Originally Posted By christiemarsh88 I was just accepted into the WDW College Program, and will be doing Merchandise in the fall. One of the things I'm really excited about in this role is the opportunities for pin trading. I've never done pin trading before, and so have only a very rough idea of how it works. I've been looking at pins on some trading sites, ebay, and the official Disney site just to get an idea of where I should start, but I'm already overwhelmed. How did you guys start? Did one particular pin just catch your eye one day? Did you start off with one of the lanyard sets? I was also wondering if anyone knew how it worked for CMs--will Disney supply me with a starter kit, or will I need to buy my own to begin?
Originally Posted By magic0214 I'm not sure about if they supply you with starter kits or you buy your own. Although you get special pins called Cast member pins that only you can purchase. Those are very valueable. I started b/c eveeryone else had it on and I wanted to join in. I now go to all the pin events. IM A PIN FREAK! What I would suggest is to stick with the starter kit...but get a few limited edition pins here or there throughout your cast membering... This way mopre Pin freak's like me will come and be happy to ttrade with you. Tell me which area you'll start to work at. I would love to see your pin collection! If anymore question's my email is mickey021496@hotmail.com
Originally Posted By Roger55 First off, to be perfectly clear... Are you wanting to get into pin trading/collecting for yourself or are you going to be doing pin trading as part of your job? Selected CMs wear pin trading lanyards while they are working. This is for them to trade with the Guests while they work. These lanyards and pins are the property of Disney and are given to you at the begining of your shift. The CM does not own the pins and in fact must follow the CM trading guidelines when trading with the Guests. One of the big differences is that when you are trading with Guests, you do not decide which pin you want to trade with the Guest. It is up to the Guest to determine what pins they want to trade. If you are just looking to collect and trade pins for yourself while you are at WDW, then that must be done on your own time. You have to buy all your own pins and you are free to trade with anyone you like while you are off-duty. You can as a CM have access to buy CM exclusive pins for yourself. You may decide to trade some of these with non-CM, but that is up to you. You must never mix pins in your own collection with pins you are trading while working. The CM lanyards and pins given to you to trade with the Guests are not your's. Hope that makes things clear.
Originally Posted By christiemarsh88 Okay, that makes sense. I definitely want to do pin trading at work. Whether or not I get into it on my own free time will just depend on how it goes at work. I knew that CMs weren't allowed to deny a guest a pin that they wanted, as long as the guest was trying to make a legitimate trade, and so I wondered how that would work if I was buying my own pins. I didn't want to get one I loved and then have to give it up! Okay, well that really helps! Thanks, Roger55!
Originally Posted By hopemax If you would like to trade pins on your own time, 3-4 times a year, WDW has pin parties where CMs can purchase older styles at 75% off. It would be much cheaper to buy a handful there than the full price they are charging these days. Now, as a CM you will want to become familiar with the Hidden Mickey pins. It is a series of pins that aren't readily available for sale (used to not be available for sale at all, but they changed that with some of the recent series), and you can only get them by trading with CMs. CM's will get the pins from their managers. You will know you have one, because there will be a small Mickey head somewhere on the pin. Here is a link to the current series, but they usually introduce a new series with the Epcot Pin Celebration, which is in June this year. <a href="http://www.pinpics.com/cgi-bin/group.cgi?group=4718" target="_blank">http://www.pinpics.com/cgi-bin...oup=4718</a>
