by
Helios
I
have seen alot of trade videos and posts about Untrusting traders and while
some of them are more than justified I figured Id offer some tips to people
looking at how trading online should really be handled.
1.
NEVER TRADE CARDS YOU DONT HAVE AVAILIBLE
9/10 this is why your trades dont get to you on time, and 10/10 this is why people are clogging up your inbox with mail. Always double check that you the cards you offering and make sure they were not used in another trade. Nothing worse than settling a trade with someone and having to tell them the card they wanted most from you, you no longer have!
9/10 this is why your trades dont get to you on time, and 10/10 this is why people are clogging up your inbox with mail. Always double check that you the cards you offering and make sure they were not used in another trade. Nothing worse than settling a trade with someone and having to tell them the card they wanted most from you, you no longer have!
2. Always use DC# no matter
whenever possible
Learn to use DC and Tracking. Be it with Paypal Shipping or USPS.com. More times than not, that 2.80 at the post office is LESS than the tax you'd pay at your local game store and when items get lost in the mail that 2.80 could have saved you A LOT more in replacement cards and legal fees. Granted if the trade is small, like under 15, regular mail is just. Once your start trading for more than that however your only going to be hurting if something goes wrong and you have to either replace the cards lost or give them something else, then your out more than you started with.
Learn to use DC and Tracking. Be it with Paypal Shipping or USPS.com. More times than not, that 2.80 at the post office is LESS than the tax you'd pay at your local game store and when items get lost in the mail that 2.80 could have saved you A LOT more in replacement cards and legal fees. Granted if the trade is small, like under 15, regular mail is just. Once your start trading for more than that however your only going to be hurting if something goes wrong and you have to either replace the cards lost or give them something else, then your out more than you started with.
3.
BE RESPECTFUL OF PEOPLES LIVES!
Some of people are single parents, some of us have lost everything in a Hurricane, most of us work, some have school, and a lot of us are not professional magic players or we wouldnt be trading only and would be sponsored by a store. If you dont hear back from them in 5 minutes or even a day or 2, they my just be dealing with life on life's terms. Harassment is just as serious as mail fraud. There is no harm in inquiring about trades but sometimes too much is too much.
Some of people are single parents, some of us have lost everything in a Hurricane, most of us work, some have school, and a lot of us are not professional magic players or we wouldnt be trading only and would be sponsored by a store. If you dont hear back from them in 5 minutes or even a day or 2, they my just be dealing with life on life's terms. Harassment is just as serious as mail fraud. There is no harm in inquiring about trades but sometimes too much is too much.
4.
COMMUNICATION
No
matter what the issue it goes a long way to resolving problems and keeping the
peace. Whether you are in the right, or are in the wrong talk it out work it
out, and encourage working it out so both parties are satisfied. You may take
some criticism, but life is about being and doing better, not settling for
mediocre. If you post a Bad trader vid after they dont respong to 1 message,
its not fair to smear their name. See if you cant resolve it peacefully without
having the comment wars. Let people know if the day you send out and the day
cards arrived. Keep people posted and you wont have to worry about them
annoying you.
5.
If you approach someone, Offer to send first.
Everypne has to pay their dues. You could have a 100,000 successful trades on another trading site but if your starting fresh, your a freshmen in High School. Respect is not given, it is earned. If your not comfortable with sending high value cards first, dont do a high value trade yet. Only send same time with some one who either is WELL established and has more than enough Refs OR someone who you have had good trades with in the recent past.
Everypne has to pay their dues. You could have a 100,000 successful trades on another trading site but if your starting fresh, your a freshmen in High School. Respect is not given, it is earned. If your not comfortable with sending high value cards first, dont do a high value trade yet. Only send same time with some one who either is WELL established and has more than enough Refs OR someone who you have had good trades with in the recent past.
6.
Try and Insure that which cannot be replaced easily.
You
protect your investment by sleeving up every FNM to prevent someone from
spilling their soda on your cards, why not spend the money to protect your
investment that if lost you cant replace. This applies mainly to cards people
cannot just walk to the LGS and get more. These are your modern, legacy,
HIGH end Standard staples exist more in peoples decks than in their trade
binder. So getting new ones wont be easy.
7.
DONT OVERWHELM YOURSELF AND OTHERS WITH TONS OF TRADES
I am the guiltiest at this. Especially if you have a large collection and little time, DONT DO IT! You just make people frustrated including yourself. DO what you can and when you can. Try and make a spread sheet of what is coming in and what is coming out and make sure you dont overload yourself with trades. thats how mistakes happen and you either send people the wrong cards or forget to include some cards that were part of the trade.
I am the guiltiest at this. Especially if you have a large collection and little time, DONT DO IT! You just make people frustrated including yourself. DO what you can and when you can. Try and make a spread sheet of what is coming in and what is coming out and make sure you dont overload yourself with trades. thats how mistakes happen and you either send people the wrong cards or forget to include some cards that were part of the trade.
8.
MAIL YOUR ITEMS OUT YOURSELF!
I can not stress this enough. TRUST NO ONE ELSE WITH YOUR TRADES! Go to the post yourself, get your DC# yourself. You can better know what happened because.... you mailed it.
I can not stress this enough. TRUST NO ONE ELSE WITH YOUR TRADES! Go to the post yourself, get your DC# yourself. You can better know what happened because.... you mailed it.
9.
Offer people serious trades
Always ask your self
"Would I accept this if this was offered to me?" Nothing is more
annoying than getting offers that are so far from fair its insulting. Try and
make a deal that benefits the both of you. Its great if people are willing to
trade down their cards but you should be aware that if you want someone's high
end card, you going to have to trade a high end card. No need to shark people, especially
new traders to the community.
I
sincerely hope this gives some insights and helps people. Many thanks to ALL
traders on this site for what you have done for my collection and decks, as
well as being a more prudent trader.
CHEERS!
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