[yankeeempire]

After reading the responses everyone made valid points and it's good to see what others are collecting...Trading on here to me was like Christmas all year round because you were always waiting for something in the mail. There are those on here that i have been trading with for years on and off the board and have a great hobby relationship with. For example a member was selling cards on here and a member didn't want to buy but trade but the other member just wanted to sell....So i bought the cards and then traded them to the other member because i knew who he collected. I do that at card shows etc etc...i know who collects Todd Helton and those who collect Jeter etc etc. I never bought into the hype of any player in fact i always trade down or i look for something of equal value....I want a card because its going into a collection and not on Ebay or COMC. I dont mind if someone sells on there because thats where i am going to get the cards I need or trade bait. I just wish it will pick up again and like Ceocards said give it a month or so, I hope he is right and I hope we all can work together to get the cards we need/want and build a great trading relationship.

[iconms]

It's not like the OP was gone from the hobby for 5-10 years - it was more like 1 (right?). There haven't been any new trends in the hobby since he was gone that are effecting trading (prospecting? It was already here). The lack of trades has to do with the site and the multiple problems the site has had over the years which has had a direct effect on members leaving and therefore being less cards in the potential pool of trading.

[ceocards]

I just feel like some have forgotten how fun it is to trade just to build a relationship with another member.

Personally, I agree with everything you said and feel the same way. Although it doesn't apply to anyone in this thread, I always get a chuckle when I see someone whining about how they never get any trades; then I check out their trade post that says something to the effect of "Only looking for on-card Blue Refractor Chrome rookie Autos of Japanese-born players in the Brewers organization".

The only counter-point I'd offer is that at a minimum of $2.32 in postage for each trade these days, "trading just to trade" is starting to get prohibitively expensive.

Given the choice of making 10 "trades just to trade" or taking that $20+ and buying a couple jumbo packs or a blaster box (or buying a nice card or two), I can understand why most people might choose the latter options.

---

I'd look for trades but the C2C thing is useless if i have to search card by card. The tool should show me everyone that has something ive marked for trade.

My strategy that's been working for me:

For each trader I complete a trade with - go to their feedback page and check out their last 10 trading partners (excluding myself of course). At least that way you have some sort of general comfort level that the person has been actively trading fairly recently.

This works pretty well for me as I have a wide variety of wants - I can almost always find SOMETHING on one of my want lists...more often than not it's an issue of whether or not I have something they can use in return. But I sent out about 20 open offers last week, and have gotten 4 or 5 trades done, with another 4 or 5 pending, and 5 or 6 yet with no response.

[radarblip]

I tried to back out of trading so much a couple years ago, I turned off the Public icon but it didn't seem to make any difference. Was still getting Trade Offers and still am. Maybe they are being picked up from my Sales offerings, glitch?

Attitudes change. A Friend of mine owns a Card Store and does very well with it. He purchases cases of product for his customers. Some will come in but 6 boxes, break them there, take half dozen cards from each one and leave he rest.

The economy isn't helping either, many are out of work or have lost everything. Jobs, Homes, Cars and i not getting better.

In the end Big Money has walked away from collecting (anything) and this money is now speculating the Stock Market. Its the only thing in this Country that show some potential.

My Mom always told me. "Make sure you have on clean under ware" and "Keep enough money in your pocket to get Home"...

[Odyssey]

As someone thats still new to trading I have to buy cards just to get my collection to be respectable. With that said, I still enjoy busting boxes because it helps me figure out who I want to collect. I enjoy prospecting because its fun to research players and take a gamble but I also try to collect cards of players I idolized as a kid, i.e., Craig Biggio and Chipper Jones.

I also enjoy trading for the aforementioned reasons, building up friendships and I will chase players some of the people I trade with most are looking for. Rad_1205 and Petillo have taught me a lot about trading and I would still like to learn more from some of you other veterans.

I believe the site will pickup again especially now that football season is over with but if any of you would like to trade now send me your offers. My schedule for this month is very good since I don't have very many shifts.

[Sargieboy]

Well I've managed 30+ trades in the last month.

The traders are there, but I don't think people are as actively posting to the boards - you sorta have to go looking for them.

Part of it is site issues, but a lot of it is that it's the off season. Wait a month or two til spring training is in full swing and there's 3 or 4 more new 2014 releases and I'm sure things will pick back up again.

+1

[petillo64]

When I stumble across an org that has 20+ of my wants and those stars pop up it is like Christmas! When I start a trade and realize the user hasn't logged-in in 6-12 months its like April fools day!

Traffic does seem way down and it would be awesome if there were twice as many active users with twice as many orgs to dig through, but I've still been able to get some great chunks of my PC from trading recently... Hopefully things pick up again with spring training!

[Gtbrian23]

I think traffic would pick up a lot more if they could get the site working properly. It is frustrating when you are moving at dial-up speeds. I would guess that is the main reason for the exodus.

[nolan5000]

C.R.E.A.M (Cash Moves Everything Around Me)

Huh? Wouldn't that equal C. M. E. A. M. ?

[paulkellyjr]

I tried to back out of trading so much a couple years ago, I turned off the Public icon but it didn't seem to make any difference. Was still getting Trade Offers and still am. Maybe they are being picked up from my Sales offerings, glitch?

A long time Boards member a while back told me that the fact you have cards marked "For Trade" will have them show up through the C2C. The Public/Private setting is only for those browsing your Organize through your Profile page NOT through the C2C engine. That same member was pushing for a "Open for Trade" ON/OFF switch (which we still don't have).


I have had plenty of trades per month. However, I do not trade high end cards - can't afford them. I really wish Beckett would almost have a start over point to remove items from traders that are not active from the C2C trading market.

Most of my trades are generated by seeking a card I want and finding the traders who have it. Like petillo64 says Christmas turns into April Fool's quite often, but I still manage to find enough users to trade with.

I will even search cards I want to get rid of to see if I can find something I would prefer to have (even if it's trade bait) just to move the card to someone who will enjoy it more than me.

I will be here. Too lazy to go elsewhere and there are still enough traders meeting my collecting/trading objectives.