The Economy of Pins (with Sarah Liang)

Sarah Liang (MD DECA) is the Maryland DECA State President.

Every DECA International conference has two markets running at once. The first is

official: competition, workshops, exhibitor booths. The second is underground, unregulated, and

far more cutthroat: the pin economy.

Like any market, it begins with supply and demand. Some states overprint pins, handing

out designs by the handful. Inflation hits fast. By day two, what started as a 1:1 trade has

ballooned into “I’ll give you three of mine, a bracelet, and maybe some Chick-fil-A for yours.”

Some states enforce strict pin rations of just one or two per person, instantly turning them into

high-value assets, with traders offering three, four, or even five of their own just to land that

single scarce pin.

In every market, there are blue chips, and in the pin economy, they’re the international

pins. It doesn’t matter what they look like, but because they’ve crossed oceans, they become

instant status symbols. A piece of metal from China or a maple leaf from Canada suddenly trades

at ten times the value of a U.S. state pin.

Markets have trends too. One year it’s Arizona Green Tea pins, the next it’s LeBron pins.

Value spikes and crashes fast. By the end of opening session, whispers spread: “Hold onto that

one, everyone wants it.” Suddenly, DECA members are amateur investors, speculating on the

hottest commodity in the room.

At the end of the day, preferences in the pin economy vary wildly. Some chase after the

shiniest, heaviest pins, while others only care about clever designs or unique shapes. For many,

the holy grail is anything international or the LeBron pin. Some members walk away wearing

lanyards that weigh more than their carry-on luggage. Others leave satisfied with the 2 pins they

really really wanted. Some others are purely uninterested and solely came for that DECA glass.

The truth is, every DECA member has their own strategy, their own taste, and their own

definition of a “good” pin. In the end, the pin economy is just another DECA event: one where

we all put our business skills to the test to score the trades we want.