I find these 5 tips I have discovered for myself very useful and a great way to not only make yourself happy with a trade, but your trading partner as well.
- Do Your Homework: Don't just trade with anyone who offers you a card you want. Do your research on the person. I go through many steps before I will trade with anyone especially if I don't know them. I will check out their profile and what they post about, who they associate themselves with and what they collect (this works on Twitter and on some forums), I will message my trusted traders and friends, if I get good feedback I will make the trade. Bad feedback, I will turn them down. And no feedback, I won't trade either. So many bad things go down in the hobby and you don't wanna lose a card because someone is trying to scam you. I know there is probably the good trusted people who may not info on them yet, but I am not willing to take the chance. Others may and you might.
- Make the trade fair: Don't offer me an Ahmad Bradshaw jersey card for a Willie Mays bat card. Yes, I may like the NY Giants, but come on, that's not even close to being equal. I know people try trading by your likes and won't take value into consideration, but in my trading world, that's not how I trade and work. (this offer hasn't ever been made but I have had some bad ones)
- Packaging: Place all of the autographed/jersey/patch cards and so on in Top Loaders or if they are really valuable, One-Touch. Make sure to place all cards in penny sleeves and into team bags for efficient shipping. Most important thing is to OVER protect your trading material. You don't want your cards end up on the other end damaged. That could make for a very messy situation and cause yourself to lose a good trading reputation. Even one mess up.
- Bonuses: Always ship bonus cards. I always throw in a couple of unopened packs and depending on team likes, a few inserts, bonus auto or memorabilia card or a stack of base. If you find a good trading partner, you want to reward them and have them come back again.
- Shipping: When shipping your package out, make sure to ship with TRACKING! Don't ever ship a trade package out without it. USPS has been awful as of late and you want as much info on your package as you can get. You may also want to consider Insurance as well if the value of your package exceeds a certain amount.
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TOPIC:
What are some tips that I didn't list above that you have when it comes to trading?
If you use scotch type tape, fold the end over to make a pull tab so the tape is easily removed. I can't stand "frag tape" that destroys itself at the mere touch.... Use painters or masking tape to seal toploaders. And use the strip on a team bag if it's still good. Don't know why people like to tape team bags instead of using the sticky strip.
ReplyDeleteI cant stand when the team
DeleteBags are taped shut. I usually re-use the ones I got if they are in good condition. But cant when they are taped and it also makes them
Impossible to get into.
I use the painters tape for the top loaders to. I should have added that to the post. Will later on this week
Great tip on the scotch tape! A lot use that
DeleteGreat post. I don't trade much anymore... since I'm much more into sending and receiving "care packages" where there's an element of surprise involved. However... if I ever go back to trading, these tips will come in handy.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Fuji -- I rarely "trade" with anyone and instead just try to send and receive random envelopes from others. While there are always a few duplicates in the mix when that is the way things go, the upside is that it's a lot of fun to get stuff unexpectedly. And, it allows both me and the person on the other end of the deal to avoid worrying too much about "value". While I'm not giving away 1 of 1s, I'd rather have base cards from the Brewres than autos from the Yankees.
ReplyDeleteThese tips, though, are good to keep in mind.