This isn't a post about a trade I made with another blogger or reader. It's about ALL the trades I've made with bloggers or readers.
Yesterday, Night Owl had a post titled "Cards from Normal Traders" about trading that struck a nerve with me. It took me back to one of my very first posts in October of '09. My post, "What Ruined Card Trading for Me", told the basic story of an 11 year old and his friends trading cards for the sake of trading and fun. It was fun. We got together nearly every weekend to trade cards. Until someone brought a Beckett Price Guide into the mix. That ruined everything for us. Every trade from that point forward was a chore and it took all the fun out of trading. It was kind of like going to a card show or LCS now and having the dealer pull out his dog-eared Beckett after every question you ask.
Fast forward 30 years (in my case) and I've come full circle. I love trading again. Most bloggers don't really care about what Beckett says and don't let it impact trades. I haven't bought or looked at a Beckett in years and really don't care what the value of the cards is in relation to my overall net worth. Would it matter if I pulled one of those $15,000 Super-fractors? Sure, only long enough for me to sell it. Otherwise, I don't really care. I send trade packages without thinking about the value of what I'm getting in return. If it's something I want or need, then that's good enough to me.
I almost always try to over-deliver on my trade packages. I want the person on the receiving end of my packages to be more than happy to have traded with me. More importantly, I want to see them get some joy out of cards that I would leave sitting in a box in the back of the closet.
So, thanks to all of you who have traded with me in the past and I look forward to many more trades in the future.
I think a lot of us feel that way. I haven't gotten a Beckett probably since 1999. And I love how everyone here doesn't worry about the "book value" of a trade. Most bloggers/readers here would gladly trade a card of "more value" for a card they need or don't have. I see it time and time again and as someone who doesn't have a ton of mojo to trade, it's appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI recently had someone reach out about a trade, and he said, "I'll need an $8-$10 card in return for this one." Honestly, I have no ideas what cards of mine hold that sort of book value. I was clueless. I liked it.
You, and nearly everyone else, always seem to over-deliver in all trade packages. I try to do it myself, even though I usually find that I was out-over-delivered by my trading partner. It's a very generous group of folks around here.
I couldn't agree more with AJ. All of the awesome bloggers out there are very generous when it comes to trading. I've always tried to be generous with the cards I send as well. Not only is it a great way to draw down on cards, but it's also a way of saying thanks and I hope we can trade again.
ReplyDeleteHalf the time I don't even really care if I get anything in return. I just like sending cards to a good home.
ReplyDeleteAs I've mentioned I like to trade with stores, and the last I tried he was like "do you know your book value?" and I said "Nope!" Luckily he was super nice...pulled out a Beckett and we searched cards together, ended up coming to a very fair trade!
ReplyDeleteI still trade pretty much all "like value" (as I've heard it called, I "like" a given card enough to give another card to you), but trading with sellers and some bloggers and some forum people has intrigued me as to the ways of book value. Sometimes it works out in my favor - one guy wanted $60 book value so I sent him two Rich Hill cards that didn't have any like value to me (but had $60 book value) for a super rare Seneca Wallace card that had tremendous like value for me and a book of $55. Technically I love $5 in book value. But I just figure I traded two Rich Hills for an ultra rare Seneca Wallace card that I've never seen anywhere else. That's a win for me. So though I'll consider BV when someone asks me to, I am alllll about trading by feel over trading by book. And extras are definitely the norm haha.
"technically I lost $5," not love. Though I do love a good fiver.
ReplyDeleteI find that most bloggers "get it" though. Meaning, if I offer a game used or auto, they will offer a game used or auto in return. I think there is a mutual respect there where someone isn't going to send 100 junk wax cards for 100 2010 or 2011 cards. I like to send out random trade packs of kindness, too, and surprise people. It's funner!
ReplyDeleteI've had a few trades on a trade site, and everyone there is concerned about "BV", so when I propose cards in exchange, I make them look up the book value for me and decide if they like the exchange or not. Otherwise, whatever goes.
ReplyDeleteGreat comments so far. I'll address them all tonight after a good long nap.
ReplyDeleteGlad to inspire a post.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Thingsarefunner here, I like that there is not a book value on stuff, but there is a sense of value that I try to maintain in my trades. I feel kind of bad if I get a relic or auto and don't have one to trade in return. When that happens, I'll try to gather some really nice cards including numbered parallels, minis, or something to try to make up some of that gap. Usually going in the other direction, since I have a relatively small number of relics and autos myself, I am usually a bit disappointed if I don't get one in return for one I send out. I do also agree with many of you who said it is fun to just send cards out to a good home, and the generosity of other bloggers has been one of the most impressing and nice things about the card blogging community in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see that so many people here in Blogoland get it and aren't hung up on BV. I too am in it for the cards and not the "value" aspect. If I can send some cards out that have no place in my collections and somebody else likes them then it's a win. I was involved on a trading site that all people cared about was BV and it was quite frankly just too much of a hassle to match up cards and took all the fun out of it. It takes long enough to pull a bunch of cards to send somebody without having to look up all the BV info only to find that they don't want them because they don't book enough. I try to always send some extra cards as well to add some surprise element to a package as most traders out here do and it's a pleasure to trade with all of you.
ReplyDeleteJust about everything I would say here has already been said! I buy a Beckett Baseball,or other sport, once in a while for reference but could care less about the pricing.I too, try to include extras in trades and like to send random packages. With the wedding over I hope to get back into the trading circles again.
ReplyDeleteI've never been concerned with book value in any traits that I have made. All that I look at is they have cards that I don't need that they want. I am just happy to get rid of some of the excess that I have. It doesn't matter to me if I get anything in return are not. If I can make someone happy by sending them something that I don't need, that makes me happy.
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