Trader's etiquette

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Posted By: Ben

Over the past several years, I've had the pleasure of trading with a significant number of board members here. Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of these trades have gone over extremely well, and both parties were the better for it. There have been, however, a few instances where this was not the case. Most of the time, this was simply chalked up to inexperience...because I believe it takes some practice to become a "good trader". So, I'm starting this thread not with the intention of bitching and moaning, but so that newbies to trading might have a few helpful pointers to make their future trades successful ones. After all, trading can be alot of fun when done the right way! So allow me to start us off with a few pointers of my own.

1. Common courtesy and politeness.

Good communication is absolutely crucial for good trading. Exercise common courtesy in your emails by starting with a greeting, and by addressing the person by their first name. By being polite and personable, the other person will be more inclined to work with you on a trade, and they will remember you for next time. Also, try to respond to emails within a reasonable amount of time. There's nothing worse than to be kept in suspense for a week and a half only to be told in a one-liner email "no thanks, but check for em on ebay!" And finally, after you've agreed to a trade, let the other person know when their cards have been mailed and when yours are received.

2. Hyping your cards

Avoid talking up your cards to your trading partner. If they are interested in trading for your cards, chances are they already know why they are special. The reverse is also true - refrain from talking down the other person's cards! This is a huge pet peeve of mine. There must be something good about them if you're interested in trading for them in the first place, so hold off on the "it's in terrible shape!" or "the registration isnt so good" comments....nobody knows these sorts of things better than the owner themselves. Talking down like this is a huge turnoff.

3. Book values

Insisting on having exact book value matches on trades is usually not the best idea - it makes trading very difficult, and usually slows the process down to a halt. After all, you are trading baseball cards, not standard catalogues.

4. "Make me an offer"

When someone posts a card for sale/trade and says "make me an offer", don't send them a one line email saying "how much?" Just make them an offer, and it better be a fair one because all a lowball will do is piss the other guy off, and jeopardize whatever chances you had of acquiring the card in the first place.

So those are my observations. Please add more if something comes to mind. Hopefully they come in handy to a few of us, so that future trades become easier and more fun for everyone. HAPPY TRADING!

Ben

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Posted By: craig

Good points Ben
I personally dislike posts in the b/s/t with make an offer
It is your card why not just say how much you want for it?
Make an offer is a waste of time for a potential buyer as it implies an open ended auction with no set ending date. Also I believe some people have no intention of selling the card but are just curious " how much it is worth"
So in summary if you want to sell a card state your price; If you want to wait for the highest offer please list it on ebay.

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Posted By: leon

I too have been guilty of putting things in the B/S/T thread without a price. I almost shouldn't permit that. (I said "almost"). I made a mistake of putting stuff there without a price and everything got discombobulated (that can't be a real word). I have also been very disappointed by some board members, and some are good friends, when they put in something like "make an offer". Then you make an offer and they say..."well, I am still waiting for more offers" or " I am thinking about it still".....if that's the case then don't put them up there.....ME included.....So have ya'll ever seen someone reprimand themself in a post? later

edited to say that my disdain was the amount of time that people were "still waiting for offers"....it took several weeks...and still nothing happened

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Posted By: DJ

I personally ignore those who want an offer instead of bringing forth the price they require for the seller to be satisfied.

Another pet peeve I have is a person selling a card on the B/S/T and you have ten guys requesting a scan instead of placing the scan on the Thread itself.

And then you have an overpriced item and sarcastic offerings like this:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/thread?forumid=376260&messageid=1116967507&lp=1117132080

C'mon folks! Has eBay destroyed our communication skills? There are other ways of purchasing an item oustide of the auction format.

DJ

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Posted By: Rhett Yeakley

I personally don't really see a problem with people saying make an offer. If you want the item, make an offer, if you don't have any interest in the item, then skip it. I don't really see the difference between this and saying that you have something to trade, and you are looking for someone to trade with. I have bought, and sold, several items when people ask for offers, and have always been happy. I think if you make too many "rules" about the B/S/T thread you will have less and less people offering items there.
-Rhett

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Posted By: Scott Forrest

as long as you realize that some potential buyers will simply skip it. If you don't know your product well enough to give me a price, then that signals "hassle" to me as a buyer. If I want something REALLY bad, I violate Ben's rule #4 and say "give me a price". But I'm not doing the informal board auction thing.

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Posted By: robert a

This is a good thread.
I've "met" some really good people on this board through trades and had some great correspondence with board members long after the trade had ended.
In fact, I have rarely had a bad experience to be honest.

It does take some practice though. The important thing to remember is to always remain honest about your cards (this is a small vintage world) and to be patient, but semi-prompt with your replies to other traders.

I've learned a lot from other guys from just talking about trades and sometimes refer to old emails for info on certain issues.

It's good to keep some kind of log of email addresses too so that you can find them easily when you would like to contact someone.

Many people actually keep a log about what they purchased/traded certain cards for. You forget quickly.
Happy Trading!
robert

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Posted By: leon

Nothing is going to change about the board for a while...it ain't broken, B/S/T included....so no worries there. regards

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Posted By: Dan Koteles

what I cant stand is members offering crap cards to trade or dupes that most could care less about for next to near impossible cards. It is like wow , you have a PSA 1 t207 Oldring and you want the one missing link to complete a e102 set.

Weed is rampant when I read stuff like that , it's like SWOOOO and ear.......

later

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Posted By: jay behrens

I'll agree with Dan on the insulting trade offers for rare cards. Let's get realistic. The regular contributors, and most lurkers, to this board are more than knowledgable about what they own. Offering a common card, HOFer or not, from a common set for somethig truly rare is an insult and doesn't reflect well at all on the person making the offer. Hell, I'd love to trade a crapload of low grade commons for a low grade Fireside, but no one int heir right mind is goign to go for it, and I would most likely ruin any chance of ever being able to trade with that person again for making such an insulting offer.

I can also understand the dislike for Please Make Offer, but with the volitile nature ofthe market right, no one really wants to get the short end of the stick. Bitch about it all you want, but when that card hits eBay, you are could more than likely be paying far more for it there than if you had shot them a decent offer.

Jay



I like to sit outside drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home I would be arrested, so I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: Brian

I have been offered 1 trade in all my time on this board. I was offered a VG card worth about $50.00 for a card worth at least $2000.00. I am assuming the person typed the offer with a straight face, but I can't be sure...

I have made purchases from board members, and I have sold to board members. Every transaction was pleasant and flawless.

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Posted By: jay behrens

Soudns like a similar trade offer I got. Wonder if it was from the same person. You'd think people that frequent this board would know better.

Jay

I like to sit outside drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home I would be arrested, so I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: Glen V

The real problem is too many people have cards that they don't want, yet other people can't find the right cards to trade for them. I've learned that for some items, money is no good. You need to buy cards you don't want so that you can trade them to people that want them and pry away something from them. The problem is rarely do two people have something they don't want that the other person does.

I've tried to get some cards from people, but didn't have anything to trade. Now I've started buying cards that I don't care about just to have trade material. Problem is they aren't always the right cards. I've offered some rare material, but either the other person didn't have anything I wanted, or didn't want to give up anything. Likewise, there are people I want cards from, but I don't have the right cards to offer them. And of course selling cards makes no sense, because I still can't get any cards I need.

So the question becomes: How many people have a bunch of cards they don't really care about? Is there anyway to get a big 5 or 10 person trade to switch around cards so they find caring homes? Maybe have a one-time regular thread with everyone posting extra cards so people might see a multi-person switch that could benifit everyone? Other ideas?

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Posted By: Julie

"firm" price. When someone has a price quoted for a card and I think it's too high, I suggest another price. Sometimes works.

Trading can be exhausting, and, unlike buying a card, I tend to miss the things I've traded. I never miss the money. Money is boring...but, unlike cards, you can bid with it.




Traded for:




Bought:



Gave cards and money for:



(I think...)

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Posted By: Bryan Long

When you don't have the cards to trade with. My collection is on the rise, but due to money and the fact that I am not an investor my cards or not high grade examples. I find it very hard to trade with people because I simply do not have the hard to get cards that everyone wants. I would be perfectly happy trading 10 mid priced cards for one high priced card but it simply can't be done (well sometimes it can, but not very often). My t206 walter jonhson card is nothing when it is compared with some of the cards that exist within the forum members. I'm still waiting for the day when I am able to pick up that Mike Kelly or Cap Anson card. I have had my fingers crossed so long they are starting to turn blue
I find myself saving the cash for ebay or small auction houses. I do have to say that I have traded with a few people on this forum and most went quite well. I'm starting to babble to I'm done

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Posted By: leon

Couple things. Number 1...weren't we doing a Zeenut trade?

Number 2. I would be all for a thread of "extra cards" and will start one.
regards....moderator dude

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Posted By: jay behrens

I know that in one of my more recent trades, the person It raded with actually went out and bought the card I wanted in trade, then traded it to me for the card he wnated. Some times, it's just that simple. Having the money to buy the card the person wants may be the hard part.

Jay

I like to sit outside drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home I would be arrested, so I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: Lee Behrens

Just a Note for people that are not familiar with your trading partner. Send emails to a few participants to find out if they have had prior experience in trading with them.
The majority of my trades have been great with board members, but I do have a few that I will no longer trade with because of prior mentioned incidents of something for nothing and non-recipication of a favor after a few tries.
Trades to me are fun and easier on the pocket book. When trading I perfer to have a reasonable offer and it can always be worked from that point.

Sadly sometimes I have nothing to offer for someting I want, since I don't have many higher grade cards (traded most of them for quantity).

Lee

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Posted By: Glen V

Yes Leon, still planning on that trade. Also thanks for putting up the extra card thread. As collectors, a number of us hate giving up anything, and like Julie and Bryan said, trading can be hard to do. Hopefully this helps and a few more people get those cards they are looking for.