Best Trading Practices: Things You Do That You Wish Everyone Did

[centrehice]

People that create threads do not see the words in bold.

"Please send me a PM"

They just reply to their own thread like we are camped out there, and have nothing better to do but hang around their thread.

[Luongo Collector]

It's because they are lazy and want people to do everything for them

[Wickabee]

Don't get mad if I don't want to split a certain card up in a trade.
Don't get mad if a deal isn't there. It was worth a shot.
Don't get mad if I don't like your offer for my reasons, whatever they may be. They are mine.
Don't try to pressure me into a deal I've already said I don't want. This one bugs me the most.

[centrehice]

People not understanding that I don't collect cards after 2004-05 season when I tell them so. People offering me their 2005-2013 Upper Deck junk in trades, when I've made it abundantly clear that I don't want to see any of it.

[piper1]

It's because they are lazy and want people to do everything for them

You are 100% right on that point.

[cygnusx1]

Laziness, laziness, and once again, laziness.

Let's say I have a thread that says "I collect Steve Bernier cards" (I don't know why such a thread would exist, but follow me) and half the replies end up saying simply "CMB". No. I will not check anything, because you're too lazy to a) Tell me if you even have anything I want and b) Formulate three words that combine to a total of 13 letters.

Other times I see a thread saying "Show me all your Crosby cards FT!" and the thread gets 20 replies. The majority of people don't even get a reply as the person repeatedly posts "bump", and when questioned, the OP says "srry nt intrsted", because those words are far too long to get the full treatment.


You know what I choose to do? If I see that a person collects player x, prior to sending them a message I search through what I have and present them with a list of cards of that player. Sure, they may not need a single one, but it shows effort. Other times I say that I've taken a look and that there isn't anything I have of that particular player, but if the collector has other interests I will take a look for them.

Sadly, for a lot of people, I go to these lengths to help them with their collections and I get the "srry nt intrsted" reply. As I posted in a recent thread, I have dropped my trading significantly because of a number of issues. And it is a shame because there are a ton of great traders out there who don't do any of the things I listed above and are truly class individuals. But rather than check the trading boards once a day like i used to, I'm surprised if i check them once every two weeks now.

While I'm not pointing the finger directly at anybody, I will say that some people are ruining the hobby. You know who you are.

[Luongo Collector]

And to me it seems like common sense. If you send me a list of Luongo cards for example, and prices attached, I'm more likely to buy your item then the stupid "CMB and make me an offer" I make a point to ignore those people. I used to send a message to them to tell them I'm ignoring them, but I think it's a waste of time as they are too lazy to read it

[MattDMC]

The one thing I hate and have this happen far to often is if I post a buying thread and somebody shows a card I could use I ask them directly for a price only for them to respond "make me an offer". Seriously if I ask you directly for a price don't come back with the make an offer, I don't play games and run around in circles I just want a friggin price on YOUR card.

The CMB people some I can tolerate some not so much. If they have their bucket in order with clean pics (not 9 card group scans), titles, and sorted in some way I have no problem going through your bucket but if your bucket is nothing but 9 card group scans with no titles and you have to click each picture to see what they have then I'm not even going to humor the bucket, same with people with the blurry cell phone pics that you can barely tell which team the guy on the card is from let alone who he actually is lol.

The taped top loaders I can live with, I'm trading for the card not the top loader so I can't really complain about some tape. Not to mention a little goo-gone and a washcloth will take care of the residue left behind.

[Wickabee]

The one thing I hate and have this happen far to often is if I post a buying thread and somebody shows a card I could use I ask them directly for a price only for them to respond "make me an offer". Seriously if I ask you directly for a price don't come back with the make an offer, I don't play games and run around in circles I just want a friggin price on YOUR card.

The CMB people some I can tolerate some not so much. If they have their bucket in order with clean pics (not 9 card group scans), titles, and sorted in some way I have no problem going through your bucket but if your bucket is nothing but 9 card group scans with no titles and you have to click each picture to see what they have then I'm not even going to humor the bucket, same with people with the blurry cell phone pics that you can barely tell which team the guy on the card is from let alone who he actually is lol.

The taped top loaders I can live with, I'm trading for the card not the top loader so I can't really complain about some tape. Not to mention a little goo-gone and a washcloth will take care of the residue left behind.

Blurry pics. Ugh. I don't have a scanner and use my cell phone for all my pics. I get the occasional shaky pic, but it's the clearest camera I've ever had.

[MattDMC]

Blurry pics. Ugh. I don't have a scanner and use my cell phone for all my pics. I get the occasional shaky pic, but it's the clearest camera I've ever had.

Not all cell phone pics are bad I can live with a little blurry but some peoples are so bad you have to look at it cross eyed before you even realize its a pic of a card. Some of the buckets I've seen you'd think they took a picture with a rock.