First trades

My first trade were some seasonal Cantillons for multiple varieties of Bourbon County beers and extras, I really wanted to try those first.

 

Start with these threads and then have a search:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/beer-trading-rules-tips.229/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/wanted-beer-trading-faq-input.236846/

In terms of packing and shipping there are a few threads if you search for them.

 

Oh, and my first trade was small - local limited shelf beers for some Florida locals.
Start small, do some IP if you ever do work trips and don't buy the hype!

 

And to answer your question, there are fairly frequent locals for locals trades. If you have access to any of the special release or non distro beer, those are often appealing especially if you aren't asking for whales in return. Just expect to be asked to ship first without trading history; that's pretty standard.

Also, now would be a good time to take out that second mortgage or pick up an additional part time job. No need to ask why, it will become apparent real quickly.

 

I started with a sixer of Jai Alai for a sixer of Zombie Dust. A couple of quick tips with packaging - if you use bubble wrap, wrap them twice, use rubber bands instead of tape if possible (lets the trader re-use your bubble wrap and box); don't leave any room in the box for anything to move around - fill it with crumpled newspaper, packing peanuts, etc.; try to keep the bottles vertical if possible - less noise than horizontal bottles - might tip off the FedEx driver to liquids such as alcohol. Good luck!

 

While limited, rare or whales dominate the trading forum, local shelf trades get done all the time. My first two trades were around Surly Blakkr and the other one included the first 3 in the Schell's Noble Star series. We have plenty of good locals here in Minnesota to do a simple shelf for shelf trades.

I would just target an area for beers you are interested in and post an ISO/FT listing a few specific beers you want from that area and list a few specific beers you have for trade. Surly beers is a good start, I would just make sure you buy as fresh of stuff as possible with the weird distro we seem to get of Surly. From what I have seen, Toppling Goliath beers generate a little more interest than Surly or other MN locals for most.

In your example, you mentioned New England IPAs, if you are thinking about more popular beer from Trillium or Tree House, just know that Surly or other MN shelf may not generate much interest, TG may be better for that. However, it may not, it just takes the right set of eyes. Trading can be a little fickle that way.

One thing I would highly recommend is to start off slow. Don't line up a bunch of trades and overwhelm yourself, you don't want to get in over your head and get a bad trader thread started about you right away.

 

Agree with those above that advise to start with locals for locals. I've traded for big bottles, locals, and everything in between and honestly the random locals trades are often the most fun IMO.

As for packing, rubber bands on bubble wrap is a good idea, but I've found using blue painters tape is quicker and more secure, and comes off the bubble wrap easily without damaging it.

 

My first trade came right out of posting something similar to this in this forum. Someone whom I've now done a couple of trades was cool enough to trade Texas locals for my Florida locals. Simple $4$, even though he kicked in some sweet extras. If you're in Minnesota, I would think trading Surly beers for someone's locals would suffice.

I've pulled off 6 trades in around 3 or 4 months (which I'm sure is a mere fraction of other folks) and I think I've only posted 1 or 2 ISOs, which I find to be a pain in the ass. Florida isn't great for rare beer, especially sw Florida, but when something cool from Cigar City hits, I try to pick it up for the couple of folks I've done repeat business with.

Start small and don't get too carried away, I kind of did and had to draw back because it gets pricey. But damn, it sure is fun.

 

For packaging, I always bag all the beers to make sure there is no leakage to help prevent the shipper noticing and discarding the box or sending it back. I know people use zip locks, but I just use all the stupid plastic Target we seem to have laying around every where. It may be overkill, but for me it adds some piece of mind. Another thing I will do with more limited (or TG beers since it is an hour one way to Casanova for me) bombers or 750ml bottles, is get rid of extra card board to wrap them in a tube for a little extra packing. I am too lazy for the box in a box method, so this is my adaptation.

If you are looking for good extras to add outside of Steel Toe, Bent Paddle or Lift Bridge, people have been loving the Sisyphus West Coast IPA and my favorite part, it comes in crowlers! Which I much prefer to ship cans over bottles.

 

First trade was his BA Speedway and some Alpine bottles for my BCBCS - I just responded to a FT/ISO on here. Offered to ship first but he shipped out at same time.

Re: packaging - I'd say just be as anal as possible. I individually bubble wrapped each bottle and used packing peanuts. Bagging each bottle sounds like a good idea too.

 

Just did my 1st trade. Local for local and did it IP. I live near Carton and work in Mahattan so was pretty easy to arrange a swap for some OH.

 

My first was an easy Texas locals for a sixer of Jai Alai. Like others have said start small and ease into it. Trading gets pretty addictive and pricey.

As far as how to, I found this blog helpful. http://alewatcher.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-trader-tips.html

My method of packing is borderline OCD. Every bottle/can gets a ziplock bag, wrapped in bubble wrap, and then wrapped in shrink film to secure. I call it a "beer cocoon". Then I line a box with more bubble wrap and any dead space is filled tight with more bubble wrap/paper. That box is then put into another box and dead space is filled with spare strips of cardboard. My trade partners praise my packing, but I'm pretty sure they cuss me while performing unboxing surgery.

 

Lol. Shrink wrap is the worst...

 

Respect.
I would personally love to unwrap that package 'cause it would be like the way I pack! I too bomb proof bottles, zip top, 3 layers of bubble wrap, tightly packed, double boxed, the full works. I love it when I get packages like that - means I have all the materials to send out the next box!

The flip side is way more annoying. The first time I picked up a Black Tuesday in a trade it came in a flimsy box with a few packing peanuts. No bubble wrap, nothing. I was absolutely amazed it hadn't broken.

 

I picked up a bottle of Darkness through a different means than here to complete a vertical. It arrived from USPS in those flimsy USPS boxes with just a little bubble wrap to keep the bottles from shift from side to side much. Three sides of the bottle were in direct contact with the sides of the box. It arrived safely luckily, but I was mortified.

 

My first trade was Russian River for Heady than my second trade was Jai Alai for some Half Acre Beer. Than I just went back to the traders directly instead of posting. Now I am hooked on local vs local type trades with people I have already traded with as this just seems a more personal way to swap beers.

 

Apologies in advance for the box that was just delivered to you by Fedex. Copius amounts of shrink wrap my friend.

 

Oh man, yeah I am probably over-killing my packaging, but that sort of stuff is just lazy.