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newbie: how much to bring event trading

newbie: how much to bring event trading
alyo0ps

alyo0ps

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Pin & Pop
alyo0ps
i’ve been to one event and took a mini pinfolio to a show. seems like everyone brought out pinfolio classics. is that amount of traders in the classics the sweet spot?
 
I trade out of 2-3 inch zip binders with card sleeves. Mostly baseball card sleeves.

I have brought anywhere from 1-5 of these binders to trade events. The limit is determined by space (if I am traveling) or my ISO goal. 2-3 of these binders might be my personal sweet spot.
 
It sort of depends on what you're trading/looking for and the size of the event. It also depends on the size of your traders, if you have a bunch of 1-2in pins you'll have a lot more of them on a page than someone who only has PALM jumbos to trade and can only fit 2 or 3 on a page. My friend has an issue with her shoulder so sticks to something around the size of the classic. I load up everything I can fit in a standard sized backpack and call it a day. If you're making 'easy' trades then you can bring an easy assortment, if you're grail hunting, bring everything - that's kind of my go to. Oh and for big events I always pack snacks because in a windowless ballroom with the trade frenzy upon me I will forget to eat! 🤣
 
Like others have said - it depends. For me, I prefer to bring all my traders as that increases my likelihood of making trades. (All of mine would be three larger bags and one small folio.). But that’s really only feasible for local events I can drive to. When traveling, like to the annual event at WDW, I bring a smaller amount. In those cases I usually bring a mix of pins at varied levels. But with pin and pop making it easier to trade HDs online, this year I only brought LEs with me.
 
I take a classic of regular traders and a mini with some higher value pins, and sometimes a handful of carded pins. My local events are all coordinated through a relatively small Facebook group, so we are able to arrange pre-trades and find each other at the event to make the switch. Last time I posted photos of my carded pins to see if there was any interest in those, and was asked to bring 4 of them, but was only able to work out a trade for one of them. I've been thinking about getting another pinfolio for my carded pins, because they sometimes fall out of the baseball card sleeves they are currently in, and I would hate to lose any.
 
Depends on if I have a table at the event or if I'm walking around. When we went to Pin City last year we took a lot of variety but only ended up using a Pinfolio Backpack for heavy hitters (the old one, not the newest version), and 2/3 Maxx products. That was enough for what I could trade for at the time because it was HOT, HEAVY and stunk not having a table. At a Kraken event, I've got a table and take everything humanly possible to get the most out of the event because you just never know what someone is going to want.
 
As noted it depends if you have a table or are walking but for me the answer is: as much as you can physically carry! Because you'll regret the trades you might have made if you'd had more with you for trade.
 
Like everyone else, I have brought a range from a pinfold mini-show to a few binders in a cart. A lot of it depends on how long I can attend an event and how full my social battery is going into the event.

But you can have a great event with however many traders you have. I waited to go to events for a while partly because I didn’t have many traders and I was intimidated to try to trade with people who have binders of pins. But now I regularly trade at the San Diego events with families who have a mini board with 5-10 pins. And they are able to go around and trade for all keeper pins and leave so excited for the next event.

So bring what you can and try different things! Half the fun of trading is the hunt!
 
The social battery point really stands out to me. I hadn't thought about how much energy an event takes, not just how many pins I can carry. The note about families trading from a mini board with only 5-10 pins is encouraging, since it makes a small trader like me feel like there's a place at the table. I'm starting to think I should bring a modest but varied selection and just see how the hunt goes rather than waiting until I have binders full.
 
The point about how full your social battery is feels like the part new traders overlook. Energy for chatting and negotiating runs out before carrying capacity does, so a varied smaller selection you can actually manage makes sense. Since you're just starting, going with that modest mix and treating the first event as a chance to learn how the hunt works seems like a sensible way to build confidence without waiting on a full binder.
 
TheMickeyMouseRules said:
I trade out of 2-3 inch zip binders with card sleeves. Mostly baseball card sleeves.

I have brought anywhere from 1-5 of these binders to trade events. The limit is determined by space (if I am traveling) or my ISO goal. 2-3 of these binders might be my personal sweet spot.
Click to expand...
.... so everyone leaves their full sets and most valuable at home though, right??
 
Montana Rain said:
.... so everyone leaves their full sets and most valuable at home though, right??
Click to expand...
If I'm willing to trade it, it comes along. I dragged a jumbo WDI Monsters Inc pin around to every event JUST incase and after YEARS I found someone and traded it for several Lady and the Tramp pins I needed. You never know, so if you can safely transport them bring them, they won't get traded sitting at home. (Unless you trade online lol)
 
Montana Rain said:
.... so everyone leaves their full sets and most valuable at home though, right??
Click to expand...
I bring a significant number of valuable pins to all my trade events. Trading full sets or jumbo boxed pins is tough, but I periodically bring them also. The large boxed pins will get more jumbled in my wheeled transportation, so I take packaging fragility into account. But agree, if you don't bring them, you aren't going to ever trade them.

One note: people have a tendancy to focus on pins they really want in your traders. If you are looking at someone's traders and identify a pin of interest, show the trader options from the pins you are willing to trade for your ISO. ie, you don't have to show them your most valuable pins if you wouldn't trade them anyway. But you need to bring valuable traders if you are ISO valuable pins.
 
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Flip side... I had a table at a PALM PTE this year and about 60-70% of the traders who wanted pins from me pulled out the park trading sized 3 page (cover and 2 page inside zip pin folders full of current OE pins.) In most cases, I was unable to find pins of interest with the limited pin offerings.

For in person events:
  • Bring as much as you can comfortably manage (and not lose - for PTEs where I am walking, I am down to 3ish binders because I start to lose track when I have 5 binders (I have left binders behind at tables)).
  • Bring equivalent traders for your ISOs.
 
TheMickeyMouseRules said:
  • Bring equivalent traders for your ISOs.
Click to expand...
This is really great point, but I will add the hopeful caveat for newer traders that if you don't have access or haven't traded for bigger fancier pins yet it's not a lost cause.
SOME traders will work with you if you tell them 'Hey I KNOW I don't have anything spectacular, but I am willing to multi/bulk trade, or if you tell me what you're looking for maybe I can trade for it or come back?' You have to let them know though, so they don't think you're just expecting a 1 on 1 trade.
Also, know your pin values. (I am so guilty of not doing this, my friend just started trading and she's incredible at it, she takes a picture of her pins with her phones and checks all prices and marks them on the photo the night before a trade event.) I'm more used to the old concept of LE for LE or OE for OE, but the game has changed and at large trade events the question I hear most often is 'What do you value that at?'
 
I have been able to bulk trade for higher end ISOs many times at PTEs. I would say around half of the traders I encounter are willing to do that. So definitely worthwhile to ask.
 
To Note: I don't support trading on dollar value. Note, no one should feel obiliated to trade this way. Only trade this way if you want to.

A pin is only worth what any individual is willing to pay (so dollar value pricing may price you out of a trade.) There are many ways to determine the value of a trade which will keep you safe (safer? - as I feel dollar value trading benefits the pin resellers) from being sharked for your pins.
 
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