Advise on Trade Etiquette

[2000Doubles]

Hello
I am asking my fellow traders for advise on trade etiquette. The situation I have run into is traders inquiring about cards and then once I respond with price/trade proposal they fall off the face of the earth. How long do I hold these cards for.

I understand things happened, but sometimes I just see the other party still online and active. Also log in a few times over a couple days. What is the proper etiquette for how long you hold the cards.

I think the most probable answer will be depends on circumstances. It's just tough when you hold cards that others also asked about and then at the end the first trader just backs out, or never responds back.

Any advise would be helpful. I was thinking until trade is posted and confirmed, its open season, but that may bring about hard feelings.

lmk
thanks

 

[David K.]

I would not hold the cards for them if you don't get a reply to your offer (you could pm them and let them know your moving on to the next trader.)..If they reply, need more to think about it.....then I would hold the cards and let everyone else know.....your second in line for the card, etc, etc. Best regards, David

 

[tribefan]

I am a perfect example of hot and cold when it comes to availability. I have stretches where I'm in the system and active day after day and generally available. Then, and sometimes I have little control, life gets crazy and a week goes by. I know I can drive some folks nuts, especially the pros that are on the site.

Just my opinion, but I'd say a week is about enough time where you hold cards. After that, you leave a message advising that the cards are being moved back to the trade box and will be available to others. Leave the offer out there but with no guarantees.

The key is to put the cards back in the trade box! About every two months I "clear off my desk" and find tons of stuff I could have been trading!

I've had people get yippy with me that I've "been on the site every day" and that I'm ignoring them. What I figured out is that because The Bench is my home page on my personal PC, everytime someone opens a browser it looks like I'm reading my email when I haven't looked at The Bench in days!

Bottom line, be courteous and be clear with your intentions. In the end, it's only cardboard in the big picture!
Regards,


Michael

 

[mrmopar]

I'd agree with David.

My thought is if someone is selling and they make you ask for a price (which is quite common here for some reason), there is no reason to decline if you don't like the price. Some may disagree, but the seller should assume no response = no interest. If you have prices listed, there is none of that back and forth needed. Buyers either move on silently, offer a different lesser price or accept.

Because we are not face to face, there is a greater amount of effort wasted on "back and forth" just to show we are still there and active. As David noted, you could also send a reminder PM if you still thought there was interest (although you shouldn't have to). If that is ignored, then you certainly should waste no further time with that person, at least on that deal. Some may even choose not to deal with that person at all in the future, but that seems a bit far to take it in my opinion.

Trading would be a different matter, because that always involves some level of negotiation.

I would not hold the cards for them if you don't get a reply to your offer

 

[dragonslayer913]

I refuse to pull cards anymore to many times they pile up on my desk and only have to re-file them..now i check to verify if i have them..once trade is posted and confirmed i pull them.

 

[Yankeeswin]

Week is about right. If I don't hear from them, I recollate them and move on. And I won't trade with them again. My time is valuable too, I can't spend hours on pulling cards for people who don't follow through. I'll also add if the person has a history of not making trades (like 200-300 posts and 2-3 trades) then I probably won't even bother pulling them.

I have about 10k cards to trade and although I recently reconciled my trade lists, I need to pull them to make sure they are present before I continue with the trade.

 

[metsman1986]

Everyone has made great points here.................It's really a personal preference...................If I feel like I'm being ignored or dismissed, I move on.................I generally don't hold grudges, but understand when folks do because it does waste time and is frustrating...................

 

[2000Doubles]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have had a couple trades fall through where I had cards all pulled and ready to go. Its a bummer having to go back through the work of putting them back with nothing to show for except wasted time. Its just the lack of communication from the other end that gets bother some.

I ended up just cancelling the trade that I was referring to. While I may be wary of future dealings with that person, I would not count them out in the future.

Thanks again everyone


EDIT: Also if people just dont want to do a trade/sale I would wish they would respond with that. Instead of no response and then a few days pass and you send a follow up PM and then they tell you, if your lucky. If your not happy with a deal, just say it. Feelings wont be hurt, at the end of the day its just cardboard.

 

[anglinomics]

If your selling cards, you can put the price in your post. Then they don't have to ask and you won't have to wait.

 

[2000Doubles]

If your selling cards, you can put the price in your post. Then they don't have to ask and you won't have to wait.

Lol, funny story with that. I also post on a different forum (i know shame on me ). Well everything needs to be priced. So, I took the time to even price base. Well had someone pm yesterday over there. They were interested in a large number of base and a few relics cards. I go price/pull all cards, right before I send PM with final price, I get a PM from the other party. Apparently, they forgot they had cards coming later in the week and no idea what numbers. So if we could just do a deal on the relics and wait later to see if they would still need the base.

I just postponed the whole deal until they knew exactly what they wanted. All just wasted time. There is no way am i going to hold any cards. Once i hear back, whatever I have of their needs at that time is what i have for them.

 

[dan5]

I don't hold cards for anyone. First person to offer me a trade & it gets posted gets them. I've had the same thing happen to me waaaaaaaaaaaaayyy too many times on this & other sites.