Trading with kids

[LibertyTreeGal]

Hi all,

I ran into a problem on my last trip to DL that I had never encountered before -- tons of little to teen aged girls rushing me in order to trade pins with me. Now my pins are all special to me, lots of bling, and they are wanting to trade those cheap ones (the $1 pins you get for ten years of pin trading) for my huge golden enchanted heart or my rare Humphrey pins (which I would never part with).

Well, I hated to tell them no but I absolutely could not trade with them so I went online and bought a lot of 60 pins for like $45, gave my boys all the ones they wanted for trading and kept all the "girlie" ones that they would never have on their lanyards. So anyway, I have an extra lanyard now with about 25 Disney princess pins to mollify the kids with, without having to be rude. It didn't cost me that much, my sons are thrilled and I can make a little bit of magic of my own.

Just wanted to share that idea :thumbsup:

[cer]

Wow. I have NEVER experienced this. :confused: In fact we have never traded with a guest. AND I absolutely understand! No way am I letting go of my pins.

Now I have bought a "lot" of pins before for us to use for traders, and have "gifted" some pins to some little guests...but trading? no.

Sounds like you came up with a good solution, though. :thumbsup:

[LibertyTreeGal]

yeah, I was shocked too lol -- although now that I have the other pins, probably it will never happen again :mickey:

[kakn7294]

Once I traded one of my treasured Ariel pins to a cute little girl of 7 at our bus stop at our resort. She was so sweet that I couldn't say no and later in that trip, I had the great luck to be able to find that same pin again. I generally don't trade with other guest either - in fact, now I carry my trading pins in my bag and don't even wear a lanyard.

[Disney4us2]

Wow... that has never happend to us before. I guess we are not as approachable on a scooter.

DD now has all her pins in a Disney pin bag. She only trades with the CM's. There is one CM that she wants to avoid (he always wants her to smile, she is more serious in her actions). John (security gurad) is really nice and corners us every time and has given her some really nice pins without trading for them. When we see him I just tell her "smile":D

I used to wear a lanyard with my LE /AP pins. If some one asked, I just explained that they are for display only. No hurt feelings. I just keep them home now. I also got DD a bunch of pins on EBAY to use as traders. Now that I did that, she doesn't trade as much. She is into the Vinylmation trading.

Hope your solution works for you:thumbsup:

[IloveJack]

I generally don't trade with other guest either - in fact, now I carry my trading pins in my bag and don't even wear a lanyard.

I keep my favorites at home in my book and only take the ones I'm willing to part with on my trip. I'll carry the lanyard and trade with CMs, but once I get a pin that I covet, I put it in my bag and don't display it anymore.

[NewDVCowner]

I keep my favorites at home in my book and only take the ones I'm willing to part with on my trip. I'll carry the lanyard and trade with CMs, but once I get a pin that I covet, I put it in my bag and don't display it anymore.

That's how I do it, too, though I've only traded with a non-cast member once.

[Ms. Mode]

That's how I do it, too, though I've only traded with a non-cast member once.

I traded with one non-cast member once and it was an eye opener. When you're trading with the CMs you tend to forget that other people don't HAVE to trade with you...and if they are willing to trade it's with a pin of their choice from your landyard. :mickey:

[lynnek]

We have never traded pins, but did notice the frenzy they created on the cruise we were on. We decided to give it a try for our first trip and have purchased quite a few--everyone had to focus on some favorites, because, wow! could you go broke with these!! We also bought a bunch for trading. Would you recommend leaving the favs at home? My 10 yr old DD attracts little ones like crazy and I want her to feel comfortable with this. She is very excited and is getting her lanyard ready and is planning on wearing it everywhere.

[Disney4us2]

We have never traded pins, but did notice the frenzy they created on the cruise we were on. We decided to give it a try for our first trip and have purchased quite a few--everyone had to focus on some favorites, because, wow! could you go broke with these!! We also bought a bunch for trading. Would you recommend leaving the favs at home? My 10 yr old DD attracts little ones like crazy and I want her to feel comfortable with this. She is very excited and is getting her lanyard ready and is planning on wearing it everywhere.

My 10yo DD trades all the time, but she keeps her's in a pin book. If she were wearing a lanyard, I would only have her wear the ones she is willing to trade. We have been stocking up on trader pins from Ebay. The only thing is, she likes most of them so we end up with half a lot of traders and half keepers. I also keep some of the pins in a ziploc bag in my purse.

Have fun trading:thumbsup:

[Suz36]

Would you recommend leaving the favs at home?

I would definitely recommend leaving favorites at home, and even once she trades for one she likes, I'd have a bag or somewhere to stash it away. We only wear what we are willing to trade on our lanyards. Have fun!

[WDW&MK]

I agree with the others. i only wear pins on my lanyard that I am willing to trade. I learned my lesson once when i traded away something I shouldn't have - the heat of the trading moment what can I say :blush:. In the past, I had only been approached a few times over a number of years. This year though, when we were there in Sept, was the first time in a number of years that I had been approached multiple times by other guests to trade. I was really surprised, but it was fun. I know that I only have pins on my lanyard I am willing to part with, so the little ones can pick any one they want. i did however encounter a little boy about 7 who didn't want to trade me anything back! But he finally parted with one because I had one he REALLy wanted. :mickey:

[Hair_Razor]

DH and I have only pins for keeps we enjoy having them to show off but not for trade. I enjoy wearing them though they are fun conversation starters (especially my Ohio State Buckeye pin). My DS is usually with us he has his trading lanyard that he wears and has his keeper lanyard at home, we send the traders his way. More like he steps in he loves it!:D

[DizneyRox]

There were stories a while back about pin sharks using their kids to try and swindle rare pins for commons. Since then I've given up on the guest trading... Went online using pin pics and have some decent luck, but now I've lost interest in the sport.

Disney saturated the market, and that killed it for me...

[Hair_Razor]

oh, Eeyore :D

[Skippy]

Disney saturated the market, and that killed it for me...

Luckily I've only ever gone after ones I like, but they definitely flooded to the point there's no way you could keep up.

My wife was annoyed with the 'Good" series of pins. To her it showed that they really did make a pin for everything because they know peoples will buy it. She laughed and put it on her 'keep board' when I found one and traded to get it for her.

[TracyL]

When in doubt, I think it's a good idea to follow the same guidelines the CMs follow: Pins on a lanyard are available to trade, and if you want to wear a "showcase" pin, wear it on your collar or somewhere else on your shirt rather than on the lanyard. If you don't want to trade them, don't wear them on a pin lanyard -- it confuses other traders and can lead to hurt feelings.

If you like to wear more than one pin but don't care to trade, vests, hats and jackets make great backgrounds for pins without suggesting you're a trader.

Just my opinion; your mileage may vary. But as a trader, I'm always confused when someone is wearing a lanyard with pins they won't trade. If I'm not willing to part with it, you won't see it on my lanyard -- the keepers are in the binders (and binders, and binders) at home. :D

[LibertyTreeGal]

Pins, for me, are jewelry -- plain and simple. I am not required to trade and no one should have hurt feelings if I am unwilling to do so. IMO it is profoundly silly to EXPECT someone to part with a pin just because it is on their lanyard. I don't have a right to any of the pins on someone's lanyard anymore than they have a right to mine.

CM's are employees, I am a guest, so their rules are not going to factor in to my thinking. I cannot imagine buying a pin and putting it in a folder, but if someone else wants to do it that's fine.

My original reason for starting the thread was just to give an idea of how to deal with kids wanting to trade when you aren't a trader. Trading isn't required, after all -- it is simply fun for many.

And even if I was a trader, I would never trade a $15 pin for one that costs next to nothing, even if they give me big doe eyes lol.

[TracyL]

Pins are jewelry for me too. I wear one almost every day, on my collar or on my jacket lapel even when I'm dressed up. I love my pins and enjoy showing them off. All I'm saying is that a system and culture of pin trading exists at Disney such that wearing pins specifically on a lanyard is how you indicate to people that you are a pin trader. So when you wear pins on a pin lanyard, don't be surprised when people expect you to be at least willing to discuss a trade.

No, of course nobody has a right to your pins, and nobody has a right to be rude no matter what. As a guest, you get to negotiate (or refuse) trades as it suits you. It might save you some trouble to wear your pins on your hat/vest/shirt rather than on a lanyard, but obviously it's entirely up to you.

[Ms. Mode]

While we were at WDW a few weeks ago my DD and I traded over 150 pins...what fun we had! But the only way to do that was to wear a lanyard with "tradeable" pins every morning when you start out. As the day went on we ran out of pins we had not traded for. It so happened that I traded for a "key" pin that I wasn't really attached to and a little boy came up to an hour or so later wanting to trade with me for "key" pins...I was so happy to have one I could trade him. :thumbsup:

[Brainiak5]

My wife just got a bunch of pins from Ebay that were acquired strictly for the kids to trade. If they get a pin that they want to keep , it gets passed to me for safe keeping as i don't trade any of mine. They will be trading with the CM's as oppsed to other guests as this will avoid any hurt feelings. I think if anyone approached me to trade, I would just politely decline.

[Ramblingman]

All great ideas. Allow me to share my way of dealing with trading.

We have the requisite pin book, and our keepers are stored in there. We have a couple of lanyards for us to wear. Every morning, we load them up with trading pins and we head out.

Throughout the day, if we get pins in trade that we don't want to let go, we put them on one side of the lanyard, like left side up near the neck. We try to keep a space between those and the other pins for trading. As the day goes on, the left side will get longer and the right side (pins for trading) will get smaller. When they fill up, we will stop by the room when we can to reload. Or, my DW will wear the full lanyard with keepers and will give me the other one for trading (I do most of the trading).

I will trade with kids, but will not let any of my good ones go if I can help it. I have not had any adults ask to trade. Mostly it's CM's.

I think it's just one more part of the magic.