Trading in 2023

[Exhibitman]

Trading is...fun! They were called trading cards after all.

[bnorth]

I am just a collector and I love trading. I have made way over 100 trades on here with some great members. I have traded everything from worthless junk wax cards to a T206 Cobb to HOFer game used/issued bats.

I find if you don't think your items are worth 100 times what they really are and don't try to extremely lowball the other persons trade items that trades are very easy and common on here.

[raulus]

Trades are a great way to get impossible to find stuff by giving up other impossible to find stuff. Sometimes money just won’t shake it loose, so you have to be willing to dangle something they really want.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by raulus

Trades are a great way to get impossible to find stuff by giving up other impossible to find stuff. Sometimes money just won’t shake it loose, so you have to be willing to dangle something they really want.

Is there really a lot of impossible to find stuff at this point?

Now excuse me while I carry another 9 pounds of catalogs down to the recycling bin.

[trambo]

it seems like the $10k cash- $13k trade is done by many dealers as a way to "win" the trade. Not many cards I have to have that will make me want to pay a 30% premium in cards to do it so I usually don't work w/those people. While I appreciate the transparency, it makes no sense to me to give up more cards than cash when i can sell the cards for $13k anyway. To each their own.

[bandrus1]

Originally Posted by trambo

it seems like the $10k cash- $13k trade is done by many dealers as a way to "win" the trade. Not many cards I have to have that will make me want to pay a 30% premium in cards to do it so I usually don't work w/those people. While I appreciate the transparency, it makes no sense to me to give up more cards than cash when i can sell the cards for $13k anyway. To each their own.

I think those dealers would happily say go get the 13 and come back with the 10

For someone strictly buying and selling it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to depend on a last comp as a guarantee theirs will sell for that

[trambo]

Originally Posted by bandrus1

I think those dealers would happily say go get the 13 and come back with the 10

For someone strictly buying and selling it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to depend on a last comp as a guarantee theirs will sell for that

Probably so but a 30% delta seems a little crazy. I can appreciate a dealer in it to make a profit but when the card they're trading was likely purchased for less than 100% of value, seems like it's a parlay into a very rich margin. Good gig if you can get it and not disparaging anyone for trying to make a profit. Just not something I'd be willing to do If I'm trading equally valuable stuff of similar quality and quantity.

[Jstottlemire1]

Originally Posted by trambo

it seems like the $10k cash- $13k trade is done by many dealers as a way to "win" the trade. Not many cards I have to have that will make me want to pay a 30% premium in cards to do it so I usually don't work w/those people. While I appreciate the transparency, it makes no sense to me to give up more cards than cash when i can sell the cards for $13k anyway. To each their own.

Amen to this I feel the exact same on this.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Is there really a lot of impossible to find stuff at this point?

Now excuse me while I carry another 9 pounds of catalogs down to the recycling bin.

HA.

I suppose there are degrees of difficulty. You’re right that most stuff can be found with a little patience and work. But still plenty of stuff that’s maybe not impossible but nearly impossible, and you might have to wait a very long time for it to come onto the market.

Edited to add:

As an example: A recent 3-way (sounds a little dirty) trade completed, as brokered by Fred McKie. I traded the Jello Box, and got back the Canadian Post Panel. Arguably both pretty darn impossible to find.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Is there really a lot of impossible to find stuff at this point?

Now excuse me while I carry another 9 pounds of catalogs down to the recycling bin.

For me there is, I would love to see more rare stuff surface. Lots of rare cards that may not see the light of day for 5-15 years or are only available in the off market.

[MVSNYC]

I've been collecting for 3 decades, and love trading. Always fun trying to create a deal that's mutually beneficial, and then executing on it.

For example, there's a small circle of advanced T206 collectors. We do a good amount of trading, have done so for many years...this was acquired recently via a pretty epic trade with Ryan (Hi Ryan!)...

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Is there really a lot of impossible to find stuff at this point?

It all depends on what you collect. I tend to go after some obscure stuff. The two most famous athletes in the world, Muhammad Ali and Pele, had cards issued all over the world and some of the really obscure issues have one or a few known examples. Want an Israeli Ali or Pele card? Good luck with that.



I also totally agree with Raulus. If I don't need the cash, there is simply no way that I will part with a rare card for money (unless the offer is obscene) but a trade, definitely worth consideration. For me, it is because I can tell myself a trade is a win-win. I swapped extreme rarities with a fellow collector fairly recently and it was perfect. He got the better player and I got the player I actually collect. Financially hard to say who got over, but I preferred his card and he preferred mine, so it worked.

[notfast]

$10k cash, 13k trade is extreme.

Ive seen stuff more along the lines of $10k cash, $11k trade. Makes sense to me.

[Yoda]

Speaking as the old geezer I am, the only way to try and get a card you coveted was by trading, in my case with the neighborhood gang under an old Sycamore tree, which was considered neutral territory. The bickering, hyping, inflating and mass hysteria was reminiscent of a crypto exchange during a panic. There were no full time dealers, no ah's, shows, VCP nor grading cos, only kids playing capitalists. Sure is a different world today.