Would you like to have a "pin Gather" in your area?
Not sure how to get started?
This thread will help you get the basics nailed down so YOU can start hosting trade events in your region! I have assisted in setting up numerous events for a couple different non profit groups, and I think the basics listed below will help you succeed with your pin gather.
Before you decide to have a DPBB pin gather, there are a couple questions you should ask.
Is there interest from others? Enough people in your area to make it work? For a pin trade gather, you would want at least 5-10 people
Do you want to host it or are you just wanting to participate? If you do not wish to be the host, do you know someone willing?
Once you know there is interest, it is time to set it up.
location location location. Do you want the Gather to be a paying event at a restaurant or venue? Do you want to host it at your home? You need to find a place that has enough room for everyone attending to have space to set the trade books up, and for socialization and hang out space as well.
Date. a date should be set far enough out in advance to allow everyone wishing to attend time to schedule it. I would advise 2 months in advance.
Time. folks often do not consider this. Based on the duration of the event and what time it is set for, you may need to feed your attendee's.
~Events scheduled from say, 1pm-5pm do not need food, but again, snacks and drinks are a good idea.
~Events scheduled during meal times should at least have snacks available. Or even make it a potluck! Potlucks are a great way to get your attendee's to be move involved.
RSVP is important. If there is a limit to the number of folks that can attend due to venue size, OR if it a paying event, make sure you announce that in your event notice. Also clearly state deadlines for the RSVP.
Make the announcement for the set date!
post it on the DPBB calendar.
make a thread here in the pin gatherings Forum.
ensure you have a confirmed attendance list, either on the thread, or privately so that you know who is going to make it.
Check the thread daily and update it regularly. Announce it again once the date gets close.
If you would like to add anything, reply here and we can add the information!!!
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Some of the differences you will see in the new pinpics are changes in layout, trade assistant changes, search engine refinement, more access to blogs, and pin articles, and a complete revamp of the pintalk forum to a pinpics forum.
These are my thoughts only about buying pins on DPB (and anywhere else, other than ebay). Remember, past performance is NOT a guarantee of future results.
Paying with a credit card (US sellers & buyers)
If you are in the US and the seller is in the US, pay as goods with a credit card. That way you have PayPal buyer protection and, if they don't side with you, you have protection with your credit card company. Make sure you have a CONFIRMED shipping address. Make sure to add extra money for the fee if you pay as goods.
Sellers ask for buyers to pay as gifts so no fee is incurred but if you're already paying with a credit card, you would click the "sender pays fee" (because a fee is charged by PayPal when paying with a credit card) so you might as well pay as goods and send the extra fee along.
If you pay as goods, make sure you are verified and have a CONFIRMED shipping address (this is for seller and buyer protection.)
Paying with a credit card when one person is not in the US
If either party is out of the country, then you will need to determine whether you want to pay for trackable shipping (the only way the seller will take PayPal as goods). Trackable shipping is pricey (can be $10-20) so think long and hard as to whether the pin is worth it (if you pay as goods). Otherwise, if it’s a small amount that you can "afford" to lose if the pin doesn't show up, then gift should be okay.
Paying as a gift
If the seller insists on getting payment as a gift to avoid the fee and you are okay with it (again, I wouldn't recommend it), pay with a credit card and click the portion that says "sender pays fee." That way, you still have your credit card company to fall back upon. You do not need to calculate/send extra money to the seller to cover the fees since you will be covering them yourself. Make sure to also put in the "notes" section what you are sending payment for, along with your user name and mailing address.
International shipping
This is very pricey:
A customs tag is used and a value has to be declared. This value is subjective when trading (original retail price versus what it is selling for on ebay) but when selling, it is usually the price sold for. There are customs duties (to the recipient) that is associated with obtaining the item so this needs to be taken into account as well. There is a customs tag/receipt that we are provided with a trackable number that is ONLY trackable within the US. This trackable number is not meant to be used as a substitute for actual trackable shipping (trackable outside the US.)
Check Feedback as a Seller
Check feedback and his or her posts on DPB (use the search feature). A lot of people have no qualms about complaining about their treatment by other DPB members so this is a good tool to use.
You can check feedback left for a specific individual as a seller and as a buyer. The cumulative feedback score is for sales, purchases, and trades! Also, check to see how recently the feedback was left from buyers.
Again, remember, past performance is NOT a guarantee of future results. It is better to be safe (pay as goods with a credit card) than sorry.
Communication is the key
Be communicative and before agreeing to send payment, make sure you get a timeline for when the pin(s) will be shipped. Always ask for a delivery confirmation or signature confirmation number. If the seller wants to charge you extra for either option, look at the overall price and if you're okay with it for the pin, great; don't penny pinch for these added costs.
Delivery Confirmation (DC) or Signature Confirmation (SC)
Use delivery confirmation or signature confirmation (explanations below). You can get delivery confirmation for free if you use PayPal Shipping Assistant or USPS Shipping Assistant (aka Click ‘n Ship for Business), which requires you to download the program onto your hard drive/desktop.
For the seller, there is also the option of using a pre-paid label (you can do this through PayPal Shipping Assistant and possibly stamps.com)! Plus, for some odd reason, shipping costs using one of these methods is cheaper than going to the post office.
With PayPal Shipping Assistant (click on Multi-Order Shipping to pull it up), you get a receipt which the post office can stamp with its postmark. Some postal workers will refuse to stamp it because it's paid for online but make sure you get a scanned receipt for pre-paid mail acceptance.
The seller can also use Click 'n Ship for Business (a downloadable program from the USPS), formerly known as USPS Shipping Assistant, and get free DC as well (but pay for postage in person). If the seller uses PayPal Shipping Assistant and/or stamps.com, I recommend the seller take the package to the post office and get a scanned receipt for pre-paid mail acceptance. With Click 'n Ship for Business, you get a receipt which the post office can stamp with its postmark. But, the seller should still be able to get a printed receipt which shows the items were scanned for acceptance.
I like to color my label to correspond with what the post office uses. For example, for the DC label, I use a green highlighter. For the SC label, I use a pink highlighter. Those are the two colors that the post office labels are (DC used to be green.) I don’t know if it causes the post office to remember to scan them, but that’s why I do it.
Pre-sales
There have been a lot of people asking for pre-sales and pre-trades on the forum. This is a great idea to help others who aren’t close to the parks to get new pins. However, it is a good idea to have everything in writing so that there are no disappointments.
For sales: Does the “seller” want the money up-front? If so, how many days in advance?
Types of Pins – Mystery Boxes
For example, mystery pins/boxes are non-refundable and non-returnable. If the buyer wants to try to get the whole set of mystery pins, does the buyer want them unopened? Does the buyer want the box intact? Does the buyer want the seller to open the boxes and try to trade for the missing pins at the park?
Piece of Disney Movies
Another example is the Piece of Disney Movies pins. For a long while, we at DLR have heard that the ratio between the two parks is 1500 at WDW and 500 at DLR. But it appears to have shifted with the Steamboat Willie release so that the pins are equally distributed (1000 per park). Is the seller offering you a specific scene for the price? Or is it just random? If random, the buyer should determine whether he or she will be happy with whatever scene he or she obtains for the agreed upon price. If random and the seller has multiple sales, perhaps the seller can just “blind box” them. That is, each is wrapped up and sealed in their own individual bubble envelopes, jumble the envelopes together and randomly select an envelope for a label.
As mentioned above, communication is the key.
For those who aren’t charter members, we are limited in the number of PMs we can keep in our boxes. So, it might be a good idea to exchange email addresses.
Pre-trades
If pre-trading for mystery boxes or any other pin that is non-refundable/non-returnable, what do you do? Is this a pin that you could “live with” if the trade doesn’t go through?
If pre-trading for PODMS, make sure you communicate well as to whether the recipient of the PODM will get to choose the PODM amongst the scenes the other gets or whether it is random. And, make it very clear so that neither party is upset at the end.
What I do
I rarely pre-trade because my collection is limited and I don’t like to be stuck with a pin that I don’t want if it is a non-returnable pin or is too late to return. I will sometimes pre-trade with pins that I can get at the parks that may be good traders, but again, I don’t like to be stuck with a pin I don’t want, so that is rare.
I have no problem buying someone a pin at the park as long as they pay the cost of the pin, tax & shipping to them. I expect payment at least one business day prior to the release, by a set time (because I stop checking email, PMs, and PayPal after a certain time and there’s no guarantee that I’ll have time to check the day of the release). I typically only do this for US residents only.
For payment, I prefer PayPal gift but will also take PayPal goods and charge an amount to cover the fee that PayPal charges (I usually round up to the nearest whole $). Payment as goods requires a confirmed shipping address in the US. For payment as goods, if I am unable to deliver, I refund the money promptly. However, I have since learned that even for refunded payments as goods, PayPal will still charge the 30-35 cents transaction fee and only reverse the 3% added fee. So, the buyer is informed of this information and is willing to risk the 30-35 cents, then I provide my information for PayPal payment.
Shipping
It is a good idea to communicate to the person immediately to let them know when you will be shipping.
I think my feedback speaks for itself. But, if it's a high dollar amount and you're buying from someone that's not local to you and may have had issues in the past here on DPB, it's better to be safe than sorry and pay as goods!
Shipping Supplies
If you are shipping in bulk, you can get inexpensive supplies from eBay or other online stores. You can usually get 0, 00, or 000 envelopes for a very good deal (500 of them for $30-40 shipped, which comes out to no more than $0.08 per padded envelope!). I prefer to use the manila colored padded envelopes, instead of the grey ones. You can also re-use any padded envelopes you may already have from trades and/or purchases.
If you have heavy items, consider using Priority Mail through the United States Postal Service (USPS) and you can get FREE Priority Mail supplies at your local post office or via USPS's website at: http://www.usps.com. If your buyer is located within the same zone as you (postal zone), you may consider using the non-flat rate boxes (check your post office for supplies as most of the ones available on the USPS website are flat-rate only). Flat rate is a good deal IF you ship heavy items and the package is being mailed across the country.
The USPS also offers free priority mail flat rate padded envelopes!
Final Thoughts
For the most part, I will send as goods because I always pay with my credit card. I rarely have any funds in my PayPal account
Remember, past performance is NOT a guarantee of future results.
As images become available I am hoping we can update this thread to help everyone out. Please add information, and discuss this! The more we as a community know, the better it will be for us!
What is the difference between a "scrapper" and a "counterfeit" pin???
Scrappers are pins from the Factory where the Authentic pins are made. They did not pass quality control, and were "scrapped" or tossed for recycling or destruction. These pins are often pocketed by factory workers and smuggled out, then sold into the trade market. Scrap pins often have underfill in the paint, rough edges and sloppy backstamps.
Over-runs are pins that were created over the edition size to account for pins that would not pass quality control. Sometimes more are made than nessisary. These pins are also supposed to be destroyed, but make it into circulation the same way scrappers do. Over-runs can often times be indistinguishable from authentic pins.
Counterfeits are pins that were copied from authentic Disney pins illegally. Weather the factory used the pattern without permission, or someone used a photo of the pin to make a new press, made in china or in the USA...
These counterfeit pins have typically had a couple tell tales: A~ lighter weight. Usually due to a different metal composition. B~ Slight variance in color. This can be from either lower quality paint, or a slightly off shade being used. C~ difference in size. Some of them counterfeits were made from a photo as the pattern, so a tiny varience in size can be seen when held next to an authentic. D~ Backstamp errors. One example would be an incorrect edition size. Or even a completly wrong backstamp.
Some myths about the differences....
Not all disney Authentic pins have a paint on them which glows under blacklight.
a boarder on a backstamp does not indicated a scrap/counterfeit pin.
a Backer Card does not mean it is an authentic pin. Cards can be swapped. AND DS.com and DA backer cards and PACKAGING have been manufactured by counterfeit dealers.
I wanted to share some packaging tips with the general populace. Please feel free to add your input as well!
Supplies needed:
Bubble wrap.
scissors.
Little bubble mailers (LBE) I like size 0, which is 6x10 and can be cut in half for double use.
packing tape.
Digital Kitchen scale.
useful to have: rubber bands, scrap paper for quick notes, and small Ziploc or jewelry bags.
lets do this in simple focus points:
First, always wrap your pin(s) in a layer or two of unused or un-popped bubble wrap, and be sure the post has a rubber back on it to prevent damage to the post or the mail man. Basically, the more you protect it, the better. I typically do 3 layers.
some people add a cloth wrap, I use Ziploc bags quite often, especially for dangle or spinner pins.
next make sure the bubble wrap cannot slip off in the envelope. I use tape, or a rubber band.
VERY IMPORTANT, that you use a bubble envelope. A regular white letter envelope is NOT a safe way for your pin to travel. The lack of padding allows the posts to catch on postal machinery. Which can damage the pin, OR rip the package and cause the pint o be lost.
Finally, shipping. always always get a DC or tracking number (these are the same thing) the best way to ship is First class 3-5 day delivery.
A package needs to be at least 3/4 inch thick to "qualify" for DC/tracking. And easy way to ensure that is to add a bit of extra padding to your pin. OR some folks drop 2-3 pieces of packing popcorn in there.
Less discuss price points briefly.... Paypal is the cheapest way to ship your US only packages. Via paypal, you can ship first class with free dc/tracking. **DC= Delivery Confirmation** www.paypal.com/shipnow if you have a paypal account.
Paypal charges for LBE:
$1.69 for up to 3oz
$1.86 for 4oz
$2.04 for 5oz
$2.21 for 6oz
$2.39 for 7oz
For flat rate boxes (recommended for 5+ pins, box sets, or higher value items.) Paypal does offer flat rate pricing, and it is under "Priority 1-3 day" services. You can pick up small flat rate boxes at any post office and it is a good idea to keep a couple handy.
A small flat rate USA: $5.15
A small flat rate International: $19.95-$26.95 depending on destination.
**canada cost me $19.95. And the Postal worker warned me that the price changes across the pond.**
Because flat rate is so pricey internationally, i do NOT recommend it unless you have a FULL box.
You can add things like signature confirmation, and insurance for extra fee's.
Rarely will you have a package weighing over 5 oz. One safely wrapped PODM with a standard small bubble mailer is just under 4 oz, and I always pay the 5oz rate for a PODM to be safe. I have had up to 5 pins in a mailer weigh under 4 oz. so, always weigh it with a digital kitchen scale! You do NOT want to have the pin brought back underpaid.
The thing I love most about paying for my shipping via paypal is that I don't need to go to the post office. I pack, weigh, pay, print and label my pin trade from my desk and my mailman picks it up with outgoing mail.
My first shadow box! These are all my rabbits so far. I left a few spaces for pins I haven't obtained yet. =) I think maybe 6 more and this box will be done. =)
Would you like to have a "pin Gather" in your area? 
Do you want the Gather to be a paying event at a restaurant or venue? Do you want to host it at your home? You need to find a place that has enough room for everyone attending to have space to set the trade books up, and for socialization and hang out space as well.
Pinpics updates are in progress! 
I wanted to share some packaging tips with the general populace. Please feel free to add your input as well! 
Rarely will you have a package weighing over 5 oz. One safely wrapped PODM with a standard small bubble mailer is just under 4 oz, and I always pay the 5oz rate for a PODM to be safe. I have had up to 5 pins in a mailer weigh under 4 oz. so, always weigh it with a digital kitchen scale! You do NOT want to have the pin brought back underpaid.
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