Sealed Packs on eBay - Real or Fake?

[Tokaji]

Okay, this is a bit of an odd question, but I was looking around for the Nesting Doll sets, and took a gander on eBay. Here's what turned up:

Nesting Doll Pin Packs

These are selling for less than 1/2 the cost Disney sells them for. I'm curious if these are legit, and if they are, how can they manage to do that????

Edit: I double checked the seller's feedback, and there's no mention of fakes or anything else in there.... (not that that always means anything)

 

[PinFanatic]

I thought at first it might be a Cast Member who purchased them with their discount and are now attempting to sell them to make a few bucks, but then I did the math and even with the highest discount a CM can have the seller would be losing a little more than $3 a pack. So my theories go three ways:
1: They received thebags as a gift and do not want them.
2: They usedill-gotten means to get the bags and are now selling them.
3: They gotpossession of the empty bags, filled them back up, and resealed them.
Each are far-fetched, I suppose, and I am probably wrong. I find it odd, though, also. If it were me, I would send them a message and nonchalantly ask why the price is so low considering how much they are in the parks and see what their response is.

 

[Tokaji]

My first thought was CM discount as well, but didn't know the numbers to test it.

The first one I think is unlikely as they're selling like 30+ bags of the pins. That's a lot of product for a gift. I thought maybe he buys in bulk and gets a discount for it, but I don't even know if that's possible, either.

I sent a question, so we'll see what happens with it.

 

[coblj003]

The nesting doll packs are two years old, are these still sold in the parks? If not, it's probable that someone might have bought them at a character outlet or cast connection at a great discount even if its sold at full price online...

 

[Tokaji]

I didn't see them in the parks when I was there last week, but they're still sold on the Disney Store.

 

[hopemax]

I have seen a few styles of sealed booster packs being offered on the places Chinese manufacturers offer their unauthorized pins ( example: http://lapelpins88.en.ec21.com/offer_detail/Sell_2015_disney_pin--23849089.html ). I haven't checked lately, and they post less on the marketplace websites than they used to. So I don't know if they are offering sealed pin packs or not. But I wouldn't put it past them.

Otherwise, I suspect the Five-Fingered Discount. There are large theft rings that operate in Florida, for sure.

 

[Tokaji]

The nesting doll packs are two years old, are these still sold in the parks? If not, it's probable that someone might have bought them at a character outlet or cast connection at a great discount even if its sold at full price online...

I didn't know this was a possibility. That's actually kind of neat? It would make me feel better to purchase some if they weren't stolen.

 

[PinFanatic]

The nesting doll packs are two years old, are these still sold in the parks? If not, it's probable that someone might have bought them at a character outlet or cast connection at a great discount even if its sold at full price online...

We still have them for sale at DAK Lodge, and my product locator shows 47 other locations across WDW that still have them in stock. I would be surprised if they are at an outlet, but I could be wrong.

 

[pnjjrose]

I don't know what the story is on these packs. I do know my daughter bought me 3 sealed mystery packs of the Mickey Icon ones on Amazon. All 3 bags had the exact same 5 pins in them and the pins seemed lightweight. I am very new to pin collecting so I am not great at spotting fakes but I strongly suspect these were fakes. I also have bought several sealed bags and booster packs on ebay and they seem legit to me. If they are fake they are good fakes as they look like pin pics pictures and have no obvious signs of being fake - Mickey backs go over the edge and edges are smooth. I too wonder about the low cost. When I see some of the low prices on ebay I wonder if it makes me a fool to buy directly from Disney at the high prices or if makes me a fool to buy from ebay as they may be fakes.

 

[coblj003]

We still have them for sale at DAK Lodge, and my product locator shows 47 other locations across WDW that still have them in stock. I would be surprised if they are at an outlet, but I could be wrong.

That's cool, I miss my time as a CM at MK. I do remember when property control had a few Disney Auction pins available and I didn't buy any. My suggestion was just a general retail one, recently we had backstock of Bluetooth speakers down 60% to $40 even though it was still $100 online, I'm clearly out of the loop on what pins are available locally lol...

 

[momin.ator]

I'm pretty sure these have been counterfeited because we traded for a few that
were questionable in the parks. But, I did see them for sale at DLR about 4 weeks
ago.

 

[starry_solo]

Otherwise, I suspect the Five-Fingered Discount. There are large theft rings that operate in Florida, for sure.

I suspect this too...

 

[Tokaji]

Hmmm. I ordered one mainly out of curiosity. I'll report back when they get here.

 

[pnjjrose]

Hope it works out for you. Did you get an answer from the seller to your question? I love this set of nesting doll pins. It was the set that got me into collecting in the first place. By the way I love how your locations says "Nowhere near the City". I live in the Rochester, NY area and I can't count how many people start talking to me about NYC when they find out where I live. Heck, we are a lot closer to Toronto, Ontario than we are to NYC. Enjoy your pin collecting.

 

[Tokaji]

Hope it works out for you. Did you get an answer from the seller to your question? I love this set of nesting doll pins. It was the set that got me into collecting in the first place. By the way I love how your locations says "Nowhere near the City". I live in the Rochester, NY area and I can't count how many people start talking to me about NYC when they find out where I live. Heck, we are a lot closer to Toronto, Ontario than we are to NYC. Enjoy your pin collecting.

I did not get an answer from the seller (big surprise there - I don't always with any question I ask on eBay). I really like it too! They're so inventive, all around. When we were in WDW, people would ask where we were from, and we had to get into the habit of saying "Northern New York, about 30 minutes from Canada." It can get exhausting explaining to people that NY is more than just the City, or even anything North of Albany of East of Buffalo (we live in Watertown, right off the coast of Lake Ontario). It's good to see another New Yorker on here! I actually have some family that lives in Fairport.

 

[Tokaji]

Okay, so I got the packs in the mail today. Just FYI, I actually ordered them from a different eBay seller, so I'm not really giving anything away here in terms of eBay names and all that. As far as I can tell - and I consider myself to have a pretty keen eye for these things - they're 100% real. The packs were sealed tight, with the original Disney Parks sku sticker on the back, listing the price at 27.99. The pins are smooth and crisp, with precise colors, and the backs are free of flaws. They are darn cute, too. Given the sticker, I'm better they're either stolen or remaindered, and I'm really hoping for the latter. Here are some pics.

I also took a video of me opening them, but no one wants to see that....

 

[BAM]

There's a lady I buy from online that sells for really cheap, insanely cheap. She said she uses a CM discount. There's even a shop where it's up to 90% off depending on who, what, when, where kind of deal.

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