Please forgive me, but I’m going to hop on my soapbox for a minute.  My name is Amanda, and I am…a pin trader. I admit it – much of the fun of visiting WDW is the thrill of the hunt, of finding the one pin needed to finish your long sought-after collection.  CP and I are thoughtful collectors, looking to trade for pins that round out a fairly small but carefully curated collection of Disney pins.

But here comes the soapbox – scam artists at home and abroad are taking all the fun out of pin trading, and Disney needs to do more to stem the tide of fake “scrapper” pins.  Without holding its producers and distributors accountable (legend has it that many Disney pin makers in China continue to use Disney pin molds after they have fulfilled Disney’s order(s) for pins, thereby flooding the market with often identical but very illegal counterfeit pins…and those are the good counterfeits. Many are terrible, terrible knockoffs that tourists unwittingly purchase for trading, which then flood the market online and in Disney parks.), Disney is complicit in robbing its guests of both fun…and money.

See, here’s the thing. I know I could go on eBay and buy a lot of 100 “authentic” Disney pins and probably not pay more than 30 bucks for them, tops.  But I don’t. I don’t want to contribute to the problem of further proliferating counterfeit pins, so I stick to buying pins when they’re on sale, or when I get a coupon for 25% off at the Disney Store – I can usually end up with lots of pins for between $2-4 apiece, a price I think is reasonable to pay for pins I intend to trade away.

Off into the parks we go, and wouldn’t you know it, CP and I trade away our legitimate, Disney-purchased pins for pins that I am absolutely sure are scrappers.  In the thrill of the moment while making a trade with a Cast Member, it’s not always possible to detect and thus reject a scrapper for trade. It’s only upon coming home and closely inspecting our pin haul that I’ve noticed pins that are worn, rough around the edges, faded, suspiciously lightweight, or that have broken stems.  So my legitimate pins – purchased at a fair market price from an authorized source – are going out into the world, while I’m taking home counterfeit, valueless pins.  Consider just one example from our most recent trip:

A good pin, purchased directly from disneystore.com. Notice the bright colors, the smooth appearance – this pin is as it should be.

We received this pin in a trade with a Cast Member. Notice the color differences – Goofy’s face has little color, and his shirt is a different color than the real pin. The pin also weighs less, and has very rough edges.

Real pin (left) and scrapper pin (right).

Real pin (left) and scrapper pin (right)

It really makes you stop and question – what to do? Do we stop pin trading entirely, now that the veracity of any and all pins is called into question by the existence of millions of counterfeit pins?  Do we give in and buy pins on eBay, thereby contributing to the problem, but lessening our financial losses? Or do we keep going as we are, but doing what we can to press Disney (and others – I’m looking at you, readers!) to do the right thing?

I may be naive, but I am hopeful that the third course of option is a possibility.  Pin trading can be a source of endless fun, satisfying the urge to collect and affording opportunities to interact with countless Cast Members and other park guests.  For repeat Disney visitors like us, pin trading offers one way to keep visits fresh and interesting.  I realize in the scheme of things cracking down on counterfeit pin producers and sellers may not be high on Disney’s list of priorities, but it should be.  Not only is its intellectual property at stake, so is the satisfaction of its guests.  Maybe nothing can be done about the bevy of counterfeit pins currently circulating, but Disney can and should hold all producers and distributors accountable now and in the future.

But we as consumers need to do the right thing, too. Sure, cheap pins might be attractive, especially if you’re buying them for your kids to trade away in the parks. Yes, you’re right – your kids don’t know any better, and if they are passable knock-offs most if not all Cast Members will trade for your counterfeit pins.  So since I can’t say that you’re wrong,  let me instead appeal to your sense of fairness, your moral obligation to set a good example for your kids and everyone else’s.  Pin trading can be done affordably and responsibly.

So, a few reminders for veteran pin traders, and some tips for new pin traders  – here’s what you can do to make a good faith effort to pin trade the right way:

1. Buy your pins from Disney. Yes, the retail price can be expensive, but there are decently priced starter pin sets that offer a relative good value. Better yet, keep an eye on disneystore.com for sale pin sets and individual pins.  From time to time – especially around holidays – the Disney Store website will offer coupons for 25% off your total purchase, which can score you some pins at a great deal. Often the coupons can be applied to the already reduced sale price of merchandise, so you can get two discounts at a time. If you spend over a certain amount, you can get free shipping, too.  (A shoutout here to Disney for allowing discounts to be stacked – a generosity not many retailers afford these days!)

2. If you insist upon buying from eBay, do your research. A few tips:

• Where is the seller located? Sellers in China, Thailand, and other foreign countries are often selling fake pins, purchased directly from the factories making the counterfeit pins. This isn’t to say that American sellers can be trusted uniformly, however – they are often buying from the same factories abroad.
• Read reviews of the seller – are they positive? Do they mention scrappers? Let other shoppers’ disappointment steer you away from questionable sellers.
• Consider the price of pins – generally any pin priced at less than $2 apiece is a fake. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is; any lot of pins sold in large quantity for a cheap price is bound to contain a bevy of scrappers.

Interestingly, many scrapper sellers are advertising that their pins are faded, rough-edged, broken, or lightweight; some freely admit that their pins are fake (but try to sell you on the “no one at Disney will care, and neither will your kids!” argument), while others attribute these defects to the fact that these pins have already been traded extensively. Do not believe this! They are not authentic pins worn from trading, they are counterfeits that were poorly produced. End of story.  Also, just because a seller offers pins with Disney stamps and rubber Mickey backs does not guarantee that they are authentic. Here, a few examples of eBay storytelling:

Yes, pin trading is meant to be fun – but fun can be legal!

Not signs of trading – signs of counterfeit pins.

This seller is at least being honest and is making a good-faith effort to screen out scrapper pins. As with most pins purchased on eBay, however, you cannot be assured that you won’t be buying factory seconds/counterfeits/scrappers.

One other note on eBay purchases – many sellers offer “booster” packs of Disney pins; that is, sets of 2, 3, 7, or more pins that are purported to be in their original packaging, and thus are viewed as authentic pins. While this may be the case, sites like this one have noted the high theft rate of booster pins from Disney parks. It has also been reported that Disney Cast Members purchase booster packs using their CM discount and then sell them on eBay at a profit.  As with all purchases of pins on eBay, it’s impossible to guarantee the origin, authenticity, or non-stolen status of booster packs. If you’re set on buying pins on eBay I’d probably recommend buying booster packs more than buying large lots at ridiculously low prices, but again – use good judgment, and apply the same criteria above to booster pack purchases.

3. Take your time when making trades. This is something CP and I will be doing more on our next trips – take a moment to examine the pin you’re trading for. Feel its edges, look at the paint job, make sure the stem/post isn’t wobbly. If it is, alert the Cast Member making the trade. You shouldn’t have to trade a good pin for a scrapper, and nor should a CM be trading a scrapper in the first place.

4. Join me in expressing your concerns about counterfeit pins to Disney.  Guest satisfaction is both a corporate principle and driver of the bottom line for Disney, so there are many reasons for Disney to pay attention to guest complaints.

Of course, doing any and all of the above things cannot guarantee that you won’t end up with scrapper pins, or unknowingly trading them yourself – many fake pins are virtually indistinguishable from their authentic counterparts.  But I hope you’ll agree with me that stemming the tide of fake pins is not only a responsibility of the Disney corporation, but of you and me as consumers and Disney visitors as well.

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