New to online trading? Want to try trading online at all? Some of the most common questions new traders have asked me are:
1.Is it safe to trade online?
2.What are references?
3.How can I send my cards first to people with refences and know they'll send back?
Is it really safe to trade online? Yes, if you know how to that is. You can safely trade with anyone on my message board as I know for a fact that their all good traders and I've traded with most of them already anyway.
References? What the heck are those? References are the e-mail addresses of people you have traded with online before. When you're trading, both parties send each other their list of references to let the other person know that they're a good trader that has traded with other people. You should e-mail people on their reference list if they've traded with that person or not because some people will try to fake refs. If they tell you to look at their reference list at G.A.B., ebay, or yahoo, there is no need to e-mail the people on their list of references/feedback because they've been confirmed.
How can you know that the other person with very many references will send back? Simple, if they have a massive list of references, they must have a good background. Simple as that. They can be trusted.
Now, when you start trading, you should try post your list of have/wants at the message board. Have/wants are a list of cards you have and want basically. Just look at some of the others posted or mine to get an idea how they look. People will then make you offers on your cards after you post your list. If you guys can make a deal, you guys swap references(if you have any) and then decide sending conditions.
There are a couple of rules that all experienced traders will ask you to follow. Usually, like I do, traders with pretty many references will ask you to send first if you have no references or only very few like 1-5. Please agree to their rules as I had to keep sending first to people with more refs than me when I was a new trader. If you can't agree to sending first in the first week or two when you don't have refs, online trading isn't for you. Once you have accumulated a number of references, you can simul send or send at the send time with people with a number of referenes close to you. After you have lots, you can go ahead and ask people to send first if they have a a lot less refs or if they have none.
When you send cards in the mail, remember to write the addresses clearly and use the number of stamps appropriate(go ahead, ask me how many you should use and lmk how many cards are being sent. You should use a normal envelope and protect the cards being sent in toploaders, those hard cases. If you don't, cards may get marked or bent and the person recieving them won't want to trade with you again.
After you have at least one reference, you should register at the link below. When you join, they'll ask your reference whether they traded with you or not. If they answer yes, you are assigned a team and your reference list if recorded there.
G.A.B. Link
