Trade Secrets
Hopefully I'm in the right category. If not, please PM me to the right one before you close the thread.
Anyway, something I've noticed about trading sites over the last...holy crap it's been 10!...years is that not a whole lot of people share their techniques of building their trading engines. You see a few guidelines, maybe somebody bragging about how they got That Limited Edition of Rareness Mini occaisionally, but never a real discussion of technique.
So I put it to you guys (and gals): How do you go about trading miniatures? Do you construct a list and wait for offers? Do you actively dig through threads looking for goodies? How you get things going on a deal? Do you do anything special for your trades? Do you have a particular day and/or routine that you go through to ship things, or do you just sort of ship on demand? If you've had a problem, how do you fix it?
For example, here's how I go about trading:
I switch between passive (putting up a list and waiting) and active (jumping up and making offers) modes a whole lot, depending on my own personal situation. I have a relatively narrow focus, but it gives me the chance to uber-specialize in my category of choice, and also allows me to avoid a lot of the IT MUST BE MINE problems that gamers face.
If something gets started, I try to get negotiations done by either PM or email, since then I have a legitimate paper/data trail to work with in case something goes wrong. I have done trades via chat and messenger, but almost always with somebody that I've already done business with and/or a sterling reputation. When I negotiate, I do tend towards being generous, especially in cases when the stuff is realtively common. I will, however, jump at a deal when it comes my way and haggle a bit when it looks like I have the chance.
I keep a stash of boxes and padded envelopes on hands for my trades and sales, which accelerates the process immensely for me. I also have a special box where I keep all my stuff that's currently in negotiation. If you ask for something, or tell me you'd like something I'm offering, it immediately goes into this box and if it's unique in my collection, is also immediately pulled off any list I have it on or noted 'in negotiation.' Another minor advantage I have is that I happen to know somebody that goes into the local PO at least twice a week, so I can get stuff out the door fairly fast.
I tend to do overkill on packaging. Of all the trades I have done with cards, minis, and these days bitz, I've had three lost or damaged on the way to the other person. THREE trade drops in ten years of doing this. I admit that sometimes I don't go as far as I should beacuse of time or material constraints, and I'm in the bottom skill tier of package wrapping, but apparently I've been lucky.
However, sometimes things have gone sour for me. My very first bad trade was back in my Star Wars CCG days. I had traded somebody some relatively rare cards and in returned got some stuff in appalling condition. When I complained it turned out to be a dumb kid, and their MOM tried to play the high horse on me. Two weeks later, the moderators kicked him off the site after he pulled the same stunt on a staffer there.
Anyway, when I do have something go bad I try to get things fixed discreetly, before I start yelling for a staffer or mod. I used to do admin work for Good Traders Against Bad Traders, so I know how it is for the staffer folk. But I'm not intimidated either. I will turn in the Big Fish.
So, that's a quick overview. Now I put it to you.
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