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Hey,
I'm a casual player new to Deckbox just learning the lay of the land here. I've updated my profile and uploaded some inventory and I've just attempted to initiate my first trade. Can anyone give me any advise on how to use this site? It looks like the trader reputation is a big deal so I think I'll need to be sending cards first until my trade score is higher at least.
Any other little tips that could come in handy? Thanks for reading!
-ctxjkl
510 (100%)
1) Be patient.
- There are a bunch of people here on Deckbox that really suck at responding. Don't take it personally if you start up a trade and the other person never responds. I generally keep trades open for only 2-3 days before cancelling them if the other person doesn't respond.
2) Communicate
- As was alluded to in point #1, communication is extremely important. Let your trade partner know if you don't like something about a trade, a card is marked incorrectly (wrong edition, condition etc), you're going to be sending later than expected. 95% of the time those things won't be a problem if they are mentioned right away. However, if you don't say anything and send LP cards when NM is expected (or something similar) then you are very likely to have problems. If someone proposes a trade that you're not particularly fond of, just say something like "No thank you" and cancel the trade. It's a turn-off when you cancel without saying anything.
- Along these lines, specifically mention how/when you expect trades to be sent and don't assume your trade partner is going to send the same method as you. If you can only send on the weekends, for example, mention that in your trades. Since you're new you will likely be sending first for a little while. HOWEVER, if you're trading with someone else that is new, send at the same time. I've seen a handful of new traders get scammed by sending first to other new traders and then the other person just never returns to the site. Along those lines, your first 10-15 trades should probably use tracking so you're protected if the other trader claims the cards never showed up. Another way to avoid that situation is to trade with only established traders in the beginning. Traders like myself that have been here for years aren't going to throw away our positive trade reputation to scam someone for $20 worth of cards.
- Most people have a value threshold where they will send in a bubble mailer with tracking. For me it's $30. For some people is $20, for some it's $50, and for some they always send with tracking, because the USPS has lost too much of their stuff. Tracking is ultimately for the protection of the sender anyway.
3) Don't assume that everyone reads your profile.
- Lots of people are lazy. If something is really important to you, such as only NM condition or no foils or w/e, mention that in each of your trades.
I agree with everything Kammikaze said. Solid advice.
People really do suck at responding, so I would always advise that when you initiate a trade to always post a comment in the chat. A lot of time for me, this is my indication that my trading partner has responded. Plus anything in the chat log will be better for if a dispute were to happen. Speaking of disputes, I would for sure always try to work any problems that may come up in a trade. Most people would prefer this. I know my completed trades pale in when we compare it to other, but I take my trade score serious and if I screwed something up, I will make it right.
As Kammikaze said "Another way to avoid that situation is to trade with only established traders in the beginning. Traders like myself that have been here for years aren't going to throw away our positive trade reputation to scam someone for $20 worth of cards." I agree so much. I know if a new trader starts up a trade with me, I do have them send first and I will scour their few completed trades to see who they have traded with before. If I see a lot of completed trades that have some names that I trust, I will be more willing to send to them.
So, welcome and hopefully you enjoy the site.
Last edited by valdor (2016-11-21 15:54:07)
510 (100%)I agree with the things valdor added.
Some general trading guidelines:
- People generally don't like to trade 1 high value card for a bunch of lower value cards. Many people refer to this as "trading down" or "trading up" depending on which side you are on.
- The format in which a card is played matters. This mostly applies to standard cards. A $10 modern (or legacy, or edh) staple card is not equal to a $10 standard card. Unless they really want the new standard card, most people are unlikely to trade en equal value of eternal cards for standard cards. Expect to get maybe 80% value for standard cards when trading into other formats. Standard for standards should be 100% value though. This doesn't apply to cards reprinted in standard, such as the fetch lands or Thoughtsieze when they were in standard, because they were already eternal staples.
- Deckbox's values aren't perfect. I recommend double checking every card's value on another site, such as TCGPlayer. If you notice that the value of a card is off, there is a convenient link on the card's deckbox page where you can submit a report.
Thanks guys, that's really excellent advise. I appreciate you both taking the time to respond to a newbie to the site. That makes sense what you've said about communication and working things out. I'm generally pretty amicable about things of that nature and I don't play competitively so I don't think I'll get too salty about small issues. That being said I really like what you said about accuracy with card conditions and sets. I have a few cards like "Library of Leng" and I can't tell what set it's from but I listed it as being from 4th edition (I think it's either 4th or "R") But I'll need to be sure about things like that before I send out cards. Does the site have any type of general guidelines that constitute types of card conditions? I just want to make sure I'm representing my inventory with accuracy. Again, thanks for your time! This seems like a fun way to trade!
-ctxjkl
510 (100%)I'm glad we could help. 
Here and here are two other pages that will help.
Deckbox Card Condition Guide
- Here is another good one.
Regarding Library of Leng (I absolutely love this card btw. Nekusar edh says hi.) and other older cards that don't have a set symbol, usually you can figure out the printing by looking at the copyright line and the borders. Alpha has black borders and very round corners. Beta has black borders normal corners. Unlimited and Revised both have white borders, but the text size is slightly different and so the lines will have different words. There are a number of places with good images to help figure out which printing you have, such as Gatherer and MagicCards.info. Fourth edition has a 1995 Copyright date. Fifth edition has a 1997 Copyright date.
One more thing to add about trade etiquette: It's generally a good idea to let the other person fill in their side of the trade. Go ahead and put in everything they have that you're interested in and ask them to do the same. Then you can cut down or add cards to even it out. It can get really confusing when the value in the trade changes and you don't remember which card was cut.
Also, Paypal ShipNow is the best place to get shipping labels if you're sending with tracking. Cheapest and most convenient.
Last edited by Kammikaze (2016-11-21 16:46:04)
Hey, thanks that was all really helpful! I went ahead and cancelled my first trade proposal because it looks like the guy hadn't logged in a little while. I wonder if you (@Kammikaze) might want anything I'd have in my inventory, maybe you could show me how it's supposed to work? Haha I don't want to impose too much though because you've already gone out of your way a lot to help me. I'm really trying to find a Kaalia of The Vast to build a commander deck with, any tips on how to start looking for specific stuff like that? Thanks for all your help BTW!
510 (100%)any tips on how to start looking for specific stuff like that?
On the main Deckbox site there's a search bar at the top. Type in the name of a card and hit enter (or click on it). That will open the card's page in a new tab/window. On that page there is a bunch of information. Included is a link on the right side of the page that says "Find users trading it away." Clicking that will bring you to the Trade Opportunities page. This will list out everyone on Deckbox that has that specific card on their tradelist.
As for trading, we certainly can. Do I have anything that you're interested in?
