that "it's a grail right away" mentality really changed things. Nice pin + a lot of people who want them= crazy demand! It's been tough to get things to trade for some of these pins!

I think...for prices to come down some, one of a few things would have to happen.

1.) More access to/types of low edition pins (like ds.com coming back)
2.) A lot of people leaving the hobby (demand shrinking)
3.) Complete hobby collapse (like Beabie Babies, although those are starting to come back)
4.) Apocalypse

WDI pins are an interesting study. In some cases, you'd expect some of the prices to go down eventually, due to the type of show/character not being as popular anymore. Like someone mentioned above, we've seen some characters flex in popularity, like Tinker Bell and Jessica. But so far, most of the WDI pins in the "new era" (not the older WDI pins) are keeping or increasing their value. I wonder at what point the market will get flooded enough that some older sets lose their appeal...

I don't know that I added anything to the conversation, but it was wild to me because you posted JUST as I was thinking about this! :p
 
I know what you're talking about. It's so weird you posted this last night- I was literally talking to my husband about the 2010 shift about an hour before I saw this post.

Before 2010, I'd say the typical going price for a grail was $300 or so. Of course, there were SOME pins going for more, but not a lot! And grails took TIME to become grails- they usually weren't grails right off the bat. Even the pins that were popular right away still went through periods were they were $50, $75, $100, etc., before they went super high.

Around 2009/2010, it seemed like pin trading was going to die. A lot of old time pin traders left the hobby, Dizpins shut down, Pinpics got sold, ds.com stopped releasing the "high-end" pins...actually, in general, pin releases were pretty sad around then! Then, something happened, and a new wave of traders/collectors/resellers came in. I know DSSH carried us for a while, as far as nice, low edition pins. I guess the WDI wave started with D23 Expo and the pop-up stores?

But yeah, that "it's a grail right away" mentality really changed things. Nice pin + a lot of people who want them= crazy demand! It's been tough to get things to trade for some of these pins!

I think...for prices to come down some, one of a few things would have to happen.

1.) More access to/types of low edition pins (like ds.com coming back)
2.) A lot of people leaving the hobby (demand shrinking)
3.) Complete hobby collapse (like Beabie Babies, although those are starting to come back)
4.) Apocalypse

WDI pins are an interesting study. In some cases, you'd expect some of the prices to go down eventually, due to the type of show/character not being as popular anymore. Like someone mentioned above, we've seen some characters flex in popularity, like Tinker Bell and Jessica. But so far, most of the WDI pins in the "new era" (not the older WDI pins) are keeping or increasing their value. I wonder at what point the market will get flooded enough that some older sets lose their appeal...

I don't know that I added anything to the conversation, but it was wild to me because you posted JUST as I was thinking about this! :p
Lol this was the confirmation that I needed that I’m not going crazy and these prices are getting ridiculous and there ain’t a thing we can do about it. I’ve been pouty that some of the new releases have alluded me and even when I’m offering high end older Auction pins they don’t match up to this new wave of releases and traders who think they have literal gold because they have access to employee releases.

If they go the way of the profiles and skyrocket in price I’ll learn to live without them, but a small piece of me hopes that their prices crash so I can snatch them up for a reasonable price!
 
Hmm interesting topic. I haven't been out shopping for pins in awhile, and since the world closed down for awhile i haven't been trading much in person either. Then add the economy and poof. I've got no first hand stuff to draw from. All that to say here's my two cents worth anyways LOL...
Old days:
Auction pins gone, POTM gone = DSF is gold
- I remember it took hours and hours to obtain pins from a release after waking driving waiting waiting and hoping they didn't sellout before you got in.
- DSF decides to issue "wristbands" and draw for a random number :oops: suddenly now all those hours of work to get your spot in line mean NOTHING. Its a total washout of a shoot in the dark and hours of driving and waiting means nothing. Its here that i remember there value starting to plummit.
- WDI pins are around - but not so much "all that and a bag of chocolate" as they aren't great. There much like the TDA pins in that they are geared at what employees might like. Same with Paris pins becoming somewhat interesting but not must have.

Less Old days:
- DSSH starts releasing a ton more pins. Traders try to keep up with Sundae pins but seem to loose interest as the shear volume outpaces what had been the desired uniqueness of the pins. It's now relatively easy to get a chance to obtain a DSSH pin. The fad wares off as they no longer seem that special.
- No more piece of the history, piece of the film pins
- Convention pins become the bee's knees. Designer pins are the new impossible to get = must haves.
- At the same time MOG pins are noticed at the convention soon they too come out with series of detailed and beautiful pins. New shiney effect. They are now the hard to get much wanted pins.

I think the whole thing is we all want a chance at beautiful well made low edition pins. Like when Disney Auction pins were around. Everyone had a chance and then everyone had something to trade with and for that was desireable. Everything since then had been trying to find something to bring that back to collecting pins.

Well thats my two cents worth, (and it may be pretty worthless as i have kind of been out of touch) anyways :p

Ooops i almost forgot, all that to say i think prices will come down. There seems to always be a time for each group to have its hay day and then it moves to the next section of pins that become the new IT kid and prices fall on the others.
 
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There are 2 main factors in the ‘cost’ of pin trading- Time or Money and depending on which you have more of depends on your results most of the time-

Everything eventually falls in value as people move on and old ‘grails’ become easier to acquire as collections change hands and history is forgotten.

I started collecting the 2005 Piece of History set in oh 06 but refused to pay the going prices- I literally finished that set this year having acquired all under $50 each.

Got an Angry Donald on its original card for $15 etc.

A few pins fall into obscurity so it’s not always possible to wait but for the majority time solves the $$$ problem
 
There are 2 main factors in the ‘cost’ of pin trading- Time or Money and depending on which you have more of depends on your results most of the time-

Everything eventually falls in value as people move on and old ‘grails’ become easier to acquire as collections change hands and history is forgotten.

I started collecting the 2005 Piece of History set in oh 06 but refused to pay the going prices- I literally finished that set this year having acquired all under $50 each.

Got an Angry Donald on its original card for $15 etc.

A few pins fall into obscurity so it’s not always possible to wait but for the majority time solves the $$$ problem

I think that's true for some pins, but not all of them (as you kind of said). The older things left on my Wants list have just kept climbing (Ariel Nouveau, SB Gomes, Ariel Ahoy, Beast Transformation). I've had them on my Wants list since 2006, and the prices just keep climbing. It's tough being a Princess collector, man!
 
I think that's true for some pins, but not all of them (as you kind of said). The older things left on my Wants list have just kept climbing (Ariel Nouveau, SB Gomes, Ariel Ahoy, Beast Transformation). I've had them on my Wants list since 2006, and the prices just keep climbing. It's tough being a Princess collector, man!
Lol so true! Someone once said patience is the virtue and I have absolutely zero patience so that’s been my struggle.
 
Lol so true! Someone once said patience is the virtue and I have absolutely zero patience so that’s been my struggle.
Pin pricing really is a tug of war with patience.... if the seller has more patience they can wait for the price that they want, if the buyer has more patience they can wait for the price they want.
 
I think prices are going to come down. The current environment reminds me a lot of when Mrs. AJK collected designer dolls in the 90s-00s. Stuff like Gene and Tyler Wentworth. Things were normal at first but then grew into a frenzy with more and more dolls coming out and getting more and more expensive. There were limited editions, designer signings, conventions, etc. And the number of dolls they were putting out just got overwhelming. A lot of folks, such as Mrs. AJK, just got tired of it and walked away and the market cratered.

With so many pins coming out these days, from so many different distributors, and the prices going crazy, I think we will see people get sick of it too and things crash back down. At least that's what I am hoping as I will not spend very much for any given pin. I think we are already seeing it to some degree with the reaction to the Epcot event. When it does happen, I think it will accelerate quickly with all the people who are in it for the money and invested in what they have to sell. There could be a panic/acceleration of selling to lock in what profit they can. We'll see.
 
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