I think I'm done trading

I hope I get a shot to trade with some of you vets that are looking to hang it up before it is official. It would be like getting a shot with the Traci Lords of the beer world.

 

I'm somewhere north of 100 trades and closing on in 3 years of trading as well and I feel the same way. As much as I love getting a box of cool beer, the rest of it just seems like a chore anymore. I'll probably continue to make a trade here and there throughout the year, but I'll never go back to sending out nearly as many as I had those first two years. I'm on pace to cut my cellar way back by the end of the year as well.

 

I find extras come in waves for me and often times it's newer traders that maybe don't have the cellar or just don't know exta ettiquette that I'm (relatively) disappointed with. Extras are another thing that seem to get better the more trades someone does.

 

Most hobbies don't make financial sense. But it is hard to put a dollar amount on personal enjoyment.

 

I drove nine hours to Charlotte to see Jaguars at Panthers in Week 3 of the 2011 season. That made zero sense to most but it was an unforgettable weekend. Yes we CAM!

Driving nine hours to Minneapolis to Darkness Day didn't make sense either, especially considering we slept in a tent in 35 degree weather.

 

By reading through these it sounds like a lot of vets are too focused on chasing everything or too focused on trading. When I am on a hiatus I focus more energy on helping people try new things or helping newer BAs with trading. Maybe it's easier for me since I'm in the industry?

 

You didn't sell that guy any Zombie Dust yesterday while I was in your store. That was disappointing.

 

Haha, I never said I violated distribution maps. Who am I, Ale Emporium?

 

I don't understand why folks are so offended by the somewhat irrational noob-proposed trade? Just give it a half-chuckle and move on. It seems some people need to get their RDA of self righteous indignation and be the Arbiters of Fairness and Good Taste in any marginally skewed trade proposal. It's the "ISO:FT Police" that are making me less interested more than anything - the upswing in thread-shit...

 

This thread is depressing. It seems the only reason we're talking about how much financial sense trading makes is because of beers ending up on Ebay. As soon as profit is in the equation, it will suck the community dry of its good will.

 

I too will be cutting back on my trades... I'll still head out for beer releases and tastings, but I won't be trading as much. My regular partners will still get the hook up though.

I may pop up for a BIF here or there as well.

Trading was great when I wanted to try a bunch of new beers, but realistically, distribution has grown so immensely that I can try a different beer every day for months before I repeat.

I was never much one for chasing whales, and the hype that surrounds EVERY new release is too much.
I'll focus on homebrewing my own sours and sipping Zombie Dust and BCS for a while. I can hardly imagine how trading will be 5 years from now...

Cheers Phil

 

Not sure why this bothers you. Beer traders have their own culture like any other group of similar people. Maybe you'd be content to travel to some foreign land and behave like a jackass (in the natives' eyes) until you figured out how to conduct yourself, but I think you'd have a much better time and be more welcomed if you tried to learn the etiquette beforehand.

 

The problem with the chuckle and move on approach is that when the forum is full of those types of threads and a new trader comes onto the scene, that's all they see. So that becomes the norm to them, and they perpetuate it.

 

I can certainly understand. I have nowhere as many trades as you (a small handfull), but I stopped and took a break after I noticed the costs escalating. There was also a lot of frustration per usual which I dont have the time for.

Still there were some great trades in all of it.

I am discovering out of state store destinations, buying online,cause the cost is about the same and its less of a hassle (sometimes..)

Nothing feels better than visiting a store far from your home grounds with different product and just going ape in the place for me.

The trading thing I found gets to an apex and it sort of... Declines..

No worries shogo, but I know how you feel/felt.

 

Perhaps you're right. But fostering elitism and know-it-all-ism in cultures can be destructive to those cultures, usually from the inside out and not the other way around. Why not foster support and friendship instead?

I just returned from Rome with my family. I witnessed my dad speaking to Italians with a fake Italian accent when they didn't understand him the first time he spoke to them. Rather than getting offended, they laughed when they realized what he was unintentionally doing. They saw his intention of trying to communicate better more clearly than the medium of talking with a ridiculous accent. Last year in Belgium, people were friendly, not insulting, in the way they corrected my mispronunciations. They understood that we were trying to speak their language(s), and they appreciated it. My experience is that your point about etiquette is moot. Learning etiquette beforehand is a nice way to prepare for a trip, but learning it while immersed in something is usually more effective because you can tie the ends together for yourself. Plus, not everyone has or will take the time to learn etiquette ahead of a trip/experience. People in Europe didn't expect us to know the fine points of their cultures; instead, they were happy to help us understand in the situations we experienced. When you travel to several places in a week or two, learning all of those cultures' idiosyncrasies can be a daunting task that causes more anxiety than security.

Finally, has anyone else noticed that all the responses to my post have been regarding the negative points, which were fewer in number than my positive ones? Maybe this is the biggest issue: the focus on negativity. I did have mostly nice things to say and I still stick by them as of nearly 2 PM today (also, have another potential trade in the pipeline for a most-wanted beer, so huzzah!).

 

I've noticed that a lot of people are disheartened by the costs of beer trading, but I really don't understand it. Compared to a lot of other hobbies, beer trading isn't so bad. To those complaining about costs, why is this? Is beer not that high of a priority to you? Do you prefer to spread out your disposable income over a larger set of hobbies? Do you just not make enough money even though beer is important to you?

I have no problem throwing a lot of money at my beer hobby since it's really the only major hobby I have that costs anything (the other main two are weightlifting and raquetball and both of those are provided). I don't have an income as I'm a student, so I try to save money in other ways like rarely going out for food and beer and walking two miles to school instead of paying for parking.

 

The problem is that shipping isn't fun....add on top of that if you are doing a locals for locals the shipping can be literally as much as the beer in the box or more and it just bums a lot of people out.

 

I don't think Shogo intended it at all, but this whole thread has turned into a circle-jerk of negativity, and I agree there's way too much of a focus on it. People need to chill. Then again, it is the internet. What would it be without cynicism and negativity?

Here's a thought: maybe instead of Trading - General/Help we should have two separate forums: Trading - Bitching/Moaning, and Trading - What can I get for my (insert beer here)?

 

Ironic I enjoyed that given that sarcasm is its own brand of negativity...