So different now!!
I started collecting and trading in the early 2000s, right before the huge influx of scrappers. It was lovely back in the day.
After a year or two, in the late 2000s because I was tired of ending up with them, I quickly became a scrapper eagle eye. I learned EVERYTHING I could about those pins. I still get tricked, but I can usually come home from the parks with at least 95% real pins that I get off boards and CM. If I am at all unsure of a pin, I don't trade for it. I feel bad for people who think that every single pin in the park is scrapped or a counterfeit because I know that is not the case, you just have to be SO careful.
Also back in the day, OE pins that were going straight into my collection, I threw the backer card away.I have since learned to hang on to them, but have only been doing that for about 8 years. So yeah, some of my really old OE pins, which I purchased at the park, don't have backers. Hopefully it won't be too much of a problem, since most of them still live in the collection and are not for trading.
This community is pretty great - lots of veterans who know what they are looking for and how to spot a scrapper or fake. Hopefully you will find it rewarding. I try to be discerning with my online trade partners, mostly because I have traded away real for scrapper and get a little frustrated that I can't examine pins in person before saying yes.9 times out of 10 the person I traded with didn't realize the pin was a scrapper, so 9 times out of 10 I don't press the issue. I let them know, but have never demanded a pin back. I also don't trade for super LE or rare/expensive pins very often with someone I am not familiar with, unless their photos are very good, or the pin is fairly old and not a highly scrapped design. That way, even if the trade ends up being a little lopsided or I feel that I ended up with a scrapper, it isn't a great monetary loss.
On a happier note - welcome! I hope you find trading with us a way to get back into the hobby in an enjoyable environment!
Boy do they ever, watch out for the ones that never even bother to send a pin after they get your pin or money....Okay like to add onto my own post: some of the ppl I’m encountering on fb and stuff are SHARKS. Like they use selling pins as their business, but they’re all fairly new to the game and like this one guy was like “I don’t deal in auction pins bc I don’t know anything about them.”
Okay? If this is your business, and the trade has existed since 2000, maybe do some research into the history of it?
I’m just a casual pin collector over here. A lil pin guppie suddenly finding herself swimming with pin sharks. And they DO think fish are food!
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