General Forum

I feel I should apologize, I may have left a couple people hanging recently.  I tried to post messages to let people know if I was going to consider the trade and that I needed time, but wasn't able to keep up.  After reading this, I can try to improve my etiquette, but feel I should try to shed some light on things and maybe get some ettiquette pointers.  I have been on the site for awhile and was new to try the trading and it got overhwelming quick.  Some bullets on challenges I experienced:

• Other than trying to peek in at the site for a couple minutes a day, I usually only have Friday and Saturday nights between midnight and 4 am (I won't bore anyone with my personal details) to sit and focus on working on my collection and on the site, and I can only spend the entire 4 hours if I want to be exhausted all weekend.  I may get a weeknight or two to spend a little time late a well;
• I am still logging my collection and have lots of loose cards in boxes I am sifting through, so trading for certain time periods and companies is on hold since I kind of know what are in the boxes at the high level;
• As I am logging cards, offers start coming in almost immediately - I've tried to say I may need some time to look through them if they appear to be fair or comparable.  I'll reject some right off the bat that are just silly.  The truth is for certain years and sets, I may need a lot of time to get through any loose cars I have because I don't want to trade for a card sitting in a box upstairs I have to get through and I am not sure when I will get to them;
• Some offers come in 60-100 cards for 60-100 cards.  It is hard to mentally process these when there are multiple offers pending.  Also, you really have to read through the offers because I find a lot are, 'take 70 worthless cards off my hands, and I'll take 65 worthless cards off your hands but sneak in 5 rookies or nice insert cards that hopefully get lost in the volume of the trade.';
• If I see a trade that looks like I am interested, I want to make sure I am not screwing anyone over.  My trade list is mostly doubles and they are in varyng states.  I need to go through the collection and pull these cards so I can alert the trader as to anything that might not be in good shape.  I sort by sport, year, company and card number.  This can take a while to get them all pulled.

Not sure if this helps or not, jut sharing some of what I experienced, which makes it difficult for me to keep up.

Muskie, it sounds like you would also benefit from taking the actions of myself and vrooomed. Turn trading OFF and deal with people based on PM's sent to you or checking the forums. I always waited for trades to come to me in the past, but after more than doubling my total collection over the past 2 years, it's become a better option to find the trades/sells on the forums when I know I can help someone with a lot of cards at one time in a single trade or sell. Even with trades turned off, I still have a list of people that want to deal with me. But I can deal with them on my own timeline now. Just something to think about going forward.

not making excuses but just asking for forgiveness to anyone i have left hanging.  life has been a bit out of control lately with my special needs child and it has taken over my ability to enjoy my time on this site and get back to people.  i know i can turn trading off but every day is different.  anyways, i will look into avoiding leaving people hanging in the future and my apologies.  i guess my only point is that i understand the first inclination is frustration and to say there are no excuses but some people are dealing with major things in life and its not always intentional.  i myself will try to do better.  thanks.

A simple explanation when you first respond will gain you forgiveness from most as we all have many life issues that take priority.  I think most of us get frustrated by those who NEVER respond in any way, shape, or form. The little bit of time you can spend in your hobby is probably one safe escape from life realities so I encourage you to continue.

Communication truly is key.

What a great Group of Trading Card Folks here on TCDB!  Communication is totally the Key, in any worthwhile relatioships!!  Personally, I enjoy putting together counter proposals that "infuse" more cards into the trade.  It is worth taking the time to "hunt" down cards in  Home Collection or at my Friend's LCS, so that I can send along more cards to collector's, from their Want list.  Glad to have discovered this incredible WEB Site and Group of Collectors, over seven years ago!!!

Yours in The Hobby - Felix