It's Not Fair, It's Really Not Right...

By reading this, and other posts around, it seems like some people see trading as a zero sum game. There is always a winner and a loser, and they want to always come out on top. I fall in the $4$ camp. It's a nice standard for people looking to try new things. Obviously I'll never get any super rare beers, but I'll get to try some great things I can't get any other way.

 

it would help to know what beers are involved, if you have pliny looking to go 3:3 for Mexican cake I can see them ignoring this trade. What were the beers involved?

 

He clearly says they are beers X, Y, and Z. Definitely the most desirable of the alphabet beers

 

Too much Hype around X,Y and Z. Should go 1:1 with Q

 

to OP, I did see a post ISO: Track 10 Lost Abbey FT: heady topper. I pm'ed and said I have 2 bottles, what ratio and he replied 1:1. This was way off Track 10 $15 and heady topper close to $15(not really sure the price) for the 4 pack

 

Heady is barely that much - I traded a bomber of permanent funeral (~12-13 regular retail) for a 4 pack of heady very easily - trade got done in a few hours. I threw in a zombie dust as an extra, but I think the guy I traded with paid $13 or $14 all in for his Heady (might be cheaper direct from brewery). Unfortunately I think a lot of people attach too much trade value to Heady, but it really should go $4$ for any special release / high end IPA.

 

Heady is on average $15 a 4-pack. He asked 1:1 (if he truly meant 1 can of Heady and not 1x 4-pack), seriously? Fuck that guy then.

 

Agreed. 4 pack for 1 track 10 seems very fair. Sometimes you have to clarify what people mean by 1:1, but that always sounds to me like bottle for bottle...

 

what a person pays for a beer is not always what it trades for. if a store charges $15 for a bottle of KBS for example, that KBS is not worth more than the KBS i bought for $5. a bottle of KBS trades the same whether you paid $5 or $50. same goes for Heady Topper, its worth about $4 per can and no more unless you are trading for beer thats way less desirable. if you overpaid for something then that is on you, not the person you are trading with. $4$ is not the end all be all of beer trading. it is a factor to be considered but not lived by.

 

I guess it depends on what you mean by $4$. I always think of $4$ as recommended retail for recommended retail (or brewery price for brewery price depending on if brewery only). I completely agree - gouged mark ups don't count toward $

 

If I overpay for beer, I don't pass the expense on to my trading partner. Period.

 

Location comes into play, people might pay a lot more for a beer in NY, than in NC....not the NYers fault

 

This. So much this.

 

Very true, it is no-ones fault, but I won't trade with the NY guy if they want too much for a beer when other people are trading at a lower $4$. Around me zombie dust sells for anywhere from $12-$18 a 6er, but the trade value is $10ish maybe $12, because that is brewery price / recommended retail. I just have to eat the extra few bucks mark up that stores charge for desirable things. Same goes for stores with higher costs in places like Manhattan

 

Where do you get the recommended retail? Do the breweries always list it? Heady is a known quantity because it's traded so often and it's distribution is very limited, so most people know how much it costs to get it. It's harder to gauge other limited release beers that have a wider distro. I've seen releases locally (e.g. Hopslam) that vary as much as $5-6 a 6pk depending on what store you get it from. At the same time I've been on the other end of it when a distributor screwed up last year and charged $20 for VR when it was selling for $28+ in other parts of the country. If you bought it somewhere on the high end should you expect to value it at the lowest price you've heard of?

 

Fair question. I usually base it on a quick google and a search of Beer menus.com. I look for stores like total wine or other big chains that sell at the base price for a beer to get s feel for what it should be. It is usually a range. Hop slam should be 15-18 per 6er, vanilla rye should be 27-29. I ignore pricing errors, and just go with a reasonable average range.

If a potential trader is hung up on the last dollar, it is a sign that it isn't going to be a good trade - I personally aim to get close and if I feel like I got a deal, I go over the top on extras. Always been happy with all my trades so you just have to find like minded partners

 

Here Hopslam was $17-23, so if you went to the wrong store it was definitely on the high side. But if I paid $23 that's how I would value it. I always try and keep it close to $4$ so when I paid $20 for VR that's how I valued it. I haven't run into this issue personally, that I can remember. Definitely not with anyone I've completed a trade with. I've had a trade fall through because the other person didn't want me to get more ounces of beer than they would (even though we were right at $4$), but never price. I was just wondering where people are coming up with their prices because they seem to be all over the map.

 

Totally fair, prices do vary a lot. As long as both people are happy it is all good. It is complex, because $4$ only works if both beers are equally desirable And people do have weird hang ups (same ounces is a new one to me!)