To me, crafting a trade package is an art.
Perhaps the best part is the fact that everyone does it in their own way. No two trade packages are alike.
When I was on the trading forums, other members and I would agree on what cards to send beforehand. That format is nice, but it takes a lot of the fun and excitement of trading out of the equation.
The vast majority of swaps I've made here in the blogosphere are what you might call "blind trades". While trades may sometimes be built around one or two cards, most of what my fellow bloggers and I send each other is a complete surprise.
That's allowed me to develop a specific style to the trade packages I create. People seem to enjoy what I send, so I figured I'd divulge a few of my personal trading tactics to you here tonight.
I just happened to have a stack of Pirates cards for Matt of the great blog "Bob Walk The Plank" on my desk when I came up with the idea for this post, so we'll take his trade package as an example.
Now that he's received the package I sent, I won't ruin any of the surprises.
Read the full article http://baseballdimebox.blogspot.com/2014/06/crafting-trade-package.html.
Nice article.
"Dime-Box" Nick is one of the cooler bloggers in the blogiverse.
I tend to follow the blogger style of trading more than the forum style. Mostly because I don't follow the Book Value or Sale Value of cards much, especially once I already have the card in hand. The only time I pay attention to those values is when I am either looking to buy the thing or to sell.
I have done a few blind trades in my days and they are the funnest!!!
The closest I've come to a blind trade was a recent trade I made with Cody (ffman). He needed a Pujols GU or AU for his 600 HR Collection. I didn't stipulate what he needed to send me other than I noticed he had some McGwire inserts. He ended up sending me 5 inserts, I needed all of them, and a couple of them actually made me say Wow. So, while I haven't had the pleasure of assembling a blind trade package, I have certainly been the beneficiary of one and was quite pleased.
Kirk, I'm with you on BV and SV. I used to run my collection like a small business. I fell out of the hobby for a couple years because I was disenchanted by the business aspect. I'm not saying it's wrong. I just think it takes a lot of fun out of it. I missed the hobby, but not the other junk that has been brought into it. A few months ago, I decided it was time to organize the collection. My intent was to sell everything I had except for my PC and pack it up for good. What happened was so much more. The feel and smell of the cards brought back memories of a 10 year old busting 30 cent packs just to try to get the newest cards for his Cardinals team collection. I started going to the LCS again, this time taking my 2 year old son, who is probably the only 2 year old in the town that can say his dad intentionally let him hold a 1953 Topps baseball card. In short, I remembered what it was like when it was just a hobby.
"Dime Box" Nick's blog appealed to me because I can relate. At the moment, I don't have $100 to toss on a box of cards and worry whether or not I'm getting a good value. My last 2 box purchases were a $5 box of 1995 Pinnacle Series 2 and a $3 box of 1993 Studio. You know what I learned? I got the same feeling I did when I bust a box of new product and I didn't have that sinking feeling of not getting enough in the box to justify the purchase. I got a boatload of cards I needed for my PC and I love the design of both issues. There were no autographs, no game-used, no redemptions, and no remorse.
So now I'm back, For Love Of The Hobby.
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