Re-trading beers you traded for... thoughts?

I see no ethical dilemma whatsoever. If you trade for a 4 pack of something and then trade 2 of them away, that's your business. When factoring in shipping, that trading gets to be expensive but not unethical at all. As far as an unspoken rule about trading away what you've acquired, that would practically mean that anyone trading any beer not in their distro and that they didn't personally purchase within that beer's distro would be breaking that rule so I don't believe there's is any such rule, unspoken or otherwise. It's your beer, so have fun and do what you want. Just treat others fairly and don't be a dick and it's cool.

 

Some traders apparently have a problem with it, but I have yet to hear a good argument against it as a per se rule. I started a thread about it once before here.

You're right about the "different story" when you underpay (or "under-trade") for a bottle, which is the scenario that most traders will say is not the coolest thing to do. Otherwise, most traders don't have a problem with it and it sounds like you have the right approach.

 

The only issue I can think of is if it's a vintage bottle. If you traded for it, you can't guarantee that it was properly stored for aging.

 

I think you're right about this part. If you got something nice in a LIF or got really hooked up in a BIF or by a regular trade partner, that would be bad form. Otherwise I'd say it's your beer to do what you please.

 

Something else I could see being iffy is that I've sent multiple boxes, unsolicited, to people saying they've never tried x beer. I enjoy being able to give someone beer they want and never have had. While it is 100% their beer once I ship it, it would probably make me much less inclined to continue doing so if I knew people were then just flipping BCBCS, BCBBW, FBS, etc. I guess this isn't also 'trading' but giving but the same concept applies.

 

IMO yes there isn't anything wrong with that. You were dying to try it, you got to try it, perhaps age it and then share it. No problem there, to me.

 

Sure. Hell, maybe it even didn't live up to your expectations. As long as you worked out a deal for it and didn't have someone just generously drop the 4-pack on you, have at it I say.

 

I have no problem doing that, after all it is your beer. I have a BT I traded for and i would trade it, the 19.2% abv scares me a bit as it's only me who drinks what I drink. Once opened it's all in, don't want to tackle 25 oz's of BT by myself, and it's something I didn't consider when i traded for it.

 

I re-trade beers ALL THE TIME and have absolutely no qualm about doing it. I try not to do it with "vintage" for the reason CharlatanSin stated (unknown storage), but I generally trust my trading partners on "proper storage" and don't get all worked up over it. I also don't trade away beers I traded for, but haven't tried yet, so I only trade those I have/had multiples of or had it before (sometimes you get multiples of something you already had/have through an expanded trade). Also, I never ask my potential trading partner HOW they got the beer and I absolutely don't care whatsoever.

While my primary reason for trading is to enjoy the beers I traded for, another good reason is to build up ammo to get "bigger" beers. If you don't re-trade, you'll have a really hard time getting a lot of the more sought after beers unless you're lucky enough to be in an area with a lot of beers that people would always trade for (think VT). As already stated, re-trade is also a way to "share" beers with other trading partners, and potentially helps reducing multiple trades (i.e your partner doesn't have to do another trade with someone else for beers you have to re-trade).

 

Not at all. I can't believe anybody would care about this, to be honest. I'll say this, though. I once threw in a 120 as an extra to someone who was a good guy and he was kind of new to trading and he'd always wanted to try it, but never got the chance and couldn't get it in his area. If he then flipped it, I might be a little perturbed.

 

No problems at all, happens all the time.

Just don't be a dick about it. Your solid trading partner hooked you up on a bottle? Drink that shit.

 

Yup, this is definitely a rule to follow. If it's something you don't want, give it a way to friends or another trade (if you know your trading partner would want it), don't re-trade beers given to you as extras/gift.

 

The bottom line.....it's your beer and you can do what you want with it.

But there are some gray areas, such as:
1. You gave a good story (true or false) and someone agreed to trade you a bottle because of that.
2. It was given to you as an extra (super gray area).
3. Someone hooked you up with a great beer (as part of a trade or as an extra)

I'm sure there are plenty of other good examples of when it may be considered "bad" to trade a bottle, but it's your beer, do as you choose. But keep in mind, if you trade something away that someone got specifically for you or did you a favor, they may not trade with you again.

 

In most trades I have I like to strike up a rapport with people. If all goes well and I and feeling generous, I would not be happy if someone turned around and flipped my generosity in another trade.

Trading for me is about getting beer I cant get and making some relationships, not winning.

 

The only thing I would add to this regarding "beer karma" is that I don't trade extras. Good, bad, or otherwise they were essentially gifts from your fellow trader. If for some reason you received an extra of a style you just can't drink then simply beer it forward to a friend free of charge. I also don't trade beers that my fellow traders "hooked me up with," meaning they specifically want me to try from their local brewery or a beer they love and want me to try.

Personally, I rarely if ever retrade beers just because you're now getting pretty deep down the rabbit hole in terms of money spent on that beer. You bought beer, then paid shipping to trade it. Doing that again with that same beer starts to drift down the path of illogical to me.

 

I don't think the beer gods will strike you down if you trade away a beer you traded for. That said, I personally don't trade away anything I've traded for because I wanted it for personal consumption in the first place

 

Re-trading is mentioned repeatedly in this official beer trading video: