I've been on Pokebeach for a while, and made plenty of trades. Some people have incredible trade threads, were it is easy to see what cards they have and which cards they want, but some others have threads that are very hard to read and understand. Here are some tips for a refined Trade Thread:
Tip 1: Your Title and You. The Title of your Trade Thread should have the names of a couple desirable cards that you have, and a couple cards you need.
Example Title: [H]: MAGMORTAR SW, MAGMORTAR LV X [N]: CLAYDOL GE, MAJESTIC DAWN PR SLEEVES-WILL TRADE BIG!
If your Title just says: "Pokeman101's Trade Thread," people look at it and think "Oh, it has 12 replies, this person must be a noob." If your
Title has [H] and [N], people will think "Wow, an Infernape Lv. X, just what I need!"
Tip 2: Your Rules. Your Rules should be clearly worded and easy to understand. In your Rules, you should list:
Tip 3: Your Wants. Your Wants should always be listed first. If you see that you have something on someone's Wants, it inspires them to look through your entire Haves and find something to trade. Your Wants should be titled Wants, so there is no confusion in where your Wants end and your Haves begin. Make sure that your specify exactly how many of each card you want by typing an "x" and then the number of the cards you want. The last thing you need to do is specify from which set the cards that you need are from. Type the abbreviation after the name of the card. If you are a collector, you will also need to state if you want the card in a holo version. You can do this by putting the holo abbreviation between two [].
Example Want: Gallade x2 SW [H]
Tip 4: Your Haves. You Haves will be a lot like your Wants, only these are cards that you have. When listing your Haves, be sure to tell whether a card is holo, reverse holo, logo holo, etc. Collectors may only want a Reverse Holo card, and if you ship them a regular holo, you will probably end up with a negative Ref. You should always list your Haves by set, and you may want to list your Ex/Lv. X cards in a separate list near the top of your Haves. Make sure the Set Name is larger, different color, or has some sort of effect that sets it apart from your cards, and make sure that there is a space between each Set of cards, or everything will blend together. As you should your Wants, specify the quantity, holo-version, and quality of a card if it is not in mint condition. Collectors may want to list their cards by Set Number so it is easy to keep track of the cards they have. If a card is Decked, mark it accordingly, and if there are two cards with the same name in a set, be sure to label them.
Example:
Haves:
Majestic Dawn:
Eevee x4 (Call For Family)
Vaporeon x1
Porygon-Z Lv. X x1 [H]
Tip 5: New/Old Cards. When you trade or get rid of a card, take it off of your list, and when you get new cards, immediately put them on your list.
Tip 6: Alphabetize your Cards. Unless you list the card number, it is much easier to look at a list that has that is Alphabetized. You can do this by copy/pasting your list into Microsoft Word, highlighting the cards, and clicking the button that has a picture of an A, Z, and an Arrow on it.
Tip 7: Non-Pokemon Cards. List all of your Haves/Wants that are not Pokemon Cards under everything else. If you want the High School Musical soundtrack, I don't care. I only trade Poke TCG on Pokebeach, and lists that have a ton of extra stuff turn me off.
I will update with more later. What do you think of these tips? I've created a list of tips before, but it died, and I think that with Summer coming in, we will gain more new members (nOObs) who will make cheesy lists, and be fustrated when no one posts in them.
Updated with Tips 5, 6, and 7.
Tip 1: Your Title and You. The Title of your Trade Thread should have the names of a couple desirable cards that you have, and a couple cards you need.
Example Title: [H]: MAGMORTAR SW, MAGMORTAR LV X [N]: CLAYDOL GE, MAJESTIC DAWN PR SLEEVES-WILL TRADE BIG!
If your Title just says: "Pokeman101's Trade Thread," people look at it and think "Oh, it has 12 replies, this person must be a noob." If your
Title has [H] and [N], people will think "Wow, an Infernape Lv. X, just what I need!"
Tip 2: Your Rules. Your Rules should be clearly worded and easy to understand. In your Rules, you should list:
- Your Location
- Whether you will trade overseas
- Whether you are willing to buy or sell
- How your cards are listed
- If you take cards that non-mint condition
- If you are willing to trade decked cards
- If you prefer to trade with Sleeves, Toploaders, bubble envelopes, etc
Tip 3: Your Wants. Your Wants should always be listed first. If you see that you have something on someone's Wants, it inspires them to look through your entire Haves and find something to trade. Your Wants should be titled Wants, so there is no confusion in where your Wants end and your Haves begin. Make sure that your specify exactly how many of each card you want by typing an "x" and then the number of the cards you want. The last thing you need to do is specify from which set the cards that you need are from. Type the abbreviation after the name of the card. If you are a collector, you will also need to state if you want the card in a holo version. You can do this by putting the holo abbreviation between two [].
Example Want: Gallade x2 SW [H]
Tip 4: Your Haves. You Haves will be a lot like your Wants, only these are cards that you have. When listing your Haves, be sure to tell whether a card is holo, reverse holo, logo holo, etc. Collectors may only want a Reverse Holo card, and if you ship them a regular holo, you will probably end up with a negative Ref. You should always list your Haves by set, and you may want to list your Ex/Lv. X cards in a separate list near the top of your Haves. Make sure the Set Name is larger, different color, or has some sort of effect that sets it apart from your cards, and make sure that there is a space between each Set of cards, or everything will blend together. As you should your Wants, specify the quantity, holo-version, and quality of a card if it is not in mint condition. Collectors may want to list their cards by Set Number so it is easy to keep track of the cards they have. If a card is Decked, mark it accordingly, and if there are two cards with the same name in a set, be sure to label them.
Example:
Haves:
Majestic Dawn:
Eevee x4 (Call For Family)
Vaporeon x1
Porygon-Z Lv. X x1 [H]
Tip 5: New/Old Cards. When you trade or get rid of a card, take it off of your list, and when you get new cards, immediately put them on your list.
Tip 6: Alphabetize your Cards. Unless you list the card number, it is much easier to look at a list that has that is Alphabetized. You can do this by copy/pasting your list into Microsoft Word, highlighting the cards, and clicking the button that has a picture of an A, Z, and an Arrow on it.
Tip 7: Non-Pokemon Cards. List all of your Haves/Wants that are not Pokemon Cards under everything else. If you want the High School Musical soundtrack, I don't care. I only trade Poke TCG on Pokebeach, and lists that have a ton of extra stuff turn me off.
I will update with more later. What do you think of these tips? I've created a list of tips before, but it died, and I think that with Summer coming in, we will gain more new members (nOObs) who will make cheesy lists, and be fustrated when no one posts in them.
Updated with Tips 5, 6, and 7.
