Hey everyone,
I recently made a trade with another local collector and it was surprisingly fair and fun.
Trading has usually for me been a waste of time, as there seems to always be one side who wants the deal heavily weighted in their favour, or someone has items that don’t fit the interests of the other.
Do you have any tips for successful trades? Do you keep a binder for the cards you are trading?
Here was the trade we made last night!
(My Side)
(His Side)
Just this past month was the first time I’ve traded in many years. Ironically it was for a dead TCG (VS System), but it was nice to not have to swap $ for cards for once.
I loved trading back in the good old school yard days. Still would love to do it, but I don’t know any collectors in my area.
Once had a trade via discord and as you already mentioned - the problem of non matching interests may result in somebody walking away with a rather unsatisfied feeling about the trade.
So the clostest thing to trading is selling my cards on cardmarket and spending the money instantly on other cards 
I’ve seen too many instances of people being scammed for me to be comfortable doing a trade that wasn’t in person.
Nice stuff!! I make some trades here and there, especially with recent tax reporting changes I prefer trading cards because the money would just get spent back on my collection again if I sold and purchased the cards I want.
The challenge is finding someone who collects the same things as you do, has extras of a card you need, and you have extras of what they need. Pretty challenging at least for me to find people who collect PSA 10 Japanese Lv. X/BW EX and UR and have extras lying around to trade.
I do 80% trades, 15% purchases and 5% sales haha
I would absolutely love to trade. However there are so many nuances to it, that as a beginner it would be preferable to do in-person trade. This is a great post to get some insight on people who trade regularly. I really hope to attend some event close to home and get an opportunity.
Cheers!
I did one trade back in 2018 that was just with some random guy on Instagram. My end was some Poncho Pikachus and Base Charizard and he gave me Gym Challenge packs and some other wotc holos.
We both mailed with tracking on the same day and just assumed neither would scam. Crazy to think I did things like that back then and probably never do that now ahah
I probably do 50% trades
I love trading. I do it in-person at least once or twice per month. As @fourthstartcg stated, it can be difficult finding a match if you have niche collecting interests.
I would say that 9 out of 10 people looking to trade with me are modern collectors. Because of this, I have inadvertently begun a modern collection. At first, I thought that my modern collection would solely be used for trades (i.e., I would trade my modern for their vintage), but I soon became attached to my new, shinier, textured cards and the memories of obtaining them. 
Also, most collectors want to trade for raw cards, but I always bring raw and graded. It’s pretty neat to see a raw collector hold a graded card for the first time and watch their eyes light up!
TL;DR: I trade regularly. 90% of people want to trade modern, so I’ve grown my modern collection (previously from nothing) to have a better selection of cards to trade.
Trading has less fees and builds relationships in the hobby. Win win.
I don’t do straight trades often, but cash + trade at card shows is a great way to get deals done and not have to drop large amounts of cash at once.
I struggle letting go of cards I’ve purchased. I either buy vintage cards I intend on keeping or am attached to modern cards I pulled myself. I also didn’t go to any irl events for a while because of covid but the next prerelease I think Ill take a trading binder cuz I really miss the days of trading as a kid.
Trades are very cool, I do it quite often (not the big deals though).
When someone who buys from me fairly often has a cool card I will come up with a trade offer. And sometimes I come across with children who are looking for their first slab for example, I love to make those little trad and make them happy. In those cases I will happily trade for something that does not fit in my collection.
Trades carry way more emotional value than just cash deals.
I am not very into poketubers, but recently I found Deep Pocket Monster in my algorithm, he has a few cool challenges surrounding trades. Those videos are so wholesome, I love to see those!
I struggle letting go of cards period. Once something is in my collection I don’t ever plan on getting rid of it, except in exceedingly rare circumstances.
Love trading cards I have Doubles of. I usually trade only friends or family.
Haven’t traded Pokemon in years, I miss it terribly. I’d go as far as to say that trading was a big part in laying the foundations for my relationship with Pokemon.
My advice would be to echo what others have said; find the right people to trade with. Really the only type of trader I’d categorically avoid are the ones who only get their fix by fleecing you. It can really sour your day and make you hesitant about reaching out to others.
I made a trade for a mint unlimited XY8 Typhlosion a month ago.
I was willing to give up quite a bit because who knows if one ever pops up again let alone in that condition.
When my buddies and I open packs we usually have a trading session afterwards.
And I like to message on instagram with my 0 clout account and see what people are willing to let go.
I started trading a few times over IG last year with great success. Haven’t been scammed but the fear is always in the back of my head, that’s why I’m very picky with who I do trades with.
I want to do more this year, including trying to trade for a Japanese Crystal Lugia. But I also have done one in-person trade with a friend which was very fun! I agree there is more an emotional weight to an in person trade and the cards you receive and give to another. Obviously it’s a trading card game so it’s fairly intuitive and feels like you’re really doing something that the cards were intended for.
I’m reluctant to make big trades with folks that aren’t in person since the risk is a bit too high for me, but I’m hoping to make some big trades this year with trusted collectors.
To answer your question though, not as often as I’d like haha
