I thought after we returned from Miss T's 1st College Softball Tournament in Myrtle Beach, and the Pandemic spread......opening up for trading was a great idea. I started accepting large 100+ mixed card trades, thinking I had all the cards, they were easy to find and I had planty of time.. Oh Boy, was I wrong! What a big mistake.

Some traders were and still are patient, as the months passed, I would send small parcels in an attempt to get the trades completed.....just never got caught up. Some traders got impatient [justly so] and the trades broke down, marked unfinished and complete.  All I can say , my bad, sorry! Didn't realize how the Pandemic etc. would impact my family and life in general since March.

Certainly another lesson learned. My trading policy once again needs an overhaul with tweeks here and there. Trades are working out better now, unfortunately, 10 offers are on hold and I still have 2 of the Pandemic Trades still on board.

My apologies.

Mistakes we've all made, Bob. Hang in there!

I hope that we all can realize that if 2020 has taught us anything it's the value of patience and mercy.  We all could use some.  We all could benefit from some.  Hang in there, Bob (and all!).

--Kent

It happens Bob.  More important is the safety of you and your family.  Hope you are all well.  Thanks for taking time to explain how these things can happen.  Be well.

Ted

I've found a sweet spot of having about 25K cards on my Trade List..anymore than that, it takes forever to pull trades (just my experience)..

For those who dont trade much, I don't think they realize how much time it takes to pull trade cards, ship, file away cards received in a trade, etc. But then again I always have 20-30 active trades so maybe thats just me..

Keep plugging away Bob!

Bob, most of our communication is done privately and this may look like something that should be said in private, but I feel there are too may other people that would benefit from hearing this, so please forgive me if this sounds too personal. It's more "generic" than it's going to sound (most likely).

Having had interactions with you fairly regularly over the course of the last 5 plus years, I think I've gotten to know you fairly well. As much as we yell and scream and get POed at each other, I still would consider you a friend, and I look forward to the day where we can meet face to face. That said - you (and many others) need to learn how to focus.

Take it from someone who enjoys way too many things in life. I know how it is. And as card collectors, I know we ALL have a little stack of cards we don't really know what to do with. Some of us have 3 or 4. I had about 20 of them about 3 months ago. I had that down to 1, and now it's back to 4. But they're managable (and about 15 cards each). I collect DVDs, CDs, LPs, 45s, somewhere around here cassettes, baseball cards, hockey cards, baseball schedules, all my tickets from all the games and concerts I've attended, and smatterings of other items. I enjoy an online video game that I play daily (sometimes with my son, who's one of the top players in the world). Oh yeah, and I try to sell and trade stuff away too. While also working a full-time (40 hours a week) job (thankfully, from home the last 6 months). That's a lot of stuff. And I like resolving the IRs here. :)

If I was in a situation where I was behind on trades, everything else that CAN stop, stops. And I get those trades out the door, one by one. I wouldn't even entertain the notion of another trade or sale until they were done. Sure, trading is fun, but it takes time and effort. As an example, I just recently completed 2 rather large trades (couple hundred cards in each transaction, each way). I still haven't gotten them all in the final spots. So what did I do? I turned off trading on here. That way I can get to them. I'll turn it back on when I am ready. Priority and focus. If we all kept those two things in mind as we go through our day to day, we'd all be better off. And yes, Bob, that includes you, but is not limited to you.

Dan's advice is bang on and where I was about 4 years ago. I got tired of not knowing where anything was so I decided to get organized and, thanks to this site in many ways, I did.  I have over 250,000 cards in my collection and when I get new cards to add, they can be in their place soon after they are entered in the site and in my excel spreadsheets. I have almost 70,000 cards listed for trade (99% all different across all sports and non-sports) and I can pull a trade in just a few minutes and have it packaged and ready to drop in the mail.  The larger trades across multiple sets take a bit longer but can be done in less than an hour. Best is that if I have more than one card of any card requested, I can add another for trade while pulling the cards, as the cards are all stored together and the link to the card is in the trade (my personal request to Admin a while back andone of the best additions to the site since I got here). Four years ago that would not have happened.

I've often said, organization is key to having this a hobby you enjoy and not one you get frustrated in.

Bruno

And you are spot on my friend....

ORGANIZATION is a must !

And is where someone should start if they get to where they know they have it but just can't find it. I wish I could attack your 4 rooms just for a week. Not only would what I find be interesting, you would be about 50% of the way to being organized.

Bruno,

Road Trip to New Jersey

~bob~