ARTICLE: Proper Trading & Manners

[Deadshot]

ARTICLE: Proper Trading & Manners

By Kyle (Deadshot)

Basically, I am going to try and give some tips and hints to proper trading in this article. Feel free to add anything else within reason - thanks:

So you've just received/pull some cards that you would like to trade away - awesome! How would one go about doing this in a proper way?

1. Get the word out - post the card on a forum, or talk to people who you know might want it. Don't spam on the forums or on instant messengers, as it is a waste of space and many collectors are annoyed by it (with good reason too).

2. Wait for the interested trader to contact you, or you can contact him if its necessary (IE - if they tell you to do so in a post). When you have found someone who you might possibly make a deal with, check their feedback and references. Make sure the references are from traders who can be trusted - usually those are legitimate references. Also, if one has low/no feedback, that doesn't mean you can't trade with them. It only means that you should use caution and probably have them send first.

3. Listen and be patient - Listen to what they have to offer and go from there. To those of you who are making the offer - if the other trader says "no," he means it. Don't keep pestering him about it hoping he will give in. I can't speak for other traders, but I know that when someone pesters me about something, it generally ruins their chances of actually getting it.

4. Agree and Record - once you have agreed on a trade, it is tipically a good idea to write everything down including screen name, email, address, etc. I have a little notebook that I use for trading, and it really helps me out a lot. I would also suggest posting a trade-in-progress thread here at SCF. The thread will create a public record that both traders have agreed and confirmed upon a deal. SCF is a very valuable resource to us traders, so we need to use it when we can.

5. Send and receive - the next step is basically self-explanitory. Send your cards off and watch your mailbox for your cards. If you receive your cards and are not happy with them, PM the person you traded with instead of roasting them on the forum. If both traders are satisfied with the deal, go back to your trade thread and let the mods know that the deal is complete. Then, it is common to show consideration for the other trader by leaving them positive feedback.

In conclusion, this is my template to successful trading. To sum it up, if you have good manners, are honest about the cards, and follow this template somewhat - you should be able to make successful trades. I hope that my article has helped someone - thanks for reading!

Kyle

[soxfan445]

Totally agree with you Kyle. This should be required reading, especially point 3. I have to add that if you know you have nothing that is even close in BV or worth to the card you are trying to get, don't waste the person's time.

LOL, our new articles came out within 3 minutes of each other.

Regards!
Mike

[Deadshot]

Yeah, lol - maybe releasing them at the same time will be of some help to the article forum!

[Blazin Pyro]

Good article Kyle and I agree with soxfan445 about #3 but I also have to say #4 is just as important if not more. You finally get the trade you want and you don't keep some kind of record of it and you were supposed to mail off a certain day and now either you are late because you had to fish around for the information or worse you send the wrong card. Plus how many times have we seen on this site that someone got cards without anything in the envelope (as in a name) and have no idea who they are from?

Very good article and agree should be required reading. It's just those little ideas that make it better for everyone.

[sepul1]

Fantastic guidelines!
deadshot should get some card cash for this thread!!!