DIS TRADING ETIQUETTE Guideline, your thoughts please

[delicious]

Hello all, we are looking for your input. What do you think about making some basic Trading Etiquette Guidelines for the Dis Board? Note these will be quidelines not rules to basic trading on the Dis board, to help trade threads run more smoothly. The Mods will then look at this thread and condense the suggestions to help with our trading.

Ok I will get us started:

1. when listing your items keep the first post updated with the lead bid so people don't have to read all the thread to find out what the current offer is for an item.

2. Pictures of items are great, but please take the time to actually list the name of an item you are offering, pictures of numerous pins are not easy to determine the actual pin. You may loose some offers if people cannot figure out what the name of the item is. (some items I don't have I have never seen but I know I don't have it because of the list of items on this board)

3. Please take time to let people know if you are considering their offer, or if the offer is not going to be accepted. These threads can get very confussing for both sides and if you do not acknowledge an offer then we do not know if you are not interested or just didn't see it.

4. Please do not accept an offer if you are not going to trade. If you are waiting for a better offer then do not accept offers until you are ready. Consider accepting as a deal not to be broken. This goes for both parties, if you accept a deal make the trade. If you made the offer and it was accepted make the trade. And do not under any circumstances offer something you do not actually have.

5. Easier way to meet up for trade. Pm the person and try to set a time to meet that will work for both of you. Remember we are not all in the same time zone. ( the reason I say pm to make a meet time is, I can not have the dis window and or my email window open while in the game I will crash everytime. and leaving a message on the thread saying I am on now doesn't help I miss people all the time this way.) And we all know things happen and the meeting my not take place but at least planning a meeting may work better than chancing a meeting
ok that should get you started, come on people give your input. ty

 

[Ms.Squeakers]

I dont know if this fits but :
1. Do a reasonable trade people dont want to be offered something that you can still buy for something that is rare. If someone shows you an offer of Flip they dont want to see A pair of sneakers or Gabrella

2. Dont beg someone for their item if they dont want to trade it than dont trade them. DO NOT COME BACK 5 MINUTES LATER ASKING IF THEY STILL DONT WANT TO TRADE YOU THE ITEM!!

 

[DudeZeke#2]

You do know that there is something similiar to this at the top of the trade board.

 

[souper]

Yes! At times it has been a challenge to see where the bidding is at on some large posts. Also, adding a note of last updated with the date and/or time in the title line might be helpful.

1. when listing your items keep the first post updated with the lead bid so people don't have to read all the thread to find out what the current offer is for an item.

I agree meeting someone that is not on a friends list can be a challenge. If I notice 2 people on my list planning a potential trade I let one of them know...so and so is on my list. If the trade is accepted, let me know if you need help in finding them.

Trading can be rewarding and frustrating at the same time.

 

[DemonLlama]

You do know that there is something similiar to this at the top of the trade board.

Aengus asked delicious to do this.

I'd like to add:

Using someone else's trade thread to steal away offers is patently wrong. Do not run around PMing people who've offered to someone else, trying to swipe it away from them.

If people ask for no PMs, please respect their wishes. If you can't openly make an offer to someone who has asked for open bids, then don't bid.


As a side note, I tried on my trade thread to make it clear I would respond if I was interested or accepted an offer, instead of replying to every single post on my thread. Is that unacceptable?

Thanks for doing this!

 

[SkippyPaul]

1. Long long ago a man could count on a handshake as if it were a signature on a piece of paper. When I post a trade I want you to feel the same way, as if its a handshake. Hence my new.........."handshake trade". If you see me post you know i have the item and will follow through with any offers.

2. I would like to see all offers posted in the threads. Not some ghost offers to compete against. PM's are all well and good but are they fair to the other ppl that offer?

3. If you post a trade thread, update it daily. Respond to all and any offers no matter how minor they may seem to you. After all someone took their time to offer you show some consideration and respond.

4. Dont offer others in the ops thread!! You get spanked for that one.

5. Dont criticize others for their offers.

Trading can and should be fun right?

 

[aengus]

I like many of the ideas here

This is so much better than my original thought of me typing up a bunch of things even if most would be covered. This gets more power by having all of us invested in it

 

[MizBubble]

2. I would like to see all offers posted in the threads. Not some ghost offers to compete against. PM's are all well and good but are they fair to the other ppl that offer?

Thank you so much for that one. I completely agree. I have lost chances at many items because of these "ghost offers." We don't know how to improve our bid if we don't know what we are competing against!!

Also, please try to let people know if you are going to be out of town or unable to access a computer for awhile. It is frustrating to sit and wonder if your offer is being considered while the thread owner is unknowingly off on vacation. Believe me, I understand that emergencies come up, but if you know in advance you are going off on a two-week African safari expedition or something, let the bidders know please

 

[VirtuallyMe]

as someone who has done a few mega trade threads... I'd like to advise against those- if for no other reason then they are a bear to really keep up with and update with offers in the opening thread...

I'd suggest if you want to get rid of a lot of items to at least group them by type... pins, clothes, furniture... in separate threads-

if you are only trading one item- list it in the title of the thread...

if you have multiple items- list types at least- "many costumes" "tons of hats" "pins galore" etc...

I want to second the pm for a scheduled meet up time- I don't know how many trades I've tried to meet up withsomeone and waited for a long time in my room and never did get to do the trade- I know in my last trade thread- I wasn't as available as I would have liked- but had the people been able to plan- a time to meet up like 7pm eastern on Thursday then I would have been there at my time... but "sometime friday evening" doesn't really work.. so be specific when you set up a trade time

Do NOT offer for an item if you do not intend to trade that item... sure people can "reconsider" but I've seen many where the item is being offered in more than one thread- and when you accept you get "oh I traded that"

I would still prefer to respond to all offers as a trader and as a tradee... because it makes it clear whether the offer is being consider or even if it has been seen- I've missed some before- in my threads and been left hanging and neither is a good place

If you are making an offer on an item on a big trade thread- be specific about what you are offering for and what you offer is... also if you are offering a counter offer because your previous one was denied- state in the new post what you want as well as the offer- just like those who are looking for offers don't like to wade through tons of posts to see what is happening- neither do the owners of the thread want to wade backwards to find out what you want...

Update that first thread with what is and isn't available- and even mark trades as pending if possible so that people can easily see what is and isn't available before making an offer... this can be done with comments or colors- but make sure you explain this in the original post

Have some idea of what you want unless you will truly take all offers... I've seen many first posts with "all offers considered" and then someone makes a reasonable offer of somethng that isn't rare and gets a sarcastic response back from the owner stating they don't want that junk... if you don't want buyables or clothes or whatever state that in the opening post- it also helps if you have some idea of things you may want too...

I might also suggest that you not offer the item in more than one site- unless you are willing to post updates to all locations of what winning bids are... I like to look at trade threads to see current value of items and you can't see it if the items gets traded on another site...

close your threads- or at least request closure- for them- but you don't have to delete the entire opening post- again some like to look at old threads to see value for things... but you can't always tell what was being traded if it gets deleted...

A note on NO PMs- I do not like to get offers in PM or even counter offers but if you need to contact for a question or to set up a meet then by all means pm- I much prefer when all bids are out in the open for all to see afterall there really isn't anything secret about it is there?

be friendly, have fun, and post a note of thanks for a successful trade...

I'm sure I could think up a few more but that is probably more than enough

 

[BriarRosie]

Ok, I'm here to offer up my .02:

When you are posting your item for trade:

Post your Likes and Dislikes. You don't want pins? State it.
You don't want buyables except Alice furnishings? State it.
You are willing to accept costumes? State which items most interest you.

Don't just say "I want rare" because "rare" to you might not mean "rare" to
someone else. Be as specific as possible.

Edit to add: VirtuallyMe covered this in her post, but I'll keep my post here to stress
how helpful this is to potential traders.

 

[souper]

Thoughts on Counter Offers:

1. If an OP gives a counter offer accept or decline it on a timely basis.
   
2. Or set a time limit on your counter offer. For example: Counter offer is available to original bidder for 48 hours from the time of this post.

Virtually Me, thank you. Your post addressed an issue, well, that I could not find the right words for earlier today.

 

[aliceblue]

1. when listing your items keep the first post updated with the lead bid so people don't have to read all the thread to find out what the current offer is for an item.

Not everyone is willing to state whose offer they think is best so far. But if they do, yes, the first post is easier.

3. Please take time to let people know if you are considering their offer, or if the offer is not going to be accepted. These threads can get very confussing for both sides and if you do not acknowledge an offer then we do not know if you are not interested or just didn't see it.

Sometimes I prefer to respond to people by pm, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. So I can't really assume that no response has been made when I see "unanswered" offers submitted by other members.

4. Please do not accept an offer if you are not going to trade. If you are waiting for a better offer then do not accept offers until you are ready. Consider accepting as a deal not to be broken. This goes for both parties, if you accept a deal make the trade. If you made the offer and it was accepted make the trade.

All I can say is if a trader goes back on his/her verbal agreements enough times, eventually folks will stop offering on their threads. But in VMK, it's not really a deal until the "accept" button is clicked. I might say something like this: "Make every effort to follow through on your trades. People expect you to do what you say. But if in some rare circumstance you feel you must change your mind, immediately tell the trader you are doing so, and apologize to them profusely." (And yes, I do hold to the trades that I've agreed to.)

5. Easier way to meet up for trade. Pm the person and try to set a time to meet that will work for both of you. Remember we are not all in the same time zone. ( the reason I say pm to make a meet time is, I can not have the dis window and or my email window open while in the game I will crash everytime. and leaving a message on the thread saying I am on now doesn't help I miss people all the time this way.) And we all know things happen and the meeting my not take place but at least planning a meeting may work better than chancing a meeting.

I wish this worked for everyone. There are younger members in particular who operate very spur-of-the-moment and have a hard time "projecting" the next time they will be on VMK. It can be frustrating, and in that case you're lucky to get a pm when they are on.

As a side note, I tried on my trade thread to make it clear I would respond if I was interested or accepted an offer, instead of replying to every single post on my thread. Is that unacceptable?

Perfectly acceptable, in my opinion!

 

[cteddiesgirl]

I want to second the pm for a scheduled meet up time- I don't know how many trades I've tried to meet up withsomeone and waited for a long time in my room and never did get to do the trade- I know in my last trade thread- I wasn't as available as I would have liked- but had the people been able to plan- a time to meet up like 7pm eastern on Thursday then I would have been there at my time... but "sometime friday evening" doesn't really work.. so be specific when you set up a trade time

I try constantly to get people to set a time to meet up. Most of them never seem to get the point. I ask them, "what would be a good time". They just say anytime. Or they'll send me a pm saying "I'm on now". That's great if I happen to be on both DIS and VMK and with the correct character.
I'll keep asking them to give me a time that they'll be on so I know when to log in for the trade.

Update that first thread with what is and isn't available- and even mark trades as pending if possible so that people can easily see what is and isn't available before making an offer... this can be done with comments or colors- but make sure you explain this in the original post

Also make sure to just take off those items you've already traded. I've seen so many posts where the person will put *traded* next to the item. That can get a little much to wade through if it's a mega trade thread.

Have some idea of what you want unless you will truly take all offers... I've seen many first posts with "all offers considered" and then someone makes a reasonable offer of somethng that isn't rare and gets a sarcastic response back from the owner stating they don't want that junk... if you don't want buyables or clothes or whatever state that in the opening post- it also helps if you have some idea of things you may want too...

Also, those that bid should take a close look at the OP and make sure that they offer only items that a person asks for. I can't tell you how many times I'll be trading something and put my wants as only these items and get offered everything else under the sun.

A note on NO PMs- I do not like to get offers in PM or even counter offers but if you need to contact for a question or to set up a meet then by all means pm- I much prefer when all bids are out in the open for all to see afterall there really isn't anything secret about it is there?

I agree. I also don't really like pm'd offers. It can get really confusing for the trader as well. I usually put please no pm's unless we have an agreement already.


One thing I can't stand is when a person posts they are trading something when they are using it in other trades as well. I'll see a thread, offer on the item listed and get accepted and make arrangements to meet. Sometimes it may be right then, but most likely in a couple of hours. When I finally get in VMK to trade, I'll sit and wait and wait and wait only to find out "Oh, I don't have that any more". I've had this happen numerous times and it's frustrating to the extreme.
Or I'll post a trade thread, get an offer that I like and accept it then find out later that the person says "I already traded that, you want something else".
Do not offer things for trade in multiple places unless you have multiples of the item for trade.

 

[aliceblue]

Do not offer things for trade in multiple places unless you have multiples of the item for trade.

I have mixed feeling about this. I used to agree, but now I think it depends on how it is handled.

Sometimes I see a trader close a thread and say something like "Thanks everyone for the offers, but the item is no longer for trade." As long as they let people who have posted offers know about it, I feel they have that right, with or without an explanation.

If they received an offer they liked better in a different thread, or even on a different site, that's really their business. Especially when it comes to trying to obtain a particular item, it can sometimes make sense to have threads on multiple sites, with the same offer. Personally, the only time it irritates me is when a trader plays one site (or one thread) against another in their posts, accepts more than one offer, or leaves traders hanging without informing them of their decision.

Anyway, I guess I would reword this: Do not accept multiple offers for your item, unless you have multiples of the item for trade.

 

[SkippyPaul]

I try constantly to get people to set a time to meet up. Most of them never seem to get the point. I ask them, "what would be a good time". They just say anytime. Or they'll send me a pm saying "I'm on now". That's great if I happen to be on both DIS and VMK and with the correct character.
I'll keep asking them to give me a time that they'll be on so I know when to log in for the trade.


Also make sure to just take off those items you've already traded. I've seen so many posts where the person will put *traded* next to the item. That can get a little much to wade through if it's a mega trade thread.


Also, those that bid should take a close look at the OP and make sure that they offer only items that a person asks for. I can't tell you how many times I'll be trading something and put my wants as only these items and get offered everything else under the sun.



I agree. I also don't really like pm'd offers. It can get really confusing for the trader as well. I usually put please no pm's unless we have an agreement already.


One thing I can't stand is when a person posts they are trading something when they are using it in other trades as well. I'll see a thread, offer on the item listed and get accepted and make arrangements to meet. Sometimes it may be right then, but most likely in a couple of hours. When I finally get in VMK to trade, I'll sit and wait and wait and wait only to find out "Oh, I don't have that any more". I've had this happen numerous times and it's frustrating to the extreme.
Or I'll post a trade thread, get an offer that I like and accept it then find out later that the person says "I already traded that, you want something else".
Do not offer things for trade in multiple places unless you have multiples of the item for trade.

I agree with the statement regarding posting in multiple places ie sites. Thats fine if you have more than one of that item otherwise you have many many ppl scrambling after the same item. Besides its very confusing. If I'm trading furniture I like to park it in a room so I know right where its at.

 

[cat_herder]

as someone who has done a few mega trade threads... I'd like to advise against those- if for no other reason then they are a bear to really keep up with and update with offers in the opening thread...

I'd suggest if you want to get rid of a lot of items to at least group them by type... pins, clothes, furniture... in separate threads-

if you are only trading one item- list it in the title of the thread...

if you have multiple items- list types at least- "many costumes" "tons of hats" "pins galore" etc...

I want to second the pm for a scheduled meet up time- I don't know how many trades I've tried to meet up withsomeone and waited for a long time in my room and never did get to do the trade- I know in my last trade thread- I wasn't as available as I would have liked- but had the people been able to plan- a time to meet up like 7pm eastern on Thursday then I would have been there at my time... but "sometime friday evening" doesn't really work.. so be specific when you set up a trade time

Do NOT offer for an item if you do not intend to trade that item... sure people can "reconsider" but I've seen many where the item is being offered in more than one thread- and when you accept you get "oh I traded that"

I would still prefer to respond to all offers as a trader and as a tradee... because it makes it clear whether the offer is being consider or even if it has been seen- I've missed some before- in my threads and been left hanging and neither is a good place

If you are making an offer on an item on a big trade thread- be specific about what you are offering for and what you offer is... also if you are offering a counter offer because your previous one was denied- state in the new post what you want as well as the offer- just like those who are looking for offers don't like to wade through tons of posts to see what is happening- neither do the owners of the thread want to wade backwards to find out what you want...

Update that first thread with what is and isn't available- and even mark trades as pending if possible so that people can easily see what is and isn't available before making an offer... this can be done with comments or colors- but make sure you explain this in the original post

Have some idea of what you want unless you will truly take all offers... I've seen many first posts with "all offers considered" and then someone makes a reasonable offer of somethng that isn't rare and gets a sarcastic response back from the owner stating they don't want that junk... if you don't want buyables or clothes or whatever state that in the opening post- it also helps if you have some idea of things you may want too...

I might also suggest that you not offer the item in more than one site- unless you are willing to post updates to all locations of what winning bids are... I like to look at trade threads to see current value of items and you can't see it if the items gets traded on another site...

close your threads- or at least request closure- for them- but you don't have to delete the entire opening post- again some like to look at old threads to see value for things... but you can't always tell what was being traded if it gets deleted...

A note on NO PMs- I do not like to get offers in PM or even counter offers but if you need to contact for a question or to set up a meet then by all means pm- I much prefer when all bids are out in the open for all to see afterall there really isn't anything secret about it is there?

be friendly, have fun, and post a note of thanks for a successful trade...

I'm sure I could think up a few more but that is probably more than enough

Everyone is different. I like PMs offers for my trades. And in many ways prefer them over open posting. What I offer for a trade is my business and the person I'm dealing with and not the business of everyone else.

 

[aengus]

PM's is always going to be a topic that the OP is going to have to decide. Many people do post that they do not wish to receive PM's and that should obviously be honored.

The posting offers on multiple sites is going to be a touchy topic of many of the users. As a frequent user of other sites, I very often see the same item up for trade on many sites. Not sure that is going to get much support.

I have mixed feelings on updating post #1 and keeping it current. I never do at present. I prefer people take the time to look through all the posts to see what has been offered and what comments if any have been made. I however tend to only be trading a single, or a small group of items. I can see how that would be beneficial to bigger trade threads that some people like to do.

lots of good info tho, very good ideas!

 

[cat_herder]

I rarely even read long trade threads for lots of items as they just take too long to read, but if the first post is update regularly then I **might** take the time to read it once but I will never read it a second time. There are just too many long trade threads and I have other things to do in life.

Dianne

 

[cteddiesgirl]

I have mixed feeling about this. I used to agree, but now I think it depends on how it is handled.

Sometimes I see a trader close a thread and say something like "Thanks everyone for the offers, but the item is no longer for trade." As long as they let people who have posted offers know about it, I feel they have that right, with or without an explanation.

If they received an offer they liked better in a different thread, or even on a different site, that's really their business. Especially when it comes to trying to obtain a particular item, it can sometimes make sense to have threads on multiple sites, with the same offer. Personally, the only time it irritates me is when a trader plays one site (or one thread) against another in their posts, accepts more than one offer, or leaves traders hanging without informing them of their decision.

Anyway, I guess I would reword this: Do not accept multiple offers for your item, unless you have multiples of the item for trade.

Actually, let me clarify this.

I meant multiple threads as well as in an open trade room.
I have listed items for trade on two sites before. I also update both regularly when I do this. But I've known many people who will open a trade thread for an item, have people offering there, then having an open trade room with it at the same time. Also posting on other thread offering it for other trades.

This leads to people accepting a trade on a forum and then while waiting for that person to show up, trade it to someone else.

I've had this happen to me many times.

 

[aliceblue]

Actually, let me clarify this.

I meant multiple threads as well as in an open trade room.
I have listed items for trade on two sites before. I also update both regularly when I do this. But I've known many people who will open a trade thread for an item, have people offering there, then having an open trade room with it at the same time. Also posting on other thread offering it for other trades.

This leads to people accepting a trade on a forum and then while waiting for that person to show up, trade it to someone else.

I've had this happen to me many times.

That is very bad manners, and it must be extremely frustrating.

But I don't think that multiple trading venues is what leads a trader to tell one person their offer is accepted, and then trade the item to someone else. Somewhere along the line a decision gets made that they will not be honest about their intentions. If they really wanted to, they could pull the same trick within a single trade thread, simply by using pms.