Welcome, everyone! We are excited to announce the first, EVER Disney Store Key Swapping community on Reddit. You may by now realize that these keys have become very popular. We certainly have. There has also been a lot of selling and trading on Facebook. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, Reddit offers more tools for people who are interested in trading. For example, our DisneyKeyBot which tracks trades, sales, and more.

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Of course, nothing is ever guaranteed. That means you will be trading, buying, and selling at your own risk. Luckily, there are other swapping groups on Reddit with a long history and plenty of knowledge. That is why we have found the best set of guidelines for you to follow. In fact, the creators of r/DisneyPinSwap helped MASSIVELY in creating this community.

So as we grow together as a new community we want to welcome all newcomers. and offer up this long, but informative list of guidelines you can follow. Please read them all and don't forget to follow the posting rules before posting any ISO/Trading/Selling posts in r/DisneyStoreKeySwap And as always, never use PayPal Friends and Family with someone you don't know. Always use Goods and Services.

Good luck everyone lets unlock some magic!

Step 1: Understand and follow the r/DisneyStoreKeySwap transaction rules

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• A user should always comment on your post before PMing you for a transaction. If someone PMs you without commenting they may be banned from r/DisneyStoreKeySwap and unable to comment.Occasionally people may forget this rule and send you a message without commenting. A good practice is to remind someone to please comment on your post before proceeding - at which point they should leave a comment before negotiating
• ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS CHECK THE PROFILE OF THE PERSON WHO YOU ARE PMing WITH!! Make sure they are an established profile, that they have posted to r/DisneyStoreKeySwap, and that their account was not just created recently. You should see the post they made that you're looking to buy from or their comment on your post.

Step 2: Establish a user's account age and karma

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• Click on the username of the message to verify a user's reputation. Look out for new accounts, and for impersonators. Sometimes scammers will make an account with a very similar username as a reputable trader, and every time that reputable trader comments on a post to send a PM, the impersonator will also send a PM. If you get two PMs from someone, that should be a major red flag. If you get a PM from a reputable user who didn't comment on your r/DisneyStoreKeySwap post, click on the username of who the message was from. You'll see the actual account and be able to determine if it is genuine or that it is an impersonator of the actual reputable user.
• Generally, the newer the account, the higher the risk. Older accounts can be used to scam, but it is not so common, because building up a good reputation takes time, and most scammers are lazy and they want quick profit.
• Be wary of a reddit account that has low link karma and low comment karma. If they have made very few comments and posts, or the posts are all short or were all made during a short space of time, this could be a throwaway account and a scammer, so be careful. We accept everyone here for trading, so low karma doesn't automatically = scammer but you should do your research until you feel comfortable trading.This may mean you lose a trade or two over skepticism of a user's account, but that is part of safe trading and doing due diligence

Step 3: Do your homework! Research a user's account on r/DisneyStoreKeySwap, & beyond

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• Look for posts the user has made on r/DisneyStoreKeySwap to find comments from the bot about their karma. Look at their flair to determine how many confirmed trades they have completed.
• Google their username and e-mail address. If they have scammed someone before you may find results. You can always ask for additional proof as well.

Step 4: Your interaction with the other user

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• Ask yourself a few things:

1. Is this deal really good to be true? If it is, it's likely a scam.
2. Is this user trying to speed the deal along or work too quickly? Do not feel rushed to make a deal. If the user tries telling you you've got to act quickly or someone else might get it RED FLAG**! There's no reason to rush through a deal. Again, if you feel like you've got to jump on it immediately because the deal is too good to be true, refer back to #1.**
3. Do I feel comfortable trading with this user? If not, walk away. Even if you have reached a point where you're ready to make a deal, the deal is not done until payment is sent/received or items shipped. BEFORE you get to the point where people are printing shipping labels, at any time you can say "I'm not comfortable with this deal and I don't want to proceed."On the flip side, a seller has no obligation to hold an item for you until a deal is made. If you're slow or want time to think about it, the seller may make a deal with someone else at that time. That is, unfortunately, the nature of buying and selling in an open market.

• Does the user sound shady or make contradictory comments? The seller should be open in their communication with you and be able to answer any reasonable questions or provide additional proof if you request it. However, the seller is also not under any obligation to do so. Buyers should behave in the same manner. If the seller feels requests are unreasonable or they do not want to provide additional proof, they can decline and then it will be up to both of you on whether or not you want to proceed with the deal.

Step 5: So you're finally ready to make a deal!

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Check the steps below to make sure you're trading safely

1. A seller posts their thread with all necessary proof and pricing/wantlist
2. A buyer decides they're interested and comments on the seller's post (side note: I prefer to do negotiations in the public setting because it keeps everyone honest. This will vary by user and some prefer to deal in PMs. We don't have rules regarding this, so tread carefully and follow the rules closely to ensure safe trades)
3. Once the buyer comments (something along the lines of an offer or "PMing", etc.), DO NOT ACCEPT INCOMING PMs FROM THE SELLER! SELLERS, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PM THE BUYER!! The buyer should initiate the PM conversation. This ensures that a scammer does not intercept the transaction by PMing the buyer first. I realize this is a newer step in the trade process, but with the influx of scammer accounts we've seen it's a good way to start shutting them down.

• Sellers: feel free to reply to the buyer's comment stating "message received" or "I haven't heard from you", etc. if you would like. This isn't necessary, but can offer peace of mind. Similarly, if you'd rather negotiate in public instead of PMs, reply to their comment stating so.

1. Take the conversation to PMs if you feel comfortable doing so with the commenter initiating the PM conversation (in most cases this will be the buyer, but people do post just looking to buy specific items. In that case, it is the seller who would be initiating. Whoever is commenting on the post should send the first PM). Remember that a seller might be negotiating with multiple people at once. Just because you're PMing them doesn't mean the item you're interested in is yours.

• You remembered to click on their username and verify their account, right?

1. Cover all negotiating ahead of time. Do your research on the other user. Once you've arrived at a deal, make sure you discuss all of the logistics behind your sale/swap.

• Are you trading? If so, make sure you know who is shipping first and what carrier/method you're both using for shipping.
• As with most places, if you're selling/buying the buyer should pay first and then the seller will ship the package. Be specific about when you will get the package shipped and the method you'll be using for shipping. You should also provide tracking information as soon as possible so the buyer knows their package is on the way.

1. THE ONLY WAY PAYMENT SHOULD BE SENT IS VIA PAYPAL GOODS & SERVICES! If the seller asks you to pay otherwise, report them to the mods. PayPal offers protection against scams and if someone doesn't ship your package you can usually recover your money.

Collect your money/ship your items. If you're trading, generally the user with the lower feedback ships first and provides a tracking number, then the other user ships their side of the trade. Both have low feedback or don't feel comfortable shipping out expensive goods with no protection? See below for additional options.

• One option that has been discussed before but is not widely used is exchanging PayPal money to cover the costs of a trade. This means you would both agree to trade your items, then you would agree on the cash value of that trade. For example: User A is offering items worth ~$45 and User B is offering items worth ~$40. So both users discuss and decide on a cash value of $42.50 ahead of time. Then, both users pay each other via PayPal Goods & Services in the amount of $42.50 - this gives both users the verified address of the person they're trading with and also amounts to $1.58 in PayPal fees. Then both users ship their items to each other. You have essentially spent no money because you've both paid each other the same amount. The fee that PayPal collects is your insurance fee - now if the other user does not ship your item(s) you can file a claim with PayPal and get your money back. Yes, this sucks because now you've sold your items instead of trading for the piece(s) you wanted, but you're also not out your items with no compensation. The only downside to this method is that you have to have the money available to cover the cost of the trade. That can get pricey with higher value trades, but also becomes more important when trading high dollar pieces. It is peace of mind that you're paying a small transaction fee to PayPal for.
• Side note: We don't offer middleman services here because we've never had a need to and it adds burden to other people who might not be interested in doing so. It also adds unnecessary shipping costs.

Have patience! People have real lives. Sometimes this might result in a package getting delayed by a day or sometimes the shipping carrier causes it to be delayed. These are people you're talking to and dealing with. Remember that when having discussions. Communicate! If you forget to ship a package or can't get to the post office when you said you would, let your buyer know that so they know when to expect their package.

LEAVE FEEDBACK! DO NOT COMPLETE THIS STEP UNTIL ALL PACKAGES HAVE BEEN DELIVERED! Someone isn't going to confirm your trade without knowing that their package has arrived in good shape. I know I'm bad about initiating the feedback post a lot of times, but I'll always confirm my trades with people. Discuss between each other who will leave the initial post and who will confirm. Each person only provides one side of the equation (ie. you don't both post about the trade and confirm on each other's comment... that would be feedback manipulation and subject to a ban).

Please follow these steps as closely as possible to ensure safe trading for everyone involved! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to message the mods for assistance and we will do our best to help out. We're trying our best to keep this a safe place to buy/sell/trade but we're people too, so we have off days or may be slow to respond. If you think you have discovered a scammer, please report them to the moderators immediately with your evidence. If you think another user is in danger of being scammed imminently, but you don't have good evidence, just send them a PM, and alert the mods.

Thank you as always,

~The r/DisneyStoreKeySwap Mod team