Pin Trading - How To Profit Off Of A Valuable Hobby

Disney is my passion. I love most everything about Disney and its theme parks. And when leaving the parks I always buy a souvenir or two. About four years ago I found one of my biggest hobbies, Pin Trading. Disney has created an entire collection of thousands of pins. They can put a character, attraction, or person on their pins. Anything related to Disney is fair game. But what is so fun about trading pins? Mostly the experience, and the thrill of obtaining a very rare and valuable pin. My collection I invested about $400- $500 and it is worth about $1,200 or more on eBay and other places of business. So not only can pin trading be fun, but an investment. Now before you go out buying all the pins you can afford be aware. I knew what I was doing and I got lucky since some of my pins were not only a limited edition, but were also pulled from the shelves early. But I will address some things every pins trader should know and some places of reference to help to avid pin trader.

Before we get into the story there are a few word you will want to know. Open edition, rack pins and commons all mean the pin is common and can be purchased at most any store. A LE or limited edition is what it means. Lanyards are the most common form of displaying pins for most people including cast members. A set of pins contains two or more of a pin that was released in a set. More of the technical definitions are at Dizpins.com which will be spoken about later in the article.

First of all do it for the fun. If you go out looking for the rare and valuable pins it is not as much fun. There is a thrill and rush when finding that one pin you want so very badly. However, that pin could be a common pin, or the end of a collection. A cast member once told me that the most valuable pin is the one you want most. And that has stuck with me all this time. And it is a very true statement. Another thing to do is be aware and do your homework. Be aware of the surroundings, and where pins are located. In the parks cast members are loaded with pin lanyards. And in addition to that there are pin trading/ selling carts and pin shops all around the parks. So know where your opportunity to trade is. Not only do the cast members have lanyards but other guests wear them as well. So keep an eye open for people with bags, hats, vests, of the standard lanyard decked out with Disney pins. Knowing where trading opportunities is the first step. Knowing what you have, what you want, and what others have is a very important for making a fair and good trade. Research in some form or fashion is a must in order to get good trades in this business. You want to know exactly what your pins are worth more than anything else. That way you can gauge if you think the trade is fair. There are people out there trying to get rare pins by trading common pins. These people are called sharks and will take advantage of you. So to protect yourself just know what your pins are worth and eventually what other pins are worth. I have to say most of your knowledge will come from experience and time. I can look at a pin and gauger if it is worth something or nothing. But it took time and talking to cast members and other collectors.

Two websites that will absolutely help the avid trader or collector are: www.Dizpins.com and www.pinpics.com. Dizpins is a website devoted to revealing the most recent and upcoming pins at all the Disney theme parks. You can get up to three months advance notice of a pin. They have color pictures, dates and prices for the pins. Pinpics is a gigantic reference library of all Disney pins known to man. They can give release date, original price, limited edition information as well as if it was sold out, retired, or can still be purchased. These two websites have all the information you will need to know about your pins.

In a nutshell know your stuff and have fun. This is one of the greatest hobbies I do. But it is also fun because you can go up to people you don't know and start a heartfelt conversation with them revolving around pins. It is a great conversations starter and friend maker.