Hi From San Jose, CA

Good morning Disney Pin Forum! My name is Billy and I've been a casual pin collector since 2002. I recently went to Disneyland and was rather disappointed to see so few lanyards on cast members and guests alike compared to my WDW trip in 2006. Granted, I didn't bring mine since I wasn't that keen on it either. While my family was in the shops, I remembered my old hobby and started to take a look around the internet for some pins to add to my collection, only to be blown away at how many pins there were, especially from sources that I didn't even know existed (DA, DSF, DI, etc.). I also came to the realization that even though I had purposely targeted LE pins in the past, most of my 25 pins were OE and those that were LE were relatively high numbers (thus casual collector). I collect exclusively Stitch pins and recently went on a small buying spree, using DPF as a major resource to find pins that I wanted and get a gauge on their value.

I am a little wary of getting too deep into this hobby and spending too much money. Particularly intimidating are my desires for certain LE 100 pins. I don't think I'll ever be able to convince myself to buy them straight up and I would probably be too attached to anything I have of value to trade them (since I'm also wary of buying "traders" and getting stuck with them), so it seems like I'll never get them. Also, how do you guys determine whether buying individual LE pins from eBay sellers is safe?

Hello Billy
Welcome to DPF . I do buy from eBay myself but only from a few sellers I know I can trust . A good indicator is when a seller has changed his ID a few times or is vague with their location , any sellers located in China tend to get a bad name due to the number of scrappers originating there . If you have a specific pin you're looking at on the site maybe someone here could help more than I , as long as you don't name the seller (except in pm) you should be fine .
Keep an eye on the sales forum here too . Most of the traders here are good people
Hope this helps
David

First of all, welcome to DPF!

You will have a blast here!

When I buy from eBay sellers I look at multiple things. The first thing I look at is feedback score and check to see if any neutrals or negatives are from complaints of scrappers. In fact, if I'm buying an extra expensive pin, I wont even touch anyone with a neutral or negative feedback regardless of the reason (unless I know them/have dealt in the past). Then I check out the photo of the pin, and I make sure it's not a stock photo or something pulled off of PinPics or the front page of Google image search. I want the photos to be of the ACTUAL PIN I'M RECEIVING! Then, I check out as many sources as I can for information on possible scrapper alerts on that pin, and I also compare photos of the known genuine pin to the photos of the eBay listing for all of the fine details. Color differences, less-defined lines, etc.. If it's an expensive pin I also try to get them in original packaging as a bonus. If I feel like the photos are too blurry or I want to see more/the back, I would contact the seller for more information. If everything checks out to me, I'll buy the pin and wait to leave feedback until I've inspected it in person. I've purposefully bought a scrapper pin before as a way to compare some fakes to real ones more easily in person. There are a lot of guides on signs of scrappers/fakes, but I really do find that having a couple of fakes on hand to compare with helps me a lot.

Anyway, depending on what types of pins you are collecting, some are more prone to being scrapped than others.

Also, I second what Speed said! Most of us here are either serious collectors/traders or just really helpful and fun people in general, and you can always ask for advice or post photos to ask for help inspecting a pin as well! You just can't post links to eBay listings directly. I think private messages are okay.

Welcome to the forum!

There's a particular pin that I'm looking at on eBay right now that PinPics claims is a LE 500, but the seller lists it as a LE 750. The picture they posted looks legit (with backing, colors and pictures). How big of a red flag would you say this is? Seller offers returns and the pin doesn't seem to have a history of counterfeits so I'm considering buying and just risking the return shipping costs.

Hi Billy welcome, you will enjoy your stay here

Hi billy,
welcome to dpf

Hi San Jose - greetings from Napa, CA - your northerly neighbor! You should come to some of our Northern California pin meetings!

Hello! welcome to DPF!
I am also from the Bay area!

Hola y bienvenidos al foro...