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I know we are getting 3rd party input on card values,  which I try to verify with Becketts, but in the middle of putting together a proposal, the values have changed on me several times. I will choose cards for each side that add up to an equal  value (more or less), then go back and check my math, and at least one side has dropped. Sometimes it happens the 3rd time through. I'm sure that I've looked like I have offered some lopsided deals before I started catching this. Anyone else have this issue?

Yeah Sport Lots is now inputting sale values for all the cards. It doesn't/hasn't changed the values for many vintage cards, but for newer card especially commons, most of em are .18. Any card worth more than $1 is probably better to see what the latest "sold" prices on eBay are. I have also heard that Becketts latest price guide has some pretty significant price increases, so yeah. eBay sold is what most people use. Those can be inflated too but usually, there are enough sales over their 90 day history to get a sense of true value. I've found average auction prices are best. Buy It Now prices can be high or sometimes mistakenly low.

I'm not sure I would use the term "inflated" for ebay sales since they technically are prices people are paying.  For more modern cards, the ebay prices are higher but they are actual prices people are paying.

For vintage cards, I'm finding the opposite is true.  Sports lot seems to be jacking up prices far higher for some than I'm seeing on ebay.  I found one card (a 71 Topps higher number) that sports lot had triggered the price to jump to around $20.  Nearly every ebay sale I found for cards in even really top condition, I was finding it around $5.

As my mom always said when I was growing up and going to card shows with my dad, a value is only what someone is willing to pay.  A book might say something is worth $100, but if you can't find a buyer willing to give you more than $10, then $10 is what it's worth.  In the cases here it becomes tricky because we are looking at actual sale prices from both sportslot and ebay.  I think it has more to do with the type of buyer at each site.  Ebay is more well known and you'll get a broader range of shoppers but more savy collectors (the types looking for the older cards) might go to sportlots instead which is why newer cards sell more on ebay and older cards sell for more on sportslot.  Just a theory.

I've seen the same thing, values changing mid-proposal. It made we wonder if my browser had certain card pages cached in memory with the old value, and then I refreshed the page by checking it for a trade, thus updating to the new value. Better to have the updated value, I think they're a little more realistic, although some of the SportsLots prices are a decade old, not sure how relevant those are.

I've noticed this while adding cards to my collection.  It will show one price, I add it, and it shows a lower price.  Refresh the page several times and the price drops each time until it hits 0.18.  Then I go back to the set list and refresh it, and that card has lowered itself to 0.18.

Maybe instead of values, you make a trade proposal for cards you want and ones you want to get rid of. Value is subjective. What is someone willing to pay for the card. 

I absolutely agree with that. Though it seems many traders are concerned about values.  It's difficult to know which type of trader you are making the proposal to. I'm always trying to keep the values fairly even, if not in favor of the other guy/gal, within reason, because it's not that important to me. I'm just here trying to trade off my dupes or things that I don't care if they are in my collection or not, for things that I want.

I dunno, I think maybe only some are concerned with values, or at least values of cards that have high values anyway. I have found that if one tries to send an even amount of cards or so and it's not so obviously lopsided (vintage for 80s/90s, HOFs for commons, etc), then the other person would at least give it a look. I also add "Feel free to counter" in my trade message so that the other person doesn't think it's a this-or-else offer. There have been a few users that reject trades without comment (which isn't great trade etiquette btw, search for thread in forums), but most will write back with their thoughts or counter with what they think is fair.

Hopefully you're not spending too much time calculating up cards... given that some people don't respond, it might feel like a waste of time in the end.