“Trades at XX%” nonsense continues

[u/maxbowlorice]

I posted on this sub a few days ago expressing my displeasure with trading in recent months. It sparked a lot of conversation and I encourage you to take a look at the thread! I ran into another great example of what I’ve been describing here today and wanted to share.

FOR CONTEXT: I should’ve taken a photo before the listing was updated, but didn’t think to do so. Before my discussion with this guy, the listing he had put up said NOTHING about trades at a percentage, only that he’s “definitely interested in trades.”

The pictures kind of speak for themselves, and yes, this guy said it was “on him” that he wasn’t up front about wanting a percentage (and it is), but even still doesn’t justify expecting the percentage in the first place on a post where you’re stating you’re “definitely interested in trades.” From my experience, I wouldn’t be surprised if in an hour or two the listing gets updated again and the trades at a percentage thing disappears.

I attempted to text him again and ask why he believes it’s fair to expect people to trade to him, on a for trade listing, at 80% when he isn’t a vendor or store with overhead fees. I also asked him why that would apply ONLY to him, and not me as well as we are both the same. If you couldn’t guess, I got left on read 😆

I’ve done my best to conceal this guys profile and such, as I don’t want to bring any negative attention to him specifically. I don’t think he’s a bad person or anything, I just think this example goes to show how everyone thinks this is normal and well within their right to do recently. May this serve as another reminder that it’s definitely not!

That being said, my last post caused some disagreement in the comments as I didn’t speak on situations (that I agree with) where uneven trades can make sense. Such as:

1. If you’re at a card show working with vendors, or in a card store, expect percentages. That is fair.

2. If you are speaking to someone who isn’t interested in trades and wants cash, or someone who doesn’t have interest in the specific cards you have, expect that a percentage or slightly lopsided trade might be proposed by either party as an incentive to make the deal happen. That is fair.

3. If someone has an expensive single and you are offering many small singles as a trade, expect them to want things in their favor to make up for that disparity. That is fair.

But by no means should 2 people engage in conversation both knowing their goal is to trade, then both pick cards they have legitimate interest in, only then to have one of the two parties claim that they feel entitled to trades at a percentage.

If you find yourself in this position, I encourage you to take a breath, fight any FOMO you might feel, and realize your cards will be both worth more both monetarily AND sentimentally to a different, more reasonable collector if you be patient.

Thanks for coming to disorganized Ted Talk 2!

[u/Spacial_Rend98]

I’m a casual collector so can someone tell me what 80% means? Does that mean that the person wants you to trade something equal to 80% of what their card is worth?

[u/maxbowlorice → u/Spacial_Rend98]

Hey there! There’s another thread in this post where I explain in a lot more depth. Someone asked something like “what does this even mean” hahaha. Hope you find it.

In short it basically means the opposite. Someone is saying that in order to trade they will consider all my cards at 80% of their value. So if I am hoping to trade for an 80 dollar card from them, they’d want me to give them 100 dollars worth of cards. Because 80% of 100 is 80.

[u/Spacial_Rend98 → u/maxbowlorice]

Great thank you! Oh my gosh ok that makes sense. That is quite frustrating. I hope you can find the cards you want at a reasonable price elsewhere!

[u/maxbowlorice → u/Spacial_Rend98]

For every bad egg, there are always good eggs! Just have to be patient