General Forum

I've had a number of trades in recent weeks that have had:

• Users trying to send envelopes through the USPS that contained way too many cards for the amount of postage they're placing on the envelope. I've had a few that were over $3 postage due, requiring me to go out of my way to the post office to pick up the package/envelope. Fortunately, I haven't had a problem getting reimbursed by the users but still... I shouldn't have to go out of the way to the PO.
• Users sending their junk to me. I've received more than my fair share of 1980s-current day cards (junk-wax era cards in particular) that have multiple bad corners. I can live with soft, worn corners on my cards from the 1950s and 1960s; not so much with 1988 Topps or 1992 Upper Deck. I can even accept one slight dinged corner on more modern cards but unless it's first agreed upon, why would anyone send garbage like that? 
• Offers that to be honest, are insulting. A good example are the short-printed variations from Topps flagship that would cost them anywhere from $8-15 but user only wants to offer the equivalent of four base cards (usually commons, at that). I don't place a great emphasis on value, per se, but c'mon. 

Has anyone felt the need to place conditions upon trading in your profile and if so, did it accomplish your goal? And let me know if you still have those on your profile, I'd be interested in seeing what conditions you've set.

Yes, there are many users with condition and trade rules on their profile. The challenge is getting someone else to read and/or adhere to them. I am surprised people are sending bad modern cards, so I guess you may have to state up front for every trade that you want things to be in a certain condition before accepting. It's tedious for you, but at least it might give you more peace of mind (or at least the communication you need from the other user).

As for bad offers, there's been a lot of threads about that. Some people don't know their value, others are throwing darts against the wall. Feel free to respond to the user if you think it's worth it, otherwise just rejecting the trade with a note might suffice enough.

I'll be honest--if I read a whole bunch of conditions in a trading profile I shy away from trading with that individual.  I also try and not send a card with any obvious flaws without making sure the trading partner is aware BEFORE the trade.  If anyone is unhappy I try and fix it.  But for the most part, I've not had issues.  I do get some one-sided trades--but usually just base it on whether or not I really want the cards I'm giving up for what I'm getting--value to me is less important.  I always give the courtesy of a reason for declining if I do so.  Its hard to make everyone on a board like this trade the way I would--but hope for more positive experiences than negative.

I'd say you'd need to add condition requirements to your profile, though, as myrke stated, it doesn't mean it'll be read. And I'd also add that you'd have to avoid assuming anything when entering deals unless it's been discussed.

I read most profiles, and key in on condition requirements. If I feel that I won't meet their needs, then I don't bother. I also will politely decline an offer when I read their profile and it states conditions that I wouldn't meet.

Although I do have a couple of paragraphs of "guidelines" in my profile, I've shied away from folks with a bunch of conditions in their's. I've tried to limit it to two paragraphs in mine and then a list of what my basic priorities are. 

But, as myrke correctly pointed out, the challenge is getting folks to read it. May I add that myrke is a terrific trade partner, if anyone is thinking of offering him a trade proposal.

The rub about assigning condition to ungraded cards is that its subjective. What I mean is I consider my cards to be ex condition, but according to grading guidelines they are nr-mnt, on the opposite end I had a trader insist that his ungraded cards were all Gem-mnt with the exception of creases/dog eared corners and stains. The irony is that he was assigning grades to ungraded cards.

Ive seen several people say they dont care about value and then offer a common for a 15 dollar card, funny how it doesnt seem to go both ways. Fortunately there are generous traders on here that offer more than what they are getting or fair trades that are reasonable.

Not a great strategy for everyone, but I do a lot of trading based on which cards I'm losing. Case in point, I started building ones last night that were based on Bowmans in my FS/FT list and who wanted them. Then I can work with what I'd be ok accepting as a return. 

But this only works if I'm self aware about what I'm asking for, and if I don't get butthurt when someone counters with a complete change of what I offered. True, this method doesn't help me much if I were chasing down specific cards for my wants. But as long as I'm getting something that I'd marked as a want...

I stopped putting Heritage SPs on my FST list as I was getting annoyed with people who request them but don't offer Heritage SPs in return. I've stated this on my Profile in the past, but like many have already mentioned, not everyone reads profiles. Today, I will focus on a SP that I need, see who has one for trade and then if I find someone with several that I need, I will look at their Wantslist to see if I have extra SPs that they need...if so, I will add them and compose a trade.   I also have a circle of other Heritage collectors that I trade them with too. 

Thanks to all for your input. I've updated my profile to include conditions for trades; hopefully it is short and to the point. And I plan on pointing potential traders to it prior to finalizing any trade. *Fingers Crossed* they read it!