Zen and the Art of Trading

"I AM TRYING TO SKREW YOU OVER!!"

If someone were to yell this at you when you were in the middle of a trade, would you keep trading with him? While he didn't exactly yell this at me, he might as well have. Here was the situation:

I am trading with this guy at my store who I really don't like, nor have I ever liked, but I try to be as nice as I can to everyone, because there's no reason to get everyone to hate you. I wasn't even on planning with trading with him, but he started asking me incessently if I wanted Fauna Shaman. I didn't, because I have 0 Fauna and 0 Vengivine, but after getting asked a dozen times I decided to look at his binder for anything. He explained to me how there are 2 sections: the one i nthe front is his normal trade binder, but in the back is his "pack to set of Jace TMS" section. He naturally wanted me to look at the back section, and amidst all the commons and uncommons from his pack sat a Fauna Shaman. Despite all of his pushing, I really didn't want the Fauna Shaman. He pushed and insisted, so I decided that I could probably just move it to another person later for something I want. We valued Shaman at 8, and I set up $8 worth of cards and he seemed like he wanted all the ones I pulled out. Then this conversation happened:

Me: "Okay, so that's good?"
Him: "Can you put something more in, like $2 more?"
Me: "You said Fauna is at 8 and these cards are at 8, so were even"
Him: "Yeah, but I don't want to break even I need to make a profit off of every trade or I can't get to Jaces"

I immediatly took my cards back and stopped trying to be a nice guy to him by making a fair trade for something I didn't even want.

Trading is an art, not a science. If it were a science, then you would lay the cards down, add up value, if they are even you trade and everyone is happy. However, that isn't the case. People can be emotionally attached to cards, people may be prospecting cards, people may value cards different from their "real" value, people can be convinced that they aren't worth what they "really" are.

If it were a science, how could I have pulled this trade off? I went +4 due to some dramatic misevaluations despite us thinking we were even.

So how can we get better at trading?

The most important thing when it comes to trading is to actually know how much your cards are worth! 2 days ago I traded for a Show and Tell which the valued at 10. I know this card is worth 20 because I have been searching for it online. I gladly moved in on the trade and wound up giving Molten-Tail Masticore for Iona, Shield of Emeria and Show and Tell. This is wonderful, and doesn't happen too often. In case you're wondering, here's what they are really worth (according to average prices on TCGplayer.com)

Iona: 5.94
Masticore: 14.62
Show and Tell: 18.84

So I went +10.16 on this trade, simply because of a misvaluing of Show and Tell.

Now, you can be a walking encyclopedia for card prices, but that only means you won't get skrewed over, and you know when the other guy mis-values the cards. Is that going to make you get better at trading? Not really. You see, there's more to trading than matching values. How can you expect to gain value on trades if you match prices exactly every time? The only way to do that is if you're an epic prospector and can grab hundreds of cards like Frost Titan before they double and a half in value.

That guy I mentioned earlier knows every price cold, but no one ever wants to trade with him. Why? To put it in simple man's terms, he's an asshole. If you read my story again, you should note how he contantly asked and insisted that I trade for Fauna Shaman, even though he knew I didn't want it. As John Medina has said, "I'm don't know finances, but I do know people." Being amiable with everyone is almost as important as knowing your prices in terms of making profitable trades. People are going to be much less likely to trade their beloved first planeswalker (ex Garruk Wildspeaker) if you're being impersonal and all business. They will naturally think they are getting skrewed over even if you offer something like Goblin Guide (which makes him go +2).

Quick Aside
{
Goblin Guide will almost never go down in value as it will be constantly played in Zoo and Mono-Red Legacy decks, so it's a very safe investment
}

Where does being nice in trading really shine? When you trade with the same people over and over again. TNT Gaming typically has 20-25 people at each FNM, so after a couple weeks you get to know everyone there, and very quickly you have tried to trade with everyone. If you're a jerk to everyone at the store, shockingly soon you won't be trading anymore. However, if you make some nice trades with people (even occasionally taking a buck or 2 loss), you can gain people's trust and ensure many more and potentially larger trades.

Compare this to a big event, where you're bouncing from person to person and you won't see the same people twice. Now you have only a few seconds to get this other guy to warm up to trading with you. If he thinks you're some jerk who is just trying to get as much money as he can as possible quick, he may be more restrictive with what he trades (nothing more than $20 worth). However, if he thinks your nice, all of a sudden his Titans and Koths are for trade. I found at the SCG Open that traders make little pods of people all around. I would see people in groups of 6-7 passing binders in a circle. It was in pods like these that being the cool nice guy really makes everyone feel better about trading with you.

When it comes to trading, leave your ego behind.

So to sum that all up, the 2 most important things is to know all the prices and to be a nice guy. That's what you always need to know when smoothing out the trade, but what do you do when looking at their beinder?

I always have a short list of cards in mind that I would like to trade for. Right now, that includes Garruk Wildspeaker, Goblin Guide, and GW Dual Lands (just got 4 more today!). What's the point of asking to trade with someone if you don't even know what you want to get out of it?

So I have mentioned a couple times how there is a different atmosphere when it comes to trading at huge events compared to trading at your store. At the huge events cards will be flying into and out of your binder faster than you could have guessed possible! One suggestion I have is to not get attached to a card unless it is an absolutely necessary card to have. For example, at the SCG Open I traded for tons of different cards and some cards like Thoughtseize, Lux Cannon, and Ratchet Bomb I moved to the back of the binder that I wasn't trading from because I had immediate uses for them all (Thoughtseize for Reanimator and the 2 explosive artifacts for a proliferate control deck that died, but I will probably ressurect with Beseiged). Lim-Dul's Vault is a card I have praised in this blog, but at the open I wasn't sure how good it actually was. I did leave with one by the end of the day, but it wasn't the first that came through my hands. I had traded for one, traded it away, and then traded for another one over the course of the day (I traded for the Vault at 5 and moved it at 6 =D). Some other cards I didn't leave with, but had over the course of the day included a bunch of Unhinged lands (mainly swamps). These were moving at 2 all day, and I found them to be a fantastic way to smooth out trades. Basically, if you don't absolutely need the card, don't get attached to it, and be willing to have it move out.

And that brings me to one little piece of inner rage. It's called a TRADE BINDER for a reason! I was trying to trade with a guy at my store last week and the first 3 cards I named that I was interested in he said were all not for trade. If it's not for trade, why is it there? I read on CF one of their financial guys recommended having 2 binders: One that you offer to everyone that has everything under $10, and another that is slightly smaller that has all your big cards valued at $10 or more. While I currently don't do that, I think I may soon (maybe I should get a phyrexian binder that is likely to get released with beseiged...).

Anyways, I think I should stop now. If I keep on going, I'm going to start rambling (if I haven't already =X). So that is all for now, until next time stay classy! All Will Be One!