Most collectors enjoy trading cards they don't need for cards they want. For most of us that is a big part of the hobby and in a way, brings us back to our younger years when we would buy and open packs with friends and trade cards to build our sets. Fun and thrilling, wasn't it!
But though the trading here is very active, I am finding that more and more that more and more members here are only concerned about their wants and are not taking the time to enter what they have for trade to help fulfill other's wants. In the last week, I have received 3 such offers where the only cards offered were the only cards the other member had listed for trade. That is your choice; I am not questioning that. But realize that when you offer a trade to someone because he openly showed everything he had for trade and you found several of his cards you needed, when all you do is enter what you think is a sufficient amount of cards you are willing to part with into your For Trade list, your trade partner is not able to do what you are doing - that is selecting cards he really wants in a higher priority than those you are offering. Basically, because the other member cannot select cards from a longer Trade list and therefore has no real option to Counter your trade, you are offering a trade that reads, "Take it or leave it".
Now think of this - if all members here took this approach, how many trades would happen? Zero! Because if no one enters cards for trade till they see something they want, there would be nothing available that you want. Personally, I think this approach is quite selfish and shows absolutely no concern about the fellow collector's wants in his collection (my opinion which we are all entitled to). I know many will say that they have too many cards for trade to list them all. Guess what, I took the time to list over 75,000 DIFFERENT baseball cards for trade and another 6,000 in other sports that I don't collect just in case someone out there needs those cards. Considering that I am approaching over 200 trades completed in 2020 alone, the active trading membership here must appreciate the work I put in in listing all of these. And it does not take as long to do as so many have moaned about. Get organized and you will see how quickly it can be done using the added features Admin has added. These features are the multiple collections (build one for Traders only), the ability to update your For Trade List where every box you click on automatically goes into the For Sale / Trade list, and the link to every card in a trade so you can keep your Trade list updated should you have another one to trade.
From this time on, if a member offers me a trade in the selfish manner explained above, unless you are offering me much more than what you are asking for (yes, some members are generous because they really want the cards), I will use the options you leave me.
Think what you like about this rant; I've wanted to get it out for some time and when another member I truly respect expressed similar views about the recent trading trends on this site, I decided it was time to do so.
