General Forum

Trades are so worth it. I've been able to swap thousands of cards; I think you can be smart financially too:

1) Get a kitchen scale to weigh the envelopes in ounces
2) Use "additional ounce" stamps to avoid using multiple "forever" stamps
3) Use "Global Forever" stamps instead of having to track everything shipped overseas
4) For any gift-giving exchange (e.g., birthdays, Hanukkah, Christmas, etc.), ask for stamps

Where I live there are no LCS so trading, buying boxes at stores like Walmart, Fred Meyer or Target, buying online  (Ebay, COMC or Sportslots) are my only options. So trading is a big part of my collecting life

This is me also, except my town doesn't have a Target.  And to be honest, retail has gotten more expensive than I want to pay, so trading here has become an important part of my collecting.  I still do use eBay, COMC, and Sportlots, but not as much as did before I started trading here about a year and a half ago.  The linchpin for me is that I am finding good homes for cards I care nothing about that have just been taking up space in my house for years.  I enjoy that almost as much as getting new cards for myself.  Postage is high and getting higher, but it still seems to be worth it to me.  Much better than the alternative of keeping a bunch of cards I don't want until I inevitably get sick of them and throw them out. 

Just like everybody else, trading is absolutely worth it. I stick to mostly PWEs. I send 27 cards for a little over $1. My kids always say I bought you a box of cards. Which I do love ripping packs. But I'd rather trade to get exactly what I want. Trading keeps me sane. I have a ton of junk Era cards not even listed. I think that is most of time goes, is loading what you have to trade. But the enjoyment of getting a package in the mail puts a smile on my face. Cantwait to get it open and put them in their place. Shipping cost is just a thing that goes with the hobby. I'd rather spend 10 bucks a week on shipping then over 100 on a hobby box.

I love trading.  Not only do I clear out cards I have no interest in, but I get back cards I want.  Shows and card shops are not really an option because of the part of Minnesota I live in.  To further complicate that, I am a die hard Saints fan in Viking territory.  Trading fills my time with a constructive activity.  As a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, this website was a God send.  Learning how to ship cheaply was easy.  I usually have 10 or more trades pending weekly.

in person trades preferred

Ok, you guys talked into it! I'm going to try it. I have over a million cards probably closer to 2 million and I just want to have a more focused collection.

I have another question...

Is there a way to work on multiple collections and have a want list for each collection of cards I want/need? 

Like can I pick 90 cards of Shaq and make that a "collection" I'm working on. Then that would link to how many of those cards I have and then there'll be a list of which of those cards I still need/"Want"...

Then I can do the same with Rollie Fingers.... and that would be it's own "collection" with its own "want" list....

Then have another one for Carnage ...

And so on...

As far as I know you can have multiple collections. Right now I have 3 listed with what I currently own. I only have a wantlist in my main collection so maybe someone who has been here longer can answer if the waitlist would be for each separate collection you add.

Yes you can add any cards you want to any collection, it doesn't matter, you can add any cards for trade to any collection.  The rub comes when you get cards in a trade (using the trade matching function, it's awesome).  When you receive those cards and mark them as recieved they don't go into the collection you had them marked as wanted, they all go into the Main Collection.

DEFINITELY worth it. I look for cards for myself AND some of my recent traders on here. (A lot of Braves fans....) There are cards I would have NEVER been able to get without trades. My wife has come to terms with the postage and frequent stops at the Mail Store. $1.30 to send 10-15 cards that I have no connection to, whether they are worth .50 cents total or $50, is worth the 10-15 cards coming back my way. Every time!!!