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Just an fyi that I found out this week....maybe some of you have experienced this already. When one trader makes an offer and the other is in the process of countering (whether that takes minutes, hours, days, etc....) the card or cards you have offered will not show up as being "in transaction". They show up as still being on your fs/t.   So, there is a risk of trading a card to two different partners... at least that is what is what appeared to have almost happened to me. It's also a lesson to me to try to be reasonably quick if I am going to counter someone else's offer. If I am incorrect about this scenario,  please feel free to correct me.

What I can give for advice is when anyone proposes a trade they should have the cards pulled and ready before submitting the offer.  I have a small table in my office I keep all trade offers I make on with small post its with the trade number so I know which trade they are.  That way I know I'm not double dipping with the same card.
I have received offers which had one of the cards tied to another offer in them in the past.  Looks like there is a newer feature now that lets you know when you are proposing an offer that has a card on the other person's side tied to another offer.

That is a good fail safe way to do it. A lot of the time though, I am not in front of my cards when I make an offer, but will write down the proposal and pull the cards when I get home.  I know that's risky, but it has pretty much worked so far. That particular transaction, I forgot to write down, so when it was being countered, I couldn't see what the original proposal was. Totally my mistake.  I do like that new feature. It saves me from searching my list of proposals to see if I've already asked for a certain card.

You can do what I do, cue up the trade selecting the cards you want and what you have to offer but don't submit it yet until you've had the chance to pull the cards.  There is nothing say you have to propose the trade as soon as you identify what it is you want to trade for.

It seems logical that a card would not show as 'in transaction' during the countering process. I assume that the card's status would only change when the trade is accepted. Cards continue to show on our FS/T lists for as long as the offer is waiting to be accepted, and a counteroffer wouldn't change that, it's still just an offer.

Pulling cards physically at the time of the offer makes sense if the offerer wants to be really thorough, or is really confident the offer will be accepted, or wants to photograph them as part of the offer. Otherwise it can be a nuisance; if an offer goes completely ignored (which happens more often than it should), the offerer has to withdraw and refile the offered cards back where they came from. I keep offers in a spreadsheet to help ensure that I don't offer or ask for the same thing twice.

A few suggestions...

1. Never agree to a trade simply based on the database. The system is excellent in its functionality with quite a number of safeguards as already mentioned, BUT physical confirmation should prevent most errors and glitches.
2. Recheck trades that have been dormant even a few days to not only confirm cards, but to confirm updates to each partner's needs. Active traders may not need or have what a trade that was set up 2-3 days ago.
3. Lastly a personal preference - 99% of the time I don't pull cards when I offer a trade except after I've confirmed and when I'm going to accept a trade. It's double work, but I prefer doing that than pulling and not agreeing to a trade and having to put them back.

Great suggestions guys, thanks! Seventh Son, agreed on the ignored trades! It happens far too often!