Take the Trade!

Sometimes, trading is like a Monopoly auction. You have to know when you're getting to high. Also, you need to be able to tell when you're getting an AMAZING deal. Here's one example of a real-life trade -

1991-92 Score Bernie Nicholls
2010 Score Martin St. Louis

for

2011 Topps Tim Hudson
2011 Topps Brandon Inge
2011 Topps Jon Lester
2011 Topps Randy Wolf
2011 Topps National League RBI Leaders


Who do you think's getting the better deal? Well, the first side of the trade (top) amounts to $1.50 to $2 of value. The second part (bottom) is worth about $7. This deal fell through. Strangely, it wasn't because the person with part two realized they offered too much. No, it was because the person with part one denied the offer! They believed, for some reason, that their cards were worth 10 times what they really were. Also, to make the situation worse, they were demanding a 2011 Topps Mickey Mantle to be added to the transaction - another few dollars of value. Sometimes, you just have to take the trade!

Trading Up

Trading is a fixture in the sports world. This applies in the real-life game, online spin offs, and, above all, card collecting. Collectors love to trade up - giving dozens of worthless or little-loved cards for a diamond in the rough. Personally, I do this all the time. Recently, I handed off a few dozen low-level Pokemon cards (!) for a quintuplet of NHL Pro Set, Topps, Score, and O-Pee-Chee cards. All I did was flood my fellow collector with options, and one was bound to stick. I walked away from the deal with $20 worth of Hall of Famers -

- 1992 O-Pee-Chee Nicklas Lidstrom

- 1991 Score Jarome Jagr

- 1991 Topps Mark Messier

- 1990 Pro Set Mark Recchi

- 1991 Pro Set Dominik Hasek Rookie

I'd say it was a pretty good deal! Still, above all, you have to be willing to compromise. Bend but don't break. You don't want to get ripped off, and the other person doesn't, either. Give them what they want, so you get what you want. Complex, right? It's actually really simple. For example:

Your "foe" wants, say, an Alex Ovechkin card, and you're dying for a Crosby. Duplicates are helpful. They give security, if you will. It's a back up, almost like a spare tire. Say you have two Ovechkin's. Give them one, and take a Crosby back in return. Maybe you can get something else, too. After all, it's Ovechkin! See? Simple.