BeerAdvocate Trading Petition...

Im talking more about ft: whatever iso: ba stouts/'should wants' etc then taking the best offer. Thats an auction. Giving a specific ft/iso then cherry picking behind the scenes is different. Im well aware that that has been going on forever. I understand theres more people on here now, but i wouldnt agree its remained proportional. There is a lot more shady people in the scene now.

 

I'm currently involved in my first trade with someone who seems like a standup guy. I think he threw in an extra beer so I'll be sure to return the love on my next trade. Karma man, karma.....
But anyways, for what it's worth here's my personal reasoning and thoughts behind trading beer.
I'm not trading for any other reason than to try beer I normally couldn't. If I feel the trade we agree upon is fair then I'm not worried about spending 5-10 more dollars than the other person spent on me. I just want to try new beer and in the process I can help others try new beer. It's a win-win in my eyes, and when you start getting caught up in the prices and rarities and ideas of selling the trades well that's on you it takes away the fun.
Of course some people have fun making profits so more power to them. I won't begrudge a trader if he sold the beers I traded him for absorbent amounts of money. After all, I got to try the beer I wanted to, I got to share the love of my local beers, and if they choose to sell that love that's their right and choice.

When it comes to dealing with shady people, unfortunately they are everywhere in life. You have to do your best to avoid getting scammed, and even with every ounce of caution you can muster when your trading over the internet the inherent risk of getting scammed is much higher due to the anonymity.

When I get burned eventually I will do my best to ensure others don't get burned by that trader, but some people are crafty and manipulative and will go to great lengths to scam others. There's not much you can do but try to stay vigilante.

But my attitude won't change. I'm not looking to get the best value for my trades, I'm looking to try beers that I normally can't.

And when I get my first Pliny in a week or so you'd better believe I'm taking a picture and writing a review on that puppy. It's all about the beer in the end.

 

One thing I see more of these days is traders who don't fill out any gots. I find lots of those guys constantly trying to "trade up". I'm sure there are some people who are legitimately too lazy to fill their lists out. I believe some don't like the people who look at your gots and must ask for your rarest stuff immediately. Based on forum activity I think the new trend seems to be not to fill out gots and just try to maximize value by gradually increasing lowball offers.

 

I don't fill it out because it's gone so fast. This might change as I get more into trading but I've never been able to save a beer for more than a week before it is consumed.
For my first trade I told him what I have access to then bought those specifically to trade.
Or do most people just set their "gots" to what they can usually get?

 

Some people put what they can usually get, but if you legitimately don't have a cellar then it doesn't matter if you don't fill out gots. My comment was more about the douches offering lowball offers, then a few days later trying it again with a different beer of slightly better value, then a few days later trying again, etc., etc. until they have "traded up" as much as possible.

 

Holy hell, don't trade a Huna for an FMB. What would the Mayans think?

 

As long as I can remember visiting the trading forum, there has always been threads saying iso: wants and 'should be wants'. There has always been someone stating: "I am off to work, so I will respond to all BM's when I get home". Do you really think these people can't respond to BM at work? (Smartphone anybody?)

 

That is very true.

Though I do not have a smart phone, I think most if not all of the "Ill check when I get home" threads all reak of "Im waiting for 8 hours for the best offers to funnel in without having my thread deleted as a blatant auction even though it is hahaha... suckers."

 

Never said there wasnt, there's just more now. Look if you think this place is exactly the same as it was back in 08/09 except theres more people, I dunno what to tell you. You're certainly entitled to that opinion.

 

I am honestly not trying to be argumentative here. I think that the trading forum has certainly changed. There are a vastly larger amount of limited releases in every corner of this country. I remember back when we were just joining (both Nov 08), there were literally less than a dozen brewery only releases a year that got any kind of press. Now that number is well into the hundreds. I believe that the increase in viewership and the simultaneous increase in limited releases is the crux to any change we are perceiving.

The real point to what I was saying earlier is that even back in the day, people were bitching about how it used to be soooo much better, people were more generous, no one tried to put anyone over a barrel for a limited beer. That type of stuff is just horseshit, people are constantly trying to get the biggest bang for their buck, and those that dont, exist in the same number today as they did 4 years ago.

 

I think that was Speedway that wrote that pledge.

 

They'd think it was the end of the world!
If I wanted an FMB bad enough, I wouldn't mind making that trade. But considering how much other stuff there is out there that I'd like to try these days, I have to ration out my trade ammo and would no longer trade my Hunahpu for a shelf beer that I only kinda want, which I have done in the past. I have to admit to being stingier than I have been in the past, simply in terms of the beers I offer for the beers I want.

 

The difference between then and now is that people demanded whales for brewery only releases.

Now people are demanding whales for bottles they got off the shelf at their local store.

 

I think he revised it, I think it was kicking around before that in some form though.