Which is worse?

[NChouser]

Which is worse:

The CRAZY amount of ebay scrapper lots or the CRAZY amount of action they are getting.


This has been / is being and will continue to come up in discussion on here so I just thought I would get another conversation going.

Obviously we all know its horrible and there is really nothing we can do to stop it.


I just can not even stomach the fact that there are over 100 of these auctions going on. That is about 4,000 pins ( ROUGH estimate). And that is just this week. So many fake pins being put out and what REALLY kills me would be the people that know better. The people that knowingly win these and go down to disney to trade them away.

THIS is the MAIN reason that I hated trading at disney this last time around. 99% of the pins I wanted off lanyards were scrappers.

I admit when I first got back into pin trading I bought a lot of 20 pins from evilbay (scrappers I am sure of it). I traded them at the Disney parks.

The difference here is that I HAD NO IDEA what a scrapper was. And when I found out about them I felt like a total asshole and have been trying to keep scrappers out of the parks.

I only go down 1 time a year for a week at a time. This last trip I took about 12 scrappers out of the lanyard circulation. I have about 20 scrappers now that I plan on melting down and creating some sort of cast with.





Well that is my condensed rant! But seriously...I know its like beating a dead horse but it makes be soooooo angry

 

[YoSoyAhPuch]

I know how you feel. When I started pin trading I bought about 20 of these super cheep pins thinking I had gotten a good deal. Nope, all scrappers. I was very frustrated! I'd say the fact that there's so many scrapper lots for sale is the crazy part, because if we could rid ourselves of these sellers on eBay, that would reduce the number of people buying them and propagating them throughout the parks. It is a very frustrating aspect of pin trading and collecting.

 

[NChouser]

Agreed! I just could not believe the # of posts and the # of active bidders! ( I always knew Ebay had a ton but I am sitting here at work just astonished)

 

[Bryana]

I, too, bought a lot of pins from a guy on craigslist when I was at WDW. I had no idea of the possibility of them being scrappers. I, too, felt guilty after I got home and learned more about pins. I will NOT do that again. I have reached the mindset that all hidden mickey pins are scrappers. I know that there are real ones but I'm sure the scrappers out number them. This, however, does not keep my from wanting to collect those hidden mickeys that I want. IF I should ever decide that I ever want to trade them away, I will disclose my incertainty of authenticity. I think that is just the best I can do.

 

[Tealke]

If I buy pins off of Ebay, they are older pins that have never been scrapped, ones that are too difficult to, or only auctions that have an actual picture of the pin they are selling. I have had success lately completing hidden mickey collections from there as long as they have actual pictures and doing a small test purchase with them to verify they are not scrappers. Unfortunately cast lanyards are practically worthless to trade off of now unless you are going after a brand new series. Still much of our new cast lanyard series are made up of mystery bag purchases.

 

[LuvSimba]

Don't even get me started on this subject.. If you think ebay is bad, you should see the amount of fakes (these are not scrappers) at the FL flea markets. I'm not talking about just the ones around Orlando, all over central FL..from Tampa across to Daytona. I'm sure North and South as well. These sellers have containers FULL of this junk. These sellers also set up around WDW, in closed businesses parking lots with this crap. They have signs by the road, ect. There are some that have ads running that they will deliver this crap, as much as you want, right to your hotel!!!! Even on Disney property. It's sickening!!

It's not just the unknowing that are trading this crap at the parks, it's pin traders and locals that know better!!!

 

[Bryana]

WOW! i didn't even think it went that far!

Don't even get me started on this subject.. If you think ebay is bad, you should see the amount of fakes (these are not scrappers) at the FL flea markets. I'm not talking about just the ones around Orlando, all over central FL..from Tampa across to Daytona. I'm sure North and South as well. These sellers have containers FULL of this junk. These sellers also set up around WDW, in closed businesses parking lots with this crap. They have signs by the road, ect. There are some that have ads running that they will deliver this crap, as much as you want, right to your hotel!!!! Even on Disney property. It's sickening!!

It's not just the unknowing that are trading this crap at the parks, it's pin traders and locals that know better!!!

 

[vickichip7]

Don't even get me started on this subject.. If you think ebay is bad, you should see the amount of fakes (these are not scrappers) at the FL flea markets. I'm not talking about just the ones around Orlando, all over central FL..from Tampa across to Daytona. I'm sure North and South as well. These sellers have containers FULL of this junk. These sellers also set up around WDW, in closed businesses parking lots with this crap. They have signs by the road, ect. There are some that have ads running that they will deliver this crap, as much as you want, right to your hotel!!!! Even on Disney property. It's sickening!!

It's not just the unknowing that are trading this crap at the parks, it's pin traders and locals that know better!!!

This just takes the Mickey! Scrappers and people who willingly rip others off with them get me really angry. This whole thing of flea markets full of them is just unbelievable when I think I've just spent the afternoon crunching numbers to see how much 2 weeks at WDW would be and I think how much money these people must be making out of exploiting a hobby we all really enjoy :banghead: !

:soapbox:

 

[mylittletyguy]

My question is...how is eBay allowing it. I have a READ Burberry Purse and a REAL Prada purse and EVERY TIME I try to list them it gets flagged and taken down. When I investigated it's because eBay is saying that the authenticity cant be guaranteed. So, if the authenticity of the pins can't be guaranteed then why are the auctions not being taken down? I just looked on eBay...there is a seller with an OBVIOUS scrapped in the picture! The muppets "Rowlf" pin...it's spelled incorrectly on the pin as "Rolf" Wth!?

 

[Tealke]

That is odd about the purses because I did a search and there were dozens of pages of both, many of them saying they were authentic. Sounds like Ebay needs to give you a better explanation of why your auctions are different than those.

Ebay probably can't police the pins because it is just to difficult to tell sometimes and even an expert could have trouble telling, especially if they use a generic picture. Of course an easier explanation would be the search results:
Prada purses: 2,369
Burberry purses: 1,681
Disney Pins: 132,088

There is just too much to police and the auctions make EBay too much money to want to stop it. Unless Disney steps in and goes hardline about it, nothing will happen. Unfortunately if Disney did take that route, Ebay may just decide to stop pin auctions completely than invest any resources toward cleaning it up.

 

[hopemax]

there is a seller with an OBVIOUS scrapped in the picture! The muppets "Rowlf" pin...it's spelled incorrectly on the pin as "Rolf" Wth!?

Actually, this was an error of Disney's doing. The initial version of this hidden Mickey pin was released with the misspelled name. Now, there are scrappers of this pin, but the error in spelling, itself, does not indicate it is a scrapper. Yay, for Disney quality control! :facepalm:

 

[dis22]

Not to start an argument or drama, but is it possible that disney doesn't go after scrappers with more of a purpose because scrappers may actually help disney's pin sales? Think about it. Most of us started out collecting by trading with cast members. Most of us started by buying a cheap lot on eBay because we thought it was a good deal. I know when I learned about pin trading (and eBay pin lots) from asking a cast member that I couldn't fathom going into a park store and buying a 5 pin booster set for $30 to trade with cast members....especially after hearing about $1.25 per pin lots on eBay from the cast member. Now, after learning about the hobby (and fakes and scrappers), I want little to do with trading with cast members. I now can justify spending $50+ for 1 pin. The cheap fakes/scrappers are the bait that gets us into the hobby. Cast member lanyards at dlr are laced with scrapper pins which are usually what?... The older hidden Mickey pins...which are what?...small size, with not much detail, not much to them. Then you walk into a pin store and see just a glimpse of the pins that are available with all of their color, sparkle, and detail....now you're hooked. Disney doesn't mind the scrappers because somebody will spend what?...$25-$100 on a scrapper lot...learn about the hobby...then spend $100's - $1000's on authentic pins.

 

[Bryana]

I hate to admit it but this is my thought exactly. It isn't in Disney's best interest "business wise" (talking dollars here) to try and stop this. First, in this thread alone three of us have admitted to starting pin trading by buying a lot of cheap pins and now were hooked and willing to spend much more than that. How many more of us are out there? This doesn't even include the money spent in the parks to buy junior that/those pins to complete the set he has collected while trading in the parks. Second, the amount of man hours and labor Disney would have to spend on trying to remedy the problem is not worth the pins themselves. Last, they would have to at one point say that a pin isn't tradable (assuming they came up with some way to keep pins from being scrapped/copied). What cast member is going to tell junior..."sorry, your pin isn't tradable."?

Not to start an argument or drama, but is it possible that disney doesn't go after scrappers with more of a purpose because scrappers may actually help disney's pin sales? Think about it. Most of us started out collecting by trading with cast members. Most of us started by buying a cheap lot on eBay because we thought it was a good deal. I know when I learned about pin trading (and eBay pin lots) from asking a cast member that I couldn't fathom going into a park store and buying a 5 pin booster set for $30 to trade with cast members....especially after hearing about $1.25 per pin lots on eBay from the cast member. Now, after learning about the hobby (and fakes and scrappers), I want little to do with trading with cast members. I now can justify spending $50+ for 1 pin. The cheap fakes/scrappers are the bait that gets us into the hobby. Cast member lanyards at dlr are laced with scrapper pins which are usually what?... The older hidden Mickey pins...which are what?...small size, with not much detail, not much to them. Then you walk into a pin store and see just a glimpse of the pins that are available with all of their color, sparkle, and detail....now you're hooked. Disney doesn't mind the scrappers because somebody will spend what?...$25-$100 on a scrapper lot...learn about the hobby...then spend $100's - $1000's on authentic pins.

 

[mylittletyguy]

Gosh, I never thought of it being in Disneys beg interest...but gosh if I don't think you are right.

 

[Psycho Pixie]

the reason these pin lots do well, is because there are lots of people out there who are new to trading that have no clue these are fakes. The lots say "tradeable at disney parks" and authentic mickey logo's... who is to tell these new traders to avoid them? We do, but usually its after they have purchased, run into us at the tables and learn about this stuff.

Then there are those traders who know, but just don't care. The hidden mickey traders. ((yes I know not all Hid Mic collectors/traders, dont go after me for that statement)) I know of a few traders who buy/trade ebay pins. they sit there, at PTN with their huge piles of hid mic pins. You have to go through the pins with a fine tooth comb and hope you find authentics, or at least ones that look clean shiney and correct. These people are the reason I do not collect hid mic. pins. not even the new ones now. And I am slowly discontinueing Cast lanyard trading except for my daughters lanyard. I still carry around some pins for CM trading, but I only look for rack pins or the odd "find" of the day.

 

[bretu]

We do not collect lanyard pins anymore. It is a shame. The official Disney position has always been that counterfeits do not exist.

 

[VillainousGoof]

I'm still new to pin trading but my girlfriend and I just got back from a week long DLR trip full of pin trading with CM and other traders only to come home and find out that almost all of her pins that she traded for are scrappers and my favorite of my collection is a scrapper. I'm very disappointed especially with the people we traded with because they definitely new what they were doing.

 

[mylittletyguy]

I'm still new to pin trading but my girlfriend and I just got back from a week long DLR trip full of pin trading with CM and other traders only to come home and find out that almost all of her pins that she traded for are scrappers and my favorite of my collection is a scrapper. I'm very disappointed especially with the people we traded with because they definitely new what they were doing.

Here is how I see it, right now. I am fairly new too...and the more I am learning the more I see that I do probably have scrappers in my pin bag. But here is how I view it...even though I traded pins that I bought in the packs at Disney for these fakes....I still enjoy them. I still feel like I traded for something that I wanted. It was before I was educated and that is okay. Will I trade for a scrapper now? Heck no. But...lesson learned and just like anything there is a learning curve with this. When you see the pins you got, remember the memory of how you obtained them...not the idea that they are arn't "authentic." It makes me feel better anyway. And unless you want to start collecting to retain and someday turn for a profit...it's for your own private collection to enjoy...look at it that way <3

 

[Bryana]

I totally agree mylittleguy. I will keep my pins. There are a few that i know are scrappers but there are more that I have no clue if they are or not. Either way, they are mine to keep and so are the memories of getting them.

 

[Joysmom]

The thing that bothers me the most about the scrapper sales is that some of the sellers have 10-20 THOUSAND positive feedback transactions and are actually Top Rated sellers! That is what is supposed to tell us if a seller is honest and sells legitimate items and for these it seems to not apply. Either people do not know the difference or they just don't care because they got such a good deal (in their minds anyway) I of course want to believe that people cant tell the difference but I know there are a lot of people that seem to think it is totally acceptable to buy the trash and trade for the real deal.

 

[NChouser]

Yes! The flea markets were horrible! I was in Tampa ( after our Disney trip) and we went to a huge flea market. This lady had a big bag of pins. All of them were the obvious scrapper pins that I see on ebay. I looked at her and let her pitch me the sale. She went on about how great of a deal they were. I think she was selling them for $2 a pop.

Then she pulled out a smaller pin bag and said that "since you are interested I will show you these. I keep these for myself but I can sell them". She pulls out and opens up the bag. Inside are even MORE scrappers! I just laughed and told her they were all scrappers. She looked like a deer in headlights and I walked away before she could respond.

Disappointing!

 

[Whitney]

:hug: Link arms and don't beat yourselves up, many of us have done the same thing and felt the same shame.

I went to the park in 2004 and had no idea why all the CMs were wearing lanyards?! Someone explained it and I knew the kids would enjoy it. I bought each kid a booster pack and watched them fret and sweat over their decisions of what to trade/get from CMs with 'only' 7 pins to choose from, but it was so fun! My son is shy and it got him talking to people outside the family. It was beautiful, it was entertaining, it was like getting all new souvenirs every day we were there.

I got home and saw the lots on ebay and loaded up 25 pins per kid for the next trip. I thought I was a genius. :facepalm: I was hooked along with the kids.

Don't beat yourselves up, a lot of us got hooked that way. If I hadn't gotten deep, deep in to trading I wouldn't have met my boyfriend (Pinpics pin trade) or all the other great pals I've met in this hobby! The only people who should be beaten up are the ones who perpetuate scrappers.

Not to start an argument or drama.... Most of us started out collecting by trading with cast members. Most of us started by buying a cheap lot on eBay because we thought it was a good deal. ....I now can justify spending $50+ for 1 pin. ....now you're hooked.

I think you nailed it that the cheap lots got us completely hooked.