I have a question about trading beers. I'm a long time craft beer drinker and I was interested in trying some beers that I might otherwise not get to try. My question is, what are some of the criteria for trades? I've read a few posts in the trading section, as well as other posts on popular sites and I see no rhyme or reason to the process. Are there hard and fast rules or is it just an agreement between two people that is subject to just those 2 people's opinions and tastes. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Read this, it's very helpful and will give you a great head start. http://alewatcher.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-trader-tips.html and of course this: Beer Advocates Rules for trading http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/beer-trading-rules-info.229/ Good luck and have fun, it's very addicting!
There are some rules, as stated above, but generally as long as both sides are happy with the deal, it's a fair trade. Start with offering up locals for locals and go from there. You will get the hang of it. Welcome to the addiction!!
I'd also suggest that you work with a veteran on your first couple of trades until you get a hang of it. Here's the golden rule to trading - your goal is to wow your trading partner.
agree on starting with a vet. Also, check out the bad trader list (maintained by oldp0rt) and check references and past traders. A good number of the bad trader issues could have been avoided by doing some due diligence. Lastly, keep it simple. locals-4-locals and $4$. Don't try to land some super hard to get things, and don't try to hold a limited release ransom. If you truly do have a beer that is worth a lot (say a BA DL from the recent release) wait on trading it until you know what you are doing. For one, if the bottle breaks in transit, you are responsible for it.
