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For years and years I have collected vintage Disney items… about 15 years ago I decided that I needed to specialize and started selling items out of my collection that were NOT Mickey Mouse specific and purchasing ONLY Mickey Mouse items.  Still the collection is large and there is no way that I can display all of the items that I have accumulated over the years, resulting in the display of a select few pieces in my home office.   As my collection grew and my space became less and less I found more and more of my collection in cardboard boxes where couldn’t enjoy it.

About 8 or 9 years ago on a trip to Disney World I was witness to a strange phenomenon.   One of the cast members was holding a lanyard out for display to one of the park visitors.   The visitor pointed to a pin on the cast members lanyard and then they both proceeded to “trade” pins.  I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on so I asked.   The cast member proceeded to tell me all about Pin Trading and then just gave me a pin to get me started.  I would have to say I was hooked from that point on.  I was intrigued by the fact that there were some pins that were only issued to cast members and the only way to get them was to trade for them.  I purchased my first few pins and a lanyard at one of the shops on Mainstreet and I ventured out to have some fun trading. 

Some of the things I found about trading:

1. Don’t buy pins that you wouldn’t want to trade.  Since I specialize in Mickey Mouse if I purchased a Mickey Mouse pin I never wanted to trade it, I always wanted to keep it for my collection. 
2. If you do find a pin that you like buy 2 so you will be able to trade one but keep the other.
3. Use the Internet to buy pins.  eBay at any given time has literally hundreds and hundreds of them for sale and sometimes you can even get them in lots.   I found I would purchase lots that had a Mickey Mouse pin in them that I wanted or needed and a bunch of others that I wasn’t that interested in.  These became my trades.
4. Specialize in specific types of pins, groupings, events, etc… There are way toooooo many pins to collect them all - unless you are independently wealthy and have people that will shop for you.   When you specialize choose something you like… I’ve seen little girls with princesses, others with Pirates of the Caribbean, some with specific parks only, some that are only the rides.   Whatever you choose make it something you enjoy.
5. Budget.  The pins themselves aren’t that expensive.  What a trap that can be.  You walk through a Pin Station to buy some new pins and come out with a handful of pins and you’ve spent $50 or more.  Set a budget and stick to it.  

Some additional things to be aware of if you are going be a Disney Pin Trader:

1. There are many vultures out there that will try to take advantage of you (or your children if they are pin traders as well).   Just use caution.  I have set a rule for myself that I only do 1 for 1 trades.   In other words it is 1 pin for 1 pin.
2. There are different kinds of pins…some are plastic, others that are non licensed, etc…  Again I set a general rule for myself that I only trade like pin types.
3. Always ask if you can see the pins that are on a lanyard and don’t assume that a non-cast member will trade with you.
4. Always place a back on your pins before you hand them to the person you are trading with.

Here I am all these years and hundreds of pins later with a collection that I can look at regularly…. all bound neatly in zippered binders.  If you are a pin trader looking for something specific let me know… I just might have something to trade.

As an eBay member for A LONG time…I have been an active purchaser of everything from my Disney Mickey Mouse collectibles to high end digital camera and audio equipment, and I have sold everything from Jigsaw puzzles to pottery.

As eBay has “grown up” and help fuel online purchasing, I have started using it less and less… The “bargains” that used to be found on the site are much more difficult to find, and the site has become much more commercial with business sellers using the venue as a place to dump excess inventory, or to closeout old stock. I think the days where the site was predominately individual sellers dealing with their eclectic collections of “stuff” are gone. I’m not saying they are entirely gone, but they are certainly the minority.

I’m sure for many of you eBay’s changes are a good thing. I know I’ve talked with a number of people that feel much more comfortable dealing with businesses than individuals. Even in my own purchasing on eBay I can honestly say that I usually have fewer problems with business sellers than I do with individuals. But buyers need to be aware… eBay sellers need to make sure they don’t lose money… after all it is a business. eBay fees are not cheap, credit card processing costs $$ (yes Paypal too), there’s the cost of the product itself and then the overhead(computers, Internet, labor, etc)…

I’ve found that for me as a buyer when I get postage added to a purchase I could probably buy the item local for the same price. I do lose the convenience of having it show up at my front door… but then I need to do something to get me away from these computers sometime.

eBay will be around forever… I just think it is going to become the largest “mall” in the world… rather than the largest “garage sale” or “swap meet” in the world. So where does someone go now when they want to find that rare collectible Beanie Baby or a 1930s Mickey Mouse Fisher Price Pull toy?