Say you bought for $20 and it’s now worth $40. You have a 100% gain on unrealized profits.
Do you only use current market value to gauge a trade, or do you feel good if you know you got the tail end of a trade in current value but came out ahead on your original cost basis?
I.e bought at $20, now worth $40 but only traded for $35 dollars worth of product.
Interested to see everyone’s thoughts on this.
Market value always
Market Value, but cost basis can be a great way to rationalize something to yourself if the trade is something you really want.
If there’s anyone that has owned a 1st edition Charizard psa 10 for many years and is happy trading it for the original cost basis or even double that dm me lol. 
Let’s say’s that card is worth $100k… If I bought it at $200 and its growth has flatlined I would gladly trade it for $90k of high demand sealed product that are still closer to retail but showing good growth.
Naturally trades have more flexible valuations but market value is the standard.
Both. I also consider fees and taxes saved too.